Q: What is joy?

"What is joy? What is joy in the Bible? How many types of joy are there? Does joy equal to love? Is joy what makes Christians to be positive all the time?"

There are 5 questions here, all related to JOY. I'll try to answer them briefly and point you to a few online articles that may help you study this topic further.

1. What is joy? Joy is the feeling of deep satisfaction and happiness.

2. What is joy in the Bible? Pastor John Piper wrote a great article about this. Read it HERE (You have to scroll to the middle to where he answers the question, "What is Christian joy?"). In summary, he says Christian joy is...

1. Not an act of will-power, but a spontaneous, emotional response of the heart.
2. Not superficial and flimsy, but deep and firm.
3. Not natural, but spiritual.

What makes Christian joy different than other forms of joy, the author argues, is that it INCREASES in the midst of pain and suffering. This is because our satisfaction and happiness comes from God. It comes from knowing that God loves us. Even though we are sinners and do not deserve his love, God sent his Son to die for us (Col. 1:23). This is the SOURCE of our joy! As a result, we do not need to find our joy in our success, wealth, reputation, relationships, etc. In other words, when these earthy things are lost, we can still be joyful!

Additionally, Christian joy is different than other forms of joy because it comes from the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). When the Spirit lives inside us, it produces a supernatural joy that is indestructible, and impervious from circumstances (Luke 6:20-26).

3. How many types of joy are there? By definition, joy is an emotion of deep satisfaction. And thus there is only one kind of joy. However, there are many different things from which we can obtain joy. For instance, you can obtain joy from shopping. Likewise, you can obtain joy from being popular. Yet the Bible tell us that any joy that is rooted in worldly things (i.e. NOT God) will not last (Matthew 13:20-21).

4. Does joy equal to love? Joy is not the same as love, but they are part of one another. Christian joy, after all, is the satisfaction of loving Jesus and believing him. In other words, joy is a consequence of loving someone.

5. Is joy what makes Christian to be positive all the time? Yes and no. Christians should be positive about the circumstances no matter how good or bad they are. This is because our satisfaction (i.e. our joy) lies in God, not in ourselves or the things that happen to us.

However, this does not mean Christians should not grieve, mourn or be sad. We should be very sad when trouble comes into our lives. There are times of grieving in the Christian life.

Yet, at the end of the day, we should be joyful as we do have hope. What is hope after all? It is the confident expectation of good things to come (Hebrews 6:11). In Christ, we have hope. As a result of hope, we can love God and have joy.

Hope this helps answer your thoughtful question.

[Answered by Pastor HM, who is joyful in Christ]

Q: Is killing animas a sin?

"Last Saturday, I went fishing and during that time, the fish we caught...I would torture them a bit. But then, I just felt like I was doing murder, so ya, is it really a sin?"

This article answers your question. It gives theological reasons why it is NOT a sin to hunt and eat animals. After the great flood, God permitted humans to eat animals as food (Genesis 9:3)

However, it also argues that mistreating and abusing animals is not right and should never be done. Proverbs 12:10 says, "A good man takes care of his animals, but wicked men are cruel to theirs."

In your case, it is not sinful to fish because God gave us fish to eat. Jesus himself declares that all food is clean and therefore can be eaten (Mark 7:19). Jesus also ate FISH for breakfast after his resurrection (John 21)! But friend, it is cruel to prolong and even INCREASE the suffering of the fish for your own amusement. All animals are creations of God. We do not have the right to mistreat and torture that which belongs to Him (Psalm 24:1). In fact, we are told to do the opposite: take care and be responsible for them as best as we can (Genesis 1:28).

[Answered by Pastor HM, who does eat meat, but loves animals. His first pet was a hamster named "Boh Boh"]

Q: Are we all a big family?

"Because it all started off with Adam and Eve, and they probably reproduced their sons and daughters but for them to branch off again, would the sons and daughters have to reproduce with themselves, therefore doing incest? If that is true, is God then encouraging incest? Because when we marry and reproduce, we would be reproducing with our "brothers/sisters." How does this make sense?"

Good question. In Genesis 5:4, Scripture tells us that Adam and Eve had "other sons and daughters." It also tells us that Adam lived several hundred years (Gen. 5:5). This would mean that his children married each other.

So does this mean incest is allowed by God? No. Incest (i.e. sex between family members) is prohibited by God in Lev. 18:6-18, 20:11-12 and 20:19-21. But in such an early stage of human development as in the time of Adam and Eve, it was permitted as the genetic line was still pure. God allowed incest for a specific time and for a specific purpose - namely so that the human species could reproduce and "fill the earth" (Gen. 1:28).

When Leviticus was written at a much later date, the genetic line had become more unstable and therefore God commanded his people not to marry their relatives. Biologically, because relatives already share some genetic material, there is a greater risk that incest will result in a child who has a rare genetic disorder carried as arecessive trait. Recessive traits may cause no symptoms at all in those that carry the genes, but whencombined can result in seriously affected offspring. The closer the relationship of people in an incestuous relationship, the greater the risk that they both carry the same recessive genes.Even today, it has been shown that incest increases the chances of having children born with genetic diseases.

If you want to find out more, you can read this article which answers the question, "Is Incest Okay?" or this one, which gets into the real specifics of reproduction during the time of Adam & Eve.

[Answered by Pastor HM]

Q: What's the difference between faith and trust?

This is a curious question. I would suggest you read these articles about FAITH and TRUST.

To be sure, the two words are related. They are essentially synonyms. In the Bible, faith means to trust in God; to believe that God is who He says He is and will do what He has promised to do. The Bible says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen"(Hebrews 11:1).

I think the folks at the CARM summarize the relationship between faith and trust well when it comes to our Christian life. They write:

"Faith does not save you. Got that? FAITH DOES NOT SAVE YOU! Faith is not a substance that you put in a jar or detect with a meter. Faith isn't a cream you apply to protect you from something. Faith is belief, trust, etc. The key to understanding faith lies not in faith itself but in the OBJECT of faith: God! Faith is only as good as who you put it in. Faith in a false god (i.e., Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, etc.) is useless and it doesn't save you. But faith in the TRUE God DOES save you. You see? Faith is only as good as who you put it in. Faith in the true God results in salvation (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:8). Faith in a false god results in damnation."

[Answered by Pastor HM, who has faith and trust in Christ]

Q: What is the meaning of rebuking others, and how is it different from judging?

There is a difference between judging someone and rebuking them. Some will quote Matthew 7:1 ("Do not judge lest you be judged yourself") and claim that we should never correct anyone's behavior. After all, since we are all sinners, what gives us the right to judge and speak out against someone else?

However, rebuking someone is not the same as judging him. Scripture actually tells us we are to correct and rebuke those who are sinning:

If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.. (Luke 17:3)

As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear (1 Tim. 5:20)

Scripture also teaches us that we must rebuke those teaching false doctrines (e.g. people distorting God's truth for personal gain; people manipulating the Bible to say what they want it to say, etc.):

Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you (Titus 2:15)

Rebuking is to be done in an act of caring for them in the hope that they will believe, repent and follow Jesus. If you view it this way, the act of rebuking is actually one of the most loving things a person can do for another.

Here is an excerpt from a blog entry I found quite helpful.

"Rebuking is not judging. We are called to rebuke one another out of love and concern for one another’s godliness. That’s one of the reasons we are part of the church and not just individuals. We need each other to encourage and also to rebuke. 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 says we are on occasion to put unrepentant offenders out of fellowship but with the hope that they will stop doing what they are doing and will be welcomed back again."

The author admits that sometimes it difficult to discern whether you are rebuking in love or judging in pride, but one thing makes clear is that rebuking IN LOVE is necessary and commanded by Scripture.

"The trouble is I often don’t know whether I am rebuking or judging. I guess the key test is whether I’m doing it out of love for that person, that I want the best for them, but quite often I’m doing it out of anger and hurt. So I guess that’s judging. It is very, very hard that’s for sure."

[Answered by Pastor HM, who has been rebuked many times over his life]

Q: Psalm 139:8's hell

"Hey! I was reading my Bible the other night and came across Psalm 139:8, 'If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there.' But isn't hell supposed to be void or anything good or God-related?"

To properly interpret this verse, we must understand that Psalms is a poetic book. In ancient Hebrew poetry, writers often used two pairs of opposites to illustrate a point. For example, in this verse, heaven and hell (the Hebrew word is שְׁאוֹל or "Sheol") are paired together. If you read the entire passage (i.e. Psalm 139:1-12), what the author is saying is there is nowhere in the universe that God will not be present to guide the believer (v. 7-10) and nowhere too dark for God to see him (v. 11-12). This includes everything in between heaven and hell.

Another way of understanding this verse is to understand that the word for hell here, "Sheol" has multiple meanings. According to The New Bible Dictionary (3rd ed.):

Sheol was below the surface of the earth (Ezk. 31:15, 17; Ps. 86:13), a place of dust (Jb. 17:16), darkness (Jb. 10:21), silence (Ps. 94:17) and forgetfulness (Ps. 88:12). Sometimes the distinctions of earthly life are pictured as continuing in Sheol (Is. 14:9; Ezk. 32:27), but always it is a place of weakness and joylessness.

What Psalm 139:8 is saying then is that God knows our activities, words and thoughts even if we are in the worst possible situations and places of weakness and joylessness. It does not mean that God's presence is in hell. In fact, the New Testament tells us that God's wrath remains on people while they are in hell (John 3:36). Read this article to find out more. The author answers the question, "What is God's relationship with people who are in hell?"

[Answered by Pastor HM]

Q: How Do I Love God?

A: We love because God first loved us. (1 John 4:19). The foundation of love comes from the fact that God has given us an example of it through His son, Jesus Christ. We can only know how to TRULY love, if we know the TRUE love that God gives us.

There are a number of ways that the Bible teaches us how to love God:

1. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deut 6:5) - We need to love God with our whole beings. That means He must be apart of your every day life, and not just the times we are at church. In every decision we make, every action we do, every word we speak, it must honour God.

2. So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul (Deut 11:13) - When we love God, we also want to serve Him. We adopt an attitude of giving and servant. We want to give back to God, what He has blessed us with. We no longer want to be consumers in our churches or fellowships, but instead, we want to use the gifts that God has given to us, to glorify Him.

3. Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always. (Deut 11:1) - As a response to the love that He has for us, we strive to live a righteous life. That means following His commands outlined in the Bible, living for God and not for our selfish desires and trying our best not to sin. The reason why we do this is not because we want to do good deeds to gain salvation. Instead, it is because we have already received the gift of salvation that our hearts have changed and we wish to honour God by keeping His commands.

4. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27) - we love God by loving the people around us. This passage says that if we are to have a genuine faith, it means to love the people that God loves. The challenge is that sometimes we find it hard to love those we don't like...but God is clear that if we have experience His love, we are to love others in that same manner.

Loving God requires everything. You must make a conscience decision to love Him in every aspect of your being. Not only are we to DO the things outlined above, more importantly, our attitudes and our outlook on life must change from the worldly view to the Godly view.


[answered by Pastor KJT]