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Frequently Asked Bible Questions

Who is the restrainer in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7?

It is a much debated text, but I’m convinced that it is an oblique reference to the Holy Spirit and particularly His presence in the church during this age of grace. This is evident because:

  1. Only the divine power of the Spirit of God can truly restrain the full operation of evil (Isaiah 59:19). We cannot. We are not allowed to say, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” (Matt 16:23) Instead our disposition should be, “The Lord rebuke you” (Jude 9).
  2. The grammar in the text indicates that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit (neuter “what” now restrains and masculine “he” who restrains) because other texts in the Bible that clearly refer to the Holy Spirit exhibit this same characteristic (John 15:26, 16:13-14). The Spirit’s role in restraint of sin is also seen in Gen 6:3.
  3. The rapture will remove the Holy Spirit, the restrainer, and the Antichrist will be free to do what he wishes.

What is the "sin leading to death" in 1 John 5:16?

The verse about sin leading to death in 1 John 5:16 is one of those knotty passages that has really bothered people. The idea is this:

  1. The sin is not a specific one that is the same for every person. It could be sin A or sin B, but it is God's determination whether it is punishable by death. Notice that it says "a sin," not "the sin."
  2. The death spoken about is physical death, not spiritual death. The person in question is a "brother" and because he is a Christian, he cannot lose his salvation. So the passage has to be talking about the physical end of one's life.
  3. There are examples of various sins in the Bible that led God to discipline his children with the ultimate physical punishment. In the NT, Acts 5 records the death of Ananias and Sapphira because they lied. 1 Corinthians 11 records the folks who had "fallen asleep" (a euphemism for death) because of abuse of the Lord's Table. These are two totally different sins, but God in his infinite wisdom chose to punish them with death.
  4. Why such strong punishment? God is concerned about the purity of His church. He doesn't want people running around sinning and always getting away with it. Sometimes he lets people go on sinning for a long time. Other believers are to confront those folks about their sin. When it gets to a certain point, however, God calls these folks out of this life and into the next so that His reputation will not be tarnished any further.
  5. What is the character of such a sin? It is a high-handed, premeditated, rebellious sin. This is why John says don't pray for that kind of sin--if you can discern that this is a sin that God will punish with death, no prayer is going to change God's mind. It's tough for us to know for sure, however, in our limited human knowledge. The right response on the part of the sinner is to repent and confess that sin and not do it again. If the sin is evidently not a sin leading to death, then we ought to pray for that person so that they will get straightened out.
  6. This is not the unpardonable sin of Matthew 12. That sin has to do with a repeated rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ and the work of His Spirit. It is only committed by those who are unbelievers. In fact, it is the very essence of hardened unbelief. The type of sin mentioned in 1 John is committed by a Christian brother or sister.
  7. It is also not a "mortal" sin as opposed to a venial sin. These terms come from Roman Catholicism. The mortal sin is supposedly one that causes the soul to suffer eternal damnation unless it is confessed to a priest. The venial sin can be atoned for through good works. Remember that no true believer can lose his salvation. There are not two such categories of sin listed in the Bible.

Why should I confess my sins if they are forgiven already?

The issue of the forgiveness of sins is obviously dear to all Christians. But some believers have found it difficult to understand how a Christian’s sins can be said to be completely forgiven (Col. 2:13, 1 John 2:12) and yet at the same time that confession of sin is a necessary element of the Christian’s life (1 John 1:9, James 4:8, 5:15-16; see also Lev. 5:5, Num. 5:7, Ezra 10:1, Neh. 9:2-3, Psalm 32:5, Prov. 28:13, Daniel 9:4, 9:20). They might ask, “Why should I confess my sins when they are all forgiven already?”

The answer is that there are two aspects of forgiveness: the initial and the ongoing. All of the Christian’s sins have been totally forgiven at the point of salvation (Eph. 1:7, Rom. 4:6-8, Heb. 10:17). God will not deal with us according as our sins deserve (Psalm 103:10-13).

Sins are committed in a believer’s life, however, and affect the believer’s communion with God. Though sin does not sever the relationship (Heb. 13:5), it does disturb or unsettle things in that relationship. These sins do not expose the believer to eternal punishment, but God calls us to deal with them seriously (1 Cor. 11: 31) and may chasten us in order to make us more holy (1 Cor. 11:32, Heb. 12:5-11). In so doing, God deals with us as children, and this gives us assurance that we are indeed His children.

Note carefully that both types of forgiveness do have to do with the believer’s relationship to God. The initial aspect of forgiveness deals with the establishment of the relationship, and the ongoing aspect of forgiveness deals with the temporal harmony of the relationship.

It cannot be denied that sin does affect the relationship that a person has with God. It does not void the relationship, but it does have an impact on it. This is evident from the passage in 1 Peter 3:7, in which husbands are told to live with their wives in an understanding way, lest their prayers be hindered. The hindrance obviously refers to sin in the marriage relationship, and such sin causes a breach in the believing husband's prayers with God.

Burdick explains it this way: "The forgiveness and cleansing which follow [confession] are necessary for a person to be in fellowship with God. It must be remembered that this epistle was written to those who already are forgiven (2:12). John is not here speaking of the initial forgiveness of sin which occurs at the point of salvation. At that time the guilt of all one's sins-past, present and future-is forgiven. The forgiveness of this verse, however, is an experience which comes after salvation. Its function is to remove that which has disturbed the believer's fellowship with God. Whereas the former is a legal remission of guilt, the latter is the Father's forgiveness of His child to restore undisturbed communion. To those who confess their sins, this forgiveness, like initial forgiveness, is assured by the faithfulness and justice of God." (Donald W. Burdick, The Epistles of John [Chicago: Moody Press, 1970], p. 26-27, in the Everyman's Bible Commentary series).

How did Jesus fulfill the Law?

First, let us be sure we understand the term "Law." The Law (capital L) refers to the Mosaic Law given at Mount Sinai to Moses. It started with the 10 commandments in Exodus 20 and has many other elements to it. Some say there are 613 specific commandments. In any case, the whole Mosaic Law is what we are referring to. Second, we must understand that no one has or could fulfill that Law, apart from Jesus Christ. All people find even the 10 commandments impossible to follow, particularly when considering Christ's high standard given in the Sermon on the Mount.

So this brings us to the question of How Jesus fulfilled the Law. He said He did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17-18). There are two ways that He did so. First, he perfectly kept all the commands and did fall short in any one of them. From the very beginning, at His birth, until the end of His life, he did no sin (1 Peter 2:22), he knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21), in Him was no sin (1 John 3:5), and He was totally without sin (Heb. 4:15). This is sometimes called Christ's "active obedience."

The second way in which Christ fulfilled the Law was by taking upon Himself all of the penalty of breaking the Law. The Law also has penalties in it for any infraction of the Law. Now despite the fact that the Lord Jesus did not have any infractions, He still took upon Himself the penalty of being cursed by hanging on a tree (Gal. 3:13). This is sometimes called Christ's "passive obedience."

In other words, the Lord fulfilled the Law as to its positive demands (actively doing all of them), and He also fulfilled the Law as to its penalties (passively taking them).

There a third way in which Christ fulfills the Law today, and that indirectly is through believers. Romans 8:4 says that "the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." This does not mean that believers keep the Law directly, for Christians are not under the law per se (Rom. 6:14), and Rom. 10:4 says "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes." Putting these facts together, we understand that while believers are not keeping the Law directly, and they are not trying to do so in order to attain a righteous standing before God, they are, by their very nature as Spirit-indwelt Christians, fulfilling the righteous standard of the Law in their behavior (albeit imperfect) and also because of their perfect standing in Christ. He fulfilled the Law so that we, who could not and cannot perfectly do so, might be seen by God as in Christ and so fulfilling the righteous requirement of the Law.

Does our doctrine of salvation differ from the Mormons' doctrine of salvation?

Yes, it most definitely does. In conducting evangelism around Ann Arbor, my wife and I have heard numerous times the Mormons say "We are saved by Jesus Christ after all that we can do." This is a clever statement, but it belies the fact that the Mormons believe in a doctrine of salvation by works. They must do good works ("all that we can do"). Then, the atonement of Christ is added to that ("after").

In great contrast, we believe and teach that salvation comes to one through true faith alone, without works. In other words, "We are saved by Jesus Christ apart from all that we can do." We believe this because the Bible teaches it. Consider Ephesians 2:8-9, which says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Also, Titus 3:5, which says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." Furthermore, Galatians 2:16 teaches, "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ."

Invariably, a conversation with a Mormon will turn to the verses in James 2:14-26 that speak of the relationship of works and faith. A Mormon will use these verses to attempt to justify that works must be done in order to be saved. But those verses simply teach that true faith issues forth in works, not as a basis of salvation, but as an evidence and fruit of salvation. The theological reason for this is that Jesus Christ was the perfect once-for-all sacrifice for sin; no more "work" can be done to earn merit before God. Our works issue from a saved life because we are thankful for what Christ has worked for us.

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