Question: Why do you say there were just twelve apostles? It seems to me that there were at least fifteen (see Acts 1:25, 14:14; Gal. 1:19). Answer: In Matthew 10 we have the record of Jesus choosing His apostles. It reads: “Now the name of the twelve apostles are these…” (Matt. 10:2). Luke’s parallel account … [Read more…]
Question: I cannot find anyone who can satisfactorily explain to me the issue of speaking in tongues. Can you help me understand? Answer: Speaking in tongues, as it was called, was one of the Divine gifts of the Holy Spirit, which the Apostles had following the outpouring on the day of Pentecost. By these gifts … [Read more…]
Question: Why would Paul want to be ‘accursed from Christ’ for the sake of his ‘kinsmen according to the flesh’? Answer: You apparently refer to Romans 9, where Paul is discussing the advantages God had given to the Israelite nation, and which they had spurned. He says: “That I have great sorrow and continual grief … [Read more…]
Question: What did Paul mean when he wrote to Timothy, that he should be a “partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God?” What are the “afflictions of the gospel?” Answer: This text contains Paul’s words to his son-in-the-faith Timothy: “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our … [Read more…]
Question: If Paul was converted (saved) when he said, ‘Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?’ (Acts 9:6; 22:10), why did he still have sins that needed to be washed away (Acts 22:16)? Answer: It seems that you may be confusing the terms ‘conversion’ and ‘salvation’. Conversion is the initial conviction, the turning from … [Read more…]