Modern Transportation

The Question:

I suppose I’ve given my life to Jesus dozens of times, but I still worry about my salvation. I don’t really feel like I’m going to go to Heaven when I die. Am I always going to be like this?

The Answer:

According to the instruction manual, you only have to give your life to Jesus once. It’s like starting a car; once the engine turns over flipping the key in the lock repeatedly is just destroying the ignition system. Obviously, you don’t think the car ever actually started.

Gave my life to Jesus! Sinned. Gave my life to Jesus again! Sinned again! Crap! Jesus, one more time! Vroom! Dammit! Stalled again! START THE CAR FOR ME JESUS!

Yep, you’re probably always going to be like that. Some people just can’t keep a car running. Sometimes it’s their fault because they’re bad drivers, but sometimes -and I hope you will consider this possibility very seriously- sometimes it’s the car. You can keep trying to start this old car over and over again, and never get it running, or you can ditch it and go out and get a car that actually works. The car that runs won’t take you to heaven, because heaven isn’t on real road maps, but it can take you to all the interesting places that do exist, which is better than spending the next fifty years sitting by the side of the road going nowhere.

Growing Your Spiritual Kingdom

The Question:

If I do something wrong after I’ve given my life to Jesus, do I lose my salvation? This worries me a lot, because I know I’m not perfect and I’ll stumble. — H.A.

Billy’s Answer:

If we lost our salvation every time we sinned, then no one would ever be saved — because no matter how hard we try, even as Christians we still sin. The Bible says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

But when Jesus Christ died on the cross, He took away all our sins — past, present, and future! As the perfect Son of God, He was without sin, but on the cross every sin we ever committed — and ever would commit — was laid on Him, and He paid the penalty for them all. Because of what He did for us, when we come to Him by faith, God forgives all our sins — completely and fully. The Bible’s promise is true: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Does this mean we don’t need to worry if we sin, or that we can live any way we want to since our sins are now forgiven? No, it doesn’t. Sin is an offense to God, and when we sin, it cuts us off from His fellowship. More than that, it hurts our witness and makes others doubt if the Gospel is true. When you sin, immediately confess it to God and seek His forgiveness.

God loves you; He loves you so much that His Son was willing to give His life for you. Let that truth sink deeply into your soul — and ask God to help you love Him in return.

My Answer:

It’s really very simple. The first thing to remember is, all of this stuff is made up anyway. So the question is, would you gain more followers by giving people infinite do-overs, or by throwing them under the bus after their first post-saved transgression?

Is That Brazil One Cloud Over?

The Question:

Do you think our nation is too far gone (both morally and spiritually) for God to do anything about it? I used to pray for revival but I’ve about given up because it looks so hopeless. — D.F.

Billy’s Answer:

Much that goes on in our nation today surely must cause God’s heart to grieve. Far too often, we have rejected God’s will and chosen to go our own way, ignoring His Word and living only for ourselves. We are like the people of Jeremiah’s day, who “turned their backs to me and not their faces” (Jeremiah 2:27).

But does this mean God can’t intervene and turn us back to Himself? No, certainly not. He has done it in the past, and He can do it again in the future. In fact, we may be seeing some signs of this today, particularly among the many young people who are turning to Christ because they’ve realized the emptiness of life without Him.

Don’t give up praying for revival. Let the prophet’s prayer be yours: “I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known” (Habakkuk 3:2). God is not powerless, and although we see Satan’s hand in so much that goes on today, God is more powerful than he is, and God is still at work. God’s will is still that men and women would find their peace and hope in Him, and they will as they turn to Christ in repentance and faith.

Whatever the future holds, ask God to bring spiritual revival in your life, as you submit every part of it to Jesus Christ. Let the Psalmist’s cry become yours: “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” (Psalm 85:6).

My Answer:

Up until recently, even Christians rejected an idea that nations have souls or were candidates for salvation. Outside of, of course, Israel, which in spite of being the home He picked out for his chosen people, managed to be conquered and disappeared before centuries until re-established with new people transported to where it used to be. Salvation was something reserved for, you know, individuals. When the first Christians were running around, ALL nations, which was mostly Rome, were evil. For the sake of the survival of the sect, Jesus’ mouthpiece put in the bit about rendering onto Caesar what is Caesar’s and rendering onto God what is God’s, but as the church’s power to influence or even control nations grew, this became a bit awkward.

Now we have a sizable chunk of the population thinking that nations are Godlike or Godless, depending on how much national policy conforms to their view of doctrine. This leads to spectacles like the Westboro sect protesting at servicemen’s funerals because “The Nation” has embraced homosexuality, and gurus like Pat Robinson pronouncing that this tsunami or that hurricane are “messages” from an apparently increasingly inarticulate God who is ticked because of whatever ticks off Pat Robertson.

People, get over yourselves. The good old US of A is neither going to heaven nor hell as an entity. Outside of the Mormons, who found the Bible’s curious absence of knowledge concerning the new world awkward and did something about it by making new stuff up, the historical record does not indicate that God gives a fig for our nation or any other, and getting the government to conform to “Christian principles” is a big, fat waste of time. You, the Bible tells us, will be judged by what You do, not by what the legislature compels you and your fellow citizens to do. Of all the appalling things about Christianity, one of the most appalling is the grab for power in earthly affairs, about which, as a believer, your interest is supposed to be minimal.

Worry about saving yourself by following the teachings of Jesus YOURSELF, and trust God, who is allegedly all-powerful, to do what needs doing concerning the rest of us. It would be nice to see him manage a miracle or two that did not require human hands, or interpretation from a God expert, and Christians concerned with the souls of people rather than nations. How about leading by example, rather than decree?

Oh, and keep on praying. Preferably with Fox News turned off.

Our Appearance In Heaven

The Question:

What will we look like when we get to heaven? Will we wear white robes, for example, like I’ve heard some people say? And will we be able to recognize each other? I’ve always been curious about this. — R.W.

Billy’s Answer:

The Bible doesn’t answer all of our questions, including what exactly we’ll look like. But we will have new and perfect bodies that never age, become weak, or die, because they will be like Christ’s. This is because of Jesus’ death and resurrection which conquered all sin and sickness and death. They will also be recognizable even if they are indescribably glorious. Just make sure you are actually going, by giving your life to Jesus.

My Answer:

I probably wouldn’t stay up too many nights trying to figure this out, since my expectation is that we are at the moment residing in the only bodies we will ever have, which are not designed for a reboot.

The Bible seems to indicate that the basis for our “celestial” super-spiffy bodies will be our old Earthenware models, since, on the day of judgement, we are to rise from our graves and float upwards, at least those of us who actually have remains remaining. (Pity the fools who had the bad luck to die centuries ago and have since turned to dust, or were lost at sea, or been cremated).

One of the difficulties, apart from the one about actually having immortal, never aging physical bodies, indescribably glorious or otherwise, is the question of what age we will be. Most of us, I am sure, would opt for something in our prime, somewhere between twenty and forty, but we might wish our grandparents to remain older looking, and our children to remain younger. Our children and grandparents might have other ideas. And pity the poor babies and children who died young; spending eternity pursuing childish interests while the rest of us discuss heavenly affairs with the Creator and our peers. Fortunately, an absence of heaven resolves these issues.

Dying is a bummer, but it is the natural order of things. Pretending it isn’t final may be a comfort, but it trivializes life. If we truly believe in our own immortality, purchased simply by declaring devotion to a wandering teacher, why do we fear our own death and grieve at the death of others?

The goal of our lives ought to be finding meaning in the here and now, and time spent in the company of those who teach the opposite is time lost, and you won’t get that time back. Ever.

If you have a hankering to wear a white robe, this is the time and place to do it.