I was wondering about something and was hoping you can shine some light on this situation for me.  Why don’t we as christians eat kosher food like the Jewish?  It does mention certain things we are not allowed to eat in Leviticus.  So if it says it in the Bible, why don’t most of us christians follow it?  Also, am I sinning when I eat certain things that are not kosher?

Sincerely,
Dietary Restrictions

Dear Dietary Restrictions,

There is a difference between Old Testament laws and New Testament laws.  Christians are not bound to follow the Old Testament law because we are no longer under that law (Gal 3:24-25).  Feel free to read “Out With The Old?” for further details on the purpose of the Old Testament.

The Old Testament laws concerning what could and could not be eaten can be found in Lev. 11, but there is only one type of food that christians cannot eat – blood (Acts 15:29).  When an animal is killed, some cultures will strangle the animal so as to keep the blood in the meat, as opposed to draining the blood out.  Things like blood sausage, blood soup, blood stew, etc. are popular dishes in some countries, but eating them is wrong.  All other food is clean for New Testament christians… Jesus said so Himself in Mk 7:19.

Could you please give me an overview of what Paul is saying in 2 Thessalonians 3?  I sincerely thank you in advance.

Sincerely,
Looking For Cliff Notes

Dear Looking For Cliff Notes,

2 Thessalonians 3 is the final chapter of Paul’s second letter to the church in Thessalonica.  The Thessalonian church was a very young church that had already suffered a great deal of persecution (Acts 17:1-9).  This chapter can be broken into three major sections:

1. In the beginning of the chapter, Paul asks the brethren to pray for him (2 Thess 3:1-2) and reminds them to never stop obeying the Scriptures (2 Thess 3:4).
2. The second section deals with a problem in the church.  There were people in the congregation who were lazy and living off the kindness of others (2 Thess 3:6).  Paul commanded them to stop enabling this lazy behavior and to rebuke these brethren, so that they would get to work and stop taking advantage of others (2 Thess 3:10-12).
3. The last section is full of some final words of encouragement.  Paul urges them to never give up or grow weary (2 Thess 3:13), to stand firm, and discipline unruly brethren (2 Thess 3:14-15).  And last, but not least, he reminds them of how much he loves them (2 Thess 3:17-18).

Is Jesus real?

Sincerely,
McCoy

Dear McCoy,

Absolutely!  Jesus is real, and the Bible accounts of Him are also real.  There are historical accounts of Jesus by an ancient writer named Josephus that attest to Jesus’ existence.  Archaeological evidence of the church dates back to the first century… within a couple generations of when Jesus lived.  This archaeological data is very important because it confirms that the message of Christ spread during a time in history when people could confirm His empty tomb, His miracles, and His hometown history.  In short, if Jesus was a fake, the people of that time period would have stopped a false legend from spreading… but the opposite was true.  Jesus’ church and message spread because the story was true and couldn’t be refuted.  For more information on this topic, we highly recommend the book A Case For Christ by Lee Strobel.

Jesus never called us christians, so why does man?  I know where the name came from.  We have many names after being saved that are not ‘christian’ (Jhn 13:35).

Sincerely,
Don’t Label Me

Dear Don’t Label Me,

The name ‘christian’ is a Bible name.  In Acts 11:26, we see believers first using the title ‘christian’.  The apostle Peter uses that moniker for Christ’s followers in 1 Pet 4:16.  All in all, it is a wholly biblical term.

I am a saved christian.  My question is: why did Jesus “have” to die on the cross for our sins?  I know that He did.  I also know that God does not have to abide by any formality or rules.  He could have given us salvation without the shedding of Jesus’ blood if He wanted to.  Is it that He sent His only begotten Son to be sacrificed, just so we could see the love He has for us?  I must admit, I feel His love because He did send His Son to die for me.

Sincerely,
Pondering The Sacrifice

Dear Pondering The Sacrifice,

God sent Jesus to die on the cross, so He could be both a just God and a loving God.  If God had simply forgiven us of our sins without paying for them, He would be a liar because God says that sin is deserving of eternal death (Rom 6:23).  It wouldn’t be right for Him to simply remove our guilt without paying for it.  It would be akin to a judge letting people go free simply because he liked them – a judge like that would be corrupt.

Instead, we see that God is both just and our justifier.  Jesus’ blood pays the price of our sin (1 Jn 1:7).  There are two ways to pay for sin.  We can pay for the sin ourselves by spending eternity in hell, or God’s blood can cover the cost of sin.  The Son of God came down and gave Himself to purchase us (Acts 20:28).  Rom 3:25-26 says that God sent Jesus, so He could show that He was loving and still righteous.

I would like to know at what time Jesus actually came forth from the tomb.  Our preacher tells us that it was sometime after sunrise on Sunday morning.  But I have always been taught that using the Jewish time-table, the day actually began at about 6:00 PM and that Jesus actually raised a little after 6:00 PM Saturday.  Does this make sense to you?  I will await your answer with great anticipation.

Sincerely,
Setting My Clock

Dear Setting My Clock,

The Jewish day began at dusk of the previous day (roughly 6 PM), but the Bible specifically says that Jesus came out of the tomb when the sun was coming up on Sunday morning.  Matt 28:1-2 says that Jesus’ tomb was opened “toward dawn”; the Greek word used there means ‘as it grew light’.  The angel rolled back the stone as it grew light on Sunday morning.  Although Jesus could have risen from the grave as early as 6 PM Saturday night (which counted as Sunday to the Jews), He didn’t come forth until daybreak.