Answers | To Your Questions About the Bible, Theology and Christian Living

Why can’t I see angels?
Scarlett, 3

Angels were created by God, just like human beings. But you can see humans; you can’t see angels — at least most of the time. (The Bible says angels have appeared to some people.)

The Bible says angels watch over children (Matthew 18:10) and minister to Christians (Hebrews 1:14).

But you can’t see them because they are spirit beings (Hebrews 1:14), which means they are invisible. Jesus said in John 3 that we can’t see some things even though they are real, like the wind.

Ken Horn

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How do I know God is real since I can’t see Him?
Molly, 9

Faith is probably the most important way to know that God is real. Hebrews 11:1 describes it: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (NIV).

That means that though we don’t see God, we can know He exists. When you confess your sins and ask Jesus into your heart, you begin a personal relationship with God. The Holy Spirit helps you to know that you are part of God’s family: “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16).

An old gospel song expressed it this way: “If God is dead, who’s this living in my heart?” You can know that God is with you.

Another proof that God is real is this wonderful world and universe around us — God’s creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1).

If you have a favorite toy or other possession, you know that someone made it. It’s the same for this wonderful universe of ours. It is so complex it couldn’t have just happened without anyone making it. It had to have a Creator.

The Bible says that to know God exists, you just have to look around; nature is proof of God’s existence. “Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

You can look at a beautiful butterfly or majestic mountain and know there is a God.

Ken Horn

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Jesus had a heart for children. On one occasion, when His disciples tried to keep some children at a distance, Jesus commanded them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Luke 18:16, NIV). Children have a special connection with God’s kingdom, Jesus explained, because their untarnished faith makes them particularly receptive to the truth of the gospel (Matthew 18:3).

We can learn much from children and the gravity, implications and simplicity of their questions about God and faith. We invited children to send their questions to the Pentecostal Evangel. Their questions may be worded simply, but they force us to explore some of the most profound truths. We’ve attempted to provide answers that can build your faith and also be shared with your children.

Watch for these over the next 10 days on this blog.

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I have heard that the unpardonable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? How can I be sure I have not committed it?

“Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men,” Jesus said, “but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven” (Matthew 12:31, NIV). Forgiveness was available even for those who tortured and killed Jesus (Acts 3:13-20). What can be so horrible that it eliminates the possibility of God’s mercy and forgiveness from a person’s life?

Since God is “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), individuals must close and lock the door to God’s love themselves. They do so by hardening their heart to God’s Spirit who seeks to draw them to Jesus for spiritual rebirth (John 3:5-8). This doesn’t happen in one impulsive moment, but by a lifetime of willful, deliberate rejection of the Spirit’s pursuit. This can create such spiritual and moral darkness that people call good evil (Isaiah 5:20) or attribute God’s works of deliverance through Jesus to Satan (Mark 3:22).

People who worry about the possibility of having committed this sin demonstrate by their concern they have not irrevocably hardened their hearts toward God.

Stephen Lim

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The Bible says we should keep and honor the Sabbath on the seventh day. Then why do we go to church on the first day of the week?

The following answer is taken from “Observing the Sabbath,” a document endorsed by the Assemblies of God’s Commission on Doctrinal Purity and the Executive Presbytery.

Over the years, attitudes in the Assemblies of God toward observing the Sabbath or the Lord’s Day have modified noticeably. In earlier days of the Movement, people refrained from athletic activities, entertainment pursuits, reading secular magazines and newspapers, and accepting jobs requiring Sunday work. Those standards, in some cases, may have been too legalistic, but we are in danger today of missing the real significance of “Sabbath rest.”

In Hebrew, the word Sabbath means “rest” and comes from the verb meaning “to cease.” One of the Ten Commandments reads, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8; Deuteronomy 5:12). The reason for this commandment is that God wants His people to rest or cease from their normal work schedules. Jesus tells us that God instituted Sabbath observance for man’s benefit (Mark 2:27). God set the example by “resting” on the seventh day of the creation week (Genesis 2:2-3).

In the New Testament, the Sabbath commandment is the only one of the Ten Commandments that is not mentioned as binding upon Christians. The spiritual significance of the Old Testament Sabbath was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who gives spiritual rest to those who acknowledge Him (Matthew 11:28-29; Hebrews 4:1-11).

The New Testament indicates the early Christians gathered for worship on Sunday, the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). Jesus’ disciple John called it “the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10). For those Christians who lived in New Testament days, Sunday worship was a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus which took place on the first day of the week (Luke 24:1). While we are not commanded to observe Sunday as the specific day of rest and worship, the principle of the Sabbath is that one day in seven should be set aside for physical and spiritual renewal.

Read the document in its entirety here.

For those with a tendency to criticize Sunday as a day of rest and worship, consider these verses:

Romans 14:4-6 (NIV)

Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

Colossians 2:16-17 (NIV)

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Ken Horn

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Doesn’t Jeremiah 10:3-4 forbid the use of a Christmas tree as a pagan practice?: “For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple” (NKJV).

On the surface, it sounds like that’s what this is saying. But one of the most common errors in Bible study is made on this passage… not reading the context. Simply reading the surrounding verses of a problem passage will usually solve the problem.

Jeremiah 10 has been taken out of context for years. It does not refer to a Christmas tree but to the making of an idol. Verse 5 says he can’t speak … that’s because he has a mouth that has been carved in wood. Verse 8 calls the subject a “worthless wooden idol.” The Christmas tree has a much later … and valid … tradition for use by Christians in the season celebrating the birth of Christ.

Ken Horn

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Does the Assemblies of God accept more than one Bible translation?

Today it is safe to say that other translations besides the King James Version have found a well-deserved place in many Assemblies of God homes and churches. Some of these are the 1973 NIV, the New King James Version (NKJV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), and the Revised American Standard Bible (RASB). These, like the King James Version, are produced by committees of scholars. Of course, all versions have strengths and weaknesses. To simplify the choice of versions in curricular materials and headquarters publications, the Assemblies of God has officially approved two versions: the King James Version and the New International Version. Other versions are also quoted, but their use is always identified after the quotation.

From an official statement of the Assemblies of God. Read the complete text here.

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