Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 11065 Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12 that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness.” The Christian life is not a gentle stroll toward improvement — it is described in the New Testament with the language of warfare, struggle,…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 11066 There is a kind of spiritual fatigue that is not produced by overwork but by accumulation — the weight of sin that has been noticed but not confessed, the prompting that has been registered but set aside, the quiet conviction that has been managed rather than acted on. Many Christians carry more of…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 11067 Paul’s command to “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16) and his instruction to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25) assume a kind of moment-by-moment awareness of the Spirit’s presence and movement. The New Testament pictures the Christian life as one lived in ongoing, conscious dependence on a divine person who dwells…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 11071 This question cuts right to the heart of Christian living and witness. We live in an age where people often pit truth against love, as though you must choose one or the other. “Speaking the truth is unloving,” some say. Others counter, “Love without truth is meaningless.” But Scripture never presents us with…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 8044 Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that “we are not ignorant of his designs” carries the implication that there is something to know — that Satan does not operate randomly but follows recognisable patterns that careful attention to Scripture can identify. The word translated “designs” or “devices” in various versions is the Greek…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 8032 The question sounds almost mundane, but the biblical answer reveals something important about the structure of the unseen world and the scope of demonic activity. Demons do not occupy a single location; Scripture describes them operating across different spheres, with different conditions applying to different categories of these beings. The Heavenly Realms Paul’s…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 8034 Reports of disturbing physical manifestations attributed to demonic presence have circulated throughout church history and continue into the present, ranging from objects moving to visible apparitions. Understanding what Scripture actually says about demons and physical form requires distinguishing carefully between what angels can do, what demons appear to do, and what the biblical…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 09113 There is a version of Protestant Christianity that treats Bible interpretation as an entirely private affair between the individual believer and the text, with no mediating role for community, history, or accountability. This sits uneasily with what Scripture actually teaches about the body of Christ, the distribution of gifts for the building up…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 7088 The question points to something that genuinely puzzles thoughtful believers. If all sins are forgiven at conversion, why does John write in 1 John 1:9 that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins”? Who is the “we” in that verse if not believers? And if…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 7089 “Born again” is perhaps the most widely used and widely misunderstood phrase in the Christian vocabulary. It has been reduced to a cultural label, adopted as a denominational identifier, and stripped by popular usage of almost all its theological content. Which is unfortunate, because what Jesus actually said to Nicodemus in John 3…