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51. Why did John the Baptist deny that he was Elijah when Jesus said he was Elijah?
52. If Jesus died just before the Sabbath and was resurrected just after, why did He claim that He would remain dead for three days and three nights?
53. Who are we to believe, Paul or James? Paul says we are saved by faith alone, James that faith without works is dead.
54. Will the ark of the covenant ever be found?
55. Are angels real or fantasy?
51. Why did John the Baptist deny that he was Elijah when Jesus said he was Elijah?
Jesus referred to John the Baptist by saying, "If you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come." Yet, when the priests and Levites asked John the Baptist directly. "Are you Elijah?" he replied. "I am not."
The resolution comes from recognizing that the Old Testament predicts that Elijah comes back twice, once in connection with Christ's incarnation and later before Christ's return as judge and king.
In the case of the second coming, Malachi 4 says that Elijah will return personally, in the flesh. No such specific statement, however, is made for the first coming. Luke 1 records that an angel told Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, that his son would "go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah! 'This was the same description used for Elijah's assistant and successor, Elishah. Though Elishah and Elijah were clearly different individuals, Elishah was acknowledged as one who ministered with the spirit and power of Elijah. John the Baptist likewise was not the person of Elijah, but he did minister with the zeal and message of Elijah, calling everyone to repent.
And, as far as we know, unlike John, Elijah didn’t eat bugs as part of his diet (although it may have taken the spirit and zeal of Elijah to pull that one off. :)
52. If Jesus died just before the Sabbath and was resurrected just after, why did He claim that He would remain dead for three days and three nights?
Jesus did die just hours before the beginning of the Sabbath, and He rose bodily from the dead just hours after the end of the Sabbath. It would seem as though He could not have been dead any more than about thirty-six hours. But, Jesus Himself predicted that He would remain in the grave for three days and three nights just as Jonah had remained inside a great fish for three days and three nights.
This problem becomes a non-problem by recognizing that Jesus was crucified in one of those Jewish calendar weeks containing not one Sabbath day, but two. (Thinking cap time!) Jesus, the Lamb of God, was crucified during Passover. Passover begins on the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month. Passover week begins with a special Sabbath and ends with a special Sabbath, not necessarily on the regular Sabbaths. In the year of Jesus' death, there must have been a Passover Sabbath on Thursday and the regular Sabbath Saturday. If Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, and rose from the dead before Sunday dawned, He would have been in the grave from Thursday through Saturday - three days and three nights just as He predicted. (sorry Good Friday adherents!)
53. Who are we to believe, Paul or James? Paul says we are saved by faith alone, James that faith without works is dead.
Believe both.
We are saved the instant we put our complete trust in the work that Jesus performed for us in dying for our sin and in conquering death through His resurrection. That is what faith is all about. That is Paul’s point.
But, beyond that moment, a person's faith, if genuine, will bear fruit in certain noticeable changes. That is James' point. The evidence that faith in Jesus Christ has indeed been exercised is a changed life. When a person receives salvation through faith, the Holy Spirit takes up residence within that individual and begins step-by-step to transform that person into the character of Christ. Part of that transformation process is the outpouring of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, etc., expressed in action and in relationship to other people.
At the moment of salvation only God knows that the faith of the individual is genuine. For the rest of us, it takes time and evidence of Christ-like character to know whether or not a person has truly exercised faith in Christ. As James puts it, "I will show you my faith by what I do." He doesn't need to show God - God already knows.
54. Will the ark of the covenant ever be found?
We’ve seen it in a movie, therefore it must be true. :)
An activity taking place in a Jerusalem institute to restore all the temple articles of worship might suggest a “yes” as well. But let's see what the Bible has to say.
In a prophecy concerning the second return of Jews to Israel to rebuild a Jewish state, Jeremiah (third chapter) says:
"In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land, men will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the Lord.' It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made."
It appears that we are in "those days," since Israel today exists as a Jewish state, rebuilt for a second time. And, though the text does not explicitly state that the ark of the covenant will never be found, it does say that it will not be missed or rebuilt. This indicates that when the Jews restore the worship practices of the Levitical priesthood, those practices will include neither the original ark of the covenant nor a rebuilt one. And as far as anyone knows, that Jerusalem institute has no plans to reconstruct the ark of the covenant.
55. Are angels real or fantasy?
We now have scientific evidence to establish that the cause of the universe must lie outside of the matter, energy, space, and time of the universe. That is, the universe came into existence through a Being who transcends our physical reality. In fact. through measurements of over a dozen features of the universe, we now see tangible evidence for some of His characteristics. The evidence completely agrees with Biblical statements about God's existence and extra-dimensional operations. On this basis and on the evidence of perfectly fulfilled prophecy and of predicted scientific discoveries, we have reason for complete trust in the Bible's accuracy and authority.
The Bible declares that God is not alone in non-physical reality. He created angels to live there with Him. Some are obedient to Him; a large minority rebelled. Angels, good and evil, explain many manifestations of non-physical reality documented in human experience. Examples of the good include supernatural protection from harm, and examples of the evil include UFO encounters that release energy but leave no physical artifacts (and maybe the fact that the Anaheim Angels have never won the pennant.)
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FAQs 51-55
