Let's Talk – Teens

Why do Christians still sin?

A good question – if a person repents from their sins and God forgives those sins than how can Christians still struggle with sin? The answer is simple; we still live in the same sinful bodies as we did before we were Christians. We were born into sin and when we become Christians our sins are forgiven. So when we die and we stand before God, He can say that we are without sin, you may enter heaven.

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal (sinful), sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not; for what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that I do. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.

Romans 7:14-15; 17

Paul, who wrote these verses, was frustrated that though he hated sin he found himself sinning. And the things that he should do, he found it difficult to do.

To be honest, some Christians are lousy at being Christians. Sometimes Christians are spiritually lazy, and don’t care if they sin. Sometimes Christians don’t understand that they can tap into God’s power in their lives and say no to sin.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.

James 4:7

There are new Christians who don’t know how yet to be Godly. Sometimes it takes a few years to be good at being a Christian. Some new Christians miss the sinful world that they left and want to “play around” with that sin.

All Christians should have a desire to live a life that honors God. They should have knowledge of the Bible well enough to know what to do and what not to do in most situations. They should have a relationship through prayer that gives them power through God’s love to say no to sin. They should hate evil and love what is right.

That is a lot of things we should do, but to be honest, living an upright life is hard work and Satan loves to mess up our Christian life so that we will be an ineffective witness for Christ. Christians will always struggle with sin until they are in heaven.

Why did God create the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

God demands love that is real. The only way to accomplish this is an option not to love. God did not create robots that are programmed to love God. Man had to choose to love God and the only way to choose to love God is a choice made available not to love God. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil provided that choice.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Genesis 2:15-17

Who is in charge of morality? Who says what is right and wrong?

There was a time in history when mankind had no absolute morality. No one outside of man dictated what was right and wrong. This was before the establishment of government and its laws to protect its people and the structure of society.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 6:5

Who is in charge of morality? It can’t be people or governments because everyone was born into sin, so how can we even know what morality is? Stalin thought it was right to create a manmade famine that killed millions of Ukrainians. Hitler and his Nazi government thought they were doing right when they killed millions of Jews and other “undesirables”. The Bible tells us what is right and wrong because only a holy God knows what absolute morality is, and being God, it is He who dictates what is right and what is not.

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

Proverbs 14:34

Were Stalin and Hitler wrong in what they did? If people write the rules, then it is only your opinion that what they did was wrong. What makes your opinion more valid than theirs? Mankind needs someone greater and better than they to say what is right and what is wrong.

For the Lord gives wisdom and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair, every good path.

Proverbs 2:6; 9

Where was the Garden of Eden located?

Sorry, but there is no way to know where the Garden of Eden was. Here’s why… when Noah’s worldwide flood occurred it destroyed and changed the complete surface of the earth. Plus it is quite possible that the original single land mass at the time of creation was split apart into the continents during the flood. There is a verse that does explain some rivers that flowed through the garden before the flood.

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden. A river watering

the garden flowed from Eden from there it was separated into four headwaters.

The name of the first is the Pishon, it winds through the entire land of Havilah,

where there is gold. The name of the second river is the Gihon, it winds through

the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris, it runs along

the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Genesis 2:8-14

There is no place on earth today where there are four rivers with those names coming together as described in the text. Then, you ask, why do we find the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers in the Middle East today? People would often name rivers with familiar names that they would already know. There are names given to rivers here in America that are also names of rivers in United Kingdom; the Thames River in Connecticut, the Severn River in Maryland and the Trent River in North Carolina.

In a similar way, when Noah and his family came out of the ark after it landed, it would not have been unusual for them to use names they were familiar with from the pre-Flood world (the Tigris and Euphrates), to name places and rivers in the world after the Flood.

When did Satan fall?

Satan sinned when he became prideful and wanted to be like God. Read the passage about Satan.

How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; … I will make myself like the Most High”.

Isaiah 14:12-14

When Satan sinned he was cast out of heaven. No one knows for sure the time of this event, but the common thinking is that this had to be after day 6 of creation because God created everything good, and Satan’s rebellion would not have been good. Plus, it had to be after God created earth because that is where Satan was cast to. In Genesis 1:28, God commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. If they waited too long they would have disobeyed God. So it could not have been very long after the creation week that Satan fell and tempted Eve.

What is the most important thing Satan wants to do?

What Satan wants most of all is to weaken Christians, to make them ineffective witness for Jesus Christ. It is true that Satan wants the ultimate destruction of all people, but he does not have to work that hard for those who have not asked Jesus to forgive them of their sins. They are already going to be punished in hell. It’s those Christians, the children of God that Satan is focused on. Satan works very hard at convincing Christians not to take the Word of God seriously. If Satan can get Christians away from knowing Biblical truth, away from understanding how to live a life that pleases God, away from church where Christians can encourage teach, and serve one another, then it is very easy to make them shallow, self-serving and ineffective. Then sin is not such a big deal, but just a mistake or bad judgement. Or worse; it is not a sin at all. You can get drunk, just don’t do it often. Live together before marriage, everybody else does it so it can’t be wrong. Steal money out of the cash box at work; that’s fine as long as it’s under 10 bucks. And you can swear if it’s only 20 times a day.

Satan knows that God uses the body of Christ, Christians, to bring Him glory and bring others to salvation through the work of Jesus. That can’t happen if His children do not know scripture, think praying is boring, and have no problem with sin. Yes, Satan tempts all people to sin, but nonbelievers are easy game. Satan really enjoys tempting Christians and is succeeding.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…

1 Peter 5:8-9b

Another way Satan weakens Christians is to plant false Christians among real ones. These false believers try to offer a false gospel to turn people’s hearts away from Jesus. These false Christians will also steer our minds away from the truthfulness of the Bible. Christians need to know His Word so well that when false teaching comes Christians will know that it is false. Unfortunately some of these false Christians teach at our colleges and write books that are read by millions. Christians need to question all teaching and compare that teaching with what is taught in the Bible.

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Acts 17:11

Christians need to realize that there is a spiritual battle going on. God wants strong, faithful and knowledgeable children and Satan wants weak, fearful and ignorant Christians. Satan does not want the world to know God and His plan of salvation, he does not want God to be honored by the love Christians share. So Satan fights and attacks Christians by convincing Christians that God is small and His Word is not needed.

What is a Biblical worldview?

A Biblical worldview is when your beliefs line up or agree with what the Bible clearly teaches. Christians disagree on certain topics found within the Bible; for example, water, infant or Spirit baptism. You can have a Biblical worldview and still disagree with points from within the Bible. Christians can still be Christians but not have a Biblical worldview. This happens when you bring topics from outside of the Bible and try to put them in the Bible. God using evolution as part of His creation process is an example. Evolution is a belief of origin from the secular humanistic religion. It is not science because it was never observed, or witnessed. Plus, knowing the complex structure of the cell and the impossibility of adding new information to DNA, we know that evolution is not scientifically possible.

All religions will bring you to God is another example. God created, man sinned, God set up a rescue plan to save mankind. But God planned one rescue plan and that plan was with His Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

To have a Biblical Worldview you need to know God’s Word and trust it to be true and accurate. You need to believe that Scripture is without error. Every time a Bible critic points to a perceived wrong, you need to believe that the Bible is right and the critic is in error. When the society believes a sin is not a sin, do not join with society but stay with Biblical truth.

The mind of sinful man is death but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Romans 8:6-7

The more time that you spend studying and thinking about Scripture, the stronger your Biblical Worldview will be. If you want your thinking to line up with God’s, you have to know what God is thinking. Then when certain situations come, you can handle them with Godliness because you have a strong Biblical Worldview.

And this is my prayer; that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. Philippians 1:9

What does the Bible tell us about Astronomy?

… as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.

Jeremiah 33:22b

When this was written, 2,500 years ago, no one knew how vast the stars were, since only about 1,100 were visible. Now we know that there are billions of stars, and that they cannot be counted.

The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another, and star differs from star in splendor.

1 Corinthians 15:41

The Bible tells us that each star is unique. All stars look alike to the naked eye. Even when seen through a telescope, they still seem to be just points of light. However, thanks to modern science, close examination of their light spectra reveals that each is different from all others.

Long before the Hubble Space Telescope was available, the Bible spoke of both ‘the heavens and the highest heavens. Today we know that there are vast reaches in space, with galaxies and clusters of galaxies- ‘the highest heavens’.

To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.

Deuteronomy 10:14

In speaking of the sun, the psalmist (800 B.C.) said this…

It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.

Psalm 19:6

For many years critics scoffed at this verse, claiming it taught that the sun revolves around the earth. Scientists at that time thought the sun was stationary. However, it has been discovered in recent years that the sun is in fact moving through space at approximately 600,000 miles per hour. It is traveling through the heavens and has a “circuit” just as the Bible says. Its circuit is so large that it would take approximately 200 million years to complete one orbit.

It is interesting to note that scientists are beginning to understand that the universe is expanding or stretching out.

He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the Heavens like a tent.

Psalm 104:2

What does the Bible say about dinosaurs?

You won’t find the word dinosaur in the Bible because dinosaur was first used in the 1800’s to describe huge bones of reptiles that were being discovered. The King James Bible was translated 200 years earlier and used another word to describe this animal; that word was dragon. The dragons in the Bible was not a mythical beast but a real animal viewed by people in real time in actual places.

Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength; thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

Psalm 74:13

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

Isaiah 51:9

In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent, and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Isaiah 27:1

There are sources outside the Bible that shows the historical truthfulness of God’s Word. There are historical records from Europe in the 1500’s of dragons in their science books and in China at the time of Jesus having written records of dragons, even royal dragon keepers. The Greek philosopher, Aristotle wrote that during his own life there were common reports of winged serpents in Ethiopia. The Jewish historian Josephus also wrote of flying serpents at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. The Bible is The Word of God and can be trusted historically.

What does it mean to fear God? I thought we were supposed to love Him.

Yes, of course, we are to love God, but we are also to fear him. But to fear God means that we are to honor and revere God to the point where we fear not to obey him. Let’s take the police as an example. We respect the authority that the police have over us so that when we see a police car while driving we automatically check how fast we are going. It is a healthy fear that keeps us from driving over the speed limit. Knowing that God is in authority over us and that God is God, the supreme ruler and king over His creation, we need to constantly be aware of His authority over us. Too many of us take a casual approach to God, thinking that God is loving, merciful and will forgive all our sins. And that thinking is correct, but we need to also look at God as a righteous judge who will judge the people according to the deeds they have done. God is holy and merciful. He will love and He will judge.

And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 10:12

What does it mean to be humble?

Being humble is doing something great without anyone knowing, and then being ok about it. Example: you’re the best basketball player on the team, but never realizing it. You painted a fantastic picture but gave the credit to the one who taught you how to paint.

Being humble is a quiet strength that does not desire to be the center of attention. It does not need people’s approval to feel good about yourself. You want to listen and learn from those who know more than you do. You work hard at understanding where people are at. You help others because it is helpful to that person, not because you will get something in return. You care for people so that there is more caring in this world. You encourage others so that they will be encouraged. Humility is not self-centered, but focuses on the needs of others.

God loves when we are humble.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interest, but also to the interest of others.

Philippians 2:3-4

Take a close look at those verses. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition”; you made the winning touchdown in your school’s football game. Your excitement, however, comes from the fact that the team played well and they are celebrating the team’s victory not your winning touchdown. “…but in humility consider others…”; you’re excited about hanging out with your friends, but Mom reminded you that you promised to visit Grandma. You can hang out with your friends another day, go visit Grandma. “…you should look not only to your own interest, but the interest of others…” your little brother’s favorite T.V. show is on but you have the T.V. first and are watching one of your shows. You know what’s coming, yes, you let little brother watch his show.

Humility is a quiet obedient serving that comes from loving our God, and God’s love flowing through our lives.

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Matthew 23:12

What did Darwin get right?

Charles Darwin was a young naturalist when he visited the Galapagos Islands in the early 1800’s. For several weeks Darwin explored the islands taking notes and collecting specimens, especially birds. He noticed that a number of the islands had 1 or maybe 2 species of finches and that those species had developed their unique traits there, adapting to the specific conditions on each island, rather than arriving in their present form from somewhere else. Darwin was correct when he observed different variation within a created kind. His findings were based on observations in the present. What was the most intriguing was the different beak sizes among the different species. And the fact that the beak sizes would change over the generations of finches due to food changes because of droughts or excessive rain. What Darwin saw was natural selection at work producing slight changes to a species to help survive in a given environment.

Here is where Darwin was wrong. He thought that what he saw in natural selection, slight changes within species, would change species to a completely different kind of animal over long periods of time. Darwin’s assumptions in the case of the finches are often shown in science textbooks as an example of evolution in action, or the same process that brought about small-scale changes in finches, if given enough time, can bring about large scale changes that results in a completely different kind of animal.

If Darwin knew anything about information in the DNA and that you cannot add information to the DNA that evolution requires( fish adding information in the DNA to grow legs to evolve into a land animal), then he would not even have thought about one animal evolving into another animal. No matter how much time you have, information cannot be added to DNA. Darwin needed to stay with his observation on Finches’ beaks and attribute that to natural selection, something that is seen.

God has testified on how He created and His testimony is written as history in His Word the Bible.

And God said, “ Let the waters teem with living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds and every winged bird according to its kind.

Genesis 1:20-21