Individual questions and answers from Ask Pastor Mike Live episodes.
No. Many biblical prophecies have been fulfilled, especially those concerning Christ’s first coming. Promises about the Davidic Messiah and the prophet like Moses find their fulfillment in Jesus, and the Gospels deliberately show his connection to David’s line. Other predictions remain future. Christ has not yet returned to receive his people, the unparalleled tribulation described …
The word translated “servant” in Luke 17 is doulos, a strong term that can mean slave. In Jesus’ illustration, the servant belongs to the master and performs the assigned work without treating ordinary obedience as a favor for which the master is indebted. The picture helps Christians understand grace and duty. Sinners deserve judgment, yet …
The trumpet language in 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation marks decisive moments in God’s eschatological timetable. Like Revelation’s seals and bowls, it communicates that God is moving his plan into its next stage; readers should be cautious about treating every image as a prediction of a literal sound heard in ordinary acoustical terms. First Corinthians …
Genesis and Exodus identify Shaul in Simeon’s family line as the son of a Canaanite woman. The statement is noteworthy because Israel was repeatedly warned against intermarriage with Canaanite idolaters, whose influence could draw God’s people away from faithful worship. The description does not mean that every individual Canaanite was equally evil, nor does it …
The claim that women are “living water” is not a biblical doctrine. Revelation’s symbolic woman who gives birth to the Messiah represents Israel in that vision; the passage is not defining women generally or identifying femininity with the water of life. Scripture does affirm the equal worth and interdependence of men and women. Humanity cannot …
The Hebrew Bible and the Protestant Old Testament contain the same thirty-nine books, but they group and arrange them differently. The Hebrew collection is traditionally organized as the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings; the initials of the Hebrew names for those sections form the word Tanakh. English Bibles use another logical arrangement. The difference …
Christians should distinguish fear of divine judgment from a natural concern about dying. Fear of pain, a difficult medical process, unfinished responsibilities, or the grief one’s death will cause loved ones is understandable. God has built appropriate caution into human beings so that they do not treat danger carelessly. A believer does not need to …
The Christian’s final hope is not an everlasting disembodied existence away from earth. Revelation 21 describes the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven and announces that God’s dwelling place is with humanity. Heaven and earth are brought together under Christ’s rule. Revelation 11 says that the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of the …
Hebrews 12 calls believers to take the struggle against sin seriously. The readers had experienced hardship, but they had not yet resisted sin at the cost of their lives. Christ obeyed the Father through suffering and bloodshed, and earlier believers endured imprisonment, confiscation of property, persecution, and martyrdom rather than abandon faithfulness. The verse exposes …
Revelation 22:17 does not, by itself, establish a conflict with Reformed theology. The verse first portrays the Spirit and the bride—the church—saying, “Come,” which fits the church’s prayer for Christ to return. It then extends the invitation for the thirsty to receive the water of life without price. The precise concern behind the question needs …
Human beings remain responsible for their own sinful choices. James 1 explains that temptation works through our own desires: a person is lured, enticed, and then chooses to act. Satan does not remove human responsibility or force someone to sin. Satan’s role is that of the tempter and deceiver. Genesis 3 shows him questioning God’s …
Replacement Theology is a serious disagreement for someone convinced that Romans 11 teaches a future for ethnic Israel. An even more fundamental warning sign is a pastor who rarely addresses sin and repentance. The gospel begins with humanity’s sin and God’s command that all people repent, so those themes should regularly appear in faithful preaching. …
Yes. Scripture presents the Antichrist as a world ruler whose authority and influence will be recognized broadly, so he will not be an obscure or merely regional figure. Modern media makes it easy to imagine his image and speeches appearing on screens throughout the world. The Bible does not specify the technology or say that …
The Bible’s purpose is to reveal God, sin, redemption, and his saving plan—not to provide a technical lesson in geometry or geophysics. Asking for a list of verses that proves the earth’s shape is a category mistake, much like asking Scripture to explain the internal-combustion engine. Passages about the earth’s “four corners” or its being …
Assurance should not rest merely on having stopped certain outward or “major” sins. Christians continue to battle sins of speech, attitude, and the heart, and genuine faith responds to Christ with repentance and a growing willingness to obey. A believer who knows that Christians are commanded not to forsake assembling with the church, yet deliberately …
The Old Testament Sabbath was a covenant sign between God and Israel, like circumcision and the ceremonial laws concerning priests, sacrifices, festivals, and food. Hebrews teaches that those shadows find their fulfillment in Christ; the church is not commanded to keep Israel’s seventh-day Sabbath. Christians worshiped on the Lord’s Day—Sunday—from the New Testament era because …
The word “missional” has been used in different ways, so Christians should define it rather than assume everyone means the same thing. In some settings it emphasized community improvement and social-justice projects while neglecting the message of salvation. Good works can help neighbors, but they do not save anyone apart from the biblical gospel of …
James’s quotation of Amos 9 in Acts 15 shows that the salvation of Gentiles is consistent with God’s revealed plan. Through Christ, Gentile believers already receive the spiritual blessings promised through Abraham’s offspring. That inclusion does not require concluding that the church has replaced Israel or exhausted every physical promise made to Israel. The fallen …
Christians should expect unfairness and opposition in a fallen world, but not every broken relationship or conflict is persecution for following Christ. Before drawing that conclusion, honestly examine whether your own conduct has contributed to the response you are receiving. Because visible Christian symbols and public professions identify you with Jesus, your behavior should represent …
The Bible gives no good reason to think that deceased believers routinely watch the details of life on earth. Passages about the intermediate state direct attention to the realities of that realm, not to the dead acting as spectators or interacting with the living. Scripture also strictly forbids attempts to communicate across that boundary. The …
In early Old Testament usage, the “book of life” is an illustration of biological life. A living person is pictured as being recorded in God’s book, while being blotted out refers to physical death. This helps explain texts such as Exodus 32 and Psalm 69 without treating every use of the phrase as a direct …
When Christians wrong someone, they should confess the sin, repent, and ask for forgiveness. Although “apology” is not the Bible’s usual term, a truthful apology is part of taking responsibility and seeking reconciliation. Scripture calls believers to confess sins to one another and make an honest effort to repair broken relationships. The injured person should …
The Christian life is a long-distance race, and lasting endurance requires the means God provides. Scripture feeds and encourages believers to persevere, so move beyond a few familiar verses and regularly take in the deeper substance of God’s Word. Do not attempt the struggle in isolation. Run alongside faithful Christians through active participation in a …
Historic and dispensational premillennialists agree that Christ will return before a future thousand-year kingdom and that God will fulfill his promises to national Israel. Their major difference concerns the sequence of events surrounding Daniel’s seventieth week, the tribulation, and the rapture of the church. Dispensational premillennialism sees a gap after Daniel’s sixty-ninth week and expects …
Scripture never directly states that Adam and Eve repented and trusted God’s promised redemption, so we cannot be certain about their eternal state. Their being the first human sinners would not, however, place them beyond God’s grace. Every saved person is a transgressor whose acceptance depends on mercy rather than personal innocence. Several details suggest …
The authoritative preaching and pastoral office in the gathered church is assigned to qualified men in Scripture. This pattern is stated in New Testament teaching, modeled by Jesus and the apostles, and rooted in the created order rather than in a temporary cultural preference. Titus 2:15 describes pastoral proclamation as declaring, exhorting, and rebuking with …
The Roman Catholic Church regards Peter as the first pope, appealing especially to Jesus’ words in Matthew 16: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” The Protestant reading sees the passage’s wordplay as directing attention to Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, rather …
The Bible does not give a specific command for or against colonizing the moon, Mars, or another planet. The question should therefore be evaluated through wisdom rather than presented as though Scripture supplies a direct policy. Humanity’s mandate to exercise dominion over creation is broad enough to include exploring and developing places beyond Earth. Nothing …
The New Testament supports both a plurality of qualified elders and recognizable leadership among those elders. “Elder,” “overseer,” and “pastor” describe the same church office, and every man holding that office must be able to teach and defend sound doctrine. Equality of office does not require rotating or leaderless administration. Timothy in Ephesus and Titus …
Do not accuse someone of financial misconduct merely because of a feeling. Serious allegations require facts, reasons, and evidence. A subjective sense of conviction is not enough to begin an investigation or damage another person’s reputation. Biblical conviction is reliable when Scripture has already made the duty clear—for example, turning from a known sin or …