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Jesus is our model. One trait of holy anger is sorrow. In Mark 3:5, the Lord was grieved. The implication of the Greek word translated as “grieved” is that His grief and sorrow were deep. In His holy anger, there was deep grief and sorrow for the hardness of the heart of these religious people. We could say that Jesus felt sorrow for the people. When we see people living in sin and unyielding to the overtures of God’s grace and compassion, it should break our hearts with sorrow and grief.
Winfred Neely
The Bible states that those who trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection will be with the Lord immediately upon death. The Lord told the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (a first-century Jewish word for Heaven; Luke 23:43). Paul states that when he died he would be with Jesus immediately (Phil. 1:21). He said he “would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). When followers of Jesus die, their immaterial spirit or soul goes to be with the Lord immediately.
Michael Rydelnik
Your observation is apt. Anyone reading the Psalms may be troubled to come upon passages where the writer implores God to punish his enemies in specific and sometimes violent ways. If we are honest though, in our heart of hearts, we may at times resonate with these passages. These are called the “Imprecatory Psalms,” calling for curses on the enemy (Psalms 5, 10, 17, 35, 58, 59, 69, and others).
Rosalie de Rosset
Forgiveness and forgetfulness are not the same thing. You may never forget the effect of someone’s injury against you. Remembering may even serve as an alert against being injured again in the same way. Christian theologian Lewis Smedes wrote, “If you forget, you will not forgive at all.” In fact, one forgives most completely when one has first fully acknowledged the depth and extent of the offense. That can be a long, reflective process that may or may not include the offender’s admission of wrong.
Rosalie de Rosset
Baptism is a significant step in the life of a believer. Often it is a time celebrated by friends, immediate and extended family, and church members. But, as you’ve noted, baptism takes various forms in different faith traditions.
Eric Redmond
We live in a fallen world that brings with it suffering and trials for all people (Job 3:17; Isa. 65:20). Both the faithful and the unfaithful experience the consequences of sin and the flaming arrows of the Evil One (Eph. 6:10–16).
Eric Redmond
This question is based on a common misinterpretation of Genesis 6:1–4. The text says, “[T]he sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful; and they married any of them they chose” (Gen. 6:2). These unions produced the “Nephilim,” a supposed race of evil giants that corrupted the earth (Gen. 6:4).
Michael Rydelnik
The simple answer is Moses. He wrote the entire Torah (the Law), also called the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy). The Lord Jesus described the Torah as “the Book of Moses” (Mark 12:26) and the apostle Paul said, “Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law” (Rom. 10:5) and then quotes from Leviticus 18:5. Some have objected that these references only refer to Moses as Lawgiver of the Sinai covenant and not as the author of Genesis. However, in John 7:22, the Lord Jesus stated that Moses had given the Jewish people circumcision, referring to Genesis 17:9–14. Further, Paul wrote in Romans 3:31–4:5 that justification by faith was taught in the Law and then quoted Genesis 15:6 as support. The point is that both the Lord Jesus and Paul said that Moses wrote the Torah and they included Genesis as a part of it.
Michael Rydelnik