Difficult Questions
Bible Topics Explained
Honest teaching on questions Christians debate
Held to Scripture, offered humbly, and written without attacking any church or denomination.
Open a question
10 questions, answered from Scripture
Each answer sets out the concern on both sides, the passages involved, and a practical conclusion.
If we are saved by grace, does obedience still matter?
The concern behind this question is real on both sides. Some fear that emphasising obedience turns the gospel into a system of earning. Others fear that emphasising grace produces people who claim Christ and live however they please.
Scripture refuses both errors. Paul is emphatic that salvation is a gift, not a wage, so that no one can boast. Yet the same Paul writes that the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live soberly and righteously. Grace is not merely pardon; it is also a teacher.
Jesus put it most simply: if you love me, keep my commandments. Obedience is presented as the natural response of love, not as the price of admission.
Key Bible passages
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
Ephesians 2:8 (KJV)
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”
Titus 2:11-12 (KJV)
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
John 14:15 (KJV)
Paul says not of works, and James says faith without works is dead. Which is it?
This is one of the oldest questions in the church, and it eases considerably once we notice that the two writers are answering different questions.
Paul is answering how a person is made right with God. His answer is by grace through faith, not of works, so that no one can boast. James is answering how you can tell whether a professed faith is alive. His answer is that a living faith shows itself in what a person does.
So the two are complementary rather than contradictory. Paul guards the root; James inspects the fruit. A tree is not made alive by producing fruit, but fruit is how you know it is alive.
Key Bible passages
“Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:9 (KJV)
“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
James 2:17 (KJV)
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.”
Ephesians 2:10 (KJV)
Is repentance required for salvation, or is believing enough?
Some worry that requiring repentance adds a work to the gospel. Others worry that a faith with no turning is not the faith the Bible describes.
The New Testament regularly places repentance and faith side by side, as two aspects of one turning rather than two separate transactions. Peter preached repent and be baptised. Paul testified of repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
It helps to define repentance carefully. It is not self-punishment, nor is it achieving sinlessness before God will accept you. It is a change of mind that becomes a change of direction: turning from sin and turning to Christ.
Key Bible passages
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.”
Acts 3:19 (KJV)
“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Acts 20:21 (KJV)
“Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of.”
2 Corinthians 7:10 (KJV)
How can a loving God also be a God of judgment?
Many people feel these two truths pull against each other. In Scripture they are held together without embarrassment, and the tension eases when we consider what love without judgment would actually mean.
A God who never judged would be a God who is finally indifferent to cruelty, exploitation, and abuse. That is not a kinder God; that is a God who does not care what happens to the vulnerable. Judgment is the form love takes when it confronts evil.
The cross is where both meet most clearly. God did not set aside justice in order to forgive; He satisfied it Himself. That is why forgiveness in Scripture is described as faithful and just rather than merely lenient.
Key Bible passages
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.”
Psalm 103:8 (KJV)
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.”
2 Corinthians 5:10 (KJV)
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise … not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)
Why does God allow suffering, especially to faithful people?
Scripture does not give one single answer, and we should be careful with anyone who claims it does. It gives several, and it also leaves genuine mystery in place.
Some suffering is the natural consequence of our own choices. Some comes from living in a broken world where disease and disaster fall on the just and the unjust alike. Some is opposition faced for following Christ. And some, as in the book of Job, is never explained to the sufferer at all.
What Scripture does promise is God's presence in it, His ability to work good through it, and a final day when He wipes away tears. It never promises that faithful people will be spared trouble. Jesus said plainly that in the world we would have tribulation.
This matters pastorally. Telling a suffering believer that they must lack faith is not biblical counsel, and it adds a wound to a wound.
Key Bible passages
“In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 (KJV)
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28 (KJV)
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life.”
James 1:12 (KJV)
How much attention should we give to spiritual warfare?
Two errors are common. One dismisses the spiritual realm entirely and explains everything by natural causes. The other sees a demon behind every difficulty and lives in constant fear or constant confrontation.
The New Testament takes evil seriously without giving it the centre of attention. Paul tells believers to put on the whole armour of God, and the pieces he lists are strikingly ordinary: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, Scripture, and prayer.
The stated aim is also modest and clear: that ye may be able to stand. Not to hunt for battles, but to remain standing when pressure comes. And the order in James is always submission to God first, then resistance.
Key Bible passages
“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
Ephesians 6:11 (KJV)
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7 (KJV)
“Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
1 John 4:4 (KJV)
Are Christians required to tithe, and how should ministries handle money?
Faithful Christians differ here. Some hold that the tithe, a tenth, continues as a standard for believers, pointing to its appearance before the law was given and to Malachi 3. Others hold that the New Testament nowhere commands a fixed percentage for the church, and instead teaches proportional, deliberate, cheerful giving.
What both sides agree on is worth stating plainly: giving is commanded, generosity is a mark of a Christian life, and those who teach are worthy of support. The New Testament pattern is that each person purposes in his own heart what to give, without pressure.
Scripture is also clear about how money must be handled by those who receive it. Leaders are not to be greedy of filthy lucre, and Paul took visible care that the offering he carried would be handled honestly in the sight of men as well as of God.
We hold this position openly: giving to Christ World Church is voluntary. We will never make giving a condition of prayer, teaching, salvation, or belonging, and we will never suggest that a gift purchases a miracle.
Key Bible passages
“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
2 Corinthians 9:7 (KJV)
“Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.”
2 Corinthians 8:21 (KJV)
“Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.”
1 Peter 5:2 (KJV)
Is online worship real worship, or must I attend a church building?
Jesus was asked a version of this question about location, and He moved the discussion from place to person: the Father seeks those who worship in spirit and in truth. Worship is not made valid by a postcode.
At the same time, Hebrews warns against forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, and it gives a reason: so that we may exhort one another. The concern is not attendance records; it is isolation. Christians are meant to be known, encouraged, corrected, and cared for by real people.
Both truths can be held honestly. Many people worship online because of distance, illness, disability, work shifts, persecution, caring duties, or a painful experience of church they are still recovering from. That worship is genuine, and it is not second class.
But online worship should lead you into fellowship rather than away from it. If you can be part of a faithful local church, we encourage it gladly and will happily help you find one.
Key Bible passages
“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.”
John 4:23 (KJV)
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another.”
Hebrews 10:25 (KJV)
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Matthew 18:20 (KJV)
Must I forgive someone who has not repented, and does forgiveness mean restoring the relationship?
These are two different questions, and confusing them has caused real harm, especially to people who have been abused.
Forgiveness is commanded, and it is chiefly about releasing the debt and refusing to carry bitterness. Jesus ties it directly to our own experience of being forgiven, and He does not make it conditional on the other person's response.
Reconciliation is a second and different thing. It requires two people, and Scripture assumes repentance and changed behaviour as part of it. Paul writes, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men, which quietly acknowledges that it may not always be possible.
Trust is a third thing again, and it is rebuilt over time through demonstrated change. Forgiving someone does not oblige you to return to an unsafe situation, and saying so is not unforgiveness.
Key Bible passages
“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
Matthew 6:14 (KJV)
“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”
Romans 12:18 (KJV)
“Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.”
Matthew 3:8 (KJV)
What can we actually know about the second coming of Christ?
Sincere Christians hold different views on the sequence and timing of end-time events, and these differences have divided people who otherwise agree on the gospel. It is worth holding our conclusions on the details with humility.
What Scripture states without ambiguity is this: Christ will return personally and visibly, the dead in Christ will rise, there will be a judgment, and He will make all things new.
It is equally clear about what we cannot know. Jesus said that of that day and hour knoweth no man, not the angels, nor the Son, but the Father. That should make us cautious of every date-setting scheme, and history has repeatedly vindicated that caution.
The New Testament consistently applies this doctrine to how we live now: be ready, be watchful, be found faithful in ordinary duties, and comfort one another with these words.
Key Bible passages
“This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
Acts 1:11 (KJV)
“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
Matthew 24:36 (KJV)
“Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
1 Thessalonians 4:18 (KJV)
Still wrestling with a question?
Write to us. We would rather talk it through honestly than pretend every question has an easy answer.