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Bible Questions
Where did the name Baptist come from? I'm not ashamed to be called a Baptist, however that is not where I put my emphasis. Anything I believe and teach, I can prove from the scripture (King James Bible). I'm not worried about what the Baptists teach, I care about what the Bible say. My church was founded in 33 AD on the day of Pentecost. I believe the same things which the apostles taught and agreed on after Acts 15 when they had their big meeting to discuss doctrine. True Christian have had many different names throughout history. At one time, they were called Christians, then Montanists, then Novatians, then Nestorians, then Euchites, then Donatists, then Paulicians, then Moravians, then Bogamiles, then Cathari, then Waldenses, then Anabaptists, then Protestants, then Baptists. In each of these cases, we did not give ourselves a name. The world, which hates us, gave us these names. At one point in history, the lost people realized real Christians weren't baptizing infants, but only adult believers. Because of this new rule about baptizing people, the lost people and heretics decided to call us "Baptists". That's simply a name. The things we believe and practice are as old as the apostle Paul.
Who should be baptized?
Anyone who has been saved should be baptized in water as an act of obedience and a public profession of their faith. Remember, baptism is not part of salvation. First salvation happens, and then baptism should follow afterwards. Elderly people can be baptized, as long as they have been born again. Babies should not be baptized, because they have not made a decision to trust Christ as their Saviour. For a thorough explanation of baptism, refer to the Baptism Lesson on our Free Bible Studies page.
What are tongues and should they be used in a church service?
In the Bible, there are three types of tongues. One is a babbling tongue (Ecclesiastes 10:11-only in the KJV English). This is a bad tongue and should never be used. Another type is the "other tongue" mentioned in the book of Acts (chapters 2, 10, 19). Lastly, there are "unknown tongues" talked about by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14 (again, you'll have to read the KJV to get the truth). Unfortunately, the Pentecostals make a horrible mistake and think that a babbling tongue was used by the apostles in the book of Acts. It was NOT! Let me briefly explain here. Other tongues are languages which the person speaking does not know but everyone listening knows. These happened on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4-11). The Jews that were present in Jerusalem when the apostles spoke understood EVERY WORD, therefore it was not a babbling tongue. They didn't even need an interpreter. Unknown tongues are languages which the one speaking knows perfectly, but the people listening do not know (that's why they are called "unknown". Even today, unknown tongues are used all over the world, even in churches. Here in Lilongwe, before I started preaching in Chichewa, I would preach in English and someone would interpret for me. English was an unknown tongue to those who only spoke Chichewa. So one answer is "yes", we should properly use unknown tongues in the churches (but you have to follow the rules found in 1 Corinthians 14:27-35). Other tongues, like the apostles used in Acts 2, were a miracle. Those tongues were used as a sign for the Jews (1 Cor 1:22 and 1 Cor 14:22). We do not use other tongues today because we are not ministering under the same circumstances as Peter and the other apostles were. God is primarily dealing with Gentiles now and not Jews. Therefore, the signs that were given for the Jews are not being used at this time either. Every Pentecostal church member I've ever met has no idea about the proper use of tongues and they usually break every rule concerning tongues each time they have a church service. We have a complete study of tongues on our Free Bible Studies page if you would like to know more about this subject.
Where is hell located? Hell is located in the middle of the earth. Keep in mind, hell and the lake of fire are NOT the same thing (see Rev 20:14, where hell is cast into the lake of fire). Jesus said in Matthew 12:40, "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." We know from Eph 4:8-9 that before Jesus ascended, he descended into the lower parts of the earth. The Bible says in Acts 2:31 that the soul of Jesus Christ was not left in hell. Therefore, when Jesus went down, he went to hell, which is found in the heart or middle of the earth. The Bible says in Proverbs 15:24, "The way of life is above to the wise, that they may depart from hell beneath." How many heavens are there? In 2 Cor 12:2, Paul said that he (his soul) went to the third heaven. Then in vs. 4 of that passage, he calls it paradise. These verses then indicate that paradise is now in the third heaven. I say "now" because in the Old Testament, paradise was in the heart of the earth. It was also called Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22). When Jesus died, he first descended into the lower parts of the earth and led captivity captive (Eph 4:8-9). When Jesus did that, he moved paradise from the heart of the earth into the third heaven. When Paul was caught up to the third heaven, he was evidently around the throne of God when he heard the words which were not lawful for a man to utter. Where else would he hear such words? So, the third heaven is the place of the throne of God. The second heaven is the solar system. It's the place of the sun, moon, and stars. You can see in Genesis 1:17, that God put those things in the firmament of the "heaven". This "heaven" is what we call the second heaven (notice I said "we call", not the Bible...we simply call it the second heaven because that properly explains the heaven which contains the sun, moon, and stars). The first heaven is our atmosphere. This is the place where the birds fly, the clouds float, and the rain falls. In Revelation 19:17, God talks about the "fowls that fly in the midst of heaven". There are no birds flying around the throne of God obviously. Those birds (or fowls) are the birds which move about in the first heaven, or our atmosphere. Literally, we can say that we breathe in part of the first heaven every day. If you want to see these three heavens in the Bible, you can study Psalms 148. In vs. 2, David says, "Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts." That's the third heaven. Then in vs. 3, "Praise ye him sun and moon; praise him, all ye stars of light." That's the second heaven. Then in vs. 7-14, David describes things found on the earth (which use the air of the first heaven) and the things that actually move about in the first heaven, like fowls, wind, snow, and vapours. That's the first heaven. If you want definite proof that their are multiple heavens, you can study Psalms 148:4, which says, "Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens." Obviously there has to be more than just one heaven, because the Bible talks about heavens, plural. So, what we have is two heavens, then a body of water above the second heaven, and then the throne of God (the third heaven) is found above the water. If you were wondering about water being above the second heaven, just read Genesis 1:6-7. "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so."
What is the sin unto death?
Obviously, there is a sin unto death because John told us that in 1 John 5:16. There is also a sin that is not unto death (vs. 17). The question is which sins are unto death and which sins are not? Each person has a different "sin unto death". There comes a point in every man's life when God says, "If you do one more thing, that's it, I won't tolerate you anymore." A clear example of this is found in Genesis 15:16. It's like having an empty cup and whenever you have filled it with sin, then that final sin that fills up the cup is the sin unto death. However, there may be some sins that fill up the cup faster than other sins (they take up more space in the cup). What sins are those? The answer is, "I'm not sure." I wish I could give you a list, but there isn't one.
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