Here are some questions I’ve been asked recently on the street.

CAN I BE SAVED IF I’VE ALREADY SOLD MY SOUL TO THE DEVIL?

Selling your soul to the devil is an absolutely meaningless transaction! If you’re not a Christian, the devil already has your soul! For a sinner, selling your soul to the devil has just as much meaning as for me to promise the devil that I will be male for the rest of my life.  You can’t become what you already are. A sinner is already under the sway of the wicked one until he receives Jesus and changes kingdoms from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God’s dear son, Jesus Christ.

So again, such deals with the devil for one’s soul are meaningless, and I told the young man who asked that of course he could be saved if he would give his life to Jesus. The devil does not have the power to enforce his phony deal.

DO GOOD JEWS OR GOOD MUSLIMS WHO DON’T RECEIVE JESUS GO TO HELL?

Yes.

Jesus said that no man comes to the Father except by Him.  That means that any Jew or Muslim (or Unitarian, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, etc.) who does not become born again by receiving Jesus will go to hell. Jesus said that you must be born again, and you won’t see God’s kingdom if you aren’t. I don’t believe He lied about that.

No one is good enough on his own for heaven because if you just sin once, you might as well have broken the whole Law, as James said.

WHAT DOES JESUS BEING BEATEN UP AND KILLED HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING TODAY?

It’s the fact that He did is as our Substitute.  He took the punishment we deserved for our sins.  It’s as if you got a parking ticket and someone else wrote a check to you for it so that it won’t have to come out of your account.

THEN DOESN’T THAT MEAN THAT EVERYONE IS SAVED?

No, the Bible says that as many as RECEIVE Him become the children of God. God has made an OFFER of forgiveness and new birth, but it must be received by every individual. It is not automatic.  It’s as if Jesus had written you a check for that parking ticket. You don’t have to earn it or deserve it…but you do have to go cash it. Otherwise you have to pay up yourself.  Everyone’s salvation has been paid for, but not all receive it.

HOW COULD JESUS DIE FOR SINS I HADN’T EVEN COMMITTED YET WHEN I HADN’T EVEN BEEN BORN?

God doesn’t inhabit time like we do. He can tell you the future like you could tell someone the past because He already knows it.  He even told us some of what lies ahead, and it is all sure to happen, because in a manner of speaking, He’s already “been there!” God knew all the sins  you would commit before you were even born and sent Jesus to pay for all of them.  It’s beyond natural comprehension for us, so I’m glad that God said to repent and believe the gospel, not repent and intellectually comprehend the gospel.

IF JESUS IS GOD’S SON, HOW CAN HE BE GOD?  I’M MY FATHER’S SON, SO I CAN’T BE MY FATHER!

This is another mystery we have to understand by faith – that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three Persons, but are all God.  You can liken it to dihydrogen oxide. So what is dihydrogen oxide?  It’s water. But it’s also ice. It’s also water vapor. Three things that have different characteristics and functions in the world, yet all are the same substance, H₂O.