Expert: John Zalewski - 4/11/2011

Question
Dear John,
      I was once a catholic but when my mother was diagnosed with brain tumor, my relatives had influenced me to practise Buddhism.I had lost my faith in God, thinking why would He want me to suffer like this. So, I believed in the teachings of Buddha. However,after so many problems had occurred whereby my father had extra-marital affair and I had undergone an operation for the removal of 2 breast lumps. Recently, my mother is diagnosed with a recurrence of brain tumor and I myself had 2 breast lumps again at the same side. I was really troubled. I can't do this alone. I met a friend of mine who is a very strong christian. He told me that it is time for me to go back to Jesus.He explained and cleared some of my dooubts. But I had still a few questions. In Buddhism, we believe one deserves what one gets in this life depending on what one did the past life.For example, a baby child who born with anomalies or deformaties of the body structures, in Buddhism,we said it's because of the sins he/she did the past life. But what will it be the reason in christianity?Shouldn't be the Heavenly Father loves His children and never let this child suffer?Why some die and they can't even had a chance to grow up, and how can they approach Christ?Please help me to clear my doubts. Deep inside my heart, I know there is a Greatest one who controls the whole universe. But I am still clinging to the concepts of Buddhism which are logic and good values.Please tell me why should we believe in Christianity but not other religions like Buddhism? I want to surrender and seek help from Jesus as I can't do this alone.Hope you can help me.thanks.... God bless u.

Answer
Hello, Betty.

I am sorry for taking so long to respond.

You raise several points/questions, so I will try to answer all of them as best I can.

First of all, you ask why, according to Christianity, people are born with abnormalities or physical deformities. In John 9, God gives us part of the answer. Jesus shows us a man who was born from birth, and His disciples asked whether he, or his parents, had sinned, to bring this blindness upon him.

Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him (John 9:3).

Jesus then proceeds to heal this person's physical blindness, which spiritually points to salvation.

Now, there are not any physical healings by God in our day. However, this passage indicates that we're all like the blind man: we're basically all born blind. We're blind to spiritual truth, and we're dead in sins. It's only when Christ saves us, typified in this example by the man receiving his sight, that we receive our spiritual sight and eternal life.

Another reason people are born with these problems is that the entire human race is under the curse of God. When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, the curse came not only on Adam and Eve, not only on the creation, but on every human being (Genesis 3:17-19; Romans 5:12).

So, we all get 'what we deserve' in this life, because we're sinners, under the wrath of God. In fact, if God does save a person, it's totally by His mercy, and totally undeserved.

Your second question asserted that God should love His children, and never let them suffer. We have to define who God's children are. God's children are only those whom He has saved. These are the only ones for whom Christ has died. These are the elect of God (Ephesians 1).

The Bible also speaks of God's saved people as the 'sons of God.'

I John 3:1-2: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.

In fact, when we study the Bible further, we find that it teaches that God hates the sinner. Many teach that "God hates the sin, but He loves the sinner." This is not found in the Bible. What we read in Psalm 5:5, and Psalm 11:5, is that God hates the wicked. We don't like to hear that God hates the sinner, the person for whom their sins have not been paid, but this is what God teaches in the Bible.

Now, a person can ask why there is suffering amongst God's saved people, because even after salvation God's children still have infirmities, diseases, etc. The reason is because salvation is a two-step process. The first step in salvation is when God applies the Word of God to a person's heart, making him born again (John 3:3). This is the moment the person becomes saved, and he also is given a new heart (new soul), and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:25-27).

However, the saved person still has an unsaved body that will not be saved until the final day, the day of the Rapture (I Thessalonians 4:15-17; I Corinthians 15:51-53). So, until this transformation happens, the person will still be living in his old body, wherein the curse still abides. The body is still capable of sin and, in a sense, under God's wrath. This is why the body eventually dies and returns to the dust, even if the person inhabiting said body is a child of God.

You then asked why some die and don't have a chance to grow up. Again, this is because of the curse on mankind. God's curse was on every human, including babies, little children, and so-called 'innocent' people. Everybody is guilty, because everyone sins. Part of the curse includes physical death (Genesis 3:19), so it's not surprising that many people each year die as little children or babies, or even in the womb.

"Approaching" Christ is something that is totally, 100%, under God's control. He is the One Who elected certain ones to salvation, He died for the sins of the elect (Matthew 1:21), and He applies the Word to their heart. Salvation is completely of grace, and not at all of works (Ephesians 2:8-10).

The 'freewill gospel,' which teaches that man needs to reach out and accept Christ, or believe on Christ, or repent, etc., and then they will become saved, is not Biblical. It's based on a misunderstanding of the Bible. Man is totally unable to come to God in his dead state, and will only come to God if God draws him (John 6:37, 44).

So, if God plans on saving a baby, or a small child, He can do so. There need not be any decision made by the baby, or exercise of faith, or repentance, etc. A baby will never believe on Christ, so God has to do it all for that child. And God has to do it all for an adult, because man is dead in sins and unable to come to God in a spiritually pleasing way (Romans 3:10-18; Romans 8:5-8, etc.).

The environment for salvation is hearing the Word of God.

Romans 10:17: So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The 'faith' in this verse is the faith of Christ, not the individual's faith. When an elect person is hearing or reading the Word of God, the Bible, God can apply it to the person's heart, making them born again, if He so desires.

The evidence of a person becoming born again is that they will have a strong desire to obey the Law of God, the Bible. They will want to turn from their sin more and more. Read Psalm 119 to get a good picture of the attitude a true child of God will have in respect to God and the Bible.

You finally asked why one should believe in Christianity and not Buddhism or another religion. There are many reasons why Christianity seems to be the truth. For one, hundreds of prophecies in the Bible have come true, many of which concern the Lord Jesus. Prophecies concerning the return of Israel as a nation are in the Bible, even though Israel's homeland was destroyed in 70 AD.

Historians generally agree that Jesus of Nazareth did exist, and no dispute exists that He was truly crucified. Indeed, there are no naturalistic explanations which can show how Jesus' tomb could be found empty the Sunday after His crucifixion (they have been dismissed by scholars).

It's hard to imagine how Christianity could have not only gotten out of the first century, but also flourished, if indeed Christ's death and Resurrection were merely a hoax. Also, many of the disciples willingly went to their deaths for the cause of Christ (James, Phillip, Peter, etc.). Why would they do this if they knew the Resurrection was false?

Finally, the Bible was written over a period of about 1500 years by different penmen. Of course, God gave the Words to the various scribes. And yet, despite being penned in various places of the world, the Bible has a great consistency within its pages which seems impossible to reconcile if the Bible were simply the writings of men.

I think if you look at the other religions honestly, you will see that the evidence for Christianity being of divine origin is greater than the evidence forwarded by the proponents of these other faiths.

I hope this helps. Any futher questions, please ask.

May God bless you,
John

Numbers 16:33: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that (appertained) unto Korah, and all their goods.