The Bible

Do the food restrictions in the Old Testament still apply?

The food restrictions placed on the Israelites in the Old Testament in passages like Leviticus 11, were given by God in order to mark them out as His people. It was a way of making them distinctive from all the nations around them. They were to be set apart, or holy, in this way. When Jesus came, he fulfilled the law, and brought about a new way of becoming holy. We are no longer holy by keeping the law, by rather we are made holy by having faith in Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit.

Is it legalism to try to keep the Ten Commandments?

Legalism is keeping the law in order to get right with God or earn God’s favour. However, the Bible consistently teaches that we cannot get right with God (be justified) or earn God’s favour by keeping the law, so legalism is futile. As Paul says in Galatians 2:15-16 “15 ‘We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.

Before Jesus death and resurrection, were the Jews saved by works?

A key passage on this topic is in Romans, Chapters 3-5. It is part of a long argument, in which the Apostle Paul is discussing the doctrine of Justification - how people can be made right with God. We can’t look at the whole passage in this answer, but we suggest you read it through for yourself. The heart of the answer to this question is found in Romans 4:9-11:  “... We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before?

Where in the Bible are the doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation?

Do all Christian denominations refer to Christ as God? Aren't there some that think he was just a man?

No, the doctrine of the Trinity and the Incarnation is orthodox Christian belief that has endured from the earliest days of Christianity. Throughout history, anyone who has denied these teachings has been considered heretical and outside of Christianity, not as just another denomination of Christianity.

What is happening with the guards in Matthew 28:1-15?

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.