an_unshakeable_faith.. - Holy Bible Institute

A trained Jehovah’s Witness will typically ask such questions. He doesn’t want to know the truth;he only wants to teach his false doctrine. His foolish questions include these: How can God beone and yet three? How can Jesus be God when He prayed to God? How can punishment in hellbe eternal when the Bible says God will burn the sinners up? How can death be a journey whenthe Bible says it is a sleep? (For the answers, see our book Things Hard to Be Understood: AHandbook of Biblical Difficulties.)If a person only wants to argue, it is a waste of time to deal with him. There are scorners butthere are also willing listeners (Acts 17:32).We must deal with scorners wisely (Prov. 26:4-5). We must not imitate the way of the fool bygetting involved in endless arguments and petty bickering; but we must briefly answer the fool’sarguments so he will not think there are no answers and thus be wise in his own conceits.Efforts to deal with willful heretics should be short lived (Titus 3:10-11).On the other hand, if a person asks a sincere question, it should be answered from the Bible. Theman who led me to Christ took the time to answer questions that came from pagan books I hadbeen reading, such as the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ and Autobiography of a Yogi andSiddhartha, and from my dabbling in a Hindu meditation society, ecology, and Christian Science.He patiently answered my questions with simple Bible doctrine, but he didn’t debate with me ona philosophical level.Be gentle, patient, humble (2 Timothy 2:24, 25).It is difficult to deal with people who are in the snare of the Devil. They oftentimes mock thetruth and are overbearing, proud, and unreasonable, and we are tempted to respond in kind. But ifwe deal with them in a like manner as they deal with us, we only stir them up to anger. “A softanswer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Prov. 15:1).It is important to understand that meekness doesn’t mean weakness and cowardliness. Moses wasthe meekest man, but he was bold in standing for the truth and dealing with error, such as whenIsrael worshipped the golden calf. Jesus is meek and lowly in heart, but He is unflinching inreproving and rebuking for truth’s sake (e.g., Lk. 9:55) and was even severe in His dealings withheretics (Matthew 23).Teach and instruct with God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:24, 25).Gentleness and patience and prayer are not enough to win people to the truth. There is no“lifestyle evangelism” in the Bible. Our lifestyle should doubtless back up what we preach, butthe power of salvation is in the Word of God and the gospel (Romans 1:16). We must thereforeproclaim God’s Word. It alone has the power to convert those who are in Satan’s snare.346