Q&A: The Greatest Commandment
Which is the greatest Commandment in the Law?
…“One who was a lawyer came, testing Jesus, asking, “Teacher, which is the greatest Commandment in the Law?
Questions and Answers
The Firmament answers questions in God’s Word with God’s Word. Feel free to submit any questions you have via the Contact-Us page.
Q&A: Is the Holy Spirit a person we can see?
“Is the Holy Spirit a person we can know and see as Lord Jesus teaches in the Gospel of John chapters 14; 15; and 16?”
In the Gospel of John, chapters 14, 15 and 16, Jesus refers to one he calls “the Comforter”, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, whom he said the Father would send in his Name at the appointed time: “He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you.”
The clues to who this person is are contained in these references. Lets take a look…
…Q&A: When Did Jesus Become God?
The majority of ‘Christian’ denominations believe that Jesus is God. Some say he became God at the moment of his creation inside Mary, the immaculate conception of God by God. Others believe Jesus became God when he was physically born. Still others think it was at his baptism by John the Baptist. If so, John was one powerful guy! And lastly, some point to his resurrection. As Jesus ‘raised from the dead’ he simultaneously became divine or God. But there is a fifth, much overlooked, point in time when Jesus actually ‘became’ God. Want to know when that was?
…Q&A: “What is Baptism?”
Sprinkled or dunked? Required for infants, kids, teens or adults only? Performed before salvation, after salvation or is it the actual act of salvation? Baptism. One of the key ‘sacraments’ of most ‘Christian’ denominations, is fraught with disagreements. Who, what, when, how and even if followers are to be baptized is one of the major defining tenets that differentiates between the denominations. Who is in-line with God? Let’s sort this all out.
…Q&A: “Is Revelation 13 being fulfilled now?”
The Scripture
Revelation Chapter 13 is arguably the best known piece of scripture in the Bible. This is the prophecy of the Mark of the Beast. We are going to focus on the last few verses to answer this question, but I encourage you to read the entire chapter for context.
To summarize, there is a dragon (lit. serpent, same as in Revelation 12:3) and two beasts. The first beast is a governing or secular power having the traits of those governments or kingdoms that have gone before and symbolized by the leopard, bear and lion (cf. Daniel 7). The dragon empowers the first beast with seven heads and ten horns. The second beast is a false religion that looks righteous (like a Lamb) but speaks wickedness (like a dragon). The second beast, the false religion, will cause all to serve and take the mark of the first beast, the oppressive government. Historically, this dynamic of religion empowering government has always existed, but not on a worldwide scale. These two entities are the Whore and Beast of Revelation 17.
Now we are going to focus on the last few verses to determine how we will know if or when Revelation 13 is being fulfilled.
…And he (the first beast) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive their mark in their right hand, and in their foreheads: And that no one might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, the name (or authority) of the beast, and the number of their name.
Revelation 13:16-17