Questions & Answers
by Editor(s)

Q. A friend of mine says it’s okay for him to get drunk because we are "no longer under the law." I feel uncomfortable with this. Is this all right?

A. No. Your friend is misinterpreting the Scriptures to justify sinful behavior. Paul clearly considers drunkenness to be sinful behavior (Gal. 5:21). When Paul says that we are no longer under the law (Gal. 3:25), he means that we are no longer required to fulfill certain demands of the old covenant such as circumcision, Sabbath keeping, food and festival laws (see Col. 2:16- 17). What Paul does not mean is that we no longer have to keep any laws at all, for Paul’s letters and the whole New Testament are full of moral commands. In fact, Jesus says that not one jot or tittle of the law will pass away until all things are accomplished (Matt. 5:18). In other words, all the moral principles revealed in both Testaments apply to us today. Therefore, your friend cannot justify his behavior on the basis that we are not under the law.

Q. I have been divorced for several years. I have been told that I am hanging on to resentment when I talk about how abusive my husband was. How do I know the difference between resentment and anger?

A. Anger is an initial emotional response to a perceived wrong. It is a feeling and you cannot prevent yourself from having it. Resentment is different because it is a choice to hang on to your anger and cut the other person off. You can be rightly angry and still desire the best for the other person. Resentment is self-for-self rejection of the other per-son. Whereas, expressing anger can be used to restore a relationship.

Q. How do I deal with thoughts I don’t like?

A. Thoughts are soul and are not spirit-reality. They are neither good nor bad in and of themselves. Having thoughts we don’t like does not make us bad or shameful people. You cannot control which thoughts come into your mind, but you can choose what to believe about yourself in response to those thoughts. For example, I might feel that I hate somebody. The spirit reality is that though I may feel that I hate someone, the truth is that who I really am, Christ-I, actually loves this person. The feeling of hate is an emotion. My spirit choice is love because of who I am.

Q. My eleven year old child thinks that I am more strict than any of his friends’ parents about which movies he is allowed to see. I do not mind being more strict, but I do want to be fair with him. How do I decide what to let him see?

A. God has a very high standard for us as Christians, so our children may as well learn at an early age that they can’t be like everybody else. Our job as parents is to guide our children so that Christ’s spirit can flow through them to do His works, un-impeded by Satanic pulls and influences. Many movies include sexual content, violence and bad language. Though this is a reflection of real life, it is different for an adult, sufficiently moored in his spiritual enlightenment and experience. How to decide in specific cases is largely dependent upon the child’s age, his spiritual maturity and the objectionable content of the movie. A good step to take in helping to decide is to ask friends who have seen the movie and whose spiritual lives you respect. Even the worldly movie industry says that PG mean parental guidance, so get some feedback even before you turn them loose to see a PG movie.