Question: Does Paul refer to his eternal state in 1 Corinthians 9:27?
Answer: Yes, Paul referred to damnation in 1 Corinthians 9:27, but yet other scriptures show us he had no doubt as to the certainty of his salvation, and glory with Christ at the end.
Question: Why does 1 John 3:9 read, “Whosoever is born of God... cannot sin”? If it said “ought not to sin” I could understand it.
Answer: This passage identifies the believer with the spotless new nature that he possesses by the new birth. The epistle regards the believer at the height of his proper standing in Christ. Every Christian is looked at here as acting solely in the power and energy of the new nature. But you may say he often does not. This is true, otherwise there were no need for 1:9, but this is not the subject here. It could not say “ought not to sin” for it is solely speaking here of what is born of God, and it is plain that nothing born of God can sin. The reason we ever sin is because we allow that within us to act which is not born of God. Such a Christian is not contemplated here.
Question: Please explain why leaven was to be excluded from all offerings but that of Leviticus 7:13.
Answer: Leaven throughout Scripture is a type of what is evil, never of what is good—of hidden “malice and wickedness.” Leaven was not to be burned before the Lord; the offering of Leviticus 7:13 was not burned by fire, (see Lev. 2:11), and the offering of it there shows that though we are not in the flesh, it is still in us.
Question: Kindly explain 2 Corinthians 2:14-16.
Answer: The sweet savor is that of Christ’s name which is spread abroad by preaching, whether the result of that preaching to man be life by receiving it, or death by rejecting it. In either case Christ is proclaimed.
Question: Please explain, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me,” Luke 9:26, “If we deny Him, He also will deny us,” 2 Timothy 2:12, and other similar passages.
Answer: Those who are ashamed of, or deny Him—through fear or shame refuse Christ, choosing rather the approval and applause of the world—their end is seen in Revelation 21:8,
“But the fearful and unbelieving,... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.”