This day Pastor Priji is interviewed by sister Sherly Bejoy as he answers certain questions received from viewers.

This podcast is a repost, originally published on March 4, 2017

Transcript:

Question: I’m a believer, but my parents are not. Would it be dishonouring God and disobeying the Bible if I go to church and follow Jesus against their wishes.

Answer: I have been in that place. it could be very challenging when you’re the only believer in the house.

Remember that God is always the top. There might be times when you’d have to disobey government, parents or friends.

However there are young people who take it to the other extreme, where they disobey parents for things that is not necessarily a direct commandment from God.

You must obey parents as long as they do not expect you to directly disobeying God. God is your ultimate Father.

Question: Is baptism necessary or optional? Do we lose salvation or not enter heaven if we are not baptised?

Answer: We’ll only get the complete picture of this when we reach heaven.

The Bible says our salvation is by faith alone not works. Even baptism is included in that. It is not about what you do. The Bible says if you believe you will enter heaven.

However, though it is not a requirement for salvation, baptism is not optional, because it is a command.

Sprinkling or dipping someone in water before they were actually saved is not baptism. One has to be truly born again for that to be qualified as baptism.

If you don’t get baptised, you are not losing salvation, but you’ll be living in disobedience.

The question is not whether it is required, but if it is in the heart of God for my life. If my wife wants me to do something that is not marriage binding, just because it is in her heart, I’d do it because I love her.

If you love Jesus obey Him.

Question: My church is not catering to my spiritual needs. How do I still grow in my walk with God?

Answer: If possible change your church.

The church is where not only you are fed, but also where you feed. There are different callings and giftings in the church as mentioned in the Bible. If you are neither being catered to nor are you catering to others, that place is not just something you should avoid, but it can be a dangerous place to be in.

If it is not possible to look for a new fellowship, you should understand you still have the Holy Spirit. The job of the Spirit is to lead you into all truth, to teach you, comfort you, to be your private counsellor, Pastor, Friend. He can replace every Pastor, worship team, etc.

The Holy Spirit can teach us in the deadest of churches. It is not about the fact that the church is alive but that I am alive. The Holy Spirit can speak to me in a cemetery, pub, nightclub, anywhere. Pursue a deep relation with the Holy Spirit. Seek Him, He will be found by you.

The Holy Spirit is not to be dismissed in any church, however the person not being a part of a local church must rely on fellowship on Him alone without the saints for a season.

Question: Are women not allowed to teach in the church according to the Bible?

Answer: I really do believe women are allowed to preach and teach in the church.

There is more freedom in the New Testament church than in the old covenant. Deborah was a judge in those times, a person almost equivalent to a king. If a woman could lead a whole nation like a Prime Minister, can she not be a pastor of 15 people in the church?

For anything to be a doctrine in the Bible, and not a suggestion (discipline) in the church, it has to be foreshadowed in the Old Testament, it has to be something Jesus preached or taught about, and it has to be something the apostles practised.

Baptism was foreshadowed in the Old Testament in the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. Jesus taught and preached it many times. The apostles practised it with every person who got saved. Not so with the issue of women covering their head. It is not foreshadowed, neither preached by Jesus, neither practised by the apostles with the exception of certain churches when Paul instructed them to do so. As a general rule, you do not see that pattern.

This can be applied to many questions we may have. If it doesn’t fit into these three criteria, do not weary yourself over it. The church needs spiritual mothers as much as fathers. When I preach, I bring a sermon many times, but when Rashmi preaches in the church, she preaches her heart out. As much as we need people who are intellectual and logical and rational, we also need people who are emotional.

Question: As a believer is it wrong to live a luxurious lifestyle?

Answer: Luxury is relative. My luxury may be someone else’s need.

God is not wanting you living a poor lifestyle. In Deuteronomy 15:04 God commands that there should be no poor among you.

This was practised in the New Testament, where they gave up their own possessions so there is no one who would lack anything. We must put that into practice.

However it becomes a problem when the lifestyle is out of greed.

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