Q&A with Pastor/Elder Jim Osman - March 2, 2025

In this Q&A session, Jim Osman addresses the tension between God’s justice and mercy, reconciling how God delights in executing justice (Ezekiel 18:30-32, 33:11) yet takes no pleasure in the wicked’s death, using a personal analogy of disciplining his granddaughter to illustrate that God rejoices in righteousness, not suffering. He explores divine sovereignty and human responsibility, affirming God’s desire for repentance while securing salvation for the elect. He defends a limited atonement—Christ dying specifically for the elect’s sins, not universally—highlighting the Trinity’s unified purpose. Jim also tackles practical questions, speculating that babies in heaven may be made whole or raised in the New Creation, cautioning against AI’s deceptive potential and heretical music like Bethel’s, and offering discernment principles for books and observances like Lent, blending doctrinal depth with actionable wisdom for believers.

 

List of Questions:

1. How do you reconcile the statement that God delights in executing justice with the teaching of Scripture that God does not delight in the death of the wicked?
2. Any other questions regarding that [God’s justice and mercy]?
3. What state will babies who die be in during the Millennial Kingdom or the eternal state in the new heavens and new earth?
4. Do you know of a Scripture passage that specifically addresses the state of babies in heaven?
5. Is heaven a place of time, given the reference to a tree bearing different fruit every month in the New Creation?
6. Could artificial intelligence be the mark of the beast because of the technology’s capabilities?
7. Why don’t we sing songs written by people who apostatize or heretics, yet our church holds some teachings of Martin Luther, who later had issues with anti-Semitism?
8. Why don’t we sing those songs [by heretical groups] even though we disagree with some of their teachings?
9. Where do you think the line is in personally listening to Bethel music at home?
10. What principles do you apply to reading books—not just for yourself but keeping them in your library, buying them, recommending them wholeheartedly, or recommending them with caution?
11. What is the difference between celebrating observances like Lent and Advent and other cultural or religious observances?
12. What is the difference between those who say Christ died only for the sins of the elect, and yet people prior to their salvation are under the wrath of God, though their sins have been laid upon Christ?
13. Were you asking a question specifically about the difference between the sufficiency of the atonement and the application of the atonement?
14. How do we decide which church we should attend apart from just basing their teachings on the Word of God?

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