Your Questions Answered

Your Questions Answered
Southern Heights Christian Church
May 31, 2026

As we took time to answer a few of your questions, we wanted to give you some bullet point notes to follow along.

“How do we use the Holy Spirit—i.e. rebuking the Devil? How do we know when the Devil is causing our problems?”

• We’ll set aside the first question to answer more another time. However, there are a few quick things to say
• We often treat the Holy Spirit like the Force from Star Wars—something we can tap into that will give us magical, mystical abilities
• But the Holy Spirit isn’t a tool; He’s a person. He’s God
• So we don’t “use” the Holy Spirit. Rather, the Holy Spirit empowers us
• On the Devil/Satan: we sometimes mistakenly think that he’s on the other side of the coin to God—he’s the bad god and equal to God in some ways—he’s all knowing, all powerful, and all present
• We end up attributing any trouble or problems in our life to him
• But Satan is not like God—he’s a created being and has limited knowledge, power, and presence
• It’s likely that he has a lot bigger fish to fry than us
• There are different categories for our problems:
• Spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:12)
• Broken, corrupt world (Romans 8:18-25)
• Our own fleshly desires (James 1:14-15)
• Scripture doesn’t want us to dissect the source of our problems. Instead, it focuses on us having a posture of faithfulness. Our response:
• Submit to God (James 4:7)
• Put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-17)
• Prayer (Philippians 4:6-7)

“Can you explain 2 Kings 2:23-25?”

• Complex passage. We come to it with moral questions like “Why would God kill 42 kids?” But there are several layers for us to think through
• Context: Elisha has become the successor to the great prophet Elijah, and he has performed different signs that prove he is God’s prophet—splitting the Jordan River, healing diseased water, and then this story
• Bethel: not a random town, but a hot spot of pagan worship and other evil acts. Elisha is going to Bethel to confront and rebuke the evil being done
• Group: there were 42 in this group—this was a mob, surrounding Elisha and mocking him
• Small/Young Boys: the Hebrew word for “boys” could refer to someone between the ages 12 and 30. The word for “small/young” could not be about youthfulness but about status—someone being insignificant
• The insult: “Go up, baldy” is not banter. They’re telling Elisha to go up to heaven and run away like Elijah did. They’re insulting and mocking his prophetic role
• We focus on the moral questions, but the purpose of this passage is to show that Elijah is empowered by God. He is God’s mouthpiece, and to mock/disrespect the mouthpiece of God is to mock/disrespect God himself, and you’re asking from trouble
• Elisha has been given divine power, and that cannot be taken lightly
• From this point on, Elisha is recognized as God’s prophet. People come to him with respect and honor, seeking wisdom and God’s word.

“What/Speak on the importance of baptism”

• Lots of compact ideas:
• Participation/union with Christ (Romans 6:3-11)
• In being immersed, we share in Christ’s saving work. We participate in his death, burial and resurrection
• We are united with him, bonded with him
• Clothed with Christ (Galatians 3:27-29)
• In being baptized, we put on Christ. This means that we no longer find our status and identity in societal hierarchy, gender, or ethnicity. We are instead clothed with Christ’s identity and status
• United with God’s people (1 Corinthians 2:11-13)
• Baptism becomes our first shared experience as we entered God’s family. We are united through it and can always point back to this moment even when we face challenges or disagreement
• Spiritual Circumcision (Colossians 2:11-13)
• In the Old Testament, one of the ways God marks and sets apart his people is through circumcision
• On the other side of the cross, we undergo a spiritual circumcision to be marked out—the circumcision of Christ. In Colossians, Paul links this with baptism in some way
• Pledge of Allegiance (1 Peter 3:21)
• Peter compares baptism with Noah and his family being saved through the flood by the ark. He says baptism saves—and for 1,500 years the church took this quite literally
• The water itself is not what saves—the water isn’t holy.
• Baptism saves because it represents make a commitment to Christ. It’s a public, bodily pledge of allegiance to the king of kinds. It’s a way of saying, “I am submitting to your lordship in obedient faithfulness”