In the conclusion to His revelation about Himself Jesus Christ said the following:
 
Revelation 22:12-13 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
 
He is coming back and He is bringing reward for everyone.  He said He is coming quickly.  I take that to mean He was referring to His return happening suddenly; it will be a short-term event not a drawn-out process.  Though I can’t rule out the Lord was speaking about the length of the delay in returning being short.  I mean a few thousand years compared to the scale of forever is not much time.  I’ve come to the conclusion the reward part doesn’t get the attention it should.  He said reward will be according to each one’s work.  So, it is merit based.  The timing is out of our hands.  The best we can do is to pray it will be soon and the Bible tells us that is a legitimate prayer request. 
 
But we do have a say in how we conduct ourselves in this world.  How and what we work on is our choice.  We obey what God has said or we follow our own desires.  But what He said in V.13 gives us a pretty good reason to consider tamping down our personal desires.  Consider what Christ meant by being the beginning and the end.   He confirms the impossibility of an infinite regression which means that the entire created reality in which we live begins and ends with God.  There is nothing else. 
 
What is an infinite regression?  Let me put it in terms of time because some naturalists have proposed that the universe has always existed in some form or another.  The implication being that time extends into the past to infinity.  One problem is that we live at a particular point in time we call the present.  If there is no beginning point for time then there isn’t a point at which enough time has passed to bring us into the present.  God exists independent of time. He made time when He created the universe.  We live in multi-dimensional plane of X, Y, Z & T.  Sorry I don’t know how to draw that or I would. 
 
The Creator of everything including time is coming back one day.  All of us will give Him an accounting.  Are you ready for that?   

The 2nd chapter of John’s Gospel documents the beginning of Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry.  John recorded the Lord’s first miracle, His first cleansing of the temple and His first prophecy about His death and resurrection.  Jesus Christ also performed many signs that John did not mention, but he did tell us that a number Jews attending the Passover believed in Christ’s name because of them.  
 
John 2:23-25 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. (NKJV)
 
Based on John’s normal use of the word believe we should understand John 2:23 meant those people received everlasting life because of their belief in Jesus Christ.  However, because of V. 24 some people claim this passage indicates there is a way to believe in Christ that does not bring everlasting life.  Their claim is that Jesus did not believe their faith was real.  The word commit (NKJV) in v. 24 is the same Greek word translated as believed in v. 23.  Both are the verb pisteuo, just different tenses.  And it’s clear from the different ways the translators rendered it in the English that the verb tenses used did imply different meanings.   So, we need to check out why.    
 
The Greek word in V. 23 is Episteusan and is an aorist active indicative.  The aorist active represents a past action as an event.  In this case many people had believed in Jesus’ name at a point in time during the Passover.  That completed action fulfills the requirement of believing in Jesus Christ for everlasting life as stated by the Lord in John 3:16, 5:24 and 11:25-26.  
 
The word in V. 24 is Episteuen and is the imperfect active indicative form of pisteuo.  The imperfect tense represents a past action of some duration which has been completed.  It could be a repeated action or one that took time to complete.  So, it is completely legitimate to understand Jesus’ lack of commitment to these new believers was temporary.  He knew they were not ready to face the heat of the Jewish Leaders.  They had much to learn before they would be ready to join as disciples.  As He told Mary at the wedding (John 2:4) “My hour has not yet come.”   Neither had it for these new believers.  Compare this to John 8:31 & 32 where those new believers needed to learn more about Jesus Christ and discipleship.   The people who believed in His name in John 2:22 would in time find the Lord embracing them as brethren. 
 
The fact that believe is never modified by an adverb in John tells us God sees believing as a binary function.  You either believe something or you don’t.  Just as you cannot almost tell the truth you can’t almost believe something God has said.  He cannot lie; He is always truthful.  So you can believe every promise He has made. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  Believe Jesus for life and live forever!
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My apologies for the grammar lesson!

​The presence of pain in the world is sometimes used to challenge the existence of an all-powerful, all knowing and good God.  Often aimed at the God of the Bible which presents Himself as omnipotent, omniscient and good.  The argument is made that if God is all powerful, all knowing and good then He would do something to eliminate pain.   Therefore, He is either ignorant of pain, is not all powerful or not completely good.   Of course, like all things about reality God is not limited to only 3 simple attributes.
 
The stated attributes must first be defined.  Omniscience, being all knowing, means what?  The Bible indicates God knows what is, what has been, what will be, and what could have been.  That fits the bill on all knowing.  The case can be made that such knowledge enables God to also know what is best.  Best as in His purpose in Creating.  That God has a destination in mind for the creation changes the argument.  It is no longer a question why pain exists, but does pain serve a purpose?  I submit it does. 
 
Pain let’s us know when something is wrong with us physically.  Imagine what would happen if you could not feel a broken bone, or an infected wound.  Hansen’s disease, also known as Leprosy, provides the answer and it is not good.  Pain actually works to preserve life.  It motivates medical innovation.  Pain avoidance is a great deterrent of bad and risky behavior as it is foundational to our sense of self preservation.  It is not perfect but things would likely be a lot worse if painful consequences did not exist for bad behavior. 
 
No one likes pain, including God.  The Bible points to the original creation as being a wonderful paradise.  Adam and Eve would have lived forever in total harmony with the world around them.  Adam’s disobedience, driven by his unbelief in God’s goodness, is what ruined that perfect world.  God knew to what a growing population of people with unrestricted free wills would.  So, God set limits on how far we could push the boundaries of our desires.  Pain is not pleasant, but it does serve a purpose. 
 
Unfortunately, it can be abused.      

​I recently saw a non-scientific survey on a Christian Theology forum polling people on their understanding of Salvation, as in deliverance from hell.  The choices were basically that salvation is either by faith alone in Jesus Christ or some combination of faith and good works.  9 out of 10 people participating went with Faith plus works.  Stating good works were either a requirement or were the evidence/proof of faith.  No definition for faith or good works was given so there is no way to know what was meant by good works.  However, we do have enough data to conclude the majority of people responding do not understand what faith is. 
 
The Biblical definition of faith is being persuaded that something is true.  Another way of putting it would be believing a proposition is true.   The earth is a sphere, true or false?  If you say true then you’re accepting as factually correct the proposition that the earth is a sphere.   Jesus Christ once presented the following proposition to Martha, a woman whose brother had recently died.    
 
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (NKJV)
 
Martha answered yes and then a few minutes later Jesus Christ restored Lazarus, her brother, to life.  Notice there is no mention of works or merit in the Lord’s proposal.  He only said believe.  Now, Lazarus was already dead at least physically.  He lived but was separated from his physical body.  Which is why Jesus had said He was also the resurrection.  Lazarus had believed in Jesus Christ for everlasting life long before this day when Jesus raised his body back to life. 
 
In all the examples of Jesus Christ telling anyone how to receive everlasting life being good, doing good works is never mentioned.  Check it out for yourself: John 3:16, 4:10-14, 5:24 and 11:25-26.  We also have the testimony of Abraham, King David, the Apostles Peter and Paul to back up what Christ had said even though their word is not needed.  Jesus Christ is God and cannot lie.  So why do so many people still say good works are needed?  I suspect it is because they lack faith.  They really don’t believe Jesus Christ’s words.  Let’s face it there are many very persuasive Bible teachers, pastors and TV evangelists out there making the case for earning your salvation. 
 
My advice is to stick with the author of salvation’s words.  The one who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, Jesus Christ.