What is the deal with casting lots in the OT and why is it used in the NT? Was this a valid way to determine the will of God? Can we cast lots today to determine God’s will for ourselves? When I first became a Christian and began to read through the Bible, This subject led to some very challenging questions that I could not find answers to. Recently, our pastor, David, has been taking the church through the book of Acts on Sunday nights and last Sunday we read about how the disciples used lots to decide who the replacement disciple would be for Judas Iscariot. This reminded me of my own question that I had before and how many others may also be questioning this as well. Why would believers use what would appear to be a system of chance in order to distinguish the will of God? To answer this question, let’s look at 3 things. First, we will need to understand just what “lots” is and what it was used for. Second, we will look at an OT passage in which it was used. Finally, we wil...
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Good topic and a very insightful question by the young man who got this discussion started.
To be sure, the concept of "good" and "evil" is ubiquitous across all cultures and much is typically made of being "good" and living a "good" life. But, it is very clear in the New Testament that being "good" is not good enough to ensure salvation. Salvation only comes through accepting Christ, which requires that you KNOW about Christ. There are millions upon millions of people in the world (since the time of Christ) that have lived and died and never heard anything about Christ. They may have lived good lives and they may have followed their culture's religious teaching to a "T", but this is not sufficient for salvation.
Now, most of us believe that God is a just God and a fair God. In MY mind, I cannot help but think that such persons will be offered salvation upon death. Will this offer be contingent upon how a person lived his life (i.e. good or evil)? I don't know.