To answer this question, let us begin with some basic passages in the Bible. Here is what John 9:31 tells us: “Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.”

Psalm 34:17 also tells us the following about righteous people: “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.”

How are we to understand the statement that God does not hear sinners? Is this an error since we believe that God knows and thus hears everything–even the most secret thoughts of men, as we read in Psalm 94:11: “The LORD knows the thoughts of man, That they are futile.”

The correct understanding of this question has to do with the fact that God does not act upon or respond in a positive way to the prayers of sinners.  But since we have all sinned and still sin today, how is that fact to be comprehended?

Someone might  be sincere and keep the commandments of God, at least in the letter, except perhaps the Sabbath, due to him not being called and given that particular understanding. Will God always reject the prayer of such a person?  What does God say about this?

Romans 9:14-15 tells us: “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, ‘I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I WILL HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOMEVER I WILL HAVE COMPASSION.’”

In our related Q&A on John 9:31, we explain what the Bible means with “sinner.” We point out that we all sin, but this does not make us sinners. Sinners are those who PRACTICE and LIVE in sin and who are unwilling to repent of their sins, even when they become aware of them. It is they whom God does not, of necessity, respond to in a favourable way.

There is a link between obedience and having our prayers heard and answered. In his Autobiography, Herbert W. Armstrong, the late human leader of the Church of God,  talks about a man who was not a converted Christian, but apparently, for whatever reason, God had granted him a special gift of healing. We do not know how this man lived and how much he obeyed God with the knowledge that he had been given. We do not know why God, in this very unusual and highly exceptional case, granted this still unconverted person a special gift to be able to heal people. However, when he learned from Mr. Armstrong the truth about the Sabbath, he rejected that knowledge and angrily refused to act upon it. As a consequence, God took the gift of healing away from him.  It  is obvious that God was revealing to this man His Way of Life, but due to his rebellion towards God’s Law, God rejected him, as it were, and he lost the gift of healing that God had given him.  This is an important lesson for us because if we want God to hear our prayers and respond to them in a favourable way, we must strive to be obedient to Him in everything.

This is not to say that the man lost his salvation, but he turned down an opportunity to follow God. He will still have his opportunity, apparently in the Second Resurrection, to make the right decisions when his mind is truly being opened. However, when dealing with Mr. Armstrong, he acted similar to the ruler who had riches and turned down an opportunity to become a minister, as we read in Luke 18:18-23:

“Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: “DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” “DO NOT MURDER,” “DO NOT STEAL,” “DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS,” “’HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER.”’ And he said, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth.’ So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, ‘You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.”

Little children are basically unaware of what sin is. But they may have a humble and teachable heart. When they pray to God, He might answer their prayers.  Let us realize what Christ said about little children, in Matthew 18:3-4:  “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Little children don’t have an agenda. They are quick to forgive. They are open to teaching. Many times, God may respond to their prayers,  if they “believe” in God in their limited way, since Christians must become “like” them to be able to enter God’s Kingdom.

God knows our innermost thoughts. Nothing escapes His attention, and in that sense, He hears the prayers of everyone. But that does not mean that He responds to the prayers of sinners. And it does not even mean that He always responds to His faithful servants in the way which they would like Him to do. Let us notice what he said to Moses, in Deuteronomy 3:26-27:  “But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the LORD said to me: ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift your eyes toward the west, the north, the south, and the east; behold it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan.’”

Even though God had worked with Moses for a long time, He did not grant Moses’ request; in fact, He told him not to mention the matter again, because Moses had sinned by not following God’s specific instructions and by taking God’s glory upon himself.  There are consequences for sin, and Moses was no exception–he was able to see the Promised Land, but he was not allowed to enter it.

If we are close to God and try, as much as possible, to live a sinless life, God will hear and answer our prayers. He will respond to them according to His Will. He will provide us with our needs and many times, He will even grant us the desires of our hearts.

On the other hand, God does not “hear” approvingly the prayers of sinners—of those who PRACTICE lawlessness. He does not listen carefully to their pleas, and He will not respond to their requests in a positive way. To the contrary, He may curse them for living in rebellion against His Will. So, if we want God to answer our prayers and grant us the petitions of our hearts, we need to obey Him. After all, there is a strong connection between obedience and answered prayers, as we read in 1 John 3:22: “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”

Lead Writer: Rene Messier

Some claim that Jesus came to do away with the Law of the Ten Commandments and replace it with a “new” Law, which happens to be identical with the Ten Commandments, except for the omission of the Sabbath. This treacherous and deceitful argument has convinced quite a few people that they do not have to keep the Sabbath anymore. But the truth is that the Ten Commandments have not been abolished, and when you break one of the Ten Commandments, you break them all. 

Please note these excerpts from pages 14-15 of our free booklet, “Baptism–A Requirement for Salvation.”:

“What, exactly, is it that we need to repent of…? Simply put, we must repent of the sins we have committed. What is sin? The biblical definition is: ‘…sin is the transgression of the law’ (1 John 3:4, Authorized Version). Which law? The law of God’s Ten Commandments. James calls it the ‘royal law according to the Scripture’ (James 2:8). It defines our love toward God and our love toward neighbor. When we break even one of the Ten Commandments, we are guilty of having broken them all and have become a transgressor of the law (James 2:10-11).

“The law of the Ten Commandments is a spiritual law, as Paul explains in Romans 7:14, because it regulates not only our actions, but also the motives and intents of our heart. We sin when we commit adultery (Exodus 20:14), but we also sin when we DESIRE or COVET the wife of another man (Exodus 20:17), or when we look at another woman with the desire to commit adultery with her (Matthew 5:28). Additionally, we sin when we kill someone (Exodus 20:13), but we have already sinned by violating God’s spiritual law of the Ten Commandments when we even HATE another human being (Matthew 5:21-22; 1 John 3:15).”

It is true that Christ said that He gave the disciples a “new” commandment, but as we will see, not even the most liberal “interpretation” of His statement should persuade an honest person that the Ten Commandments are no longer valid. Christ never said that He gave a new commandment to replace with it the Ten Commandments. Quite to the contrary, He told the young rich ruler that he had to keep the Ten Commandments if he was to enter the Kingdom of God and inherit salvation and eternal life (Matthew 19:16—26).

What then did Jesus say, and what did He mean, when He spoke of a “new commandment”?

He says this in John 13:34:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another…”

The Greek word for “love” is “agapoa,” which is derived from “agape,” describing “godly love.”

But to love one another is hardly a commandment which was new and which was never stated before. When Christ was asked what was the greatest commandment in the Law, He responded by quoting two Old Testament passages, demanding that we love God with all our heart and our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). In both cases, the Greek word for “love” is “agapoa,” referring to “godly love.” And as was pointed out above, when we keep the Ten Commandments, we show our love towards God and neighbor, because we honor God in the way which is required of us, and we don’t do harm to our neighbor by, for instance, not killing him, lying to him, committing adultery with his wife or with her husband, or lusting after the things which our neighbor has.

1 John 3:11 confirms that the message of love towards one another is not really anything new: “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”

And again, we read in 2 John 5-6:

“And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. This is love [Greek, “agape”], that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.”

At the same time, we read this startling statement in 1 John 2:7-10:

“Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him…”

Again, the context is loving our brethren. And even though John says that this is NOT a new commandment, he goes on to say that it IS a new commandment. Is there a contradiction? Some try to explain this by saying that even though it is an old commandment, it is always new for us. But this is not really convincing.

The key to understanding this “mystery” is to return to Jesus’ statement in John 13:34. When quoting this passage above, we purposefully omitted the second part of Christ’s saying. Let us now read the passage in its entirety:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, that you also love one another.”

The New King James Bible places erroneously a semicolon before “as I have loved you,” thereby totally obscuring the meaning. In the original Greek, there were no commas or semicolons, and the translator added those, as he felt best, but in this case, he did so wrongly. Christ was saying here that we are to love one another AS He loved us; that is, in the SAME WAY AS He loved us.

He repeats this command in John 15:12: “This is My commandment, that you love one another AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.” And He explains in the next two verses this extraordinary love: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do WHATEVER I command you” (verses 13-14).

The connection between loving each other—even to the point of death, if necessary—and obeying Christ is obvious (compare John 14:15, 21). Christ gave up His eternal existence as an immortal God being and became a mortal man and died for us so that we could inherit eternal life; and He demands of us that same KIND of unselfish and outgoing love toward others.

This is not remotely possible for a human being to fulfill, except through and with the help of God. ONLY if God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us, will we be able to begin to manifest that great godly love towards God and others. As a whole and barring a few exceptions, Old Testament Israelites did not have the Holy Spirit within them, and neither did the disciples prior to Christ’s resurrection and the Day of Pentecost, but Christ announced to them that the Holy Spirit would be given to them (John 14:16), which would give them the power to LOVE each other AS Christ loved them.

Even though the command to love God and neighbor had been given from the beginning—and it was therefore an “old” commandment—it had now become a “new” commandment, in that it encompasses a much more demanding DEGREE of love which can only be manifested through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

We said the following in our Q&A on Galatians 3:

“In fact, if you are a truly converted Christian, you have received the Holy Spirit of God, dwelling in you, and through the Holy Spirit, you have received the love of God (Romans 5:5). The love of God is defined as keeping the commandments. 1 John 5:3 says: ‘For this IS the love of God, that we keep His commandments.’ Paul tells us that ‘love is the fulfillment [better: “fulfilling,” AV] of the law’ (Romans 13:10); Love does not do away with it; quite to the contrary, it FULFILLS or KEEPS it. Rather than thinking that the Ten Commandments have been abolished, God’s Holy Spirit in you reveals to you that they are still binding for you, and God’s love in you will motivate you to KEEP them.

“One good way for a person to determine if he has really responded to his call to repentance and conversion, is to analyze and examine himself to find out whether he is willing to keep ALL of God’s Ten Commandments–including the Seventh-Day Sabbath. If a person believes that these laws are no longer required and that he is ‘free’ to ignore or break them, then it is extremely unlikely that he is truly converted, and that God’s Holy Spirit dwells in him. If this applies to you, then you need to pray to God that He may open your understanding to the truth, REPENT of your errors and sins; ACCEPT and BELIEVE IN the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ; understand that Christ DIED for YOUR transgressions of His LAW; and become baptized to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. To help you, please read our free booklets, ‘And Lawlessness Will Abound’ and ‘Baptism–A Requirement for Salvation.”  …”

In order to fulfill Christ’s “new” commandment to love each other AS HE LOVED US, we must become a “new” creation and put on the “new” man (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10). We are to become a “new lump”—“unleavened” (1 Corinthians 5:7), without malice and wickedness (verse 8). We must walk the “new and living way” of love which Christ consecrated for us (Hebrews 10:20). When we have been baptized and received God’s Holy Spirit, we are to walk “in newness of life” (Romans 6:4)—or, as we quoted John above, we are to “walk” “in love.”

In order to become a new creation, enabling us to keep Christ’s “new” commandment, we must receive God’s Holy Spirit and be led by it (Romans 8:14).

We read in Ezekiel 18:31: “Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die…?”

Let us notice God’s promises:

“Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, THAT they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20).

And again:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

Far from abolishing the Ten Commandments, Christ commanded us to keep them in a new way–with even more zeal and enthusiasm and much deeper spiritual understanding and commitment—showing the love towards God and neighbor in a way which is impossible for the carnal mind (Romans 8:6-9). It requires that God gives us a “new heart” and a “new spirit,” and that is exactly what He promises us so that we can obey the “new” commandment of manifesting godly love by keeping His commandments.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

The question you ask relates to people who have died and who have been resurrected to physical life—an example of the unparalleled power of God.

The Bible records specific examples of individuals who were miraculously healed by God—and note that in every case, a servant of God was instrumental in the act:

Elijah raised the Zarephath widow’s son (1 Kings 17:20); Elisha raised  the Shunammite woman’s son (2 Kings 4:32-37); a dead man was raised after accidently being brought into contact with Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:21); Jesus raised Jarius’ daughter (Mark 5:41-43), the son of a widow (Luke 7:11-17)—and Lazarus (John 11:43-44); Peter raised Dorcas (Acts 9:40-41); and Paul raised a young man named Eutychus (Acts 20:9-12).

Another example of people being returned to physical life occurred at the time of Jesus’ death:

“Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many” (Matthew 27:51-53). However, understand that these examples of being raised from the dead resulted only in a return to a physical existence! They all eventually died—again!

We read in Matthew 10:5-15 that Christ’s commission to His twelve disciples prior to His death was to, among other things, “raise the dead,” but we do not read the same general commission to His disciples after His resurrection (compare Mark 16:15-18).

Jesus Christ was given great power to perform miraculous signs. When John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to Christ to ask about who Jesus was, note the response:

“When the men had come to Him, they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”’ And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight. Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them’” (Luke 7:20-22).

John the Baptist performed no miraculous signs (John 10:41), but Jesus said, “‘Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist…’” (Matthew 11:11).

For John the Baptist, it was not necessary that he perform signs. He did not raise anyone from the dead. Yet, his role in the Work of God was fully accomplished.

On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was given in a wondrous way, and for a while, more signs followed:

“Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles” (Acts 2:43). We even read that people were healed when the shadow of Peter fell on them (Acts 5:14-15).

The Apostle Paul also had his ministry magnified:

“Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them” (Acts 19:11-12).

This example has application for us today. Generally, God instructs us, when we are sick, to call for the elders of the Church of God to pray for us and to anoint us with oil – a symbol of the Holy Spirit – and to lay hands on us, so that we can be healed (James 5:14-15; Mark 16:18). If such a visit is not possible, then elders are permitted to use and pray over a cloth, anointing it with a drop of oil as the symbol of the Holy Spirit, and asking God to heal the sick person who will receive this cloth. This is based on numerous passages in the Bible, showing us that people were healed when touching the garments of Christ (Mark 6:56) or the aprons or handkerchiefs from Paul’s body (Acts 19:12).

We see, then, that there is precedence for people having miraculous intervention from God—even that of being resurrected. We also understand that these few examples were done through the power of God and for His purposes—that they were the exception and not the rule. However, all point to the ultimate goal of being resurrected to eternal life—never to die again:

In the occurrence of Lazarus’ resurrection, Jesus made this profound statement:

“‘…I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live’” (John 11:25).

This is what the Church of God has been given to preach, and it is a message of resurrection into the spiritual Family of God:

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’” (1 Corinthians 15:50-54).

Now, back to the question at hand, “Why don’t we hear about God raising anyone from the dead, today?”

The answer is, first and foremost, that God has not chosen to do so!

First, we must understand that those whom God has called for salvation and has given His Holy Spirit will not die “accidentally,” because of “time and chance,” but the timing of their death occurs according to the Will of God. There would therefore be no need or logical reason to raise them again from the dead.  We explain the following in chapter 4 of our free booklet, “Human Suffering, Why… and How Much Longer?” : “The very idea that a true Christian could die or become terribly sick because of time and chance, limits God and weakens our faith. It is a patently unbiblical concept. When a Christian dies, it is because GOD has DECIDED that it was time for His son or daughter to die… God’s involvement, when it comes to the death of a true Christian, [is] clearly revealed in Scripture.” Please read the entire booklet for a thorough explanation.

In general, God is not trying to fix or save this world ruled by Satan. Rather, He is poised to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to establish a godly Kingdom on earth. At the same time, the first resurrection will occur, and faithful men and women will be raised from the dead (or instantly changed) to rule with Christ for one-thousand years and on into eternity. Others—the rest of the dead—will be resurrected to physical lives afterward. They will either become obedient to God and receive eternal life or perish!

Jesus warned us, stating, “‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign…’” (Matthew 12:39).

And even though Jesus did resurrect people from the dead and masses of people knew of His miracles, something more important was required—that was to believe Him (compare John 12:37).

For those who can only believe if they see manifestations that defy explanation, that titillate and excite with wonder, the Bible also reveals a time of worldwide deception coming through false miracles and stupefying signs (compare Revelation 13).

During this time, God will have His own witnesses, two men empowered by God to withstand Satan. Note some of what is prophesied about them:

“These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire” (Revelation 11:6).

When the time of God’s choosing comes, He will work in startling and miraculous ways to bring about His purpose. Let’s not be among those who can only be satisfied by signs; rather, now is the time to focus on believing God and on following the example of Jesus Christ—which will lead us to the resurrection of life!

Lead Writers: Dave Harris and Norbert Link