Why did God give us the option to sin?

Short answer: because he willed it so.

There are a few ideas on this... Again, because the Bible doesn’t expressly explain it, we have to look at all of scripture and infer from what we do know.
(1) A common thought is that God, being good, wished to create humans with free will- the most loving act he could do for us. He gave us the option to choose him or to not choose him- a true test of love, rather than just forcing us (like robots) to be obedient. Because of our choice to sin, he then decided to give us a solution to our own problem by sending Christ to die- giving us an option to choose God all over again.


(2)While I appreciate the viewpoint listed above, I (personally) take a different stance. All throughout the Bible, God is about His glory. He is absolutely loving and the creation of humans was done in complete love, but ultimately HE IS GOD and everything that he made was created to magnify his glory (Rev 4:11). This is our purpose in life: to bring him glory (Isaiah 43:7). 
The bible teaches that people were created “very good” (Gen 1:27-31), but not perfect. When they faced temptation, both Adam and Eve disobeyed God- they sought their own glory instead of His- and we have all done the same. 
In Jesus, God came in the flesh- fully revealed to all of His creation! This was the first time people could see God’s face without being immediately struck down and killed because of His holiness and our sin. God was SEEN by his creation- bringing His glory. Through Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, he conquered Satan/Sin/and Death- bringing Glory to the Father. Through faith in Christ humans can know God and love him- bringing Glory to the Father. It seems to me that God allowed (and I say allowed, NOT “made”) humans to sin because ultimately, as He came in human form, redeemed sinful people to himself, and became known throughout history for doing this- it brought him glory. And God is all about His glory because he is glorious.  In Acts

Are we predestined?

Short answer: Yes. 

The bible definitely teaches this. See Ephesians 1. There are passages that also reveal that we have some role in responding to God’s grace, though, so to make it as black-and-white as “it’s all only God’s work without us having any role/decision/responsibility for response” would not fairly represent the biblical explanation of our salvation.

More questions on this? Let me know and I can dig in deeper.

At school it is really hard because none of my friends are Christian. I’ve tried talking about God or inviting people to youth, but they mostly just quickly change the subject. I don’t want to leave my friends, but how can I keep a relationship with God when I have almost no Christian friends.

When you became a Christian, God gave you the wonderful gift of His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit seals (secures, protects- Eph 1:13) us in Christ so that we do not fall away. It is not Christian friends that keep you in Christ- it is the Holy Spirit. Keep seeking Jesus and you can have confidence that the Holy Spirit will refresh you and bless your walk and keep you in Christ- even if you are not surrounded by other believers. Personally, I did not have Christian friends until I was done High School. If you want to talk more about my own journey through this, I would love to chat :)

Secondly, though: Good job! How encouraging it is for my heart to hear that you are seeking the glorify the Lord and love your friends by sharing Jesus with them. Keep it up! I know it can be discouraging, but just remember: It’s not your job to convince them. You get to share Jesus with them, help answer questions and break down boundaries that might be keeping them away from understanding the gospel, but ultimately they are blind. Read 2 Corinthians 4:4-10. This passage explains how Satan has blinded people in our world. Pray that God will give spiritual “sight” to your friends, so that they can see Jesus clearly. 1 Corinthians 1:18 talks about how the gospel seems like foolishness to those who are still blinded by satan- it takes God’s supernatural work to help them understand. Keep praying for them and sharing Jesus with them! Persevere! Know that even if they do not come to Jesus now, your love in their life and your testimony may come in to play later on as the Lord works in their hearts. 

What is more, in your sharing Jesus with your friends, you are being obedient to the Lord’s command to make disciples (matt 28). God loves your obedience and the way you are showing Him love through sharing!

Did Jesus ever feel depressed? I have read my bible about this, but I kind of want a straight answer.

• This is a great question. The Bible doesn’t really answer this head on but I’ll do my best to tackle this: First of all, Hebrews 4:15 shows us that Jesus has experienced the same temptations we have, yet was with out sin, and that he can sympathize with our weakness. While this doesn’t directly address the idea of depression, it does show that he is familiar with the feelings and temptations that strike us, and that he can sympathize with our weaknesses.
• Jesus is shown to express great sadness in a few places in scripture (ie: John 11:35), and he was so burdened by the sin he was to bear on the cross that he literally sweat blood! In terms of being in an ongoing state of depression, though, I do not see anything in scripture to support that. I would assume that since he was in perfect unity with the Father, filled with the Holy Spirit (who gives the gifts of JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE etc.), that he did not suffer on-going depression. Knowing the weight of human sin and being hurt by his loved ones disobedience was an enormous burden for him to bear, but being one with the Father and sharing in the perfect love of the Trinity would be such a joyful thing that it overcame the “light and momentary afflictions” of this world.

Why would I feel guilty over something that isn't sin (I don't think)?

Ok, so there are a few reasons you could feel guilty:

(1) You actually are in sin. The Holy Spirit convicts Christians when they break his commands (John 16:8). Sometimes this is when we sin by commission (ie: I do what I'm not supposed to do- I lie, I steal, I cheat, I hate, etc.). But this can also be when we sin by omission (ie: I DON'T do the things I'm supposed to do- I don't talk to that person who looks lonely, I don't go out of my way to love others, I don't stand up for what is right, etc.). When we sin, the Holy Spirit often gives us that guilty feeling to lead us to repentance. I know that in the past I have confessed something to Jesus but still felt guilty afterwards because i needed to actually DO something. For example, in grade 7 i cheated on this test and felt sooooo bad. I kept confessing to God but still felt bad- I knew i needed to tell the teacher. After I told her, too, I felt way better.

(2) When Satan accuses you for something that is not sin. Satan is a liar and an accuser (in Greek "devil" means false accuser). Sometimes, to discourage us, he makes us feel a false sense of guilt. We MUST evaluate whether or not we've actually sinned- because if not, we need to simply fix our eyes on Jesus and not give in to Satan's attempt to discourage us.

(3) When Satan accuses you of sin that you've already repented of and been forgiven for. For example, the other day I gossiped about someone to my coworkers. I felt guilty about it, repented to the Lord, but also went and apologized to them. Now that I've confessed it to the Lord and actually changed my behaviour, if I still feel guilty I can be confident that it is just Satan accusing me. If I haven't totally dealt with it, God may be telling me to do so- but if I have, then I need to just take my thoughts captive (2 Cor 10:5) and remember that I am already forgiven (1 John 1:9)