Forgiveness is unconditional in that sense that it's freely given and it does the most good to the person who forgives. Otherwise, you're going to go through life just holding grudges in every direction. And that makes no sense. I've accumulated Unfair or unkind assaults and attacks. I don't hold grudges on those, and my heart is full of forgiveness because I don't want to live with bitterness.
Yeah. Welcome to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. In a few moments, John MacArthur is going to teach the Bible in a much different format than he usually does on this broadcast. Instead of preaching verse by verse through a passage of scripture, he's going to field questions from members of his home church about the Bible and the Christian life.
He might even answer a question or two that you've wrestled with.
So let's begin today's Q ⁇ A. You'll hear the first question, and then you'll hear John respond. It's Anna Sanders on behalf of Young Married Women with Children, and it's about your series that you have been doing about the rapture.
So some of the ladies have approached me, and I think I know the answer might be in your little book that I love, Safe in the Arms of God, but I'm not sure.
So here's the question. And they would appreciate some verses to support it if you have them. And if anybody would have them, you would.
So the question is where there is a dilemma faced by mother of young children when they pray for the return of Christ, which we're excited to do, but they're conflicted.
So they want to know: will their young children be raptured with her? They're born again, but their little two-year-old, three-year-old, and four-year-old are still. They don't understand repentance yet. Do you know what I mean? Yeah.
Yeah, that's a very good question and it's a question that comes up, has come up frequently through the years. Yes. And the simple answer is the Bible doesn't talk about it. It doesn't say anything about it. We could assume that since those little ones belong to the Lord, that they go to heaven.
But we cannot narrow that down to just the children of Christian moms or just the children of Christian families because Scripture doesn't say anything about that.
So we're we're sort of left to um Uh I guess maybe extend uh the whole idea that the little ones Belong to the Lord. And I would lean toward the idea that the Lord would gather the little ones to himself. In that hour, rather than leave them to the day of the Lord. But that would be based only upon the general reference to the fact that. Our Lord said in Mark chapter 10, permit the little ones to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
So if, in fact, before they reach an age of accountability where they can either accept or reject the Lord, they are a part of his kingdom, then it might be reasonable conjecture to assume that the Lord is not going to take the saints out. And leave the world full of little children who are orphaned. But even beyond the little children of the saints, If all little children belong to him, Before they reach the age of accountability, one could assume that maybe he's going to gather them all up. To himself rather than leave them for the judgments of the day of the Lord. But that's only a reasonable conjecture.
We don't have a specific Testimony of Scripture.
However, what you said about the book, Safe in the Arms of God, all of those statements of truth in the Bible that says the Lord takes care of the little ones. could be applied to that That judgment event. Excellent. Thank you. You're welcome.
Thank you. To my left. Hello, Pastor. In one of your sermons, you say that we should forgive as God forgives unconditionally, and that He requires repentance and restitution. But when I read 1 John.
1.9, which says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive as. as our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It seems that he only forgives if we ask for forgiveness, and Luke 17:3 says that if someone asks us, Then we forgive. How do I reconcile these passages with forgiving unconditionally?
So let me ask you this: have you confessed? to God every sin you've ever committed.
Okay. No, you haven't. No, yeah. Because you don't even know a lot of them. Right.
So. Are those that you didn't confess not forgiven? No, of course not. They're all forgiven.
Okay. So what you have in 1 John Is simply a pattern of life. This simply talks about the relationship that a believer has with the Lord, which is a relationship of open confession and full forgiveness. It's not down to every single solitary sin, transactionally has to be brought up before God or doesn't get forgiven. That just would put us all in dire jeopardy.
So taking that and moving back to your question. I I still believe that the Lord whether we confess our sins in specifics all of them or leave some out. forgives them all.
So it's safe to say the Lord forgives sins we never confessed. Right?
Okay, so when you're talking about relationships Uh do you have the right to withhold love. and kindness and mercy and grace. And forgiveness from someone who has not asked you to forgive them some sin. No. The magnanimous thing is to simply say as a general heart attitude.
I forgive. It doesn't have to be transactional.
Now, having said that, The relationship is not likely to be fully restored. Until the person you've already forgiven comes back and wants to make it right.
Now that's not always the case because look there are people who Sin against us. I mean, people sin against me or against Patricia. We don't say, okay, that's the end of those people. Until they show up. you know, on their knees.
and plead forgiveness, they're not going to be a part of our life. You don't do that. You you just Overlook a transgression. Because love covers a multitude of sins. And you fully embrace those people and you treat them with love and kindness and forgiveness.
Otherwise, you're just accumulating bitterness. Forgiveness is unconditional in that sense that it's freely given. And it does the most good to the person who forgives. Otherwise, you're going to go through life just holding grudges in every direction. And that makes no sense.
I've lived long enough life to have accumulated A lot of um I suppose you could say unfair or unkind assaults and attacks, they're pretty common. I don't hold grudges on those. And my heart is full of forgiveness because I don't want to live with bitterness. And I'm not waiting for everybody to show up and explain to me why they did this to me. That'll put you in a loony bin.
I mean, you'll be impossible. To live with. You'll isolate yourself from every human relationship if everybody who crosses you has to go through some transactional event. to get you to forgive them. I think that's how the Lord forgives us, even for things that we don't even know we've done against Him.
And that's just a general expression of His love, and it has to be the same with us.
Okay. Thank you. Hi, John. Hi. I've heard expressions in churches, things like, God put on my heart to get you a little gift.
And God led me to pray for you today. Don't these common phrase expressions sound genuine and innocent enough? But this same pattern can continue and progress on to expressions like God put on my heart to buy a new car or things like that. Question, if the latter is clearly bogus, wouldn't the former be equally presumptuous? Thank you.
Yeah, I think it's a slippery slope, Richard. I really do. If you start saying things like, the Lord. put it on my heart to do this and do that. How do you know that was the Lord?
That's a dangerous category to operate in. Maybe the Lord does want you to have a new car. Maybe He wants you to have an old car. Maybe He wants you to walk. Maybe he wants to make Uber successful.
But whatever it is, you're not going to know that. You don't have access to his will. I think it's better to say, having considered all the options, I think I need a car. Or because I care about you, I want to buy you a gift. I think we do play very fast and loose with attributing things to God.
And it might be harmless at some point to say, well, the Lord put you on my heart, and so I prayed for you. That's possible. But again, how do you know that that was actually the Lord? You don't have a red light on your head that goes on when it's the Lord and stays off when it's just you. You don't have any mechanism to know that.
And so. I think you have to be careful with that kind of language, particularly in the evangelicalism of our time when so many charismatic people have pushed that to an absolutely extreme point. where they try to defend everything they do as if God has led them to do this when in fact they don't know that. The Spirit of God leads us. I believe the Spirit of God prompts our heart.
But I only know that in retrospect. I only know that looking back and saying, wow, look what happened when I went there. Look what happened when I did this. I never know that on the front end of anything. I mean, just that interview that I did with Ben Shapiro, if you were to say to me, Are you going to do that?
I wouldn't say, Well, the Lord put it on my heart to do that. I don't know that. I said, I think it's a good opportunity. I'd like to meet him. I'd like to have a conversation.
I think I want to do that. In retrospect, I look back and say, what a great opportunity for me to present the gospel. I didn't know what the conversation was going to be like.
So I think it's better to wait until you see the unfolding providence of God in anything in your life and look back and give God the glory for what came out of that. And that's how his providence works. We don't know that going in on the front end. Right in the middle. Hi, John.
My name is Peace. Understanding and agreeing that social justice isn't the gospel from your series earlier this year, my question is, how should a person of color like myself or anyone else in the church actively respond and react to different issues of justice in a democratic society in regards to police brutality cases proven to be true affecting me and communities around me while still staying true and prioritizing the saving gospel? Yeah, really good question, Peace, and what a wonderful name. Thank you. You have to stay out of trouble just because of your name.
I do. Um your mother and father were very wise. Yeah. Work. What we don't want to do.
is over categorized groups of people. We don't want to overgeneralize. whether we're talking about people of color Or whether we're talking about white people, whether we're talking about Latin people, or whether we're talking about police, or whether we're talking about governmental authorities, or whatever we're talking about. I think as Christians We desire to uphold justice. You know, when you look at 2 Samuel, you look at the book of Exodus, particularly the book of Exodus, when Moses was going to select leaders.
They had to be just and righteous and not take a bribe. And In 2 Samuel, if you're going to be a ruler, you had to fear God. You had to have the fear of God as well as be just and righteous. I think we have a right to expect that in society from our leaders. Government exists to, according to Romans 13, to punish evildoers and protect those who do good.
I'm talking about temporal good, well-behaved citizens. We don't live in a perfect society, far from it. This is not a theocracy. This is not a kingdom with God ruling. This is a broken, fallen world under the power of Satan.
But I think the danger in all of these things is that we tend to label groups of people. and generalize and I think that's unfair. There are people who have a heart of compassion for those who suffer. There are some people who are indifferent to suffering. But they're not identified by their color or by their By their race or by their economic status.
I think we have to be very careful about that. There are troublemakers of every stripe and of every kind. There are leaders in our government who are corrupt, and there are leaders in our government who do the best they can to be honest. There are police, and I think for the majority of them, they do the best they can to serve us in the way that they're expected to serve us. And there are renegades at that level as well.
So I think, as a believer, I don't want to be in a position where I am blanketly condemning any group of people or any class of people. I want to give honor to righteousness where it exists, and I want to confront evil where it exists. But it has to be. personal and identifiable. And I think the reason we have conflict in our country is we have one group of people of shouting at another group of people in huge generalities that create guilt.
uh beyond where guilt should be Legitimately identified.
So I just think. To be peacemakers, and we're to live quiet, peaceable lives. That's what Scripture says. Submit ourselves to the authorities. We understand there's injustice.
We get that. Christians are persecuted around the world. That's really injustice. You see what's happening in Africa. Christians are being killed and slaughtered over there.
Churches are being attacked and assaulted. But we don't retaliate as Christians. We don't start revolutions. We don't do protests. We don't try to tear down the government.
We submit, commit our souls like Jesus did to a faithful Creator, and live out righteous lives in our society. I think for a Christian, the... Personally, you have to confront injustice and where there's a lack of mercy and a lack of compassion and a lack of understanding. Or where there's racism or anything else, as Christians, those are all sins. They need to be dealt with in our hearts and they need to be confronted.
But but you don't want to jump on The um the sort of Identity bandwagons that tear the fabric of culture apart. And certainly you don't want that in the church.
Okay. Does that help? Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome, Peace.
Thank you. Hi. My name's Joey. Hi, Joey. Considering a world full of pain and suffering, and the very real possibility of eternal health for many.
Why should a believer bring a child into this world? Why should a believer bring a child into this world because of the ultimate existential possibility that that child could end up in hell? Right?
I mean, that's the essence of that question. That is a question that has been pondered by Christians. through the ages. The answer to the question is simply that The Lord says, be fruitful in what? Multiply and fill the earth.
For his glory. For his glory. Now, that poses a very, very interesting. issue You have no guarantee. that the child you bring into the world is going to become a believer.
But I do believe that any child that comes into the world in the end. One way or another will bring glory to God. It may be the glory of God. fulfilled in the manifestation of even his wrath. It may be the glory of God fulfilled in the manifestation of His grace.
But we do have this promise. In scripture. That If you bring up a child in the way he should go, when he's old, he will not depart from it. And the whole idea of having children for believers is to pass righteousness from one generation to the next. You don't want to become too...
fatalistically existential. about children. You want to, as a believing couple, You want to say, we are called by God to pass righteousness to the next generation. We do that by having children and raising them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. and praying for their salvation and working the gospel into their lives.
For the sake of their salvation, We put our trust in God that His purpose will be accomplished. I think You can't control destiny anyway. You are not in charge of ultimate ends of any creatures, any humans.
So, you're not going to alter the ultimate plan of God, the ultimate purpose of God. But in his plan. particularly believers. are to raise godly children. It says Paul writes to Timothy and says, look.
Women are saved through childbearing. Saved from the stigma of having led the human race into the curse in the garden. They're saved from that stigma. Through childbearing, if they bring them up in holiness and godliness.
So What you need to think about when you're going to have a child. is that having the child is just the beginning. of a lifelong commitment to bring that child to the knowledge of Christ. In a very real sense, you are creating your most intimate mission field. You're having children.
Not so that you can show off your baby's in their latest fashion. You're having children so that you can pass righteousness to the next generation. And the scripture is full. of promises from God to faithful parents. God's blessing will fall on those faithful parents.
So uh This is God's plan and God's purpose. But God always accomplishes his purpose through faithful people.
So You don't want to think about it as some kind of fatalist and say, I'm going to have a baby because I want a baby. Whatever God wants to do with that kid, he can do. You rather want to say we're going to have a child. And we're going to pour our lives into that child for the glory and honor of God. And God will honor that.
Commitment. Hi, Pastor John. My name is Claire. Hi, Claire. My question is: how do you battle unbelief and the fear of unbelief when you know that the Word of God is true, but And you want to believe it, but sometimes you're just unable to.
Well, there's an illustration of that in our Lord's life where a man came to him and said, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. And I think that becomes a prayer. You need to ask the Lord to strengthen your faith, to increase your faith. But I will also tell you this. The more you understand the Word of God.
the stronger your faith becomes. I think one of the real tragedies in talking about the church today is that you have so many people who are evangelical Christians who go to church and are abysmally ignorant of the Bible. They hear these ridiculous kind of messages, I don't even know. You know, I call it little bo peep preaching. It's They take something from the Bible and use it as a pretext to preach.
It's like using Little Ball Peep. Little Bo peep. She was little. Yeah. She was insignificant.
She was nobody. Even her name was insignificant, Bo Peep. And she lost her sheep. Everywhere, people are lost. This this is the inane.
pre-textual preaching. that I hear all over the place. But they all come home. Haven't figured out wagging their tails behind them, so. The way that faith grows is by a greater apprehension of the truth of the Word of God.
As the word Saturate your mind and heart. and takes over your thinking. Faith is stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger. I tell you that because that's a testimony of Scripture, and that's a personal testimony from somebody who has been in the Word of God for a long, long time. And I can just tell you that Doubt.
Died for me. A long time ago. And I'm not talking about doubt about me. I always come short. But doubt about God.
And his word and his truth and his purpose and his plan. Died a long time ago under the sheer power of understanding the Word of God. That is why expository preaching is so important. I was reading a book today. A book on Reform Preaching by Joel Bekey.
And he was talking about John Calvin. And John Calvin said, we must do expositions of the scripture. This is what launched the Reformation. Churches during the Reformation had an exposition of Scripture every day of the week. And on Sunday there was a 6 a.m.
service. And there was a 9 a.m. service. And there was a 12 service. And there was a 3 o'clock service and sometimes a 5 o'clock service for the exposition of Scripture.
Um it was said about uh Ulrich Zwingli, who was The Swiss reformer that he preached at least seven sermons a week. and the exposition of scripture. Just think about the the big evangelical world out there that Claims to be Christian has no idea what the Bible says. No real. Grasp.
of the depth and truth of Scripture. This is what stunts faith.
So, and then if you go to the Christian bookstore and you get a bunch of silly things like Jesus calls or whatever else. That doesn't help.
So, I think our faith grows as we know more about God and know more about His plan, and that comes from the Scripture.
Okay? Who's next? We'll try to go if you have a short question real quick. My name is Ron. Hi, Ron.
And first of all, my wife and I would like to thank you for your teaching in Thessalonians. It's answered a lot of questions. Good. Which brings us to another question. We have a question with regard to Old Testament prophets.
And when they're speaking under the power of the Holy Spirit, and they made promises to the people they were speaking to, if those promises Having been adopted into this family, are applicable to us. An example in Jeremiah: For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, for your welfare, not for calamity, give you a future and a hope. You know that.
So, is that for us today? Yeah, very good question. There are some promises made specifically to the nation Israel. There are some promises made specifically to a group of people historically. But a promise like that Where God says, I know the plans that I have for you because you are my people.
I think that's a universal promise. You know, we don't have the promise, for example, of the land of Israel. That was given to the Jewish people.
So there are promises that the context will tell you. But then there are those promises that simply reflect the Lord's pledge to provide all that he possesses to his own people, and that would be a part of that. There are promises that God made specifically to Israel. For example, you hear people quote this all the time: if my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves. And pray.
And seek God, then will I. I don't know the exact words, come from heaven and heal their land. That's a promise to the nation Israel with regard to their land. That's not a promise to the church. And that if we pray that, America is going to be healed.
So there are promises that the context will tell you that, but there are those general promises like that one. That certainly stretched to all believers. In Jeremiah 31, the promise of a new heart, a new spirit, the new covenant promise, while directly given to Israel, extends to anyone who believes because the new covenant. Truth, the new covenant promises of God are given to all of those who come to God through the work of Christ.
So the context will dictate that to you, but I think you need to embrace those general promises. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. Today we broke from our regular verse-by-verse teaching format to air a time of questions and answers.
Now, while a QA like you heard today can be helpful and encouraging, we know there is never enough time to cover all the questions that you may have. That's why one of John MacArthur's passions was to help equip people to get answers to their Bible questions on their own. That led to the creation of our flagship resource, the MacArthur Study Bible. Everything in this resource, the cross-references, the maps, the charts, and especially the 25,000 study notes, all of it is there to help you better understand Scripture and find answers to theological questions for yourself. To order the MacArthur Study Bible, contact us today.
You can call us at 800-55 GRACE or visit our website gty.org. As John said, the MacArthur Study Bible is available in several English and non-English translations in softcover, hardcover, and premium goat skin. To see all the choices, call 855 GRACE or shop online at gty.org. And let me remind you of the impact you have when you support Grace to You financially. Every day, people around the world are growing in biblical truth through this radio broadcast.
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Now for the entire Grace DU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Watch Grace TU Television this Sunday on DirecTV Channel 378 and then be back next week as John MacArthur begins a study called Restoring Marriage. It's another half hour of Unleashing God's Truth, one verse at a time. On Monday's grace to you.
