Dr. Brown Tackles Your Bible and Theology Questions

You've got questions. We've got answers. Dr. Michael Brown.

Hey friends, this is Michael Brown. Welcome to the Line of Fire broadcast. As always, we're devoting this day to answering your questions, but sorry to disappoint. We won't be taking phone calls today. I'm answering questions that were posted on Facebook.

Don't post any now. We solicited these in advance and we're answering them in the order they came in. So we've got more than enough questions for several weeks shows already, but here we go. Let's start with a question from Eric.

Eric asked this. Why isn't the book of Revelation in the Codex Vaticanus? Codex Vaticanus being one of the most important witnesses to the text of the New Testament. Why is Revelation not there? Because the manuscript is incomplete. Revelation is not there. Hebrews is only there up through the ninth chapter. A few others are not there. For example, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon. So it's simply incomplete.

That's that's the reality. Why does it have what it has versus what's missing a certain order of things? Those are other questions, but it's not like Revelation was singled out to be left out. Revelation certainly recognized as a scripture for a good period of time before Vaticanus, but appreciate the question. Natalie, what scriptures explain the Trinity? So what we want to do is look for verses that point to God being one. He's one God and one God only.

We're not polytheists. So that's the whole Bible basically testifies to God being one God. But what would indicate that there is Father, Son, and Spirit within the Godhead? So you would point to verses that speak of Father, Son, and Spirit together.

The end of Matthew, the 28th chapter, verses 18 to 20, when Jesus gives us the Great Commission and says he'll be with us always to the ends of the age. We are commanded to make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Why are we baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit if the Son is just a created being and the Spirit is just an impersonal power? We would go to a verse like 2 Corinthians 13, 14, where it speaks of the love of God, the grace of the Lord Jesus, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. So even though it mentions God, Lord, Spirit there as opposed to Father, Son, Spirit, we see that these are all aspects of the deity, that Jesus is included in this benediction of blessing, and that we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit pointing to the personality of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not just an inanimate force.

So those are verses that point to the three-in-one. Then I would look at verses in the Old Testament like Genesis 18 that indicate that God could appear in bodily form while remaining God enthroned in heaven. I would look to the many verses that speak to the activity and work of the Holy Spirit, John 14, 15, 16. I would look to the prologue of John, John 1, 1 through 18, speaking of the deity of Jesus, and other verses, and then I would put these things together. How can God be on earth and yet in heaven? How can the Son be eternal and yet the Son come forth from the Father? How can the Spirit be sent by the Son to testify of the Son to the glory of the Father? And you put it all together, and then you ask the question, how many gods do we worship? We worship one God and one God only, and yet we are called to worship the Son in Scripture. We see at the end of Revelation 5 that the same worship for the Father is also given to the Lamb, that all created beings join in that. Why? We see in Revelation 22 that there is one throne in the end for God and the Lamb, and his servants see his face, not their faces.

Why? One God, Father, Son, Spirit. There's much more to be said, obviously, it's a big topic, but that's how I would approach it. Josiah, is there anything untoward in Ruth uncovering Boaz's feet in the book of Ruth? There are two ways to read it. There is the innocent way to read it, and to say that she laid down at his feet, and he woke up in the morning and saw her there, and who are you, and what is this about, and she explained, and there was no sexual contact of any kind, nor that it speaks of sexual intimacy, or sexual act. And in ancient Israel, well let's just say in Jewish law, around the time of Jesus, it was said that there are three different ways that a man can acquire a wife. One way would be through an open formula and declaration, you are my wife, and I take you as my wife, etc.

Another would be by formalizing it sexually, by joining together as husband and wife as a formal act, so it's not fornication, it's an act of marriage. Was that part of what was happening there? It's debatable. The Hebrew could go either way. So you have to study that and come to your own conclusion. Again, not taking calls today.

Pablo, Dr. Brown, cool quest here, so a cool question. What is the shape of the earth according to the Bible? And that said, do you believe contemporary science or the Bible about earth's shape? The Bible does not comment on earth's shape. If it does, you might argue that it speaks of the earth as a circle or a sphere. You could argue from a couple of texts, Isaiah or Job, that it pictures the earth as a hoog, as a circle, and speaks of the circle of the earth. When the Bible talks about the ends of the earth, it's just talking about as far as the eye can see. The same with the four corners of the earth.

It's not necessarily describing it as square. So the Bible does not directly comment on the shape of the earth, but it does use observational terminology, just like the Bible speaks about the sun rising and setting. And we also speak of the sun rising and setting, whereas it's not the sun that rises or sets. It's the earth that turns.

But we speak of it the same way to this day. The Bible uses observational language. There's nothing in the Bible about the shape of the earth where there is a declaration from God, thus saith the Lord, this is the shape of the earth. And therefore we have to reject what we know in terms of the earth being spherical and et cetera. You know, the flat earth theory being complete nonsense. So in any case, that's the answer to your question there. May, does the Bible say anything about transgenderism? Men that think they are women and women that think they are men. Also, do you think this is merely a mental illness or do you think it's more of a spiritual matter going on? Yes, I do realize it's no longer considered a mental illness.

Yes, the Bible does speak to this and we need to be tremendously compassionate to those who struggle. There is a new movie about to be released. It'll be released on October 20th. I don't know if you'll actually listen to this or watch this broadcast, but if you're checking it out live October 20th, so next week, the movie in his image will be released.

It's a very, very important landmark movie. I had the privilege of hosting that. So I'm on at different points and giving narration and help work with the producers and director to really fine tune the content.

And they did an amazing job over a period of a year or two of hard work, many, many excellent interviews. And what this will do is we'll go through what the Bible says about being created in the image of God. What exactly does that mean? Then you hear testimonies from men that came out of homosexuality. You hear testimony of a woman whose dad came out as transgender and from a woman who lived transgender for years, surgery and all that, a man who lived transgender for years, surgery and all that. And then them discovering free freedom and liberty in Jesus. So to find out about this, you can watch it for free. It was originally going to open in movie theaters, but because of COVID plans were changed.

So in his image dot movie, sign up and you'll be able to watch it for free in his image dot movie. And here's where the Bible speaks to transgenderism and Genesis one, it states plainly that God created us male and female. There are not multiple genders or multiple aspects of our sex.

There's male and female. You say, but what about people who are intersex? Those are people who have some type of disability. Just like God gave us eyes to see, but there's some people who are blind. He gave us ears to hear, but there's some people who are deaf.

He gave us legs to walk, but there's some people who are crippled the same way he made us male and female. There's some people who have a biological or chromosomal abnormality, well under 1% of the population. Those would be considered intersex, but for the most part, those who identify as transgender do not have a biological or chromosomal abnormality. They simply perceive themselves to be at home in the wrong body. Uh, they, they are living in the wrong body and therefore they don't feel at home. I should say in the body in which they were born. It is either a spiritual or mental, emotional issue or a combination of both. Now again, there are people because of a biological or chromosomal abnormality, they don't fit conveniently in the class of male or female or they developed a certain way.

They're biologically male, but as they began to develop, they developed in a more female way. So we need to have tremendous compassion in helping people find wholeness in the midst of these biological chromosomal struggles, struggles. Others don't have any issue like that.

In other words, they are, they're 100% biologically and chromosomally male or female, but perceive themselves to be the other. So we have to help them from the inside out. It could be mental, emotional, could be spiritual, but the movement in the society today that impacts so many and confuses so many, so that you even have whole groups of teen girls coming out, we're transgender and some of them are autistic, mildly autistic and this may contribute to the misperceptions and things like that. That's a real spiritual thing that we have to be praying against as we minister to the individuals and families with great compassion.

The movie in his image, again in his image.movie will be very helpful here. Now Deuteronomy 22 does forbid a man wearing a woman's clothes and a woman wearing man's clothes. That's very cultural in terms of what qualifies as what, but it does remind us of the importance of gender distinctions and gender distinctions are found throughout the entire Bible. So there are differences in the way God made us and the way he equipped us and the way we operate and the way we function and see the world and we should be sensitive to those. And again, we do not want to overly stereotype.

You might have a guy that's into more sensitive, delicate things and a girl that's more rough and tumble, but we do want to recognize that there are distinctions between male and female, but above all, we want to have great compassion and those who struggle. This is not the kind of thing anyone asks for. So let's be merciful to those who are struggling. We'll be right back. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural and spiritual revolution. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks for joining us on the line of fire.

Michael Brown here. We are not taking calls today. I'm just answering your Facebook questions every so often because of schedule or to include folks more on social media. We do this and maybe next week I'll tell you why we are just doing Facebook questions today. But welcome back to the broadcast. Don't post questions. We got these already before the show. We had more than enough before the show started.

So I'm going back to these questions and we go to Melanie. What happens when you die? Does the Bible teach we go to heaven, hell when we die? Does the soul sleep until the resurrection of the dead?

Naturally, we've been asked this question many times over the years and we've answered it many times over the years. As best as I can tell, upon death, the soul either goes into the presence of God or to a place separated from God, awaiting the final resurrection and then the final judgment for the lost. So as I understand scripture where it speaks of sleeping, that's a metaphor. It's a metaphor for death for believers. Others would say, no, we close our eyes and the next thing we open our eyes, it's the resurrection. Either resurrection to be with Jesus forever or resurrection to be damned and destroyed and cast into the lake of fire by God.

In overall experience, you might say it's no different. In other words, if I close my eyes and open them and the next thing I know, it's a million years from now or 10 seconds from now, my own experience is the same. However, to me, the preponderance of scripture points in the direction of going somewhere immediately after death. Luke 16, the rich man and Lazarus speaks in that direction. Paul, desiring to depart and be with Jesus in Philippians 1, saying, well, probably have to stay here longer because it's better for you. Revelation 6, the souls of those who have been beheaded under the throne of God asking how long before they are avenged. Jesus saying to the thief on the cross in Luke 23, today you'll be with me in paradise. Those all speak of immediately going to be with the Lord. And then Luke 16 would be speaking of a place of separation from God. But either way, the great emphasis should be on the final stage, the eternal stage, not just what happens when we die, but the eternal state. That being said, it's certainly a great comfort for a believer to know that if you have a loved one that goes on before you to be with the Lord, that right now they're enjoying God's presence and don't want to be back here.

They're enjoying God's presence and we will go to be with them. So those are comforting thoughts, but I believe they're comforting thoughts based on truth. All that being said, it is not a heretical position to believe in soul sleep. There's not a heretical position. Christians through the ages have held to that. The issue is, is final resurrection and final judgment and final blessing.

Those are the greater issues. Uh, JJ, in the last two years I've gotten married and had my first baby. This is a tremendous blessing, but I find myself struggling to manage my time in a fruitful way. You seem to have a strong marriage and family despite your busy ministry schedule. How do you balance your ministry and work activities with both family time and private time with God? JJ, first, congratulations.

This is always exciting to welcome new life into the world. I'll lay out a few principles, but you'll have to find your own rhythm here. Obviously, if you're single and if you have a work schedule that's not overly intense, then you have a lot more free time on your hands. Then if you are married, then married with children, married with children and working. And that's what Paul addresses in first Corinthians seven, that the single person can just, okay, it's just me and the Lord, but the married person, it's okay. Care for your spouse and then children and all of that. But for the vast majority of us, that's what God was calling us to, to be married and to have children.

So how do we work this out? First, we understand, okay, I may not have as much time as I once had. There are seasons that are unique. When I was in high school, I had a light high school schedule. And again, it's just a providential thing, the way it worked out and for me to be there at that time and get saved at that time. But it was also then God worked through because I had a lot of time every day if I wanted to devote it to the Lord. So I had months and months of spending at least six or seven hours alone with God every day. And I just mean reading the word, praying, memorizing scripture, just that aside from going to church services or sharing the gospel. I just mean reading the word, praying, memorizing scripture at least six or seven hours alone with God. Remember this days before cell phone, internet, anything. So just me, my Bible, a pad to write down verses hour after hour after hour after hour. I recognized in the midst of it that something special was going on in my life.

That it was a season like John the Immerser in the wilderness preparing for his public ministry. And then after that I started working a full time job. And then after that college and then while in college married and still in college, had our first child. So that changed.

My schedule changed dramatically and I had to accept that reality. So what you need to do is do your best to find quality time with God every day, even if it's not as much time as you'd like and make that a priority and then understand that the gift of family is just that. It's a wonderful gift and God is never calling you to destroy your family with your spirituality. God is never calling you to destroy your marriage with your ministry.

That's not the way it would work. So as you honor your wife and you put her needs first, meaning that you prioritize being a blessing to her than being selfish. I joke that when you get married it's the bride's day and thereafter it's the bride's life. But the whole joke, happy wife, happy life, there's much to it. And I know if I'll follow the Ephesians 5 principle and lay my life down for Nancy, as Jesus laid his life down for us, that she will be the most amazing wife I could ask for. And that my life in turn will be blessed through that. And then spending time with your kid, that's not a burden.

That's not like, oh God, do this. I remember I was working a full-time job and I was going to grad school one afternoon, evening, week, and I'd be coming home from work. And you know, you're coming home from work, it's whatever, 8.30 to 5, whatever hours you've worked, and you want some personal time, right?

You've been working all day. Well, your wife maybe, she's been home with the kids all day and she could use a little bit of a break. But you're going to get home, it's going to be close to dinnertime. And I remember as I'd be driving home, I'd think, okay, I'd kind of psych myself up. Because I know when I walk in the door, our girls, our little girls, they want to play with Daddy.

Daddy's home and I know that Nancy needs a break or she's going to be concentrating on dinner or whatever. And I'd psych myself, okay. And I don't mean, I do not mean in any way that I was like superhero father or husband. Like, wow, you're no dad like you.

No, I just tried to be a good dad. But, you know, I'd psych myself to think, okay, you've got to be ready. You know, kids are going to be excited when you get home. And then and then you'd have some personal time later. The other thing is to work out with your wife or rhythm and say, hey, why don't I make sure you don't have to worry about anything like, you know, this night or this afternoon, you just get with the Lord or just chill, do what you want. And I just want to have that time, you know, to just like one night where I can just get alone and spend a few hours in the presence of the Lord.

And you just, you work out a rhythm like that. But don't don't feel some pressure. You got to, I didn't spend enough hours in prayer. Just enjoy the Lord.

Put him first and be careful not to waste time. Most of us waste so much time every week. Many of us do anyway. Don't waste time. Use it.

Use it well. All right. Let's see.

We go to Gwen. What do you think about the Abraham Accord? Do you think that Ezekiel 38 will happen before the tribulation? Who do you think the true witnesses are?

Moses and Elijah or two prophets that God will ordain that we don't know of? The Abraham Accord, as I've written, seems to be very positive. I don't know that it won't be ultimately part of some false peace that Israel is lulled into that paves the way for the Antichrist or something like that. What I do know is Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers. What I do know is we're called to live peacefully with others as much as possible. So just on a purely natural level, I take that as good, positive.

But beyond that, don't know. As for Ezekiel 38, it seems to be end time passage Gog Magog, even though it's mentioned after the millennium in Revelation 20. I just look at that as an application of a passage about rebellion in the nations.

But from what I can tell, this will be something that happens at the end of the age, part of the final war and conflict before Jesus comes to establish his kingdom on the earth. As for the two witnesses, I don't know. Are they symbolic of the message of the church? Are they symbolic of two leaders that will be raised up? Are they Moses and Elijah or Moses and Enoch or raised from the dead or come down from heaven or don't know?

Do not know. Carmelo, the veil torn in two. Any Jewish sources that hint at it or suggest it? There is a Talmudic source that the doors of the temple were broken open. And now obviously it doesn't say when Jesus was crucified this season.

That's the closest thing. We don't have an actual ancient Jewish source that references the veil being torn as no surprise either. But the reference to the temple door swinging open, that is often pointed to as maybe that happened around the same time. Maybe that's speaking of the same event. Maybe that's the way it was remembered. Those are other possibilities. All right, tell you what.

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This is Michael Brown. Yes, this is the day when we answer your questions, but not taking your calls. Oh, I know, I know, not taking your calls today, but hang on. Let me announce this to my little piece of paper here. Okay. If you have an opinion you want to share, if you differ with me on something, if you want to give me a piece of your mind, if you want to raise an issue that you think I need to talk about, here's the number to call.

Now, let me be clear. This is not a number to call to come on the air. This is not a number to call to ask a question or leave a question. But if you want to make a statement, if you want to differ with me, if you want to share a positive testimony about the impact of the broadcast in life, any of those things, all right? So other than asking a question or coming on live, let me give you a different number to call.

Are you ready? It's 1-800-618-8480. 1-800-618-8480.

Once more, 1-800-618-8480. You say, what's the use of that? Well, what we're going to do is we're going to place certain calls on the air. We encourage you not to go longer than two minutes, all right? But we may like what you have to say or get a kick out of what you have to say and think others should hear it. Or we may want to respond to your challenge. And this is a way you can call any time, 24 hours a day. Our team will listen to the calls.

And if there's one comes in or a few that come in and we think, hey, this is worthy of playing on the air, then we'll do it. All right. So there's your outlet.

There's your number to call. The haters and the mockers and the skeptics. I want to hear from you.

I genuinely do. Remember, keep it about two minutes or less. All right. Over to Facebook, where we asked for questions yesterday. And here we go answering these questions.

So don't post new ones. We've got more than enough. Steve, in Ezekiel 44, 19 and 46, 20, there's talk of endangerment by the transmission of holiness. Any insight on what that might actually look like? So let's let's take a look at Ezekiel 44, 19. And let's see.

OK, let me get a different translation up here. It's it's talking about in Ezekiel 43, 48, which seems to be an end time vision of a glorious temple. There's debate as to exactly how to interpret this or when this will unfold. But let's say this will be a temple in the Millennial Kingdom. And it's speaking of the priests, Levites, the ministry that takes place.

So I'll read from the ESV. When they go out into the outer courts of the people, they shall put off the garments in which they've been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. So what exactly does that mean to transmit holiness?

It's it's a fascinating question. Just looking at some other translations, the the New Jewish Publication Society says, lest they make the people consecrated by contact with their vestments. And as I look at the Hebrew and it's yeah, it's it's literally if if if they make the people holy, if they consecrate them. So what you would understand is, is that if the people are thus affected and again, this would just be to me the most obvious reading of the text in light of priestly ministry, that there is now a weight of obligation on the people.

In other words, it's almost like if I touch you, you have certain requirements that you wouldn't have had before. So make sure that that that I'm out of those holy garments before I go out and touch others. If I touch them now, the same level of consecration is put on them.

That's what I would just understand. Not that intrinsically they become holy on the inside or anything like that, any more than the priests or Levites would intrinsically be holy by what they were wearing. But rather it is it is about consecration. And this would require theoretically a consecration on their behalf.

But it's a fascinating verse to look at. All right, Robert, why do you think that Jesus says in Revelation that overcomers will have access to the tree of life, given that Paul tells us both dead and living saints were receiving corruptible bodies at the second coming? Is eating from the tree symbolic of reverse to the fall of man and being accepted till they're forever in God's presence, or is it needed for some other reason? Right, so if we are resurrected, we have eternal life on the inside. Now we have resurrected bodies that will never die. Why would we need to eat of the tree of life, right? If if you're in an incorruptible body, why why eat from the tree of life? It's like a double dose of resurrection power.

I mean, doesn't make sense. So the the likely answer is what you're suggesting is the second option, Robert, that it's symbolic of reversing the fall of man being accepted to live forever in God's presence. That would be the most likely understanding that this means that we will live with him forever. This means that we will receive those eternal resurrected bodies.

That's that's what it symbolizes and stands for. And remember, Revelation is filled with symbolism, even in the messages to the seven churches. The things are, you know, a new name and different things like that and the hidden manna. What exactly are those things that it's cloaked in mystery in that regard?

But the symbolic interpretation is the one that makes the most sense. Lisa is the book of Enoch, a book that Christians should be reading. What is the benefit of being knowledgeable of this book?

Is there a danger? Why was it not included in the Canada scripture? I haven't read it, but curious, by the way. OK, you can go to our website, AskDrBrown.org and just type in Enoch and you'll see a video a few minutes long why Enoch is not in the Bible. The only tradition in Jewish and Christian circles that includes it as canonical is the Ethiopian, the Ethiopic Church tradition. Otherwise, it's not included in any canon Roman Catholic, regression Orthodox, Protestant, any any Jewish canon of the scripture.

So it isn't it was highly prized and valued among early Christians and Jews, but with almost no exception. It was not part of the Bible. What's the benefit of reading it? Well, it gives you an idea of many of the things that were believed in New Testament times. It is quoted by the Book of Jude, so it would say that there's some words in it that go back to Enoch. But other than that, the book itself does not go back to Enoch. It's actually several different books and and even the authorship and the compilation is somewhat complex and the versions we have we only have some of it in an old, older Aramaic form.

You're looking at complete versions. You're looking at later translations like into Ethiopic, for example. So it's even that it's just not some simple thing like here's the Greek manuscript or here's the Hebrew manuscript of a book. So there are interesting things in it.

There are again insights that will reread. It's like, oh, maybe that's what the New Testament was referring to when it said this or said that. But the danger would be that we believe everything in it is truth. The danger would be that some of the more esoteric elements of it become things that are on the same par with scripture for us.

That would be the danger. All right. Liron, I believe that a person can backslide and if they don't repent will end up being lost. If the backslide of soul is punished in hell, what happens to the regenerated spirit?

All right. So regenerated spirit, you have a capital S. You'd really be asking in terms of a small s. Obviously that's what you meant. So a regenerated spirit.

Yeah. Spirit and soul are joined together. Our inner being joined together.

All right. So yes, you can make a technical difference between spirit and soul. But when the Bible talks about the inner being and the outer being, the outer being is the body, the inner being is soul slash spirit. So if someone that truly knew the Lord turns away, refuses him, and walks back into death and dies that way without repenting, yes, I believe they're backslidden lost and they have forfeited life. They have forfeited life and walked back into death.

That's what I understand happens. Others say, no, once you receive eternal life, it can't be forfeited. Therefore, you might be punished. Your life might be cut short. You might miss out on your heavenly reward, but whatever it is, you won't be, you cannot forfeit your salvation.

I beg to differ. I don't believe you just lose yourself. Well, I was lost by salvation or I said one wrong word.

I didn't pray enough for it. No, it's some fragile thing. But can people deny Jesus walk away from? Yes. I believe the New Testament tells us that very clearly, in which case that regenerated spirit, that regenerated individual is now forfeited life and will be cast outside of God's presence.

That's what would happen. Antonia, why is Christmas wrong for some Christians? It varies. Christmas is wrong for some Christians because for them it is associated with paganism and their mind, the Christmas tree, so many things that go on at Christmas time that they just associate it with pagan traditions that entered the church mistletoe or whatever else. And to them, it's something they can't do in good conscience to them. Decorating a tree has idolatrous associations. Others, it's wrong because they say we're not told to have a holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus. We have a biblical calendar to follow. Others, it's wrong because it just speaks of carnality and selfishness, you know, spending all kinds of money and getting a debt over Christmas presents and so on and so forth.

You know, those kind of things. Others, well, we don't believe he was born at that time of the year in December 25th. That was a pagan holiday and we shouldn't try to redeem it. It's a good thing. For many others though, it's a beautiful time.

So this has to be worked out individually. In other words, if you said to me, is celebrating Christmas right or wrong, I'd say it depends. It's not a wishy-washy answer for me.

It's just the fact that it depends. In other words, if for you it's a sacred time, it's a time when you really look at the scriptures celebrating the birth of Jesus, when it's a wonderful time for family to come together and enjoy his goodness, where you go out singing hymns, you know, through the neighborhood, et cetera, where you don't believe that the tree or those things has pagan origins, you know, there's debate over all these things. It could be a sacred time for you. And every year, I haven't done it recently, but, you know, for years I would have a Christmas debate and just take calls. Why do you celebrate Christmas? Why don't you?

And it's just not that it wasn't an interesting subject, but it was pretty much a repeat every year. And the negative for these reasons and the positive for these reasons. So that's why your question is the right question.

Why is it wrong for some? Where are we going when we come back next? Looks like we're going to go to Oka, then Tammy, then Misty. So stay right here. Not taking your calls today.

Ah, I know, disappointing. But again, we are answering questions that were posted on Facebook. Are you connected with me on Facebook, by the way? You really, if you're on social media, by all means, do that. Ask Dr. Brown, just like that page, ASKDearBrown. We post there day and night, links to latest articles, videos, great memes, sometimes live streams, ASKDearBrown. Twitter is at Dr. Michael L. Brown. That's Twitter.

And YouTube, of course, ASKDearBrown. Ask Dr. Brown. It's The Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural and spiritual revolution. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks for joining us on The Line of Fire, Michael Brown. So blessed to be with you answering your questions, not by following today, but we solicited them yesterday on Facebook and we got more than enough within the first few minutes. So we're just going through them in the order in which they came in and I think you'll be edified and helped by the discussion.

We start with Oka. How to explain that the works in Romans 3 and 4 is not the same as James 2. If so, it's basically Paul and James did not differ in the understanding of faith and works.

So, yes, that's a very common question because it seems that there is a contradiction, at least on the surface, by Paul saying in Romans 3 that no one is saved by the works of the law, that all flesh is condemned by the works of the law, that we're saved by grace through faith alone. And Jacob, James, is saying, you're not saved by faith alone, you're saved by faith plus works. And of course, Catholic apologists would say that Jacob is rightly explaining what Paul really teaches, that salvation is faith plus works. And Protestant apologists would say, no, James, Jacob is simply dealing with a misunderstanding of what Paul taught. So my understanding is simply this, and it would be in keeping with a Protestant view that we are not saved by works, that the entire Bible shows us that we fall short, that our best works and our best days fall infinitely short, that we need God's mercy and grace. And by the way, you might be Catholic and say, hey, I'm agreeing with everything you say. I'm not talking Catholic, Protestant.

I'm just doing my best to be scriptural here, right? And that when we put our faith in the Lord and ask Him to save us, have mercy on us, wash us, cleanse us, at that moment, we are born again. At that moment, we pass from death to life. At that moment, we are declared righteousness and receive the righteousness of Jesus.

At that moment, we go from being children of the devil to children of God, from darkness to light, from dead to alive. At that moment, by faith. Now, the proof of that faith is our works. The proof of that faith is a transformed life. As Paul preached in Acts 26, 20, he said, I preach that people should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. That's what I understand Jacob, James, to be saying, that you say, I've got faith.

Well, show me, prove it. So the proof of the new birth is the new life. And we all agree on that, that if you are a genuine follower of Jesus, it will be manifest in the quality of your life. And you have every reason to challenge someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus and demonstrates no fruit of repentance, claims to be a true disciple, but demonstrates no change in life. Sometimes the change happens more slowly than we might like to see in someone else. Sometimes there is three steps forward, two steps backward. That if there is no evidence of change, no evidence of new birth, no evidence of conviction over sin, no evidence of desire to please God and live for him, no evidence of transformation, we can question whether that person is truly safe. So I see no contradiction between the two. It is simply a matter of emphasis.

But great question, of course. Tammy, can you talk about the verse, the heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left in Ecclesiastes 10.2, did they have political leanings called right and left in those times? If so, what did he stand for? If not, what was meant by that then?

Or do you think that was meant more for now? Thank you. Yeah. You read it like what? What is so if you're wise, you're you go right politically. And if you're full, you go left politically.

And look at that. You know, the left is like anti God and pro abortion and the right is pro God and pro life. And it has nothing to do with politics. It's nothing to do with politics. It's it's. And by the way, you might be in a different culture where the left is conservative and the right is I mean, who knows the way things get characterized, because in and of itself, left and right.

Don't tell you anything, right? What is left itself mean politically? What is right itself mean politically? It's all how we interpret it to the left of this moving away from this to the right, moving away in this direction. But what it's basically talking about is, is right as if it's the right way and left as if it's the wrong way. That's that's how it's understood. You know, even most people are right handed. So that being the norm, you know, the right hand of God and so on. So just right being the we'd say the right path and left being the wrong path, but having nothing to do with our modern politics of right and left. So it's not a prophecy about today.

And there weren't political leanings called the right and the left back then. All right. But I love the question.

Joseph, to unsaved people who never hear the gospel go to hell. Is that a case for universalism? It's an appeal that people would make.

You're safe. It's an appeal that people would make in terms of how can it be fair? We know that God is just. We know that God is good. We know that God does not want anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance. So if someone is, say, born into a devout Jewish home in a certain part of the world and never exposed to the to the true gospel or born into a devout Muslim home or maybe just to a family of, you know, compassionate atheists and never heard the gospel or whatever. Do they have another way in? Well, if there was another way in, Jesus wouldn't have died on the cross. If there was if there was another way in, we wouldn't go tell them the whole world about Jesus. So the understanding is that people are lost and that we still choose darkness and that we still walk in disobedience. And therefore, we are utterly beholden to the mercy of God and there's no salvation at it outside. You say, yeah, but one person gets to hear another person doesn't get to hear. Fair question. God will deal with everyone fairly.

That's where we have to leave it. You don't make a case for universalism based on this, because scriptures clearly speak of the resurrection of the saved and the lost and a final damnation or final blessing, eternal life, eternal punishment. There is no universalism where everybody gets in. So the question is, what happens? How is God going to be fair to someone who never had the opportunity to hear the good news? Do they get to hear it after they die? An angel preaches to them or something. You know, there's no scripture for that either. So all I do is leave them with God. In other words, I cannot tell you exactly how God will deal fairly and righteously with those who never heard. I just know it will be fair and right.

You say it sounds like a cop out. No, it's just the information that we have and the knowledge of God that we have. We know that he's consistent. We know that he's not a tyrant.

We know these that cavalier. We also know that he's perfectly holy and perfectly just the same. But look, some of our loved ones, we pray for and they're open to the Lord. Then they suddenly die before they receive the Lord fully. And what about them know that God will deal with them rightly and fairly. And I have to leave it there, that he will be consistent with his love and his holiness and his justice and his mercy.

And I trust it there. Beyond that, I can't say dogmatically. Shannon, can a Christian lose their salvation? You can forfeit your salvation.

You can willingly choose to walk away from God and deny Jesus as Lord. He has promised to keep us. Nothing can separate us from his love. He will be with us always.

If we determine that we don't want him and deny him, he says, if you deny me, I'll deny you. But that's not just a split second thing. That's not, oh, I blew it. Look, we all blow it.

We all blow it one way or another. We're saved by mercy. We're saved by grace. We're saved because of what he's done, not because of what we've done. We receive his righteousness as a gift. We are justified by faith, not by works, as we said moments ago. Yet if someone willfully chooses to leave him, he will not force us to stay.

Nowhere does the New Testament say that he will force us to stay. So here's the only time you ever need to be concerned. It's not when you're struggling. Lord, I want to live for you, but I keep messing up, losing my temper or watching porn, or I just never pray.

Okay. That's the reason for concern, but not I'm going to lose my salvation. Just Lord, I need to work these things through and get closer to you and learn to live as an overcomer. When you get, when you should be fearful is when you say, I don't want God. I don't want Jesus as Lord. I want to do my own thing. I don't believe in him anymore. And I'm going to do my own thing.

That's the fearful dangerous moment. Uh, Andy, are humans compromised of body, soul and spirit or just the body and soul? If the former role is the spirit plan, how is it separate from the soul? A lot of this is terminology. And in, in Hebrew, basar flesh does not speak of man and his sinfulness as much as man and his weakness. In Greek, the flesh sarx has more of an emphasis on human sinfulness the same way. Nefesh in Hebrew soul is similar to Sukkah soul in Greek, but not in all cases, identical Ruach and Numa spirit, Hebrew and Greek have different nuances, but similarities as well.

So some of it is just how terminology is used for sure. There's an inner being and an outer being, but I do believe Hebrews four 12 and first Thessalonians five 23 do speak of a division of soul and spirit. So the soul is that part of our being. If we characterize it like this, that deals with our emotions, our consciousness, our will, the spirit is, is, is who we actually are. So we live in this body.

We operate in this, in this body with our soul. But I would make a distinction like this, that, that the soul can tie in more with the realm of, of the, of the emotion. For example, to give one example, whereas the spirit is more in communion with God. So faith is not an emotional thing.

Faith is a relationship and connection with God and the trust in him, whereas emotions can go up and down. So there is overlap between the meaning of soul and spirit, especially between Greek and Hebrew and things like that. But I believe ultimately if we dissected us there, we would say there's body, soul, spirit, the soul spirit having to do with the inner being, the body with the outer being.

Interestingly, first Thessalonians five 23, when Paul prays for a complete sanctification, what does he say? Spirit, soul, body. So you get built up in your spirit, renew your mind, right? The soulish part. And then you yield the body to the Lord. All right. You have a blessed weekend. We'll see you in the next video.