Matt Slick Live

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. It's Matt Slick Live. Matt is the founder and president of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry, found online at carm.org. When you have questions about Bible doctrines, turn to Matt Slick Live for answers, taking your calls and responding to your questions at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick.

Hey everybody, welcome to the show. It's me, Matt Slick, and you're listening to Matt Slick Live. I hope you're going to have a good time listening today. And as usual, if you want, you can give me a call. That's easy.

Just dial 877-2072276. And you can also email me info at carm.org. And Put in the subject line, radio comment, or radio question.

Okay, I'll not be on the air live tomorrow or Friday. I'll be out in North Carolina speaking at a conference on Islam along with some other guys and gal. They're all very competent, very good. And it'll be in Kannapolis, which is, I don't know, 20, 30 minutes north of Charlotte and Kannapolis at the Charity Baptist Church, Charity Baptist Church. If you want information about it, you can go to Carm.org forward slash C-A-R-M forward slash NC for North Carolina.

So go to CARM site and put in forward slash CARM forward slash NC, and you can get all the information you need right there. You can also go to ministrytomuslims.com, ministry T-O, ministrytomuslims.com, and check out the stuff there, the upcoming events on the East Coast. And hopefully, we'll see you out there. Hope we get to meet a lot of the listeners. I really enjoy that when I go to different parts of the country and I hear the radio show in different parts, and then I get to meet them.

Sometimes we just have dinner, lunch, go to a place, whatever, go to a church, meet. It's fun. And I like that. We've got callers coming in and. Like I said, give give me some emails and uh Callers?

I'm waiting for the caller. Oh, that's right. I remember now.

Sorry about that. Oh, boy.

Okay. I got so many things going on. Owen, are you there? Yes, sir. How are you, Matt?

Thank you for taking my call.

Okay, now you're gonna be the conference, right? That's the plan, Lord willing. Yes, sir. Okay, good. Yeah, I was just talking about it.

I got so many things going on all of a sudden here. And so I thought, oh my God. Oh, that's right. So sorry about that. And You're going to be attending, you're going to be speaking.

And uh why don't you tell us about yourself?

Well, I I was just thinking, you know, years ago, you and I. I remember you and I doing some talks on ABM when I first got started in this and I I was a nervous wreck, and you were very graceful with me and patient with me and pretty much carried the show.

So thank you for that. But all these years later now I'm working with Radical Truth Ministries. And brother, it is just an honor to be a part of this ministry that Joe Curry started a number of years ago I've been with them full time about About a year now, and travel, speak a little bit, do some conferences with George. And my focus is this long. God's just given me a A heart for Muslims and um Sometimes I don't feel very qualified, but I'm taking some steps and working on my education, and I believe God's using what I'm doing.

So, praise God. Yes, when you say don't feel very qualified, you know, I know more than the average bear on Islam, but. When you get in the company of George and the others that he has, it's like, oh my goodness. You know, I like to say they've forgotten more since lunch about Islam than I've ever learned. They're just really, really good people there.

And I don't know if you feel the same way, but that's how I feel. It's picked up. Yeah, I just uh we just got back from Dearborn and I I look at the poster and of course find myself on stage with uh Dr. Jay Smith, he's one of my professors and and it's just uh It's just very humbling, you know, to look and and and uh to see Um what uh what the Lord has brought me to and and um just grateful for the opportunities that he's given me. Yeah, and isn't Jay the one who Does the uh the bit about Muhammad may never have existed?

That's correct. Yes, that's kind of a big topic right now. And I think he's I'm pretty sure he's getting ready to have another major debate on that. I'll let him announce it. But Yeah, everybody's kinda talking about that subject and that's uh That's a topic that is certainly discussed in the classroom a little bit.

The school that he teaches at is Veritas International University. They're now in New Mexico. And the degree is a master in apologetics and polemics to Islam.

So I've got. I don't know, I think about three classes left and I'll have that degree. For for what it's worth. By hair. That's good.

Yeah. Yeah, I've been hoping to do a doctorate, uh But I just had the time, and it takes three to four years. I'm looking for a one-year, one and a half-year doctorate program. If I can find it, I want to do that. in the D-Man or something like that.

But at any rate, um so All right, so uh You're going to be speaking at the conference. What's your topic? What what uh what's George got you doing?

Well, I have, you know, it's interesting that, you know, I was just telling you about how nervous I was, you know, when. Don Deal, I think, booked me on the ABN show. As a lost person, I was. Very much introverted. I told people I was the greatest introvert in the world, but.

When I come to know Christ, I immediately had a heart for people and wanted to be around people and. The Lord eventually gave me a heart for Muslims. And so, my topic, to answer your question, is a biblical perspective of evangelism. And I I hope to to just uh get some practical advice. on what the Bible teaches about sharing the gospel, What that looks like.

I think, you know, in today's culture, we We have a very fragmented view of what it means to do evangelism. And so Again, just trying to give some practical advice Um From the Bible about how we go about sharing the gospel and really breaking it up into you know, what Francis Schaefer called pre-evangelism and then evangelism.

So that's my topic. And then, of course, as you well know, George has asked us to. to take that one topic and then go deeper into it and do some round table discussions and maybe small groups as well.

So that's that's the that's the plan. And um That's what I've been working on ever since I got back from Dearborn. Uh we we got back, I think, Friday of last week, so Okay. I've been working nonstop trying to put together these presentations and Okay. Of course I I had all of it really in my heart, uh, most of it anyhow, and uh just tried to think it out a little better and think about how I could communicate it better.

Yeah. Yeah, it's one of the things I do to help myself communicate things better is to put things in outlines. Um then I I can see the logical progression of things. Then I I do the very, very skeletal structure, then I fill in the uh musculature, so to speak, and then uh finally top it off with uh With a polished examination of it. And then that usually helps me.

You know, everybody has their different techniques to try and get things to work. Yeah. That's one of the things I'll do. And it's helped. It's helped a great deal.

So No, Olin.

So Olin Giles, that's you, right? All in Giles. That's right, that's true.

So you're a pastor. Where are you a pastor at?

Well, I'm no longer a pastor. I was a pastor at a Southern Baptist Church here close by for about five years. and planted a church after that that was pastored it for three years. We ended up The church ended up adjoining another couple of churches and. had some financial struggles and dissolved and our I um I really sense God calling me to what I'm doing right now anyhow.

I tell people I've never in my life had such a sense of purpose as what I have right now. And I I've known this for a long time. The Lord has, you know. Yeah, I don't I I I try to say that very carefully, uh you know, the Lord speaks I believe to us through Scripture, so I just want to make sure to clarify that. But I sense God's calling to do this.

ministry to Muslims and started pursuing it. I actually walked away from a full time pastorate job And for whatever reason the Lord made me wait. about seven or eight years before But um this this past year I've been able to To start full time with radical truth. And by the grace of God, here I am, you know, all the way almost halfway through this year. or a little over halfways.

And um God's provided you know find them Made it possible for me to do this. And, man, I just have such a sense of purpose.

So, I guess I would call myself an evangelist, a missionary right now. I'm a missionary to. to Muslims in the United States. That's my heart. I'm not saying that You know, I wouldn't go to the UK or somewhere overseas.

If God, you know, if God sent me, I'd go. But my heart is to see. The church Here in America Equipped to do evangelism to Muslims. And I believe You tell me if I need to stop here, brother, but I this is this is this is such a heart of What would I What I do. God has brought basically the ten forty window.

to the United States right now. I mean, we we encounter people in Dearborn from Yemen, from Senegal, from Saudi Arabia, I mean, there there were Muslims from all over the world. And of course, you know, as I travel around a little bit, you know, whether it's Dearborn or Florida or. California, you you find the same thing. And I believe that God has given us this opportunity.

To reach these people that are really coming from the most difficult places in the world. We've spent thousands of dollars sending missionaries overseas. And rightly so. I'm not saying that we shouldn't do that. But what I am saying is that these people are right here now.

And for pennies on the dollar We can share the gospel with them simply by walking across the street or traveling to Orlando or Dearborn or. For Los Angeles. That's my heart. I have um I have had conversations with Muslims about Jesus Christ the gospel, the nature of God. I've had so many conversations with Muslims, again, from all over the world, Right here.

And um I believe the the answer to radical Islam. is a well-equipped church. and people who have a heart for other people and Of course, want to see him come to Christ. But anyhow. That's uh that's my rule.

That's my little sermon that I I share quite often. But uh Brother, there are there are three point four five to four point four five million Muslims in the United States right now. And generally, they don't assimilate well, but I have found that they're open to talking about, like I said, the nature of God, who is Jesus. You're just not going to have. Difficulty starting a conversation with a Muslim about those two topics.

And so the the conference that we're doing is You know, George Saig has He's inv he he's invested his life in this and I've watched this man work. I've like conserved people. Oh. I've watched him over and over. Hold on, we have a break coming up.

There's the music.

So hold on for about three minutes or so. That's okay. And then we'll get right back on with you after the break.

Okay, Rosa, hold on now.

Okay folks, we'll be right back after these messages, please. Stay tuned. It's Matt Slick Live, taking a call at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, everybody, welcome back to the show.

We're talking to Olin Giles, and he's one of the speakers at the conference. I'll be at Friday, Saturday, this coming Friday and Saturday in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Let's get back on. Olin, are you there? Yes, yes.

All right, brother.

Now you were talking. I'm sorry about the break.

So if you want to pick up where you were. Please do.

Okay. Yeah, that's fine. I don't want to take up your whole show, but uh. Uh how is you know that The conference, again, is aimed at equipping the church to do what Christ has called it to do. And what an honor and a privilege that we have to be involved in the work that God is doing.

it's such a joy for me to to have these conversations and to watch people being transformed by the gospel I'll just share a quick story. I was When we were up in Dearborn, um George had asked me to go pick up a a Muslim lady and her children and um I'm I'm driving through the neighborhood, you know, just following my GPS and uh I look up and I realize that that that uh I've I've been here before. And I realized that I picked up this lady and her children. last year for the VBS that we do in Dearborn. And um Last year, she had just got here from a foreign country.

I won't say too many details. But she was she was very reserved, didn't say a whole lot, didn't seem to have a whole lot of joy. But this time You know, a year later, she was just bubbling with joy. before she ever got in the car. And when she saw me, she She was like, hey, I remember you.

You picked me up last year. Her children, you know, it's good like everybody got in the car, we took them to to the church. Long story short, she came she confessed Christ that night Her older son came the next night and we were he had already evidently been a believer, and we Gave him some books and stuff to some apologetics books to help him. The following night, her husband came. He confessed Christ as Lord of his life.

And all that to say that, you know, again, what a joy. I mean, What a joy it was to see that God was at work in these people's lives, even after. you know, we had left God had sovereignly moved on these people and did what we could not do. And a year later, we're still carrying on the work that he's called us to do. And Just such a joy to see them come to Christ that night.

I mean, I could share many more stories like that. We had. Um Several Muslims come come to Christ and Dearborn or confess Christ. um at the Eric Caldean Festival and at the Bible School and we did a number of different outreach projects, but we want to see Churches involved in these mission activities here in the United States. Again, I think this is such an incredible opportunity that we have.

God has brought these people to us. They're practically on the doorsteps of the American Church. And unfortunately, a lot of You know, I'm speaking broadly here. But a lot of Christians are confused about what Islam teaches about what Muslims believe. And so I think if we're going to be effective as a gospel witness that we have to as a church We have to correct those false beliefs And we have to equip the saints to do the work of the service.

And again, that's That's pretty much the the goal behind the conference that we're doing and what we do all over the United States. Yeah, I totally agree with you. It's a an important topic, this this thing of Yeah, I'll be equipping the the uh the church because um We could do a conference just on The state of the American church and what it needs, because it's anemic in a lot of areas. That's not to say that every church. Church is bad.

There are a lot of good churches out there doing really good work, but overall, it just seems that the Christian church just isn't picking up the cross daily and following after Christ, isn't making disciples of all people, isn't desiring to really be changed and. equipped for the work of ministry as it's supposed to be done. I find a lot of Christians are just not very well engaged and able, and I think it's a fault of the pastors.

Now, that's just a generalization, but uh do you find the same basic thing? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think Barner did a study here a while back on the, you know, how Um A large, you know, I don't want to start to say a large majority. I want to be careful with putting out a percentage there, but a large number of pastors.

Themselves don't have a biblical worldview, and of course, that trickles down into the congregation.

So, this idea that doctrine does not matter. I mean, you think about. What are we faced with with Muslims, Jehovah's Witnesses? one is Pinnacle, what what are we faced with we're faced with being able to answer their objections involving the Trinity. The deity of Christ and salvation Through faith alone.

Right. And those are the very areas that we're weak in, I think, as a church. Speaking broadly, there are some good churches out there, and praise God, there are a lot of good pastors that are. They're doing a great job of equipping their people. To answer those objections, I just came back from Chicago, and I tell you, I was.

I was impressed at a number of churches up there Who were strong in their faith, and they had these answers, and their people. We're we're we're ready. to give a defense for why they had hope in Jesus Christ. Same thing in California. I went to California and a lot of my southern friends here are like, Well, you're going to the land of the fruit cakes and the nuts?

And they're like, No. The church in California is actually pretty strong. And and they don't have you know, much of a choice, really. But praise God that they are strong.

So, you know, if we. W wanna want to, you know, give them uh You know, talk about them in a positive way that are doing what they should be doing as well, but it is unfortunate. that a lot of churches are not doing this. And again, our heart is to see them equipped to be an effective witness. I agree.

I've heard of people referring to seminary as cemetery and that they don't need doctrine. Yeah. They don't need doctrine, they just need Jesus. And I think this kind of attitude You know, cuts the limb on the tree that you're sitting on, cuts it off, you know, and but it's harmful. But like you said, there are some good pastors, and there are a lot of good pastors out there.

And it makes me want to be a pastor again just to equip congregations. But. Right. You said you're a a missionary to the Muslims. I'll have to say that I'm a missionary to the internet.

I've been doing internet work for almost thirty years now and uh in October. It's gonna be thirty years. And um yeah, that's it. Just praise God, you know. He uses broken vessels for his glory.

And uh you know, you and I are, I know, broken vessels, saved by grace. And um God's condescending to use us. Yeah. So the conference, we've only got a couple more minutes left in this segment, and then we'll get to the callers. But, oh, there's the break.

Tell you what, I'm going to have you hang on a little bit until after the break. We'll give you the contact information, all right, for the for the conference, and then we'll just start taking calls after that.

Okay, buddy?

So hold on.

Sounds good. Thank you, Matt. Hey, folks, be right back after. These messages, please stay tuned. It's Matt Slick Live, taking your call at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. Alright everybody, welcome back to the show. We have Olin on, and he's going to be with me, or I'll be, well, we'll be all together, I guess, several of us speaking at a conference. And so, Olin, how can they get a hold of you? And one last time before we go, what are you going to be speaking on at the conference?

How can they get a hold of you if they want to do that? Yeah, if they wanted to get a hold of me, they can go to radicaltruth.net. Radicaltruth.net. There's some contact information on there. Um for the ministry as well as myself.

You could also go to ministry to Muslims.com. There's an email info at ministrytomuslims.com. You could also contact me that way through George. But uh My uh my topic for the for the conference is A biblical perspective. of evangelism.

And of course, I'm going to be applying that to to Islam and how we can better reach Muslims with the gospel. talking a lot about how to ask questions and use questions to our advantage. But really want to encourage pastors and church leaders to. to come to this conference and well anybody really and and if there's you know, the if there's somebody that's concerned about the forty dollars, We don't want anybody not to come because of that. I think the deadline has been extended.

I'm not sure How long, but if somebody wants to come to this conference, we're not going to turn you away. the the forty dollars basically covers the cost of the meal and There are a lot of costs in doing something like this, but we want you to be there, and we want to encourage pastors and church leaders to. to come and check it out. And if nothing else, to watch it online. And I know that it's going to be a blessing to them.

Yeah. Yeah, Irene. Let me reiterate to the listeners: if you want to go, it'll be in Kannapolis at the Charity Baptist Church. It'll be there Friday night starting around 6. 6:30, I think is when the doors open, I'm not sure, 6 or something like that.

And then again, Saturday morning. And if you want to go and you just can't afford it, just go. And George is such a sweet man. He will just say, come on in, brother. That's all that's going to happen.

But we do want people to help contribute because it helps pay the expenses because it does cost. And he's got to, that ministry has to fund travels and things like that. I don't know about you, Olin, but whenever I usually sign up for a George seminar, let's just say I end up giving a little bit more to get back, you know, and that's okay. It's all good because it. It's for ministry and for the glory of God.

And so I'm looking forward to it. And he's such a great guy. He's such a humble, godly man. I was looking forward to being there again. Amen.

All right, brother.

Really appreciate it. Looking forward to seeing you. Likewise, I was getting ready to say that. I look forward to meeting you in person. And uh perhaps I can have you on the uh I have a YouTube channel.

Perhaps I could have you on sometime. I'd love for you to do that. I know you're a busy man, but I was just thinking right before I called you, I'm not sure why I haven't reached out to you, but maybe we could do that in the f in the future where we're doing. Sure, no problem at all. I people every now and then will ask me to come on their podcast, whatever, and just talk about whatever.

And I say, sure, let's let's do it. It's a lot of fun. No problem. I think I did it. did it last night as a matter of fact.

It was great. All right.

Well, no problem.

Okay, brother? We will see you in Kannapolis, Lord William. Bless you, brother. That's right. Thanks for what you do.

And you too. All right.

Bye-bye.

Okay, God bless. All right.

I enjoyed that. That was good. All right, now we have two open lines. If you want to give me a call, 877-207-2276. Let's get to Philip from Hawaii.

Philip, welcome, you're on the air. Oh, thank you. Thank you again for your online ministry in helping so many people.

Well, praise God. That's all I can say is praise God. Glad it's there.

So what do you got, buddy?

So, my question was a little bit complicated. I I've been going to a church only one mile away. And I've looked over here.

Well, I've lived on the island of Oahu for over fifty years.

So I just started going through this chart one mile away. I went to other churches before. But uh I I was in like forty years in Calvinistic churches, and that didn't seem so good because. They're teaching us all Don't worry, you're going to go to heaven no matter what you do. Even if you don't want to follow the Lord, you're still going to go to heaven.

If you don't want to repent, you're still going to go to heaven. Don't worry.

So I got fed up with that. I couldn't help people in that one, in that church.

Okay. So this one I'm going to now the leaders are saying that they're Calvinists and Uh when they they I get confused. When We say faith alone, grace alone. et cetera, et cetera, all together. How can it be alone if it's all together?

That's one question.

Okay, let me address that. And the other question.

Well, let's get one question here. Yeah. So, first of all, Reformed churches. I'm a Calvinist, okay? And I have been one for 35 years.

You are, you said, yes. Oh, yeah, yeah. And when they say to you, hey, we're going to heaven no matter what we do, you don't have to follow Christ. That's not what we teach. That's not it.

We are obligated to follow Christ and live for him and all that. There's no excuse to go out and just be negligent. And so if anybody's teaching you that, that's not what Reformed theology officially says.

Okay, just letting you know. They're whacked when they say that. I believe you. Thank you. And is Calvinism called Reformed theology?

Is that another word for it? Yes, they're almost identical in everything. Reformed theology is a little bit broader. Calvinism deals with mainly the five points in tulip. And Reformed also gets into infant baptism and sacramental stuff and some other things.

But it's all all Reformed or Calvinist, but not all Calvinists are, strictly speaking, that. Reformed in everything. But it's really close.

So we basically say, yeah, they're one and the same, basically. All right? And I'm just trying to learn. It's okay. And I get confused.

That's all right. I have another website where I go through and talk about it in depth, and I've been defending it for a long time.

So, anyway, here's the thing. Faith alone. What that means is that it's only by faith, not by our works. That's what that means. Our faith alone in Christ alone.

And that means that Jesus alone is the one who atoned for our sins, and that it's not. By anybody else, or anyone else, or anything that anyone else would do, or including ourselves.

So, faith alone means not of our works, but in the work of Christ. We put our faith and trust in Him. And Christ alone means just Him. He's God, God in flesh, and died on the cross, rose from the dead.

So it's Him alone that we put our faith and trust in. And by grace alone means that it's unearned. It's the means of God's work in us, in His grace, which is unmerited favor. And so one of the gracious acts of God is to grant that we have faith. Philippians 1:29 says that.

So grace has unmerited favor, and God grants we have faith, and we do the believing, and we have our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

So that's why we say, by faith alone, in Christ alone, through grace alone.

Okay. Yeah, and I'm all in favor of Christ alone. They know that Jesus is the only way, Jesus Christ is the only way. the salvation and he died for our sins and Anyway, I have confusion because in James chapter 2, 24, it says in the Right by the end. I mean, the whole chapter two.

Explains it very well and doesn't really need an explanation because the whole chapter explains faith and works as a unit, not just.

something to be separated. If you have saving faith, you have The works, you have good works. And if you have dead faith, you. Producing bad fruit, essentially. A bad tree produces bad fruit.

Right. Go ahead. Go ahead. Oh, well, at the end, the last Verse twenty four it says in different translations, it's all about the same. It says So you see, a man is justified by what he does, not by faith alone.

Then, when people say faith alone, I say, why do you say that? You're contradicting James chapter 2:24.

Okay, so this talk is confusing to me when they keep saying that. Yeah. Let's talk about it, okay? Because this is something I've gone through literally hundreds of times. Hundreds of times.

Thank you. Yeah. In James 2:14 through 26.

Okay. And it starts off this way. We're going to have a break here in a little bit, so we're going to continue. We'll start and we'll continue because it's very important. He says in verse 14, thank you.

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works, can that faith save him? The object here is faith that saves. In verse 14. What kind of faith is the issue? Real faith or false faith?

If a brother or sister of a man Right. If your brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and you say, go in peace, be warm, and you don't help them out, well, what use is that? That faith without works is dead. But someone may well say this critical verse: You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, I will show you my faith by my works.

We call this the horizontal. Verse 18 is the critical in this section of Scripture. and we'll get back after the break, because we'll get the music going. But this is the faith that we demonstrate to each other. Because that's where the justification is coming in.

We'll get back to it in a little bit. Hold on. We got a break. Thank you. Folks, please stay tuned.

Be right back after these messages with Philip from Hawaii. Please stay tuned. It's Matt Slick Live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, everyone, welcome back to the show.

Please hold on. We don't have any open channels to call in right now, so let's just continue on with Philip from Hawaii. Phil, welcome you on the air, buddy. Still. You there?

Thank you. Okay. Can you hear me okay? Yes, I hear you.

So, and also, I'd like you to tell me what church you're going to there in Oahu, the new one so I can check it out online to see if it's any good.

So if you want to do that really fast, what's the problem? It just changed its name recently. It used to be Akukilo Bible Church. No, it used to be. Macaquil Baptist Church.

on Makoquilo Drive in Makoquilo. And now they changed the name recently to Maquequino Bible Church, so they're They say they're more of a Bible church than a Baptist church now.

Okay. Well, so you can find it. And they're looking to hire another pastor. I don't think they would hire anybody unless he's a full-blown five-point Calvinist, but you can put the word out if you want to. Oh, man.

I love it. I used to live in Hawaii when I was young, and I just love going. Yeah, so. Yeah, you said, come and see us, come and see us. I like all the guys in our church.

You're invited. I'll tell them to invite you. They're looking for a pastor to hire because the. The main asteroid. moved to California and He had an intern that he trained for many years, and now he's the pastor.

Yeah, well five points. Yeah, I'm old, but I'm a very, very strong Calvinist teacher, I think.

So let's get back to James here, okay, and stuff. But if they're reformed, if that church is reformed, then I'm sure it's good. As long as they don't have women, pastors, and elders. I think it is. I think I'll ask them because I didn't know about that.

I'm really. I became a Christian when I got out of the military. And and I I that was in I was in the Air Force from sixty five to sixty nine. And I I went to college I got on permanent night shift as a chief aircraft mechanic during Vietnam wartime 'cause we had three shifts 'cause of the cargo planes going back and forth to Vietnam all day and all night.

So I was went to college in the daytime with a Jewish lady. In college, well, you know, like I say, I work nighttime and I went to college in the daytime. Dee gave speeches about Christ every time and I didn't even know if God existed.

So you know it does now. Yeah, I know. I found out in 1969. Let's get back to the text because we've got a lot of callers waiting when we get to them. But let's get back to the text and take a look at James Tilband and help you out, okay?

What's going on there, all right? Thank you. All right.

Now, because it says, this is a critical verse in this section of scripture. But someone may well say, You have faith, I have works. Show me your faith without the works. I will show you my faith by my works. Real faith has real works.

And the only way for me to know you have it is for me to see what you do. And the only reason, or the only way for you to know my faith is to see what I do. That's what he's talking about here. It's called horizontal. He says, You believe that God is one, you do well.

The demons also believe and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow?

Well, he's talking down to somebody. That faith without works is useless. Because he's trying to say, don't be a hypocrite. Don't say you follow Christ and you don't live like it. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

Well, yeah, he was, but not before God. Because we know that from Romans 4.1. What then shall we say that our father Abraham according to the flesh is found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

So, Paul's very clear in Romans 1, it's going to be Romans 4, 1 and 2, that the justification before God is something there, but it's not by any works. What James is talking about is justification before people. That's what verse 18 says: You show me your works, I'll show you mine. You show me your faith, I'll show it to you. He says, That's how Abraham was justified.

When he offered up Isaac, because we know he has that faith, you see that faith was working with his works as a result of the faith, the works his faith was perfected, and the scripture was fulfilled, which says Abraham believed God, it was reckoned him as righteousness. And so, what was reckoned as righteousness? His faith. not his works. true faith has works.

That's how we can tell you you have it. But it's the faith alone that saves us. Not the faith combined with works. All right? Yes, that's awesome, and thanks for the good explanation.

I just And and And when When I was in Calvinistic churches for fifty years, it was a fastest growing forty years. It was fastest growing church on the island and they Told people, basically, you don't have to repent, just only believe, faith alone. That's what they said every time. And they would say every service, don't worry because of God's unconditional love. Don't worry because of God's unconditional forgiveness.

And you're all going to heaven 'cause you raised your hand and said the prayer. I know I left. Good for you. Yeah, there's a lot of fake Calvinists. I'm trying to clear up my confusion.

That's all right. But I speak against those kind of things. Those are fake. Calvinist churches. They're not real Calvinist churches, okay?

But go ahead. Yeah, they got a lot of people and a lot of money 'cause they tell them what they're seen to hear. Yeah, you're ticklers. No, the real Reformed theology, we teach you're supposed to turn from your sin. It does matter what you do.

You can't lose your salvation, but you don't keep it by your good works. That's maintained by the Lord God. And we are to repent of our sin, and we're to seek holiness. And that's that's just how it is, okay? Yeah, all right.

And I have to confess, I still have confusion.

Okay. Call me up. Call me up. I'll be you know, I'll be I'll be off the air for about a week, you know, a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday next week. I'll probably be off the air too.

But call me up in a week from today if you want. Should be back here in the office and on the air and we can talk some more, okay? All right, butter?

Okay, and and what about when people say uh Repent, don't repent from your sins. Repent means only repent from your unbelief, but don't repent from your sins. No, Romans 6:1 and 2 refutes that. Romans 6:1 and 2 refutes that. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

May it never be? For how shall we who have died to sin still live in it?

So, no, that's their teaching on false. Exactly, I love it.

Okay. Yeah, okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, God bless.

Okay, thank you.

Okay. Man, you know, it just gets me when any church teaches false doc doctrine like that. I'm gonna get to uh Joe really fast. I'm gonna get to Jay. Uh let's see, here we go.

Joe, real fast. I know you want me to I got your message there. Um, go ahead. What? Hello.

You're on here, bro. You're going to come and speak to us Sunday morning. Come and speak to us Sunday morning. You want me to or I'm going to? Yeah, yeah, that's what I want to know.

Are you coming? I want you to.

Well, I'll tell you what, if you would contact me at info at carm.org. And then we'll we can see. Because I got I'm not sure what's happening Sunday when I'm out there. I got to do two or three lessons for forty five minutes on video on the Trinity and the work personal work of Christ on Sunday. But but I don't know what time it's going to happen.

And so Yeah, let me know. I we can If we can get it on the radio, you'd have a big crowd. If even if we did it Monday, Tuesday, whatever.

Well, I'll tell you what, you email me info at carm.org. We'll see if we can figure it out because I'm going to be going up to Winston-Salem on Monday and Tuesday. I think someone wants me to speak someplace. You'd be coming within a quarter of a mile of it. You come to Winston, you'd be coming within a quarter of a mile of the church.

Well, then okay, just email me, brother, okay? You need to get my cell number and call me. I'll meet you for once. All right.

In just me email me your contact info at in I mean, yeah, contactinfo at info at carm.org, okay? Hey, sounds good. God bless you, brother. God bless you. All right, brother.

God bless. All right, bye.

Okay, bye. All right, now let's talk to Jay, who's been waiting for over a half hour. Hey, Jay, welcome, brother. You're on the air.

Sorry about that long wait. Oh, no problem. Thanks for taking my call. I had a quick question. I'm studying John 113 and I'm.

I have Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics by Daniel B. Wallace. And I'm just trying to understand this clearly.

So I understand that um We Passively are born again. It's God who performs the action. and we receive it.

So I I comprehend that. But that doesn't really answer my Question: That I'm trying to get the answer to, and that is. It owes. From John 1.13. Can we From the Koina Greek, can we arrive the cause.

Because from what I'm reading I'm getting that, okay, yes, God performs the action. Everybody knows that. We can't make ourselves born again. The real issue is Do we trigger it or cause it to occur? Or is God causing it to occur Can you show me from the Koine Greek?

He says we are born, that's a spiritual birth, at the context, okay, this born-again issue. It's the aoris passive indicative.

Now, if you're studying anything in Wallace, his grammar, it's a good grammar. Let me review this. Arist means past tense. and passive voice means you receive the action. You receive the action, okay?

Airs, passive, indicative. The indicative means it's a fact.

So the error is passive indicative occurs in Philippians 1.29. To you it has been granted to believe. It also occurs in John, I'm excited in Romans 5.19 through the transgression of the one, the many were made sinners. Airs passive indicative in all of these. The reason this is critical is because aoris, like I said, means past tense.

It's a past tense action that has occurred, and indicative means it's a fact, and you receive the action of it. It was done to you. That's what it means. You're passive in it, it's a passive voice.

Okay? Right, but he, Daniel B. Wallace, he says in here that. Um The passive voice where the subject is acted upon Um The the will may or may not be involved.

So, how can I know for certain in 1.13, John 1.13 specifically, that This is caused by God alone and not Man's a part in his will or his anything.

Okay, the born-again experience, right? We go to, for example, we go to 1 Peter 1:3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to His great mercy, has caused us to be born again. He has caused us. And it's the Aorist active participle.

Aorist past tense, again, active voice. God is one causing us, and that's causing, it's a participle form. He's causing us to be born again. He is the agent of the causing of our born again.

Now here's the thing. Let me give you a, we only have a minute. I gotta go really fast, okay? There's what's called logical priority. You put a light You put when electricity is in a light bulb, the electricity and the light are simultaneous, but the electricity Causes the light, not the light, the electricity.

So they are simultaneous. One is the cause of the other. It's called logical priority.

So they're simultaneous that God caused us to be born again and we believe, but they're simultaneous, but God's granting and we actually do the believing. And that's the mystery. He's the one who is the initial cause, the one who activates us to be able to believe. And He grants that we have that faith, but we also do the believing. He caused us to be born again, and we do the believing.

Yeah. So yeah, that's 1 John 5.1. We first are regenerated, not chronologically, but logically, and then we believe.

So we don't believe first and then get regenerated, but I'm just trying to see in John 1:13, because Daniel. You know, he's he's playing here. We're out of time. Yeah, if you want. Can I hang on and we just chat for a few minutes?

Well, this will go off. This will go off because it's the end of the show. But we have an after-show. Go to rumble.com and just type in Matt Slick Live and you'll find it, okay? We'll talk to you later.

Okay. Hey, folks, God bless. Back next week. Another program powered by the Truth Network.