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.

Alright everybody, welcome to the show. It's me, Matt Slick. Handerlist the match look live as usual. If you want to give me a call, it's easy. Just dial 8772072.

2276. I want to hear from you. Give me a call. And, um,. You can also email me at info at carm.org.

Put the subject line, radio comment, or radio question, and we can get to them maybe today, maybe another day. We'll just see. Let the callers come in. We don't have everybody coming in right now.

So there you go. I'm going to be in Salt Lake City this weekend. just going down there. I'm going to be uh visiting a friend. And stuff.

So looking forward to that. I hear it's supposed to rain. That's what I hear. And I'm really hoping it does rain. 'Cause I just love rain.

I do, I love rain.

So I'm hoping to drive in the rain. I'm hoping. That it is rainy. Yeah. You know.

I just love the rain. I love the rain. Yesterday I went walking and uh was walking for four miles, did a four mile walk. And um It was uh not rainy, but misting very, very heavily and so everything was wet and I enjoyed that as well.

Okay, having said all of that, you can also email me at info at carm.org. Info at CARM.org, put in a subject line, read a comment, or radio question, and we can get. To them, we can get to that and we can hopefully answer some questions now.

So uh A couple of my notes are from a couple of days ago. And I wanted to kind of mention something a little bit. Not a big deal. It's just there's a movement going on inside of Christianity, a small movement, where people are starting to say they don't even sin anymore. They're called sinless perfectionists.

And I first encountered them a few years ago, maybe 10 years ago or so, just stunned by the arrogance and the pride of those people that can't even see that they were that arrogant and prideful. I mean, come on. You don't sin anymore. And I I asked them, I asked this one guy of Three or four days ago, he said he didn't send anymore, it's online. And I said, Let me get this straight.

Are you saying that you? Keep the law on the same level as God because Jesus is God in flesh, the same level, intention of heart. Mind everything, just as good as God Himself. And he goes, That's right. What do you do with uh someone like that?

You just say, Well, okay, I'll leave you to your pride and self-deception. And then you go, Well, I just quote the scripture. It just don't sin anymore. And. You know, and I think he's missing the point, of course, but when someone starts saying that they can keep the law.

You know, love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and doing it on the same level as Jesus Himself, God in flesh. I just say to them, Maybe you're not aware of the pride. That you have right now, the arrogance. Uh Because what are you going to do? At that point, you just kind of walk away.

You just kind of walk away from them. He just move on because, you know, What are you going to do?

So encountered that and also encountered Some um Let's say I I counted it yesterday. Yesterday I was walking during that walk around the block. there was particularly difficult Eastern Orthodox individual. And um He was um Let's just say uh exceedingly rude. Exceedingly uh Stubborn.

And and basically Kind of arrogant. And uh So I was talking to him about why the Eastern Orthodox Church is false.

Now, if someone calls me up and says, Man, look, I believe Christianity is false, I'm going to say, Okay, what's your reason? I'm gonna hear them out. And so he had a room, proved me false. You know, the Eastern Orthodox, I get in there and I said, look, it's false because it teaches a false gospel, has a false priesthood. teaches idolatry.

And he said, What false gospel? And so I started explaining it, and I started quoting the scripture, and that's when it hit the fan. because he didn't want me to quote Scripture. And the reason I know that is because every time I started And then I say, why don't you let me finish according to the Word of God? And uh I qu you know, it's quoting Romans 4.5, uh which says um Does not work but believes in him who justifies you in God.

He needs interrupting. And this went on and on. And this is not the first time this kind of thing has happened with EO and RC, Eastern Orthodox Doctor, Roman Catholics. Very often, I've noticed when I quote scripture. that they interrupt.

They don't want Scripture. They want the Church authority, they want church tradition, they want church councils. That's the summation of what churchianity is to them. It is their church, it is their councils, it is their tradition, their church fathers and things like that. And when I've noticed it, it's really interesting.

I quote scripture, they interrupt. It's really interesting. Seriously.

So, this guy started to continue. I said, Let me finish scripture. Let me go, you know. The word of God, and he would just interrupt. I said, Just let me finish.

He would just interrupt constantly. Then he started saying, How do we know that what you're saying is true? what your interpretation is. I'm just not I'm not interpreting, I'm reading it. And um Then he said, Well, how do you're reading it right?

I'm like, oh my goodness. You know, and said, just read it yourself. And it took me 15 minutes to finally get him to even read the one scripture I was telling him about. Just one scripture took about 15 minutes.

Now, let me not say that all Eastern Orthodox are like that, but enough of them are. I have discovered. that the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholics, in my opinion, this is my opinion. are stubbornly arrogant arrogant. They're stubborn.

They are intolerant. and they are negative.

So let's see S I N, stubborn, intolerant, and negative. And they uh They're not interested from what I've seen, they're they're just not interested in in going to God's Word. Unless something in the word of God might be interpreted in their favor, then they'll use it. But if you use a scripture that doesn't go with them, then they say, How do you know your interpretation is correct?

Well, the funny thing is, he has no problem discussing things with me and me understanding what his words were. Yet suddenly when we go to God's Word we can't understand it. It's really an inconsistency and it's stupidity on his part. And so, you know, I was going in this room and people commented. I went on TikTok afterwards last night.

And a couple hours later. And uh Two people came in and commented about. They said, We were there in that room hearing you. That guy was horrible. Yeah.

So uh Granted, there are some nice Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox people who will talk to you. And that that's fine. You know, we disagree. We can talk and I'll go through stuff. But what I've noticed is an increase in hostility.

This is subjective, it's just my opinion. I've noticed an increase in hostility from the EONRC. against Protestantism. Yeah. The actual preaching and teaching of the Word of God.

I've noticed this. And how do you get through to them? I don't know if it's possible. All you can do is quote the Word of God. Isaiah 55:11 says the Word of God will not come back empty without accomplishing what God desires.

And so I quote the Word of God. And by telling them that justification is by the faith alone and Christ alone. And then I asked this one guy, I forgot which guy, I think it was the same guy. I said, are you being good enough? Oh, I remember now.

And here's one of the questions I ask. If you're to die right now, and I don't want that to happen to you. And then one of their EO buddies would go, Yes, you do. They're so childish. Anyway, I say, no, I don't, because if you did right now, I'd believe you'd go to hell.

I don't want that for you. And then they jump on that. You're mocking me. You're judging me. Guys, look, I'm having a discussion.

Look let's talk. They say if you're to die right now and you're good, would you go to heaven or hell? And um He says, Well, I hope I would go to heaven. I hope I would. Why would you hope you were?

Because your salvation depends in part on your goodness. That's what it is. Your salvation depends on In part. On your goodness.

So, um You can't know if you're saved. or going to heaven. If your goodness in any way. is part of what you need to do and be in order to be Christian. and be saved and go to heaven.

So let me talk about this a bit here. I know there are a lot of Protestants, even Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, and others, maybe Mormons, you know, if we can adapt this. But um The Bible says in 1 John 5:13, these things are written so you may know you have eternal life. But you may know it. How do I know I have eternal life?

Yeah, I do. When I say that to people, a lot of times they say, You're arrogant. I said, no, I'm not. No, I don't believe my works play a part in my salvation. It's arrogant to think that They do.

Which is why you are interpreting what I say in light of what you think: that salvation depends in part on your goodness. I deny that. I say it depends completely and totally on the goodness of Christ and by the faith that He's granted me, Philippians 1:29. Then I know I'm justified in going to heaven because of what he did. That's not arrogance.

That's just dependence on what Jesus did. They're the ones who are arrogant. And If you If you think That your salvation depends in any way on your goodness, you are self-deceived. Your goodness has no bearing. on whether or not you go to heaven or not.

Your goodness, your ability to keep the law, your ability to not lie, your ability to go to church to tithe, your ability to participate in the sacraments, your ability to do what's right, not do what's bad. Are you saying, man, we can be evil and go to heaven? I'm not saying that. Because those who are evil and do evil things demonstrate they're not saved. The truly saved are the ones who are regenerate, they're the ones who try and do good works.

to please God, for the glory of God, not to get saved. As you see, to say we're justified by faith alone, but not the faith that is alone. True faith has works, and those works are a manifestation of the true faith, as James 2, 14 through 26 says. And so that's just it. But the works don't contribute to our salvation, they don't maintain our salvation.

And do you think that your salvation is dependent on your goodness any place? You don't know the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So I'm going to give you that gospel. But I'm going to say this again. If you think your salvation in any way depends on your goodness, that you can lose it if you're not good enough and do things enough right. that you don't know the gospel. You probably are not saved.

You're probably on your way to hell. If you think That your salvation depends on goodness, of your intentions, your abilities, and not doing bad things, and that this is how you keep yourself right with the infinitely holy God, then you believe a false gospel, you're probably damned. you're probably in a state of damnation right now. This is serious stuff. Let me say it again.

Then I'll give you the cure. If you teach If you believe That your position with God, your ultimate salvation, depends. On your faith in God, the faith in Christ, and a little bit of your faithfulness and your goodness in order to prove to God. who you are, that you love him. Because the Bible says, if you love me, keep my commandments.

And this is part of your salvation to get yourself right with God. And to keep yourself right with the infinitely holy God in part by your goodness. then you believe a false gospel. You believe the gospel of the devil himself. Because that's not the gospel.

You see. The truth is this, Jesus Christ is God in flesh. John 1:14, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 1:6 through 8. He is the one who fulfilled the law perfectly. 1 Peter 2:22.

He never sinned. He then bore our sin in his body on the cross. He died with our sin. He did everything necessary. The only thing you can do is trust yourself.

and what he did. That's why the Bible says, having therefore been justified by faith. You see Galatians 2:16. Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified, that means declared righteous before God. That means you're forgiven and righteous before Him.

A man is not justified by the works of the law. Loving God and loving your neighbor, but through faith in Christ Jesus. And Galatians 2, 21, I think. do not nullify the grace of God. for righteousness comes through the law through what you do.

Good Christ.

So, I'm going to go ahead and do a little bit of a little bit of We've got a break. Maybe we'll talk about a little bit more after the break if you want to give me a call a number. Eight seven seven. Two zero seven. Two, two, seven, six, three.

It's Matt Slick live, taking a call at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick.

Hello everyone, welcome back to the show. If you want to give me a call, it is easy. All I have to do is dial Uh 877-207-2276. Let's get to, let's see, that'll be Ebenezer. From California.

I believe you're welcome. You're on the air. Hey Matt, can you hear me? Yes, I can. Uh so So I just had a quick question.

Matter of fact, I had like two questions, but Mo uh just one just one of the questions are uh So I was watching like, well, I was on like a like a live stream on YouTube and Uh the guy he well, the guy he's Like arguing, he believes like you can lose your salvation, and he went to pass. What did he go to? He went to Hebrews 6, 4 through 6, Hebrews 10:27. No, no, no. Matthew 25?

No, no, not that. He went to We went to what is it, Romans 11? Romans 11.

Okay. Yeah, he Romans 11 and then he uh, you know, um How David was like, Don't take your Holy Spirit away from me. Yeah, well, this is what it is. And we answer them. Yeah, let's get it.

Behold, the kindness and severity of God to those who fell severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in his kindness, otherwise you'll also be cut off. And that's Hebrews 11.22.

So Paul is speaking covenantally to groups of people, Israel as a nation and Gentiles as a people. He's not speaking to individuals. Cutoff refers to the loss of privilege or covenantal position, not loss of salvation. It is simply uh the truth, okay? And so these guys who say this stuff don't understand biblical theology.

Now, as far as David saying, you know, don't take your Holy Spirit from me, well, what does that mean? Does it mean you lose your salvation? Does it mean that the blessing of the Spirit upon you is removed? What does it mean? And so, what they'll do often is they will just presuppose it means you lose your salvation.

We'll show it to me in scripture that it does. It's like uh Hebrews 6, 4 through 6. They'll say this. In the case of those who have once you got a lot of uh background noise, man, got breathing airways. Uh oh.

man is the wind he is the wind is strong at least I'm trying to move around. Yeah. Yeah, you get a lot of noise. You can put yourself on mute if you want for a little bit here. It says that, for example, Hebrews 6.

In Hebrews 6, 4 through 6, it says, For in the case of those who have once been enlightened, they have tasted the heavenly gift. And made partakers of the Holy Spirit. They'll say, see, that means you're saved. And I'll say, where does it say you're saved? Was Judas enlightened?

Yes. Did he taste a heavenly gift? Yes. Was he made a partaker of the Holy Spirit? Yes.

Well, what does it mean to be made a partaker of the Holy Spirit? Does it mean you're saved? And I say to people: show me where the idea of being a partaker of the Holy Spirit means you're just automatically justified, you're saved. And And they can't find the verse that says that, where another verse saying, Partaker of the Holy Spirit for those who are justified. If you had that, then you would have a good argument.

But it just says partakers of the Holy Spirit, because you can be a partaker and not be saved. You can have the Holy Spirit's work upon you in conviction and around you, people who tell the truth, and you can participate in a lot of what is going on. It doesn't mean you're saved. It says, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.

Well, what does it mean to taste? these things. Does it mean that you are saved? No, and I can go on and on. And so the thing is that people with the law often do is read a section of scripture and assume it means what they think it means.

And I asked them, Show me that that's what it means.

Now when you go to justification, I can show you. Where the Bible says what it is and how it's obtained. Romans 4. one through uh five. I can tell you, I can quote it to you.

But this, you can't. Anyway, you see, it's this kind of stuff, Ebenezer, okay? Does that make sense, buddy? Yeah, so you said in Romans 11 he was talking of covenants or Israel? Yes.

Okay, uh Covenant.

So so um so when Okay. God did not spare the natural branches, he'll not spare you evil either. He's talking about the natural branches with his covenant Israel. And you is the the uh are the Gentiles.

So he's talking about these different groups. He even goes on in verse 25. And 26 he talks about how Israel will be saved. And you were cut off.

Okay. Yeah, 'cause I I figured that I kind of figured that, but Um But uh you know Yeah, I figured that because I align with the Calvin. I go to a Reformed church and I align with those. That perspective, you know?

Well, align with what the scripture says. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I I hear it. All right, good.

And uh my second question my second question is um My second question is, yeah, so I was. I was talking to this this Orthodox guy, right? It's so It's like I mean, he was kind of shotgunning. And, you know, um Like uh He like he literally he tried to be sly with it. He was like, uh We we um We do work.

Uh not be not to be saved or to get saved. And I was like, hold on, hold on, hold on. You know what I'm saying? It doesn't. doesn't agree with Okay.

Is it consistent? Yeah, you don't do works to keep yourself saved. And so, but you can lose yourself. That's what he said. That's what he said.

He was like. We as Orthodox, the Orthodox position is that we We uh do work not to be saved. Or or To be safe, or to what is it, or to stay safe. But the thing is that in another prep, he would tell me. He doesn't know.

Okay. Or let me read something to you. This is the Confession of Descythius 1672, Decree 30. Thirteen is the number of sin is deliberate. Uh you're hearing the the wind in your mic again.

This is what the Cynthia is. Let me mute. I'm unmute. This is an Eastern Orthodox confession. Quote, we believe a man to be not simply justified through faith alone, but through faith which works through love, that is to say, through faith and works.

That's what it says right there. And then in the Confession of Mogilla, uh part one question one right faith and good works, for whoever holds these two the same is a good Christian, and has certain hope of eternal salvation, as Scripture says. And then uh back to Josithius, Decree three. The scriptures would be opposed to itself since it promises the believer salvation through works, but I mean, this is what this is their document. Yeah, that's crazy.

That's crazy. Oh yeah.

Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. All right, cool, cool, cool, cool. Yeah, they are. And so here's the Orthodox Catechism of Philarat. LARGER CACHIM QUESTION three What is necessary in order to please God and to save one's own soul?

In the first place, a knowledge of the true God and a right faith in Him, on the second, place a life according to faith and good works. This is their tape chain. Is that crazy? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, even They're they're cultists. Yeah. That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right.

Okay. All right, all right, thank you. Yeah, I can. Thank you. Thank you, Matt.

Thank you. Hey, man, you're welcome.

Okay. All right. Yeah. So folks, when I say Eastern Orthodox is not Christian, That's why it's not Christian. It teaches the false gospel.

The Bible says we're justified by faith without the works of the law. Romans 3.28, Romans 4.5, Galatians 2.16. That's what the Bible says. And yet Yeah. Oh, these poor people lost in this false religion.

Oh, hey, look, there's the music. We'll get to Chuck from North Carolina next, and then Reed from North Carolina. Nevada. Oh, interesting. We write back after these messages.

Please stay tuned. It's Matt Slick Live, taking a call at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick.

Hello, Roderin. Welcome back to the show.

Now, let's get on the air with Chuck from North Carolina. Chuck, welcome. You're on the air. Thanks a lot, man. Appreciate it.

Um were sealed with the Holy Spirit upon Faith in Christ as Savior, right? Yes. But how in the world does the devil get to us so much please. I am thinking in in our uh minds Yeah.

Well, no. He probably there's nothing in the Bible that says he enters our bodies, enters our minds and things like this as believers.

Now that doesn't mean that he can't work with others to bring about sinful things in your life that can tempt you. and so he he can work that with his servants. And the servants of the devil ultimately are all those who are not Christians. And the reason we say that is because Jesus says, You either are for me or against me. You either serve him or you serve somebody else.

And so that's just it, just a. A generic um statement of of separation.

So there's that and there's also we don't need the devil. uh to be tempted we can be tempted of our own flesh We could be tempted of our own issues, our own problems. Yeah, I think my own issues, my own regrets Yep, boy, that can haunt us forever. What's that? No, God is going to win again in heaven, but And uh Seems like forever on this shirt, huh?

Yes, it does. Yes, it does. Uh-huh. Yes, sir. Also, Matt.

I I think Our country is fracturing apart. It could be. Or it's going to a healing stability, you know. Hopefully it's a healing process because the leftist wack old morons who Preach love and then are violent, to preach tolerance and then are in terrible violence. Yes, they're being exposed.

So hopefully this will continue. that exposure of their hypocrisy and lies will be will be uh will be exposed.

Okay. That's the right attitude. That's the right attitude, Matt. That's right. Thank you very much, and keep on preaching the truths like you do.

Please hear from me. Thank you. By God's grace. All right. Okay, one hour plus.

Okay. If folks want to give me a call, the number is 8772-07-227. It's a Ree from Nevada. Re, welcome here on the air. Hi there, hey there, that's a joke.

It's gone, man. It's gone. What do you got? Hey, I'm a big fan. Hey, I'm a seminary student.

I'm trying to enter the Army chaplaincy. I have a heart for my soldiers. been in the in the guard for 12 years now but My question for you is, how do you do Good apologetics and good ministry and a pluralistic. setting. That's something I've been struggling with.

Well, what you do is it's very obvious when they don't believe what you want them to believe, they just make them do 100 push-ups, you know, just stuff like that. Yeah. So are you gonna you go in, I think, as a as a commissioned officer, right? Yes, sir. Yeah.

I have a actually have a I haven't talked to him in a while, an acquaintance, let's just say, lives about 40 minutes from me, and he was a chaplain in. I think the Air Force, uh in Mountain Home, And he'd be somebody you could talk to, you know, and see what he said because he was definitely a born-again Christian.

So, what I would do if I were you is start praying and ask God to give you the wisdom on how to do what you have to do in your job properly. Because y you may be called to do things for the Mormons. or the Catholics, Who are non-Christians? And then what do you do?

So you'll have to figure out a way to work through that. And you're going to have to talk to God about that.

So It's just it it's a it's a difficult thing.

Okay. It's just a difficult thing you're going to have to work with. And all I can do is say Uh try and get some advice. Because if I've thought about going into the service when I was younger, my dad was in, he was in World War II in the Navy, Korea, in the Army, and Vietnam, in the Air Force.

So I grew up on basis. You know, went to the PX, the commissary. All this is just second nature to me, doing all that. Lived in North Dakota, Wyoming, Hawaii, Texas on different military bases. And used to go to Southern California military bases.

So, anyway. This is part of my life a lot of people know about. And I thought about going into the ministry into the service. But I realized pretty quickly that I wouldn't I could not fit. Because um I'm too opinionated and believe what the Word of God says.

And in the cert in the chaplaincy there, you really can't do that as much. You don't have as much freedom. But it doesn't mean you can't develop ways to reach out.

So you just gotta figure that out as you go. Yeah, it's not an easy one. And maybe if someone has been there who's listening to the radio right now who knows, you can call up and we can talk. But Other than that, I I'm not sure what to tell you. I wish I had some great advice for you.

Yeah. Well, thank you. Yeah, I know I know Jesus has told us to be wise as doves and as innocent as serpents and Mike, there must be some kind of apologetical tactic to kinda Tackle it. Yeah. Keep trying.

Yeah, it and stuff. And you know, if you figure things out. Give me a call. Let me know what you find. Let me know some of the things and some of the issues that you have discovered are worth examining and some thoughts on it.

You can help me out.

Okay. Hmm. Seriously.

Thank you. Thank you. God bless you and your ministry. I really appreciate your time. Hey, no problem, brother.

God bless.

Okay. Alright.

Well, hey, folks, that is all the callers we have for right now.

So. There's lots of topics to get into, and I'm kind of. burdens to revisit the issue of justification by faith alone.

So What I think I'm going to do is um Go through a little bit of scripture with you. I want to teach you what justification is according to what the Bible says. Not according to what I say. And I'm going to do this by going to Romans chapter 4. And it's starting at verse 1.

Listen to what it says: What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, according to the flesh, is found? For if Abraham was justified by works, He has something to boast about. But not before God. Verse 3, for what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to them as righteousness.

Now, what I'll do is, I'll read people these verses. I haven't memorized, I quoted them so many times. They'll say, what does verse 3 say? What is it that was credited to Abraham as righteousness? And they had to say the word faith.

I've had you know pe more uh excuse me Catholics and East Orthodox. Say, well, you know, faith plus your works. You know, that's not what the Bible says.

Well, that's what it means. And so they don't even believe the word of God. But, nevertheless, Most of them will say, Well, that with the but what it says here. Is Abraham believed God, it was credited to him as righteousness. I notice the phrase, credited.

Crediting is righteousness. And what is? Is belief. Belief in Him. Verse four says, Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but what is due.

Verse five, but to the one who does not work, But believes in him who justifies the ungodly His faith is credited as righteousness. That's what justification is. He justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. Justification is a legal standing. Righteousness is according to the law.

So Faith is credited to Abraham. as righteousness. And notice what it says in verse three What does the scripture say Abraham believed? God. And it was credited.

That's past tense. and it was credited with righteousness before the law. before the Ten Commandments. This is critical. Abraham was before Moses.

Abraham believed God, it was credited to him as righteousness. And what he's doing, Paul is quoting Genesis 15, 6. And so The issue here is that belief is what credits you with righteousness.

Now, what I'm going to do. Is go to another place here. Rome, excuse me, Philippians 3:9. I'm going to read that. It says this.

It says, and may be found in him not having a righteousness of my own. derived from the law. But that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God. on the basis of faith.

So righteousness Justifications by faith. That's what it is. Verse 5 of Romans 4: But to the one who does not work, but believes. I have two things here: works and belief. and once removed.

Therefore faith is alone. Two things, you have two things in a bag, an apple and an orange, you remove the apple, the orange is alone. Real simple. To the one who does not work, but believes, In him who justifies the ungodly his faith is credited as righteousness. Verse 6, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.

Yeah. Before we get to the break here, I want you to understand something. That your faith in Christ makes you right with Him. That's how you can know you have eternal life. That's how you can know if you die right now, you're going to be with him.

But if you don't know if you're going to go be with them because you're not good enough, then you don't believe what Paul the Apostle taught. And Jesus taught the same thing, and I can go to that after the break. This is what the Bible teaches: our salvation, our justification, our forgiveness of sins is by faith alone, in Christ alone. You need to trust your Christ alone and leave those false churches. Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses.

Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, leave them. and find churches that teach. justification by faith alone, in Christ alone. But you can only do that if you have a true God. And then you had the true Christ, then you had the true gospel.

We write back after these men. Messages, please stay tuned. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick.

Alright and welcome back to the show. Let's uh get on with This person from North Carolina can't pronounce the name. Welcome, you're on the air. Hello? Yes.

John here. My name is Gokan. I just happened to walk in and heard the radio You were speaking about uh finding a good church. I think you told me before, you know, you go on the website and look up a couple of churches and stuff.

Okay. But anyway, my question was, um, about Halloween.

Okay. Should churches be celebrating trunk or treat?

Well, when you say should, is there a moral obligation that they should? And so then we'd have to go to the scriptures and say something like thou shalt uh celebrate uh drunk retreat. And so we can't find anything like that. What can we do?

Well, we have freedom in Christ.

Now, in 1 Corinthians 10, the The uh Uh the Apostle Paul Paul said that you can eat meat sacrificed to idols. It's not going to hurt you.

So can we take this principle? And understand that on October 31st, which is All Hallows Eve, which is the most prominent day of the occult. But it's also the day of the Reformation when when Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the Yeah. It's sort of the Reformation.

So, what could we be celebrating? We could be celebrating that day. We could be celebrating what the start of the Reformation is and call it Reformation Day. And then it's okay. And you can have candy in a trunk, not a big deal.

Is it wrong for a child to dress up as a uh a zebra? And which I just love. Oh, I love Halloween. I love when the little kids come to the door and they're dressed in little things. They're delightful.

And I enjoy that. And I love handing off cats. Candy to the breast.

So for me, it's a lot of fun. All right. So they're not participating in occult stuff. And so we are not encouraging them to practice occult stuff. We're just practicing: hey, just have fun.

Wear a costume, go door to door and get candy. And that's all that's going on.

So, in that sense, yeah, they can celebrate it, but they can't celebrate it with anything that's wicked and dressing up in things that are inappropriate and ungodly. And then uh not no witches or warlocks or something scary and demonic. Right, I would say that's off limits. Right. That's off off limits.

Okay, okay. And you say um you say that it is okay for churches to celebrate it? Yeah, I don't see any rock problem with it.

Okay. I've seen a lot of witches and warlocks, like real witches and warlocks, stating that this is a day that the devil, like this is the devil's holiday. This is. his day, so why would Christians be okay to celebrate it, you know? Think of this.

They have that stupid thing when the LGBTQ Pride Month, which is just ludicrous to me.

Well, what if someone's birthday is during that month? Can they celebrate that day? Because that's also in the pride month. Zone. Don't be re you're making a lot of noise in the background, man.

So don't be restricted. by don't restrict your freedom. by the pagans. But don't celebrate the paganism, but celebrate what you want. I have no problem with trunk or treat things at churches.

It's fine. But it's a paganist holiday, right? Halloween is a paganist holiday, correct? Yeah, it's originated from that, yeah. We're not supposed to celebrate paganist holidays, correct?

If that's what you don't want to do, then don't. Don't celebrate it as a pagan holiday, celebrate it as the Reformation Day. We happen to give things away and have fun. And the kids, it's not affecting the kids.

Okay? What does Reformation mean? I'm not clear on that. The Protestant Reformation started when Martin Luther, October 31st, I forgot what it was, 15, I forgot what date, what year, he nailed 95 theses. They were reforms for the Catholic Church.

He put it on the Wittenberg door, which was the equivalent of the internet today, the printing press and things like that. And um It started the Reformation. He didn't want to Destroy the Catholic Church or leave the Catholic Church. He wanted the Catholic Church to go back to Scripture in certain areas. He thought, this is what the Word of God says.

And then he was persecuted.

So we call that October 31st. We also call it Reformation Day. All right. Okay. Okay.

So it's it's a 50-50 thing. Either you do it or you don't. It's not nothing in the Bible says. Besides don't Celebrate pagans' holidays. Which it does say that.

You know, there are lots of holidays. And just because of something original, at Christmas on December 25th, was the winter solstice. And that was celebrated by unbelievers as the day of winter when the day started getting longer. It was halfway through the winter, December 25th. The Catholic Church has many problems, but tried to just make it a holy day.

By celebrating Christ's birthday on that, to change it away from paganism. I approve of that attempt. What they were trying to do. And so December 25th became the birthday of Christ, even though it's not his real birthday. It's not, yeah.

Yeah, I don't celebrate Christmas Eve or Easter, no bunny in none of that. Like, I celebrate Jesus, and that's it. Like, if it ain't about Jesus, I think he's to me.

Okay. I just wanted to get clarification on that. You know, thank you. All right. God bless.

All right, now let's get to David from North Carolina. David, welcome. You're on the air. Hey Matt, thanks for taking my call. Um I got it.

I have an issue with. I hear some pastors who say they don't want to engage in legalism, so and and I some sometimes I think they use that as cover not to teach biblical morality. If you see Uh people having sex before marriage, before In the congregation, or if you see people engaging in things that Jesus commands us not to do. As a pastor, you're called to say Don't do this. This is the Word of God.

Follow Jesus' commandments. What what do you think about that? Yes, w the they are obligated to teach morality and politics from the pulpit. Absolutely. And so politics deals with morality and the issue of LGBTQ, homosexuality, abortion, and things like that.

And for the pulpit, the pastor should not avoid those things that might be a little controversial. He needs to step right into them and deal with the issues. And moralism is simply teaching do these right things because doing the right things is good. That's moralism. We do the right things because Christ has bought us with His blood.

And it's because of the cross. We're no longer our own, and we want to honor God. And if we love Him, we're going to serve Him and obey Him. That doesn't keep us saved, doesn't get us saved. And so a pastor needs to do that, needs to teach that, and do it with wisdom.

at the same time. Maybe what do you think? With proper theology. That's right. I apologize.

Do you think pastors are sometimes get too concerned about about losing losing congregation, losing numbers. Of course. And so and so they don't preach on that. And and and I think a lot of times the justification is they'll as cover, they'll say they don't want to be legalistic. Uh would you agree with that?

Yeah. Some are. I would just like to see a biblical morality just behind the pulpit more and less esoteric philosophical. Yeah. I think there's a time for both of them.

Yeah, there is a time for both of those, but as you teach through the scriptures, you're going to be finding things that are philosophical. And you're going to find things that are simple and some that are more complicated. And the pastor's job is to go through those and teach them according to the scriptures. and so he should not avoid things like politics. He should not avoid things like moral obligations.

He should address these issues. Like I said in the radio yesterday, I think it was, if you're living in sin and fornicating, you know, you need to repent, you need to stop. And But that's it. They need to stop. And so I was teaching other things today too.

So, the idea of justification, so people know what the truth is. This is what pastors are supposed to be doing, teaching sound doctrine. The Bible actually says so. In Titus Timothy 3. And I've heard you kinda uh Kind of say this: that you visited churches, and if you wouldn't have any idea how you were in a church unless you were told, based on what's coming from the pulpit, you've had that prostration, right?

Yeah, it's I went to a local church a few weeks ago, and the sermon. was pure moralism. It was not Christocentric, not cross-centered, it was moralism. And there were three services, and the place was packed in overflow. And I just felt bad because they don't they don't even know what they're getting.

They don't know.

Now, they're becoming good people in the sense of following what's right and wrong, but. I have a high standard for the pulpit, and when the preacher gets into the pulpit, He better be afraid. You better be afraid when he gets into that pulpit to preach God's word to God's people. Every time I get in the pulpit to preach I'm afraid. I ask God before I get in the pulpit, I say, Lord.

Forgive me for the foolishness I may speak. Let my words fall on deaf ears. May your words fall down into the hearts and the minds and the souls of the people and change them. And I approach that pulpit with fear and trembling because it's the preaching of the word of God to God's people. I take it very seriously.

And then I speak with a fashion. Go ahead. Pastorship is just a major undertaking. It's essential to the faith. It's It is, it is.

All right. That was the question I have. I appreciate your answers and your thoughts. I listen to you all the time and I enjoy your ministry. Hey man.

Thanks a lot, and praise God. Appreciate it. All right, thank you. Have a good weekend. Thank you.

You too, brother. Thanks. All right. Hey, I just want to take a seg. We have nobody waiting right now.

We've only got like three minutes left on the show. the issue of being in the pulpit. You know, I used to be a pastor. And occasionally, I still am allowed to preach in the pulpit. And I miss preaching.

I love to preach. And there's no exception. every time. I get there and I'm ready. I'm anxious to get there.

I want to preach. I want to be up there preaching God's Word at the same time. Lord. Oh. You know, I'm afraid.

that I might not represent. my lord properly, that I might say something that's not correct. I ask for guidance. I ask for Clarity of thought. And I ask God to teach me where I make a mistake, to reveal it to me.

that I might teach His word. properly. according to what he has stated. And this is, and then I get up to the pulpit, I do my very best. And And then I review my sermon.

Because sometimes When you preach, you don't say exactly what you intended to say, things can be spontaneous sometimes. And so I take the pulpit very seriously. And When I know I'm going to preach in a day or two, or three or five, or whatever it is, even a week or two in advance, it has an effect on me previously. In that I I I want to be n I should always be nicer to my wife, but I want to be even nicer to my wife. I want to be even more sanctified.

I want to be even more in tune with him. I take the preaching of the Word of God so seriously. You know, and and I miss it. I do. Because it feels so good, so right, so comfortable to be up in that pulpit.

preaching and teaching God's Word. I just I long for it. But hey, how many churches are going to trust a radio guy named Slick to get in their pulpit? particularly someone who has strong opinions like I do. And so it doesn't happen very often.

And that's okay. That's okay because I'm doing this. I get five hours a week on radio and then another five hours probably a week on the internet. And then there's times writing articles.

So praise God. And I'm thankful for the pastors who are out there. on a regular day, on a regular week, excuse me, going through what they have to go through. Dealing with the things I got to deal with. With the sick person late at night, they have to go to the hospital.

Dealing with the elders, dealing with the congregation members who need counseling and help, dealing with preparation for so many other things. A lot of times people just don't realize what a pastor goes through. And it's not always easy. And here's one thing that's true lotter times pastors. They have to endure pains and sufferings.

Because to defend themselves might injure someone else, and they won't even do that. A lot of pastors are like that. And a lot of good men out there. who are preachers and teachers who want to honor God faithfully. And I'm thankful for them.

And God's called a lot of people away. And praise God for them. Praise God. Pray for your pastor. Pray that they be bold.

and hear the Spirit of God. and speak the word of God and truth. Pray for them. They need it. Hey, folks, there you go.

I'm out of here. May the Lord bless you. By His grace, back on the air on Monday, we'll talk to you then.

So, have a good winter, buddy. Have a good day. questions. Another program powered by the Truth Network.