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 carn.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, Ainer, listen to Matt Slick Live. If, as usual, you want to give me a call, all you got to do is dial 8772-072276. I want to hear from you. Give me a call, and if you want, you can also email me.

That's easy to do as well. Just send an email to info at carm.org, info at carm.org, and put in the subject line radio comments or radio question. and uh something like that we can get to them. All right, this is Jump On with Scott from Washington. Scott, welcome.

You're on here. That's a portrait. Hey, good day to you. I gotta be quick, I'm at the dentist waiting to get in there, but um just a quick question.

So I can't remember the verse, but it talks about, you know, when a demon gets cast out, he leaves and finds the house empty and brings seven more spirits more wicked than himself. And my question is simply, in the demonic realm and fallen angels or whatever they are, can they really be more or less wicked? Yes, there are different levels of demonic activity, different levels of intensity. They are wicked. And uh But what it says here, it's Matthew 12, 43 through 45.

And What it says is that when it's cast out and it comes back looking at the original house it was in, meaning the human, the person. and finds it swept clean and empty that means not occupied by the Lord then can go in and bring seven more spirits more wicked than itself.

So yes, the spirits are even more or even worse. And then the the second condition is worse than the first condition. Yep.

Okay.

Okay, yeah, I just was wondering if that meant rank, perhaps, or literally wickedness.

So, um, it might be both. Uh, it doesn't say, but it does say wickedness, but yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's even worse. All right.

Well, that's all I got. Thank you for your time. I'm probably going to get called back here in a second, but I'll talk to you soon. All right.

Sounds good. All right, man. God bless. Thanks.

Alright.

Now let's get to Jermaine from California, Jermaine, welcome. You're on the air. Hey, Matt, um, wanted to ask you about Ezekiel chapter thirty three, verse six, where it talks about blood being on the hands of the watch bin. And would uh I guess how I wanted to correlate that is with the slave trade. in uh in the America's past I saw some people looking up the genealogies and they were finding out.

Okay.

Excuse me, and uh Bad areas here, right? Yeah, just finding out that that some people were and living together for many years, but it was by force. And some of them developed where they loved each other, they had families. But they were not married. I know some people might hold that against them.

Is that sin on their head or on the head of their They're slave owners because many of these people As soon as they had the chance, they did get married. Yeah, that's a good question. And. Not sure how to answer it because if they're in a situation where they're forced to live together and things happen, then whether they receive Christ or not, they're still guilty of varying sins. And in a situation like that, they can get married.

They don't have to have an official to do it. They can just go through the vows and just have witnesses, and that's it. People are married in different ways, different contexts, and different cultures throughout the time.

Some weddings were very long, and some ceremonies were very short, and yet marriage was the result. Hmm.

So I'm not sure how to answer all of those, but it's a good question. It it's a good question. We had to look at different situations and different circumstances and say how much cultivability. resides with Each party, let's just say. It'd be tough.

Uh Okay, yeah, and thank you for being honest about that. That is a tough one. But it looks like many of these people did. Declare vows. I'm just going from what I've seen.

I've saw one of those genealogy shows where they look up records and whatnot. It sounds like many of these people wanted to be married ceremonially, but they just were not allowed to, but they also were forced. Into situations where they were forced to produce more slaves and more generations. It was just a very messy situation. But Yeah.

Yeah, I I appreciate your answer. I think they're fine. It's just you're in a situation that's unimaginable and Right. Dealing with the best you can. One of the scenarios I've raised about this kind of stuff is what do you do?

There's a man and a woman they get shipwrecked on an island. They're both Christians, let's just say. And they're not married to each other, and neither one is married as it is, and they realize they're going to be there a long time and they're attracted to each other, etc., etc., could they then get married? And I would say, in that situation, yes. They could do a ceremony where they commit to each other, they could just say it out loud: God's their witness.

And I would think, yeah, in that case, they're married at that point.

So I think that this kind of thing would work in different situations where, if they're in that situation, they could commit to one another in a form of marriage ceremony. And I'm sure there'd be other people there, you know, other slaves who could witness it and things like that. But yeah, it's tough. And this is what sin is like: it just creeps and it makes a mess and makes things difficult to work through.

So, yeah, it's tough. All right.

Well, thank God for grace. And I'll have to bring this topic up part two, another topic. Yeah, I appreciate it, man. Good.

Sounds like another topic for an article for you. That's good. Yeah, I can work through some iterations of that, but yes. That's okay. What constitutes marriage, I think, might be a good article.

Yes. All right, brother. God bless, man. Thanks a lot. God bless you, man.

Bye-bye. Bye. All right, if you want to give me a call, we have three open lines: 877207. Uh 207. All right, let me try this again.

877-207-2276. And if you want to send me an email, all you got to do is send your email to info at carm.org. Info at C-A-R-M. Uh, dot org and I'll put the subject line: radio comment, radio question. Let's get to Alberto, Alberto, welcome, you're on here.

Yes, good evening, Master Leg. My question is: what does the pastors from the Church of God, Tennessee? denominations. even with my own experience did with church members from that denomination. They always preach against Save, always save phrase.

but they never provide no Bible verses to disprove it or prove that it's false. They always give their umbilical opinions about it, but then they never Bible verses to disprove it. My question is, why did they never provide any biblical Bible verses? You'd have to ask them when I quit. I got the question.

Hold on. But you have to ask them specifically. They're saying why would they do it or not do? You have to ask them to see why. Yeah, but well but when I tried to prove it With this Bible verses, I get they cut me off or start screaming and yelling at me.

So they won't give me an opportunity to prove it.

So they'll they'll get angry. The church members. Oh that then that then won't give you a chance.

So that To prove it with Bible verses, that I can prove it, but they always cut me off. They never gave me a chance to explain it. Oh, okay.

So you're just telling me, okay. What you're doing is you're complaining about behavior and then asking a different question.

So, um,. I don't know why they will or will not. You have to talk to them to see why they would or would not provide scriptures. As far as them interrupting you and stuff like that, I don't know about that. I'm not there to witness it, to see what's going on or how patient they are or are not.

I don't know.

So it's hard to make assertions about things like that. I mean, because of my experience, I deal with different Uh on the church as a tension. They all yell and scream and they say, but then when I ask them, okay, Prove it that it's false. And then they go, well, well, well, but then I can't tell you about what with them. You're just telling me what's happening.

I I got that. You you've already said that.

Okay, so okay.

Okay, look. Also my quick quality.

Okay, frankly, quite simple. You know what Romans 14 says about? You know, nobody can judge you what you what the moon, what they eat. And all that stuff, right? Yeah, huh?

You know, every day is a if one day one guys would consider one day. That's every day always. Yes, I said yes. How can you apply that? How could you apply that if I want to go to a Well uh I I mean you could you're against this.

But then if if my conscience So how would it how would that apply if I go to a homosexual reception and that's You're all over the map, okay? And I would really prefer you would write down a question. in 15 words or less before you call. Because your questions are Often intermixed with opinions and experiences, I can't exegete those experiences. And so how can So how that how would apply that in that same battle?

Nobody can judge you. you know, but based on your conscience, on your your conscience. How you mean how do you apply Romans fourteen and the issue of your eternal security or not? No, now it's not in terms of security, but I'm talking about a lot of different. Uh like you know someone that can eat meat and it So him is he can eat it, and it won't be no problem, or the other person might be a problem.

I'm not following you. What I want you to do from now on, Alberto. Is before you call, I want you to write down your question so that you can read the question, a succinct question, so we can just deal with the question, okay? All right, that's what we're going to do. Have Alberto do that.

And if you want to give me a call, we have four open lines: 877. Two zero seven two two seven six Wow. Um So last night, I spent a couple of hours on Discord and um I had a I thought a very good conversation with uh Roman Catholics.

Some Eastern Orthodox Popped their head in and it became a whack-a-mole for a little while trying to tackle them. And then the the ubiquitous LDS arrogant boy came in and he doesn't even think clearly and sufficiently and tries to sound pontificationly confident. It was really an interesting discussion, but here's what was uh what was revelatory, I think. Is that as I was talking about the issue of the authority of the Catholic Church, and this also applies to the East Orthodox Church. I went to Matthew 10, 1 through 8, and we spent a half hour, one Catholic and I, going back and forth about what this means.

And In there, Jesus lists the twelve disciples or Matthew lists twelve disciples to whom Christ gave the authority to cast out demons, heal every kind of sickness, every kind of disease, to raise the dead and cleanse lepers. And that these things were being done by the apostles in the book of Acts, and it was recorded, and great crowds followed them. And so my contention was that since The Catholic Church claims to have that same apostolic authority, which it does. then why does it not perform in the same apostolic authority manner? And I asked this one bespoke.

We got this discussion. This one Catholic decided to tackle me on it. It was polite enough for the most part. But um I got him to admit that it wasn't the the uh same authority. He said, Well, they don't have the exact same authority.

I said, Oh, so they don't have apostolic authority because that's what apostolic authority is: it has these five things. That's what it is by what Christ said. And then he would say things like: well, it doesn't say it always has to be like that exactly, does it, Matt? And it's called the exact word fallacy. And uh I said, well, what it does say what Jesus says is these things, is what the apostles will be able to do.

And in Second Corinthians 12.12, Paul talks about the tr signs of a true apostle with signs and miracles and works.

Okay.

And so uh He couldn't answer and another guy came up and tried to and it was evident they were not able to answer this difficulty. and what they did to try and excuse it. Oh my goodness, it was very interesting. Hey, we'll be right back. We've got a full set of lines lined up.

So we'll be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, buddy, welcome back to the show.

If you want to give me a call, you've got to wait because we have no open lines right now.

So let's get to Eric from Ohio. Eric, welcome. You're on the air. Yeah. Hi, Matt.

I've uh Seemingly simple question, is there's just a difference or what is the difference between works of the law? And works in a General sentence. Yes, works of the law are those works that the Jews would undergo in an attempt to justify themselves before God, works of the law. And works generally, other than that, or just human deeds, actions, things like that, performed out of faith and love towards God, is good works in general.

Now the question we have to ask is which of the works in general fall under the works of the law? And many of them do. You know, when I deal with the false religions of Mormonism, Roman Catholicism Eastern Orthodox. Then they often will take verses that talk about not by any works and not by any works of the law. And they will switch them around so that they can still do work to be saved.

But I'm quite familiar with this.

Okay?

Okay, would you so clearly the Bible teaches that works of the law do not save.

Okay.

That's correct. Such as like humility, forgiving others, et cetera. Are these I hate to use the word necessary, but are they necessary or are they more like. If you have true saving faith, you should have these Evidences Both. They're necessary in the sense that they ought to be there as a demonstration of our faith.

And they are the manifestation, on the other hand, of what is in us already.

So we are obligated to manifest our faith. through good works. And The faith that we are manifesting by the good works is the faith that's granted to us by God, Philippians 1:29, that's in Jesus, John 6:29. And so that is the faith that justifies us. Romans 5:1, Romans 3:28, Romans 4:5 talks about this.

So. We are justified by the faith that God grants to us and we believe. And that is sufficient to justify us right there. And along with that comes regeneration. that we're made born again.

And with that is the indwelling of the Lord, and that's John 14:23. We're made new creatures, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

So, made new creatures and dwelt by God, being born again, etc., we therefore go do good works.

So, in other words, we are manifesting the true faith in us by the works.

So, it's necessary to manifest. Those works to demonstrate our faith that already has justified us.

Okay?

Okay, okay. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I think I think so.

Thank you.

Well, hold on. If you're not sure, this is really important.

Okay, uh let's work through this a little bit and make sure you get it, okay? Good.

Okay.

Because you said you think so, so that means you're not so sure.

So, how about you ask me a clarifying question? We'll see if we can get to this, okay?

Well, if we take humility or perhaps maybe even a better one is Repentance Because you have in Matthew I forget where it's 3A, I think.

So bring serve therefore Brings forth, therefore, fruits. Meet for repentance. Yes. A level of Works associated with repentance? Of course.

Of course. Absolutely. We are supposed to do good works, to demonstrate our faith, but it's not the works in combination with the faith that make us right before God. It's the faith alone that makes us right. We're just demonstrating that we have that faith by what we do.

But there's all these What church do you think? Oh, I'm non-denominational.

Okay.

Are you looking into Eastern Orthodoxy or Catholicism by any chance? No, no, no. No, none of that.

Okay.

I'm actually kind of looking more into 'cause I've been listening for Maybe a year or so now and I'm interested in Calvinism and reform theology, and I've been looking into total depravity, which I agree with. Uh It kind of seems like everything kind of falls into place after that.

So it's kind of working my way through theology.

Well, that's okay, good. And I love talking about all of that kind of stuff. And you know what's really interesting is that I was in prayer a few days ago. And this very issue that you're raising up Came up in prayer, you know, as you know, your mind wanders, start thinking about things while you're praying, and Lord, you know, and that's what happened to me. And I came up with this phrase, and I said it better then than I am now, but It's basically what I said.

It's necessary to do good works to demonstrate our faith. But the faith is what justifies us.

Okay.

Okay, so it's the saving phase. that proceeds works. But how do you have Face. without work. Uh you can.

Because you can have faith.

Okay, let me back let's back up.

Okay.

So total depravity is a teaching that the unbeliever is well, the human being is touched by sin in all areas of his makeup, mind, soul, heart, being, etc. The result of this is that he will never choose Christ of his own sinfully enslaved free will. This is why Jesus says, You cannot come to me unless it has been granted to you from the Father. John six sixty five. 'Cause you can't.

So if it's up to our simple free will, then Jesus wouldn't have said what he said. And that refutes the idea that it's our sinfully enslaved free will that enables us to believe Christ, and then we become regenerate. Yeah. God grants we have faith, Philippians 1:29, to you, it has been granted not only to believe, but also to suffer. Jesus says this is the work of God that you believe on him whom he has sent John 6 29.

So the faith that God works in us in Christ That is granted to us, Philippians 1.29, is true and good faith, because it's from God that He works it in us. That faith right there is sufficient to justify us. Romans 3:28 says, We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. In Romans 4:5, Paul says, To the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. It's the faith that's crediting as righteousness because the faith that we have is the faith that comes from God, that he grants to us that's in Christ.

That faith is sufficient in and of itself to justify us before God.

So that faith is not works. It's the belief, and not just a mental assent, but a heartfelt trust. It's a fidushach. It's a real trusting faith in the Lord God. A concomitant with this is regeneration, being made born again.

So we are then enabled to do good works, and they should naturally flow out of what is the result of God's granting us faith and indwelling us and making us born again. This doing good works is the proof or the evidence of the regenerative work and the faith that we have within us.

So the good works are necessary to demonstrate what is already there. The good works are not part of becoming saved. They are the result of the justifying work of God in Christ by faith that is there with the regenerative work, God's indwelling in us. That is where works come from. Out of that changed heart, because an unbeliever can do no good works.

Romans 3:10, 11, and 12. And well uh Romans 6:14 through 18. He can't.

So only the Christian could do good works after he's been sanctified, after he's been justified, after he's been changed, after he's been dwelt by God.

Now, hold on. We got a break and we'll get back. and we'll continue with this a little bit more. Oh, there you go. Hey, folks, we're right back after these messages.

Please, if you would, stay tuned. It's Matt Slick Live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All Reverend, welcome back to the show. Let's get back on with Eric from Ohio.

Eric, welcome. You're on the air. You still there, brother? Not be lost in my nut. Yeah.

Oh, yeah, sorry I was muted.

Okay.

So does that help? Does that help any? See if we can. Yeah, it's it's um just there's a lot to do with works, Old and New Testament. That's trying to uh align them in the proper frame, I guess, if you look at it through faith.

I think works make a lot more sense. Um as kind of things that You should be doing if you have the true faith, if you have the true gift of faith, That's right. Instead of looking at it as a Like I've got to do these things. And then that's, you know, like it's flipping the page wrong. Right.

Good works are necessary to demonstrate faith. They are the natural outcome of that faith that justifies. But it does not contribute to justification.

So it's just faith works, not works faith. Yes, and um Uh Okay, sir.

So All right, in Reformed theology, we have something called the Orda Salutis, and there's other stuff related to it from eternity past down to now, and blah, blah, blah.

So there's an issue here. You heard me talk about the issue of logical priority versus temporal priority, right? I assume? Yes, I have heard that.

Okay.

So, logically speaking, God's regenerative work enables us to believe, but they're simultaneous. He grants us regeneration, making us born again, and we are then enabled to believe because the unbeliever is a slave of sin, Romans 6:14-20. He does not seek for God, doesn't do anything good, Romans 3:10, 11, and 12. His heart is desperately wicked and deceitful. No man can trust it, Jeremiah 17:9.

So, this is why Jesus says, No one can come to me unless it's been granted to him from the Father, John 6:65. And then Paul says that God grants that we have that faith, Rebians 1:29.

So, what we're trying to say is that we have two situations. One is the natural man, the unbeliever, who cannot of his own sinfully enslaved free will, come to Christ. Then we have on the other side, God intervenes, so to speak, and grants that person faith as well as repentance, 2 Timothy 2:25. But He causes us to be born again, 1 Peter 1:3. And so when he does this, we are then able to believe.

And when you go to, this is reiterated in John 1, 12, and 13, but as many as received him, we actually do the receiving. As many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name. We do the believing. Who were born not of the blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. This born-again experience is not by our doing, but by God's, and so when He does that, we are then set free from the bondage of sin and able to freely believe in Him.

The mystery here is how does it all work exactly? And that I can't answer. I believe, logically speaking, that God's regenerative work is simultaneous with His granting us faith, but we actually do the believing. I don't know how it all works. I just see what Scriptures teach us.

And so this is why it says God says Jesus says you can't come to me unless it has been granted.

So we know that the unbelievers' will cannot lead them to Christ. It has to be granted that they come to Christ. and granted that you believe.

so this be just the work of God, and He does it sovereignly to whom He chooses. and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. Acts thirteen forty eight.

So, as difficult as a lot of this is, this is what the scriptures teach.

So, how does it work? Simple. The unbeliever does works, but none of them are ever any good. And the reason none of them are ever any good is because he does not have regenerative work. He does not have faithful work.

He does not have believing work in Christ.

So nothing he does is good before God. Maybe before people, but not before God. And that's what matters. God is the standard.

So it's only when a person has trusted in Christ that the works that he does are filtered through the blood of Christ and then are acceptable to God. Because the object of our faith is Christ, and the means of the justification is faith, the instrumental means by which we connect with the crucifixion and the atoning death of Christ.

So all of this is from God, and He grants it to us now. good works, then are the necessary result of the faith in us. Go for it. Good works are the necessary result of the faith that has already demonstrated or justified us.

So The faith that we have is what justifies us. It's already done.

Okay, already done. The good works are the manifestation of the whole saving process of God. The regeneration Indwelling, granting of repentance, granting of faith. All of this is from God. And therefore We're now set free from the bonds of our own sin, and we can go out and do good works.

Those good works are the proof. What's this? I'll just say the evidence. The evidence that we have been changed internally. This is why Paul or why James says faith without works is dead.

True faith has true works. the true saving faith in Christ. is manifested by the true good works that we do. It's not the true good works that contribute to that faith, or contribute to our position with God. That would be synergism, which is heresy.

So Long story short, It's necessary to do good works to demonstrate to others that we already have this justifying faith that's granted to us from God.

Okay.

Yeah. Okay, could have Could it simply be said that that dot is essentially Giving believers, just giving us gifts, gift of repentance, gift of faith. Gift of righteousness. gift of grace and then We just Use the guest? Welcome to Calvinism.

That's what it is. All right then. God grants everything. Every good thing is from him. Our good works are granted to us from God.

Our repentance is granted by God. Our faith in Him granted to us by God. The indwelling of Him in us and changing us, making us born again is His gift. All of it is His gracious work and gifting in us. Once we're set freed, then we try and live for him.

Now I would suggest you never come to my house to observe it in me. I'm pretty bad. I'm a sinner saved by grace. I'm a sinner kept by Christ.

Okay, then you and I could laugh at each other and point mockingly at each other's failures while we're pointing back at ourselves. And so you get it, all right, you get it. But all these good things come from him. And the beautiful, beautiful thing about what you said. is that he gets all the glory.

Not us. And we are saved by His grace, and kept by His grace, and loved by His grace. and it's not because of our goodness. but because of his. And that's why I love this statement I've said over the radio so many times.

I'm glad that God predestined me from the foundation of the world, because if He'd look at me now He wouldn't pick me. We recognize our failures. We try and live for him. But the reason we try is because we're saved, we're regenerate, we're born again, and we have true faith. And so we try and live it.

That's the demonstration of the work of God in us. And He receives every bit of the glory. Not us. We are the thankful, humble recipients of his majestic saving work and grace.

Okay.

Yeah, that sounds like good news. That is the good news. The bad news from different groups is: yes, God grants you justifying faith, but what you have to do is maintain your position with Him by your goodness and participation in ceremonies. Go to a priest and get forgiven for the sins that you've committed since you've been baptized, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The list, the list, the list.

That's not good news. Yeah. Confidence in work is certainly one thing I don't have. Oh, for you and me together. Man.

I I I have more and more trouble praying. Because I don't know what to pray for, because everything I pray for somehow is mixed in with selfishness.

So, more and more I'm just praying, Lord, would you teach me what to say, even in my prayers? Would you just. Ignore the pride and the sin embedded in my heart as when I pray for this and that, that I want my own glory in it. Lord, I'm a wretched sinner. My heart betrays me at every step.

Please, Lord. Hear me through the blood of your son that you might somehow condescend to use me for your glory, in spite of what I am. That's the prayer I've been praying more and more.

Okay.

Sound okay, brother? God's will, not mine. Oh, thank you. Matt, I appreciate your time. You're saying it, man.

I'm loving what you're saying. Man, you're just ministering to my heart. God will, not our own. Praise God. All right.

All right, brother. Think about it and call you back sometime see him and see how much further you've come along, okay? I will. I will. Thank you.

All right, now longest waiting is Oscar from New York.

Okay.

Welcome. You're on the air. Yes, but yeah. Yeah. I was listening to a pastor He says, when Oscars were created, I'll wait.

Sorry about that, brother. My bad timing is.

Okay, we'll be right back, folks, after these messages. Get this Oscar, then Kevin from Texas. Be right back, please. Stay tuned. It's Matt Slick Live, taking your call at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. All Robertie, welcome back to the show. If you want to give me a call, all you got to do. Is dial 8772072276. Let's get back on with Oscar.

All right, Oscar. You back on, brother. Yes. I was listening to a Bible teacher. He says when Adam and Eve were created, they had eternal existence, but they did not have eternal life.

Is there a difference? Any eternal life? Yeah, that's a good question because it depends on the definition of the term. Eternal existence is yes, all people have eternal existence in that once they have begun to exist, they will eternally exist. They will exist for eternity in the future.

And this is called a potential infinite, anyway. And so. The term eternal life is related in the New Testament with the issue of escaping eternal death. Not death as a non-existence, but death as in eternal separation from God.

So they had that eternal existence, I would grant that. Eternal life would have to be defined because eternal life seems to be. Related to the issue of faith in Christ in the redemptive context. And eternal life didn't possibly fit. The context of Adam and Eve in the garden.

Now before they send, If they had never sinned, they would have continued to live. Forever. In that sense, they would have eternal life. when we use that term in a loose sense in that context. But I wouldn't say they had it in the New Testament sense in the redemptive work.

of of uh of Christ.

However, after they sent, And they hid themselves. The pre-incarnate Christ came in and covered them with animal skins, implying the shedding of blood.

So I would say at that point, Adam and Eve possessed eternal life because they were redeemed by the pre-incarnate Christ in the redemptive work. And so then they possessed it then, okay? Oh, okay.

Okay, thank you. Thank you.

Yeah. All right, brother. Yeah. Okay, God bless. Um Yeah.

Now let's get to Kevin from Texas. Kevin, welcome, brother. You're on the air. Hi, Matt. Um I called yesterday.

I wanted to ask you. this question but I turn it thanks, so I wrote it down this time.

Okay.

If a person is a Reformed Christian for sixteen years, and backslides for five years. How can I get my assurance of salvation back? By the same way as the first time, by trusting in Christ. The assurance of salvation is not based on what you feel, it's based on what Christ has done.

Someone can backslide to different degrees, and God is often very patient. And he will. Keep them. And he will work with them, and he will love them, allowing them to have this season of rebellion. Where he convicts, he works, and then you have to pay for that, so to speak.

There's different ways God allows you to pay for it: through conviction, through problems, through suffering, through regrets, and things like that. But uh If you If you were reformed for 16 years and then you backslid for five, now you've repented, then that was just further demonstration of the grace of God. and that he's loved you even in spite of your sin. and has continued to work in you and through you and to redeem you. and he knew you before the foundation of the world.

and yet he called you. And so the assurance is not based on your consistency. or your regret. or your repentance. but on the knowledge of what Christ has done.

And so when I talk to people about this, I try and tell them politely without, I don't want to come down on them, but I try and say, you know, politely, Take your eyes off of yourself and your own failures and put them on the success of what Christ has done. And when you do that more and more, the assurance manifest more and more. and then you start realizing he loved you even though he knows who you are and everything about you. And that's where the assurance comes in that in spite of That's stupid. Moronic.

backsliding. that we sometimes do. It does not separate us from the love of God. and that we're only repentant. because of his grace.

And that assures me. of his continued grace. And his faithfulness to us, okay? Yeah, that's good.

So you feel guilty about five years of stuff? Oh yeah. Definitely.

Well, I am so glad to hear that because. You're a filthy, vile sinner. full of wretchedness and evil, And yet God has loved you. Anyway. What was God thinking?

That's what I wonder about myself with God too. Got it, I think. What are you thinking? What are you you sure you understand what's going on here? You know, not to be disrespectful to God, but Look, are you sure?

Right. And then You just Give in. You just submit. Yeah. incredible patience and love.

And that he's let you. Let you Have your sin. and now the weight and the scars from it. They're going to be with you for the rest of your life. And somehow those things and the memory of those evils.

will keep you away from them in the future. God is wise. He lets us experience tribulation, of our own making.

so that we never want to go back to it again. and then all the more in the humility and the brokenness of our hearts, we see how good he was. when we were not. And that breaks us. And it also exposes our own wickedness.

to ourselves even all the more. and even more regret comes through. and that's when you just have to fall before the cross. and let that blood come upon you. and say, you're all I have.

I'm wretched. But I'm saved because of you. and I just trust in you beyond my ability to understand. and beyond my ability to feel. I distrust you because of who you are.

You ha you faith. You faith. F A T F A I T H with a rough breathing and they're faithing. You continue to exercise faith. in him by choice.

and be thankful for his mercy to you.

Okay.

Okay.

My stint was two. And I'd look back. Even though I'm almost seventy years old now. I look back on tho those two years. with absolute shame.

and regret. to this day. And I am still dumbfounded by God's mercy. And it makes me all the more wonderful. I'm sorry?

Can I just ask what brought you back? God's kind kindness and love. I always wanted him during that two-year period. I was struggling between the things of the world and flesh and the things of God. And Even my friends at Durinet Time recognized there was a struggle.

I was just being stupid and young and foolish. And then I'll tell you this. Um There was a month period. which I I cannot recall and even back then I could not recall. I remember talking about it to my friends.

There was a month where I lost. track of all memory, all time, everything. or at the beginning of the month, I was warring in this context of between faith flesh, the world, God's will, just to struggle. And a month later I was insatiably on fire for God. and I don't know what happened in that month.

Still don't. All I know is It was something God did. And I've Never look back. I don't know what it was. God has a way of working in us.

And You know, like I said, What what's he thinking? Doesn't he see how bad we are? Are you sure? All this time trying to tar God out of it, you know? Are you sure?

Okay, and uh But yet it it's just incredible how much he loves us and how patient he is with us. That's where your assurance is when you see how good he is. not how bad you have have been.

Okay.

Okay.

the past like five months, I've been having like panic attacks. I just don't know if I was ever truly saved. Like, what if I'm one of the ones who went out from us because they weren't of us? And that's kind of it.

Okay, that's 1 John 2.19. Talk about the spirit of the Antichrist and those who are against Christ, and you're obviously not. And the reason you're so worried about this is because you're alive. Dead people don't struggle against their sin. dead people don't reach up to the infinite light above.

They don't. People who are alive in Christ do that. And so remember this. Jesus says, you go to Matthew 7:7, Matthew 7, and just start reading. Matthew 7.

And you'll get to the point very pretty quickly. If you ask if your son asks for bread, you won't give him a stone. If he asks for a fish, you won't give him a snake. The reason Jesus said that is because back in the day, in those times, that location, the the way they baked bread, it looked like a certain kind of stone in the area, the same color and kind of a shape. and there was a a s a fish, a long skinny fish that they knew about that was looked like a snake, but it wasn't.

So God, if you ask for the real thing, He's not going to fake you out. Right, okay, yeah. If you're trusting in Him and you're asking Him to cleanse you, and to give you that peace. He's not going to fake you out. He might, however, let you Let's just say enjoy.

the fruits of your sin for a while.

So you learn the lesson.

Okay.

Wow. Yeah. Yeah. In fact, Coming out of that time and that stuff back then, there was a trigger that God used that to this day, and I've never told anybody what it is, and I probably never will, but to this day, when that trigger occurs, I get nervous. That's how Real he was.

And I I that's it.

So we serve we serve him or we serve ourselves.

Now you're serving him. Just take all of it. Take a in your mind, take a a big wide brush, sweeping brush, you know, those brooms. and just pile it all up. Sweep it up.

and you push it towards that cross. And then you just fall on your knees in that place. And just say thank you, Lord, I'm saved in spite of myself. And trust in that. continue to trust in it.

And then the the peace which guards you We'll come back.

Okay.

I pray for the day. Oh, it's c it's going to come back. It's gonna come back. But I think he's gonna let you Suffer the consequences of your sin so you don't learn it again. We touch a fire, the blister and the pain remain.

It gradually heals. But we've repented right away, but the effects of it continue. This is normal. It's normal. And God is loving you.

And he's He's teaching you through it. Keep your eyes on him. through all of it all the time. and you'll come out Very nicely. trusting in him with great peace.

It's gonna be hard, but you'll do it. And you can call me up on a regular basis and we'll talk, okay? I got millions of questions. I got millions of kind of answers. We'll see.

We'll see if we can match them. All right.

All right.

Yeah, thank you so much. That that's a lot. All right, Kevin. Hey man, trust me, I get it. I totally get it.

You're going to be okay. Keep your eyes on Jesus, no matter what. beyond your ability to understand. Just trust them, okay? All right.

Okay, would you? God bless, brother. All right, folks, we are out of time. Pray for him, pray for Kevin, and may the Lord bless you and by his grace. If that gun there tomorrow, Lord willing.

We'll talk to you then. God bless everybody. Another program powered by the Truth Network.