A previously recorded Matt Slick show. It's Matt Slick live. Matt is the founder and president of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry found online at karm.org. When you have questions about Bible doctrines, turn to Matt Slick live. Francis, taking your calls and responding to your questions at 877-207-2276.
Here's Matt Slick. Hey, welcome everyone. It's a nice Friday, and I hope you're going to give me a call. And if you don't, I hope you're listening and you learn, and may the Lord be glorified in our efforts. So we have four open lines. Why don't you give me a call?
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We have four open lines. If you want to give me a call, all you have to do is dial 877-207. Excuse me. What a yawn.
No, that was a good yawn. Sorry. I needed that.
877-207-2276. Let's get to John from New Jersey. John, welcome. You are on here.
Hello, Matt. So I have a question on John 11. Okay.
Do you think that I talked to a bunch of Jehovah's Witnesses, not too many, you probably more than me, but do you think that they latch on to it as a god in their Bible? Because I looked it up on the Blue Letter Bible app, and it's saying a god, an outline of biblical usage, it's saying a god, a goddess, a general name of deities or divinity. Okay.
So what's your question? So the question is, do you think they translate it as a god because of that definition? Because of that definition?
No. I just read to you. The reason they translated it that way is because it's a non-Christian cult that is denying the deity of Christ. It was started by Charles Day's Russell in the late 1800s, and he denied the Trinity, denied Jesus Christ as God in flesh, denies eternal damnation, things like that. And so it's a cult. They alter the Bible, the Jehovah's Witnesses, they alter the Bible in order to make it suit their theological preconceptions. And so generally when I'm talking to a Jehovah's Witness about John 1-1, if I talk to them about the indefinite article, not existing in the Greek, but the definite article does, and the definite article declined, but we don't have the indefinite article here, has to be inferred, basically I lose them.
So what I do is I work with them this way. I say, look, so Jesus was a god, right? And what they'll do is they'll say, well, yeah, he was a god. I'll say, okay, so what kind of a god was he? Because we know the Bible teaches there's only one god, so why are you saying he's a god? Is he a true god or is he false god?
And so I started asking questions like this, and then they'll start backtracking. Well, he's a god like Moses was a god. Wait a minute. Moses was a god? I asked him to show me, and there's a verse, and I need to do it on page 17, 1, I think is where it is, maybe that's where it is, where it says, maybe it's not, let me see.
No, that's a defect issue. Okay, so where Moses is called, she says you'll be like God to Pharaoh, in that he had the ability to bring down judgment. And so you're saying, Mr. J.W., you're saying Moses was like God, yes, okay. Is John 1-1 saying that Jesus was like God or was, are you saying a god? And so you keep working with them like this, and what happens is they backtrack over and over again, and they start having problems.
They're not able to really defend that position. So that's one of the ways to do it. You can also go to CARM and look up the articles on John 1-1 dealing with that issue as well.
There's other stuff in there too. Yeah, I agree, yeah, but I agree, I agree, because they said the same thing to me one time, I was talking to them, they're like, well he's not God, but he's like God. So what does that mean, he's like God? What does it mean?
Yeah, and I didn't really, I don't remember, this was a long time ago, and I don't remember what the ladies were saying. Yeah, well, he's like God. Whenever they make a statement, ask them to explain the statement. Just say, well, what do you mean he's like God? Or are we like God also? I mean, God thinks we think, does that mean that we're like God also? Yeah, I think they mean like the power of God, since he could raise the dead or something and heal sick people, I guess he was like God in that sense. But we can do the same thing, you know, the Bible talks about that the dead will be raised and things like this, and the judgments that the Christians are going to be able to do. So I ask them again, so please show me, you know, what does it mean?
He's like God. And you'll find out that they're going to have all kinds of problems, okay? That's what you got to do. And we have an article on this too. Yeah, I read your article on it.
Okay. But the Theos thing or Theos, however you say it. Theos, yeah. Since it says a God, even, I know that they messed up their Bible, they, you know, but since it even in the Greek is a God, I mean. It's not in the Greek, it's a God. It's not in the Greek. It's a God. It's not in the Greek. It's not, it's not. Because I'm looking at it in the Blue Letter Bible, I'm saying Theos is a God.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Look, Theos is simply the nominative masculine singular form of the word God. Theou is the genitive masculine singular form of the word God. So nouns decline in Greek. So we have it in English.
Actor, actors, actress, actresses. It's one noun that takes different forms that shows singularity, plurality, and gender. This occurs in Greek, but it also shows what's called case. And case in Greek is, is it the subject? Is it showing possession? Is it the direct object?
Is it the indirect object? Or is it the vocative? And so that's what it's doing in Greek. And Greek is just different than English, like this. Furthermore, in Greek, there's what's called the definite article. The definite article is the word the, which is ha.
It's like H-O, ha. And that's the definite article. The definite article also declines and has at least 24 different forms that show gender, number, and case. Now, the indefinite article is the word in English, a, a ball, a table. Or we can also say the definite article, the ball, the table. So if we have, in English, we have 100 balls out on a soccer field, we'll say, pick a ball.
That means any one of the 100. If we say pick that ball, we mean a specific one, or pick the ball that has the quality of whatever, we're saying a specific one. So in Greek, they have the definite article, but they do not have the indefinite article. The indefinite article is the indefinite article does not exist in the Greek. So the issue here is then, how do we translate such words and such things like this into English? Well, in some languages, they don't have an indefinite article in their language either.
We do. So the way we speak is to say that Jesus was God, and that the word was God. But what they want to do is add the indefinite article to say that he is not the true God nature, but he's a lesser created thing.
It's because of their damnable doctrines. And that's why they insert the word a. So when you get into a lexicon, and it says theos, or theon, which I believe is the dative, you see that it is the, you know, we have the indirect or the direct object, then a direct object would be like, you know, take the ball to the table, and the table would be the sort of noise, a direct object. So we have different forms of stuff like this. This is what's going on in the Greek.
You can't explain all this to them because their eyes will glaze over. But it's an illegitimate translation that they do in John 1-1, and the reason is because they want to change who Jesus is, because it's a non-Christian cult. So in the lexicon, if it says a God, no.
It's only a God in the context of being used in a sentence, and if the definite article is necessary, in English, because it does not exist in the Greek. Okay? Oh, makes sense, makes sense. Okay, do you have other callers, maybe?
No, we don't. Let me get the phone number out. People want to call 877-207-2276. Give me a call, folks.
We've got four open lines. John, go ahead. Yes, so my next question was, what does the Bible mean by the glory of God? Oh, that's a good question. It can mean a variety of things, but all within a general context of the praise, worship, and adoration of God's greatness, to praise his glory. But then he has a quality of glory, and some say that it's probably light, because he dwells in an unapproachable light whom no man has seen nor can see. 1 Timothy 6 16. So what it looks like is that when it's talking about the glory of God, it can be as a quality of his nature. It can also be an aspect of our adoration. So the glory of his nature, the glory of God is his brightness, his light, his holiness, his purity, his magnificent quality, everything about him that is there. And then we can seek the glory of God.
We can seek to glorify God, to praise him for who he is, and what he has done in our lives, and his greatness and his wonder. Okay? Wow.
Good stuff. A callback Monday. I have a couple other questions, but a callback Monday, Matt.
Well, there's nobody waiting right now, so you might as well keep going. Hey folks, if you want to give me a call, call for open lines, 877-207-2276. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking our calls at 877-207-2276.
Here's Matt Slick. Hey everybody, welcome to the show. Hey, if you want to give me a call, all you have to do is dial 877-207-2276.
We have four open lines, so give me a call. Let's get back on with John from New Jersey. John, go ahead. Yeah, so I'm looking at Hebrews.
I was trying to think of a good question to ask you, but my brain ain't working too good right now. But the one is Hebrews 1, where it says begotten, where it says today I have begotten you. Yeah, verse 5, uh-huh. You're my son, today I've begotten you. It's a quote from the Old Testament. Psalm 2, verse 7, uh-huh.
I'll be a father to you. I know that Jehovah, the j-dub, you call him j-dub. They take that word to mean that he was, that Jesus was created. Where, how can, I know you gave me some scriptures before the Old Testament, but when I look it up in the, in the, into linear or whatever that's called, it says to beget, to bring forth. Yeah, uh, here's the problem, is that, uh, sometimes more difficult things in scripture take more training, more thought, and more examination of scripture.
When you try and explain things to people in cults, they don't want anything to do with that. So when it says that Christ is begotten, it's talking about the incarnation, and the term begotten does not necessitate that it's the first one born, or a person who is born. The reason is because if you go to Psalm 22, uh, it talks about Abraham and Isaac. Well, God told Abraham to take your only begotten son, and it's, you know, your only begotten son, Isaac. Well, the fact is, at 13 years earlier, Ishmael was born to, to Abraham, but God called Isaac the only begotten. So when we look at how God uses the term, you know, only begotten, we notice that when he's talking about being begotten, because you can be only one begotten, but he's saying you're begotten son. Well, that would mean Isaac or, uh, Ishmael, but he says your only begotten son, and he says Isaac. So God himself designated this of a person who was the second. So the word begotten in the context is not necessitate first born, because it doesn't, and it doesn't necessitate that, uh, that there can't be others along with that person, because we know that from Ishmael.
So now this isn't the greatest point, but it's worth, you know, noting. So when it talks about the issue of being begotten, it's simply talking about the incarnation, and there's no necessity that the term begotten means first created. Now the Jehovah's Witnesses will go to Colossians 1 15, and what they do is they will say that, uh, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, and they say see firstborn means first created. No, prototos and protictas are different words, firstborn and first created, and firstborn is a transferable title, because Jacob and Esau, Jacob was a, Esau sold his birthright, his firstborn birthright, and it was transferred. Ephraim and Manasseh, for example, Ephraim is my firstborn, Manasseh, I forget the verse has been a long time, but the firstborn title was transferred.
So firstborn biblically does not necessitate the firstborn person, it's a right, it's the right of the firstborn, that firstborn right can be transferred. Furthermore, what they'll do is they will say, for by him all other things were created, this is in Colossians 1 16, and what they do is add the word other there, which does not exist in the Greek. In Greek there's two words for other, halah, or it's gonna be alas and hetaras.
Hetaras means another of a different kind, and alas means another of the same kind. So there's more description here in Greek than there is in English for another, another of the same kind, or another of a different kind that exists in Greek, and neither word is used in the Greek here, but the Jehovah's Witnesses insert it in order to imply that Jesus Christ is created. So they'll say that he's the, uh, all other things were created by him. Oh, so they're saying that Jesus is the first created thing. So then what you do is you go to Isaiah 44 24, and then I'll ask them, so Jesus is the first created thing? They'll say yes, and then by him he, all other things were created? They'll say that's right, so Jesus created everything, but he's the first thing created?
They'll say yes. I say then go to Isaiah 44 24, where it says Yahweh is the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by himself, spreading out the earth all alone. How is it possible that you're going to say that Jesus is the creator of all things if Yahweh is saying he does it alone? And then, you know, this is why you have to do this with Jehovah's Witnesses. In order to argue with Jehovah's Witnesses, it takes a little bit more knowledge and stuff, because they sit in their, their kingdom halls, their windowless kingdom halls, and they have Bible studies out of the watchtower, which trains them how to refute the Trinity, refute the deity of Christ, refute the idea of salvation by grace in Christ.
And so it's a non-Christian cult, and because of this repeated indoctrination, this inculcation, the average Jehovah's Witness can talk circles around the average Christian. So, there you go. Wow, that's a lot, that's a lot there. Yeah, I talked to a few, man, I talked to a few, and some of them just like rush away, you know, rush away real quick, they don't want to talk.
There's a reason. Or like you said, yeah, more knowledgeable in the Greek, and you're right, you need some training in this area. Yeah, you do. To talk to Jehovah's Witnesses, you need a little more training. But to talk to Mormons, you don't need as much. But see, the average Christian doesn't know very much. You know, for example, I was, I remember this once, I was teaching a seminar or something, you know, about a hundred people in the room. And it's the first time I did it, and it really stuck with me, and I did it a few times afterwards, but I have to be careful when and how I do it because it upsets people a little bit. And I, you know, I said, how many of you in here, in this room of about a hundred people, I said, how many of you are Christians, you know, really love the Lord? And, you know, basically everybody's hands went up. I didn't count everybody, but a sea of hands went up.
Okay, great. How many of you brought your Bibles, you know? And most of the hands went up. You know, we had phones at that time, and Bibles and phones. I said, okay, now I don't want you to look at your Bibles. I don't want you to open your Bibles when I ask these next questions. I said, I want to see a show of hands.
How many of you believe in the Trinity and their hands are up in the air? And I said, how many of you confirm memory, quote verses, or explain how the Trinity doctrines arrived at in the Bible and all the hands go down except for, I think, two or three? I said, I'm not going to call on anybody. I said, I'm not going to call on anybody.
I just want to see. And I said, okay, here's another question. I said, put all your hands down. And I said, here's another question. I said, how many believe Jesus Christ is God in flesh? And hands go up.
I said, how many can defend it from scripture? And about five hands were left up. And I'll tell you what else happened. Let me give back, folks. We've got a break coming up.
We have four open lines. Why don't you give me a call? 877-207-2276. Give me a call.
It's a nice Friday. We'll talk to you in a bit. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.
Here's Matt Slick. All right. We lost John. But let me kind of continue with what happened at this seminar that I was teaching. And when I was asking people for their hands and I asked them, I said, how many could defend the deity of Christ from memory? And I think that the most five hands went up and I suspected if I'd have called on them, they might not have done a very good job. And so I said, okay, put your hands down. I said, how many believe in salvation by grace through faith after all you can do? And their hands went up.
And I actually said, how many believe you're saved by grace through faith after all you can do? And his hands shot up in the air. And then they looked back at each other and the hands started going up and down, a little confused. And I pulled a fast one on them.
I had quoted the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 25, 23. And then I kind of chuckled. I said, I just tricked you. And I said, most of you raised your hands. And we got a kick out of it. And then I said, one more question. I said, how many are afraid to raise their hands now? And all the hands went up. And we had a good time. But the thing is, that's when I discovered that most Christians just don't know anything. And the reason I believe they don't know anything is because they don't take the Word of God as seriously as they need to in those areas of study. And it's an important thing that we need to be able to understand how to show that Jesus Christ is God and the Trinity is true and salvation by grace through faith.
And it just needs to be done more and more. All right, why don't we just get on the lines with, let's see, Dave from Charlotte, North Carolina. Dave, welcome. You're on the air. Hey man, how are you? Doing all right. Hanging in there, man.
What do you got? My question is, how do you talk to a non-believer about abortion? I was talking with the guy at work and he was talking about how he got somebody pregnant and how he wanted to avoid the baby.
Luckily, she didn't want to, so they're going to end up having it. But I just didn't know the best approach, I guess, to talk about it because he just kept, you know, it was a mistake. You know, I just want to get rid of it and learn from it. And I said, well, you're not going to learn from it though, because it's not the issue.
You're not having the life of the baby. You know, in a situation like this, you've got to be very careful when you talk to somebody because it's emotional. It's very, very difficult. And so what I recommend is ask if it's okay to ask questions. You want to have permission to be able to enter into that situation that they're in and ask questions because you want to find out if they're open to that. You don't want to just start jumping in on them and say that, you know, it has to be this way, that way and start going on the attack. So what I'll do is say, is it okay if I ask you questions about this, this whole thing?
You know, I don't want to be offensive. I don't want to, you know, because they're going to know I'm a Christian, you know, not in a work situation. And they'll say, yeah, you can ask questions. I say, okay.
Okay. I said, about this pregnancy, I said, what do you believe that is occurring in the womb? And it's a very generic question.
And they may not, this person may not know how to answer it. You know, well, what's occurring in the womb? Is it growing? Yeah. Is it alive?
Yes. Well, is it human by nature? You know, that's the question. If he says, well, it's not human.
Well, okay. If it's not human, then what is it? It's one of the questions I ask people. If it's not human, then what is it? And well, they don't know. I don't know what it is, but I know what it isn't.
Okay. Well, then here's another question. When does it change from not human to human in its development?
And, you know, mostly they'll say, well, I don't know. And I say, well, then wait a minute. If you don't know when it changes from human, non-human to human, then you shouldn't risk killing it.
You might be killing a human, right? Well, before it gets to that place, that time I've had him say, I got something really, that I really use and it works very well. And he'll say, okay, so you're going to say at six weeks, because they'll pick a number, four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks, 12 weeks. That's when it becomes human. Okay.
You know, if they're getting back into a corner and I'm doing it very, very politely, very slowly, very carefully. And they'll say, well, you know, at four weeks or six weeks, it's still not human. It becomes human at three, you know, his first brainwave, which hurt, you know, at 12 weeks, let's just say. Okay.
So whatever number you say. So then before that happens, is it okay to take that, that fetus and transplant it into the womb of a female dog? Because if it's not human, there shouldn't be a problem with that. Right.
And I'll tell you that really shakes people up. If it's not human, then it should be okay to do that. Right. Shouldn't be any big deal. Right.
But they know it's just not right. I remember once an unbeliever I was talking to about this, actually the unbeliever actually just went, Whoa, I never thought of that. And it really floored him. He kept going on for a couple of minutes. He goes, I've never considered anything like that. He said, that's a very good point.
An unbeliever. I was shocked at how much he said it was wrong, you know, and we'll praise God, you know, I said, so, you know, you know, you can't transfer to the womb of a dog because it is not dog nature. It's human in its nature. You don't mix those things. You know that. And so you start asking these questions about that time. They don't want to talk to you anymore because you're starting to make sense.
And they're starting to realize they got problems. Okay. Yeah. That's a, that's a good way to put it. You know, like you said, it's, because I know I found myself getting worked up because, you know, I know, you know, I know, I know, you know, and, uh, you know, it's just, it's just frustrating sometimes. Yeah.
Let me tell you, um, that the thing to do is to be careful and kind and patient. The idea is to get the person to see that this is a human there. And that also, depending on how far you can go in the conversation, uh, men in particular need to take responsibility for their actions and not get a woman pregnant and then make her pay the price. You know, it's, they have to carry the child. They'll often give birth to the child. Then they have to raise the child. And the men are often, uh, not in the picture.
Don't want to support the child, et cetera. It's too often. It is the case. And this is in part because men have not grown up. It's some men, a lot of men, of course, have, and they don't do that kind of stuff. They're mature and they're responsible. They don't just want bodily pleasure and then have someone else, uh, the, what the woman or the child pay the consequence. And so what I try and urge men to do is become men to act like men, not act like children.
And that, you know, you can't say that quickly. You have to say that after a while because, uh, a child says, me, me, my, mine, I want, it's upsetting to me, but an adult sacrifices himself or herself for others. Parents do that for their children. Oh, I sacrificed for my wife.
My wife sacrifices for me. This is part of, in parcel of what it means to be mature. And so when men, they enter into a physical relationship for their own pleasure, they aren't being responsible. They're being selfish. They're risking the woman and they are taking from her what belongs inside of marriage. And so they are untrustworthy because they are not honoring her.
They're not honoring God. And so these are the kinds of things I talk about with people, depending on how far it can get in the conversation. And I try and do very carefully. I don't want to be mean, you know, I just say, look, can I say some more stuff? And they give me permission.
I continue until I've had them say, well, look, I just don't want to go any further. I go, okay. All right. You know, I'm always here to talk if you want.
And they never want to, because they realize if they want to talk to me more, they're going to get even more they're going to get even more of the same in a gentle way, but it's still true. So you see. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
I see what you're saying. And like you said, you know, I just, I got to work on the general part because, you know, like you said, you know, it's touching for a lot of people and everything, but you put it in a really, really good perspective and I greatly appreciate it. Well, you're welcome buddy. Okay. All right. All right, man. God bless you. Take care. Okay.
God bless. Hey folks, we have four open lines. Why don't you give me a call 877-207-2276. Let's get to Josh from North Carolina.
Josh, you're on the air. Hey man, how are you doing? Doing all right. Hanging in there. What do you got, man?
All right. So I listen to this podcast called COcast. There's some foreign Baptist preachers that talk about certain subjects. And they were responding to a article that John Piper wrote about examining yourself. And then one of the verses they brought up was Romans chapter 1, verse 28, which says, and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God and God gave them over to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. Now, what they were saying was that in context, you're not, you're not going, being given over to a debased mind is what God did during the fall.
That's during the fall, they said? No, I might be misquoting, but from the context they were talking about, they were saying that the debased mind is what we were all given over to. Okay. I'll tell you what, we've got a break coming up. Let me look at this.
Rephrase the statement that you think they said. We'll get back to the break, kind of articulate it so we can make sure we can attack a little bit more efficiently. All right, buddy. We'll be right back, folks. After these messages, we have four open lines, 877-207-2276. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.
Here's Matt Slick. Okay. Welcome back, everyone. We have four open lines.
If you want to give me a call, 877-207-2276. Also, just a reminder, we're trying to gather some information. If people are interested in taking a trip with me to Israel next year, if you're interested, you want to check it out, just go to karmisrael.com. It'll forward you to another site. There's information there.
There's a little form that you can fill out. I think four questions. It just lets us know if you're interested in whether or not we should go forward and plan it. That's what's going on. All right, let's get to Josh from North Carolina. Josh, welcome. You're back on the air. All right, so you got that comment that they made a little bit more... Let's see. I want to tackle it.
What do you got? Well, the response is, you know, one of the things they keep bringing up in their podcast is the fight against the pietist movement that's going on in the church today and that we should be, you know, like the spiritual disciplines and, you know, trying to basically base our walk in faith based on our works and it should be based more on our faith in Christ. And one of the things they referred to when they were talking about self-examining ourselves to see if we are in the faith or whatever, they brought up Romans chapter 1 verse 28 and they were talking about when we were giving over to a debased mind, that was what was describing what happened during the fall that we were taking from places. Can you name some names in this podcast? You remember any names? There's local pastors. Oh, okay. One of them's here in Asheville, North Carolina. Another one's in Springfield, Tennessee.
And another one's in Minnesota. Okay. Well, verse 28 isn't about the fall. In the context, what it is, in verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness of those who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. That's what unbelievers do all the time.
And it says, for instance, the creation of the world, you know, his power has been known, etc. Professing to be wise, they became fools. He's talking generically about all people, not just the fall of Adam and Eve. Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incredible God for the image of a corruptible man. That's not what Adam and Eve did.
Okay. And so, therefore, God gave them over. God gave them over to the lust of their hearts for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie.
For this reason, God gave them over to the greeting passions. Verse 27, in the same way, also men abandoned the natural function of the woman, etc. And verse 28 says they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer. He's talking not about Adam and Eve.
He's talking about these people who don't see fit to acknowledge God any longer. It's not an issue of Adam and Eve in the fall. Okay. So, if that's what they're saying, I would take issue with that exegetical position. I don't think it's warranted in the scriptures. Okay. Right.
Well, they were pretty much worried on talking about it. This is what happens to all mankind since the fall. That God gives us over to a debased mind to walk in unrighteousness and unholyness. Well, then that means, but the Christians, the Christians given over this as well, it's differentiation here in the text between the believer and the unbeliever, basically. And the reason Paul's talking about this is he's going to tackle the Jews in chapter 2. And particularly in verse 17 is really important.
You being a Jew who had the oracles of God, etc. He's saying, look, we're all guilty. And he's talking inclusively about all people. That's basically what he's doing in Romans 2. But he's trying to show that these unbelievers, that even the Jews were mocking, they have a kind of righteousness and they're doing things that you Jews aren't even doing. And so that's what's going on there.
But he's laying the case of the depravity of all mankind in Genesis 1, but it's not negating the idea of Christian redemption. So I'm not exactly sure what they would be saying about all of that. Okay. Well, they were going on about how even believers, we live in the spirit, but then when we were still living in our flesh. That's true.
They were just trying to get on and on about how we need to stop weighing ourselves down with our work and how we need to base our faith more on the gospel, which is Jesus Christ alone. Good. That's good. Good stuff. Yeah. Maybe just a wording issue, but it sounds pretty good.
Heck yeah. And we're not supposed to be concerned with works over and above the truth of the gospel. The gospel in our own lives, even as Christians, need to be preached and the freeing that we have, but we should do good works because we're called to do good works where God's created us for that purpose.
You know, Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. Okay. Right. Okay.
Right. I guess maybe I'm just wrestling with, you know, obviously I've been, since I've been living in this place, I've been noticing that me myself, I have been falling into that pietistic mentality. I'm just trying to watch myself all the time wondering, I honestly question myself, am I really saved?
Because I keep falling here, I keep falling there. Well, look, people are going to fall, period. Those who are saved war and fight against their fallenness. Those who are dead don't show any signs of spiritual life. They don't war against this kind of stuff.
Not because of the issue. You know, an unbeliever might say, well, I don't want to, you know, uh, you know, steal anymore. Well, that's not warring against the flesh because of what Christ has done and who Christ is. We war against the flesh because we know it's wrong because the Lord Jesus has bought us. Acts 20, 28.
And so we know that we're, we're obligated to follow him. So we war against our flesh for the sake of Christ. We're unbelievers might say that they don't want to do something bad, but it's not for the glory of God. And they're just still wallowing in their own sin.
They do things for selfish reasons, not for the glory of God. So, uh, you know, these, these, uh, reform pastors, you know, maybe it's just a, an issue of, of terminology and you maybe you heard, heard them wrong or maybe you heard them right. But, uh, you know, call them up and ask them questions and, and get some, uh, definite, uh, definite, you know, clarification. And I'll tell you, I've said, you know, I've been on radio for 16 years and I've said things that over the, when I look back a little bit, it wasn't the right way to say it. I could have said it better. So, you know, give them the doubt and just see and, you know, and move forward. All right. Oh yeah. I mean, most of the stuff they say is spot on. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm thinking back now, I'm thinking maybe I'm doing, I mean, I'm wording this wrong.
Maybe I, maybe I heard it wrong, but you know, they're going to just, you just, since I heard that, you know, cause the podcast tasking on Wednesday, since I heard that it's always on my mind, like is that a whole debate mind thing talking, just talking with the fall, talking about all of us or is it only talking about, huh? Yeah. Go ask him. Okay. That's what I would do. All right. All right. All right. All right, buddy. All right. God bless. Okay.
We have three open, four open lines, eight, seven, seven, two zero, seven, two, two, seven, six. Mike from North Carolina. Welcome. You're on the air. Hello, Matt.
Hi. I, uh, I got a question. I, I heard some preachers talk about, uh, the apostles freed and, and they get to the point where they're talking about what Jesus did while he was hanging on the cross before he was resurrected. And they say, and he goes down and he goes and gives the devil, he beats them up and then he comes back up and raises, you know, and yeah, that's ridiculous. It's out of the book of nonsensical. Okay. I thought, yeah.
Okay. That he goes to hell, beats up the devil and that are, uh, it's commonly taught this kind of idiocy, uh, false doctrine is commonly taught in the positive confession movement, uh, where various people will say that that's safe, that Jesus went to hell and suffered in hell and finished the atonement in hell. And that is blasphemy. He finished the atonement on the cross because he said in John 1930, it is finished to tell us die. It's done.
That's when it was done. So they're denying the sufficiency of the blood sacrifice of Christ is saying he went to hell and he had to get back what was lost and suffer, uh, at the hands of the devil or demonic forces. Uh, let me, let me show you this. Something that Joyce Meyer has actually, uh, stated about this.
Joyce Meyer. Uh, I'll read this. Hold on to get this. Here we go. Let's see preachers and teachers.
Let's see. Is there something in the apostle's creed about that? No, no. Um, in fact, I was just looking at the apostle's creed and it says, uh, he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell.
Third day he rose from the dead. That's all it says. He descended into hell, but the hell there does not mean the pace of place of fire and torment and eternal judgment. It doesn't mean that.
It just means that he went into the abode of the dead. That's what, how it was referenced back then. That's what it means. Okay. Yeah. A lot of people don't know that stuff, you know?
So that's what it is. Okay. Well, now I know. Okay. Okay.
Well, God bless them. Are you there? Another question? Nope. Okay. All right. Well, I'll tell you what, since, uh, I brought up Joyce Meyer, let me read what she said. Um, this is what she said.
And, uh, let's see. I got the, Oh, I got to get that storage thing going fixed because we changed the site. We changed something.
So I got to update those links. He could have helped himself up until the point where he had, where he said, I command, command my spirit in your hands. At that point, he couldn't do nothing for himself anymore. He had become sin. He was no longer the son of God. He was sin. Now that is, uh, that is such bad heresy that in the elder worth his salt would have brought this up to her and said, you cannot say this. This is heresy. She of course is disqualified from being a teacher because she said this heresy.
All right. She said that Jesus, the minute that blood sacrifice was accepted, Jesus was the first human being that was ever born again. False. Jesus was not born again. He's not the first one born again.
Okay. Uh, Jesus paid for our sins in hell. He became our sacrifice and died on the cross. He did not stay dead. He was in the grave three days. During that time, he entered hell where you and I deserve to go legally because of our sin. He paid the price there.
That's the important, most important decision you'll ever make. Uh, second printing May, 1993 page 35. That is, uh, that is damnable heresy. Now you're gonna understand what I mean, that this means she's a heretic in the damnable sense that she has taught stuff that is damnable heresy that if you affirm this, you cannot be a true Christian.
That's how serious this is. Now, what she needs to do is recant this and say she was wrong, etc. I have not heard of her recanting that. This is what she said about Jesus going to hell. Jesus paid on the cross and went to hell in my place. Then as God had promised on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead. The scene in the spirit realm went something like this. God rose up from his throne and said to demon powers tormenting the sinless son of God. They're tormenting Jesus. Oh, geez.
Let him go. Then the resurrection power of almighty God went through hell and filled Jesus. On earth, his grave where they had buried him was filled with light as the power of God filled his body. Where is she getting this? Oh, it's from the book of Excrementicus. That's where she's getting it from. And she says this.
Now look at this. His spirit went to hell because that is where we deserve to go. There is no hope of anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth. She has now taught a damnable doctrine as a necessary doctrine for salvation. This woman is unqualified to be a teacher of any sort of the word and I will not call her a sister in Christ.
And neither should you. Now if this gets back to her, if she wants to talk to me, we can talk and I can go through some doctrine with her and we can work some things out and we can have a Bible study so she can know what biblical theology is. So much heresy, so little time. Hope you have a great weekend folks. May the Lord bless you and by his grace, I'm back on the air on Monday and hopefully we'll talk to you then. God bless. Have a great weekend. Bye.
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