Matt Slick Live

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network.

Watch live if you want to give me a call. We have five open lines, 877-207-2276. So hey, guess what, I've been doing some research on some stuff, I want to talk about that. And also I want to talk about Ravi Zacharias and Saiten Brudenkate, I don't know if you guys know who the latter is, but talk about that. In the meantime, if you want to give me a call, 877-207-2276, also to remind you that we have the schools. If you want to check out some schools, a school of theology, a school of apologetics, and a school of critical thinking, all you've got to do is give us a call.

Just go to karm.org and type in schools or forward slash schools and you'll see the information you need in order to check them out. And also, we're going to Israel next year, Lord willing, and if you want to go, you can check out KarmIsrael.com and it'll forward you to another website with all the right info at your disposal. You can check it out. You're going to go with us in March of next year. So I plan to be going, my wife plans to be going, let me tell you if you have not been, it is magnificent. Really, it is something else.

You just don't look at the Bible the same way. Wow, Narendra Ramanandasena from France, Madagascan, but live in France. My wife speaks French, so I'm just asking. We've got four open lines, if you want to give me a call, 877-207-2276 and I think that's about it. We've got a caller waiting. I could talk about Ravi and stuff. I think what we'll do is we'll get to the call first.

Let's do that. Laura from Utah. Laura from Utah. Laura, welcome. You're on the air.

Are you there? Laura. Hello. Hi. Hello.

Can you hear me? How are you doing, Laura? How are you doing?

I'm doing well. I've got a question. Before you do, let me introduce you. This is Laura. She works with CARM and she's a huge asset. She helps us do SEO, search engine optimization, help convert to this website. She's great. She's just a great person. We've never met in person yet. We've talked many times online and stuff like that, but yeah. So anyway, just want to say, hey, thanks. You're awesome. Okay. What's up?

Well, thank you, Matt. Hey, so I've been hearing different perspectives on James 5-14, whether it's really for... Well, I'll let you read it before you answer. Yeah. In verse 13, is anyone among you sick or suffering? Then you must pray. Is anyone cheerful? Is to sing praises? Is anyone among you sick?

Then you must call the elders of the church and they are to pray for him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven. Very interesting pericope. Okay. So what's your question? Well, and now I've heard parts where it's just for those who are weak in faith.

I've also heard a lot of people say it is for absolute, you know, the sick to call upon the elders and to do it in obedience. And so I was just wondering your take, you don't have an article on that one. No, I should write an article among the many other articles I'm supposed to write because you of all people know how busy I am and how much there is to do, boy, I'll tell you. Right. Yeah, and that's just cleaning up my own messes. So you know, that's why I'm so busy.

So yeah, you just basically said the gambit of things. Basically one of the issues here is physical illness. Now some positive confessionists will say, well, if you do this, you call the elders, you know, you'll be sick. They anoint you. You're going to be healed. Why? Because Jesus bought that and blah, blah, blah.

Okay. And another view is really interesting in the issue of forgiving of sins in verse 15, which is why I wanted to read the rest of it. Because in the context, one of the theories is that the sickness might be due to sin. And there are verses in the scripture to talk about sin causing illness. And so in 1 Corinthians 11, I think it is, eating the body and blood of Christ, you know, the communion supper, in an unworthy manner. That's why many have fallen asleep and many are sick.

And so there's some people think that there might be a connection there. And while it says raise them up and if he's committed sins, they will be forgiven. Now is it being forgiven because they're anointing of oil?

Of course not. So there's a little bit of debate about it. And so let's just look at the healing side. One is sick physically. So we go in, elders pray, and I've done this before, you know, going to see the sick in a hospital and you put oil on them and, you know, just a little touch on your fingertip and just put anoint their head and pray over them. And we do this for faith.

By faith, we ask that God heal them and we trust God will. We move forward. That's what we do. And I have reminds back to my wife. I just realized that for so long. Wow.

I'm going to do that. That thing's reminding me. I'm just so accustomed to her illness that I don't even think about it anymore. It's just a normal part of our marriage and our life, you know, just like me being obnoxious and her being, you know, having a physical problem. So she's just kind of used to it. Maybe she's- I'm not telling me and my husband are, but he will, sometimes I'll go, you know what, I'm really bad today.

Will you please anoint me and pray over me? Oh, that's nice. Yeah, I need to do that for Nick. I'm going to do that for her. She needs it. She really does. And especially since she's married to me.

So, you know, it's a lot of pressure. Poor, poor woman. Poor woman. She's got so much to bear. She's going to be so far up in heaven.

I won't even know where she's at when we're there. So anyway, so the one thing is that there's a view that the person was in sin and the sickness is a result of sin and the anointing will heal and he will want to repent because of it and his sins will be forgiven. And that's why it says, therefore, in 16, confess your sins one to another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.

The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. And so is that healing a physical healing or is it a spiritual healing or is it both? So there's just debate. That's what it is.

Just a debate on what this is. No. Okay. Yeah.

I went and looked at the Greek word and was checking it and strong seeing where it was used exactly to and big on context, but I'm also wanted to check that out and go, okay, where else was it used? You know, and doing the context there and I was like, I, uh, the Greek word for sick. Oh, sick. Yeah. Yeah, that's uh, come, come, no, come, no. And uh, yeah, looking at it, let's see how many times it appears in 30, 30. Ooh, look at you, man. Wow.

Pretty good. And it occurs two times. Calm though, occurs two times actually. There's probably a different word you're looking at. Yeah, different words sometimes for sick and things like that.

So it occurs in Hebrews 12, three for considered him who was endured such hostility by sinners against themselves so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. So that is spiritual, that is faith. Yeah. Yeah. So you know what?

Now you got me curious. Uh, I'm going to do a search for the word sick and see if there's a different word that is used. Um, let's see, left him sick or how about sickness? Let's just try the sick and myelitis. I think I just saw that one.

Um, the one who was sick. Okay. Let's see. Sick. Yeah.

And that word is uh, yeah, and that word, hold on a sec here, this is live research here. That occurs. Whoops. Zero.

That occurs 34 times. So that's probably the one you were looking at. Yeah. So anyway, uh, yeah, I heal the sick, raise the dead, you sick or in prison come to you and you know, when you were sick, blind, lame. That's interesting.

Why would he use that word there? Okay. Now you got me curious. Let's go research it some more. Okay.

Why would that? Well, and I was looking up in my Greek inner English, Greek inter lineal, um, and, and Meredith told me, I guess it was, and it was the ESB one, but it was telling me it was, um, the other word and strong 70 in verse 14 it's, it's uses the word, um, us then I'll ask the now all sick and then pray for him when I go name and the prayer of righteousness restore the one who is sick and that, that is, um, come now. That's really interesting.

Okay. So the first one that I had looked up is the one I was, that is with the anointing. Um, and so that's the one I was looking up, which, yeah, that one seems like it's for, that seems like a regular sickness.

And this one though, uh, uh, come, come now. That's interesting to be weary from constant work when used in connection with us or to be sick, a common accompaniment of sickness, weariness of mind, which may hinder physical recovery. So like a fatigued kind of sickness, weary. That's interesting. I'm gonna do some research on it. Yeah.

The Bible is interesting. Well, good. Yeah.

You're welcome. I gave you more work. Yeah, you did more work. I was like more work. Um, I got more work to do. Always have more work.

I know you do. I will let you go on to more questions. Thank you, Matt. So much for your, your answers got me nowhere. Thanks, Laura.

I'm here. Anytime. All right.

God bless. Okay. Okay. All right.

That was Laura. We've been working together enough about a year or so. She's great. She's awesome.

Hey folks, if you want to give me a call, five open lines, eight seven seven two zero seven two two seven six. Okay. So let's talk about, um, Robbie Zacharias and site 10 Bruton Kate, uh, site 10 Bruton Kate, um, is, uh, a, a, a Christian apologist for those who don't know who's out of Canada. And, uh, I know Cy we've, uh, spoken, you know, several times and talked and done apologetics together.

And, uh, then there's Robbie Zacharias, which, you know, he's really famous and people know about him and Ravi, uh, Ravi was, uh, let's just say busted for, uh, immorality, uh, with women. And so the ministry RZIM, um, has officially come out and stated such, all right, uh, now Cy just, uh, two days ago, site 10 Bruton came out, uh, a statement, a generic statement. The elders of his church have stated that he's no longer qualified to preach and teach and defend the faith and the things like that due to, uh, uh, a lapse in morals and it was just generic and that's, that's fine.

Okay. Don't need to know details, but the elders of the church have deemed it necessary. And he, I read what he wrote, uh, he just admitted that there was this and he and his elders at Sadat. So he's submitting to the eldership. Very good. And he also apologized for any, um, harm he might've done to the name of Christ.

And this is it. Maybe he and I'll talk sometime about it later. I'm not there to, uh, dog pile on him or anybody else. So what do we do? What do we do about this? Let me, let me tell you a couple of things first.

People who are in the public eye, um, there we are under a different scrutiny, different level of pressure than most. We'll talk about that when the break comes back. If you want to give me a call at 877-207-2276, folks will be right back after these messages. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right. I want to welcome back to the show.

Three open lines. If you want to give me a call, 877-207-2276. So what do we do when people have a moral failure who are in the public eye and then they're not supposed to preach and teach and stuff anymore? Well, one of the things we have to understand is that, uh, there are people like anybody else and, uh, we need to be praying for them and, uh, asking that God reconcile, make things work right with them. And that somehow, some way they could be used for the glory of God, uh, along the way. Now, do we then use their material?

That's another debatable topic, uh, because there's pros and cons for both and we'll get into that kind of a thing. But, uh, I got to tell you that being in the public, uh, eye, there are different pressures that we are under than the normal, so to speak, normal person. When you go to a conference, people crowd around you. They want to talk to you. There's a certain celebrity that goes along with this and sometimes people are impressed by that and they want to spend time with that.

Now, if you're weak in one area, that could feed into that weakness and it could or, you know, depends on the people. This is why, uh, when I'm out on the road, I call my wife every night and I debrief everything about, uh, about what happened that day. If there are anything, any issues at all that I need to talk to her about of any compromising situations, I actually tell her, yeah, there was this one person and blah, blah, blah. This happened and I was alone with her, but I made sure I left. I will actually talk to her and tell her things like this.

I don't let those kinds of situations arise and if they do arise, because sometimes they're out of your control, I do what I can to exit that situation quickly. See, I believe in accountability and my wife, uh, you know, I tease about her and stuff like that and things. She really is a good woman, except for the taste of men, of course, but she really is a good woman and you know, I can talk to her and I can say this, this, that, that, and she doesn't yell, doesn't scream, but she knows that I am very serious about my relationship with God.

And I take my marriage very seriously and I'm not going to let anything, at least by God's grace, I'm not going to let anything get in the way and hamper that relationship with her or my Lord, particularly since I'm a public figure and I don't want to do anything that would bring disparity upon my, my savior, Jesus Christ. He's the one I've got to answer to. And so you have to understand that, that people in that situation are under extra pressure and I recommend that you pray for them, pray for their safety, for sanctification and things like that. I certainly need it. All people certainly need it. And as you can see, they, you know, people fail for different reasons and different situations.

And that's just what it is. We fail and I'm not saying I have failed that way. I certainly have not, but I'm not boasting and not saying, you know, I'm great. I'm just saying it's tough sometimes.

And pray for the people who you listen to, who become teachers for you, that you think are worth listening to and pray for them and for their sanctification and protection because it's needed. All right. All right. Let's get to Derek from Las Vegas. Derek. Welcome. You're on the air.

Hey Matt. Thanks for taking my call. I actually have two questions.

I'll ask the first one and then if you have time, you can take the second one, but if not, I'll get out of your hair. The first one is in regards to John three, five, uh, truly, truly Christ speaking here says, truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And I brought my entire Christian walk.

People have been telling me that that phrase born of water refers to natural birth, but I'm, um, it's a little bit unsettling to me unless they have some sort of a biblical way of proving that that's actually what Christ is talking about and not water baptism. So I thought I'd give you a call and see what your thoughts were. Sure. Let's talk about that a little bit.

Okay. So, uh, Nicodemus said to him, uh, can a man be born when he's old? But, uh, and he says, cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb. Jesus says, truly I say to you, unless you're born of the water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is flesh is flesh. That was the spirit of spirit.

Do not be amazed. I said to you, you must be born again. And uh, and look at verse 10, Jesus says, are you a teacher of Israel?

You do not understand these things. So some people think that what Jesus was alluding to was that of Ezekiel 36, 25 and following. And there it says, uh, for I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. Now I'm of the opinion that baptism is sprinkling and or pouring and or immersion and I can make the case biblically from each one, I really can. And so since it says here, sprinkle clean water on you, some people think that this might be what he's alluding to here could be and it might not be, but he says, and give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you and stuff and put my spirit within you and cause you to walk my statutes. All right, so is this what Jesus is alluding to?

No, we don't know, but it, there's some evidence that it could be that, but also what baptism was in effect at this time when Jesus was speaking, it certainly was not the Trinitarian baptism of John. So if the baptism is spoken of here, if the water means baptism, then the, then what would Nicodemus have understood? It could be out of Ezekiel 36, 25 through 27, the sprinkling, which is a thing that God would do to the nation of Israel, where the issue of sprinkling is used as kind of a metaphor for the cleansing, because you have to understand something, a lot of people don't get this, but in biblical theology in the Old Testament, the object was anointed.

So the object for use, whether a person or an instrument in a temple, had water or oil or blood sprinkled on it, and it was a symbol of an anointing that that object or that person was to be involved with sacred work, generally speaking. So a lot of people don't get that, a lot of people don't know that, and I'm going to read a little of my Bible program because it's kind of wigging a little bit. And so, excuse me, I've got my throat, so some people think that that might be what's going on with the, with the Exodus, excuse me, Ezekiel 36, 25 through 27, okay. So if we're to look at the issue of John 3, and we were to consider that baptism, the only baptism that was known at that time, well, actually there's others, because the Jews would have baptism of conversion, and they, baptism was used by Jews for the Gentiles and others to identify with becoming Jewish, not only the circumcision, but there was other issues and baptism was kind of a common known thing there, all right. And so I get distracted, my, something's weird, my Bible program's doing something weird, I think because I have another program open, doing, activating something.

Okay, let me get back on track. So if it means baptism, how then could it mean the Trinitarian baptism, since that wasn't even in effect, and he was talking to Nicodemus. If that water meant baptism, then it would have been the baptism of John, a baptism of repentance.

So in Acts 2, 38, you're baptized for the remission of sins, but it doesn't mean that you obtain the remission of sins by being baptized. Okay, it's like I take aspirin for a headache, I don't take it to get a headache, and we come back and we'll talk a little bit more about this, okay, so please hold on, all right, but we've got a break. Hey folks, we'll be right back after these messages, please stay tuned. Those who are not anchored in Christ alone, by faith alone, through grace alone, are going to buy into the ploy of the Antichrist, those who have decided for themselves what they want to believe, how they're going to live, they will be mesmerized by the trickery of the Antichrist. Learn more this week on Leading the Way. Next time on Focus on the Family, Dr. Tony Evans explains what it means to have a kingdom marriage under God's authority and for His glory. He shares about maintaining oneness, the importance of having a servant's heart, and how to rebuild a marriage relationship that's been fractured.

God's wisdom for your marriage on the next Focus on the Family. The simple logic behind the colors of the lights on your car's dash is invaluable. Staying on the highway with the Christian car guy. Oh, the lives that might have been saved and the countless millions of dollars, red lights mean pull over as safely and quickly as possible. The red lights are usually airbag temperature, oil pressure, and alternator lights.

Yellow check engine lights or ABS lights are a sign of caution, but red means stop. Staying on the highway with the Christian car guy. For more tips, go to Christiancarguy.com. If you're a Christian, you believe Jesus is God. But could you explain to a friend why believing in the deity of Christ is essential for a Christian? And in practical terms, what effect should this doctrine have on your daily life? Consider those questions this week as John MacArthur shows you the importance of rediscovering the Christ of Scripture.

Let me give you a couple of other things here to think about just really quickly. If we go to Ephesians 5, 26, it says, so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. Some have related the idea of the water being the word in John 3.

And then, if you go to Titus 3, 5 through 7, he saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us. And here we have the washing and the implication of water, and it's in the context of pouring. So the Holy Spirit is always poured, and that's how he's prophesied to come to us. You go to Joel 2, 228, I think it is, and it says that the Holy Spirit will pour, he will pour out the Holy Spirit on us. And then that's how the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs, by pouring.

So you see, so it gets interesting. And so there are those who hold to the view that the pouring of the Spirit is represented in the water. Some say it's the water of repentance that was speaking of John the Baptist. Some say to Trinitarian baptism, which I don't think makes any sense because it wasn't in effect then. And then my view is that contextually it means the water of the womb. And I'm not saying it's absolutely true, it's just my opinion. And the reason I say that is because Jesus says you've got to be born again, and Nicodemus says enter back into the womb, and Jesus says that was born of water and the Spirit.

He cannot enter the kingdom of God. Well here's what's interesting. Water is not the same thing as the Spirit, but yet the Spirit in Titus 3, 5-7 is talked about being poured.

So that's how it works. You know, you go to Acts 2, 17, the last days I'll pour forth my Spirit in all mankind. So it seems that the water here is separate from the work of the Spirit. And so because of that, I think it means some literal water form. Now is it the water of the womb, or is it the water of baptism? And if baptism is the baptism of repentance, or the baptism of the Trinitarian context. And then because Jesus says was born of the water and the Spirit, then he says that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and is born of the Spirit is Spirit. So I think that the word water relates to the flesh, and the Spirit relates to the Spirit in verses 5 and 6.

So my opinion is that the water is in reference to the natural birth. And I gave you a lot of information, and it doesn't solve anything. But it's good information for me to go off the jumping off point. Right. And because I don't know what the actual right thing is for sure, I'll just say here are the views, and this is what I hold to, and this is why.

And then if you disagree, okay disagree, just do it biblically, do it for a good reason. And we could disagree and argue about it politely, and maybe one of us will persuade the other, you know. Okay. Yeah, that sounds good. Do you have a second to take my second question, or do you have a call that's waiting? We do have, everybody's waiting, so let me, would you call back and get in line, okay?

Sounds good. All right, man. Because we've got a bunch of callers waiting.

All right, brother, God bless. That was Derek from Las Vegas, maybe he'll call back and get in line. Let's get to Donna from North Carolina. Donna, welcome.

You're on the air. Hello. Donna. Hello.

I would sing Donna, but I'm no good. So what's up? I'm here. Hi. Hi. Hi. So what do you got? You're on the air.

I called last week. Okay. Can you hear me?

Yes, I can. I hear you fine. Yes. Okay. Okay.

No problem. Well, I called last week, and you gave me some advice, and you told me to call with a something bitter, but nothing has changed, it's still the same, as a matter of fact, it's getting bolder, so. Okay. Trying to figure out what to do. Your husband's cheating on you.

I'm playing. Right. Is he?

You need to- Yes, he was cheating on me. Yeah, you need to talk to the elders of the church. They need to be involved at this point, and they need to come into their care- They're- What? There's no one there, there's no one there. There's no one at the church?

At the- Yeah, they're not open yet. Oh. Then you need to contact the elders of the church, if they're not really open, you need to contact them. Okay?

Okay. You need to find the elders of the church that you're involved with, and tell them what's going on. If they don't help you out, literally, find another church to talk to, to call up, and say, you tried this, you tried that, and you need to talk to somebody, because you need people in the area, preferably, who are going to help you work through these issues. And I would strongly recommend that you keep a diary, or a log, a journal, of the steps that you take to try and seek reconciliation with your husband, his failures, you're trying to work with elders, and the whole bit. And it'll come in handy later, under different circumstances.

It'll be helpful to you, legally, if needed, and spiritually, if needed. Later on, you go to a church and they say, are you divorced? What's the divorce reason? I kept a journal, here's the steps I went through, here's what I did, here's what I did. This is the date, this is what happened.

Nothing too complicated, just like on March 5th, 2021, they called Matt Slick live and talked about what do we do about a cheating husband, and recommended blah, blah, blah. You're done. Just stuff like that. Okay. Okay. I recommend that, but you've got to get involved with the elders. All right?

That's what they're there for. Okay. I can do that. Okay. I'm sorry. All right. Yeah. Well, thank you. Okay.

And if he's willing to talk to me, I'd talk to him too, you know, so, okay? Well, I'll do that. All right. And thank you anyway.

Yeah. I'm back. Yeah, try to contact the elders and let me know if you can find any, okay? Just let me know. Just let me know. Okay.

I'll call them in about a week and let me know if you were able to contact anybody to help you. And if not, maybe we can talk some more, okay? All right? Okay. Okay. Thank you.

You're welcome. Bye-bye. Okay. God bless. Wow. Oh, man.

I wish guys would shape up and start taking care of their wives and being responsible far more than, you know, it needs to happen. Let's get to Bill from California. Bill, welcome. You're on the air. Good afternoon, Matt.

Good afternoon. Don't remember my voice? Oh, yeah. How are you doing, buddy? Now I remember you. Okay.

Yeah. Listen, I was asked a question I couldn't answer or I didn't know how to answer. But Colossians 2, 14, since the election on sin debt was nailed to the cross, why are we still spiritually unborn, spiritually dead? Because the legal debt, the legal debt is something different than the imputation of Adam's sin to us and our fallen nature. The fallen nature is what we are in Adam, 1 Corinthians 15, 22, Romans 5, 18. So we have a fallen nature. We are by nature children of wrath, Ephesians 2, 3.

We're born with it. And so we sin. But the sin debt is different than a fallen nature. It's the breaking of the law of God. And that was imputed to Christ on the cross, 1 Peter 2, 24.

And so when he canceled the certificate of debt, Colossians 2, 14, on the cross, it's the sin debt that he's canceling. Okay? Okay. Yeah. So it's that easy.

Yeah. It deals with the issue of the legality of sin, not the nature of the sinner. So the nature of the sinner will be dealt with in the resurrection. But we're also, it's called the now, the not yet. We're made new creatures, 2 Corinthians 5, 17. We're new creatures in Christ. We're indwelt by God, John 14, 23. We're indwelt. We're changed.

But yet, we still have some work to do, especially you, because I know you, and I'll tell you there's a lot of work to do. Yes, you do. That's right. Yeah. One quick question.

I'm starting to get into Calvinism, and it all makes sense. But what's a good book that you recommend? Well, I would just go to get this stuff by R.C. Sproul. Just R.C.

Sproul. Okay. And he can explain things very well.

He's a good communicator. And I have information, too. I have notes on it. You can buy the outlines on Amazon.

But those books that explain it. And I also have five one-hour videos going through the five points, and it's on Amazon. It's on YouTube, forward slash, KARM videos.

I think it's on KARM videos. Okay. I will check that out. And so you can just do that. And I do total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints.

Explain them scripturally. And it's got scriptures and a whole bit. It's up there. All right? All right. I appreciate it. Thank you. All right, brother. God bless, man. All right.

Okay. Let's get to John from North Carolina. John, welcome. You're on the air. Hello? Hello. Hello. You're on the air.

What do you got? I had a question. My cousin in Nkobi asked a question about going to church. We got a break coming up.

A question about going to church. We're going to get back to you right after the break. Okay. So please hold on. Hey, folks. We'll be right back.

We have one open line, 877-207-2276. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. Welcome back. And we lost John. So sorry about that, John.

I don't know what happened to you. You can call back if you want. Let's get on the phones with Adam from Des Moines, Iowa.

Adam, welcome. You're on the air. Hey, sir. How are you? Doing all right. Hanging in there. Yeah. It's good to talk with you again.

I didn't come with alien questions today, but I had one. I started reading Pilgrim's Progress, and so far I'm loving it. Anyway, I came across, in my Pilgrim's Progress copy, I have references to, like, the Bible verses used in it, and so one of them was 1 Thessalonians 1-8, and he says, dealing out the retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. And I'm just curious, what does it mean to obey the Gospel of Jesus? To do what Jesus says, to believe on him. He says in John 14, 1, believe in God and believe also in me, and that by trust and faith in who he is, you'll be justified, and that's what it means to obey that Gospel. Now, the Jews liked the idea of obedience to the law, and so he's kind of using the phraseology, obey that Gospel, to be justified by faith. To obey the Gospel is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that he died on the cross, God and flesh died on the cross, rose from the dead, etc. The Gospel being defined in 1 Corinthians 15, 1-4, the resurrection, and that we're justified by faith, Romans 3-28, Romans 4-5, you know, Galatians 2-16, we will trust in what that Gospel message is, and that's what it means to obey that, to believe in Jesus, and in a way that's kind of unsettling because, you know, I look at my own life and there's times where my obedience is not very great, and it's scary to think about that, like, to take a step back and wonder, you know? Well, it's a good thing God predestined you from the foundation of the world, because if he looked at you now, he wouldn't pick you, would he?

No. So he loves you even though he knows everything about you, knows more about your sin than you do, and still died for you, and still keeps you, and still sheds his grace on you. So one of the things that I think is a great benefit in learning theology and growing closer to Christ is you put less and less on yourself as far as sanctification and justification goes, but you rest more and more in Christ and his greatness, and it frees you to be able to move forward in other areas while you're admitting your sin and continuing on, you know, and repenting and do what you can. But when you look at yourself and you say, I'm failing, that's true, you know, it's true. So people will mock me sometimes and say, Matt, you're arrogant, you're prideful, you're stubborn, you're stupid, and I will say, yes, yes, yes, yes, because they're all true, but my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has forgiven me and I'm trusting in him. Well, you're lustful and covetous, true.

You're prideful, arrogant, that's true. And so we become aware of what we are more and more, which is a good sign, but also we need to be aware more and more of how faithful he is and how much more he loved us than we realize because he chose us in Christ from the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1.4, and then died for us and loves us. And he knows more about your failures than you do, and he still loves you. Wow. That to me is comforting, you know. Yeah, wow, that's really good. Praise God.

Yeah, being new to the faith, I'm learning about how faithful he is and whatnot, and I, you know, I'm seeing it, but I have a lot of growing to do. Anyway, thank you. I appreciate you taking my question.

Let me say one more thing before you go, because this is something everybody needs to hear. You are not worth saving. You are not good in your heart. There is nothing good in you that God would see to save you, period.

The reason he loves you is because of what's in him, not because of what's in you. And he, knowing everything about you eternally, chose to love you and save you. And so his thoughts and his love for you are infinite in number because they're eternal in the past. And so because of his great condescension of grace to us, then we should rejoice in the work in our hearts that he has worked and continues to work as we rely on him and we rest in him. That our security in him is because of his goodness, his kindness, his grace, his love, and not in our faithfulness. And with that, that is the security and the hope and the work of Christ, not in our sincerity or ability.

That's one of the things that most Christians need to learn so that they can be set free from past guilt and they can move forward and serve the Lord. Okay? Yeah, that's great. Well, thank you, sir. I really appreciate it. You're welcome, brother. God bless. God bless.

Yeah, God bless, man. You take care. All right. All right. Let's get to, uh, how about, uh, ooh, wait, John from North Carolina, because he came back on.

Hey, John, welcome. You're on here? Yes. That's right. I'm out of questions. Mm-hmm. Okay. About false preachers. Okay. Yeah.

What's your question? Um, my cousin Nick will be, uh, you a question earlier about going to church. I wanted to elaborate on that. That you should go to church if you can, because, uh, Hebrews 10 25 says not to forsake the gathering together of the body of Christ. We need fellowship one with another and to sit hopefully under a pastor who knows the word and can preach and teach the word of God and truth so we can grow in our relationship with, with the Lord Jesus and with each other.

And so that's what church is good for along with communion, baptism, and, uh, any, any need be, uh, church discipline. So that's why. Okay. Okay.

Are you there? Okay. I guess we'll move along. All right. Let's get to Nadine from North Carolina. Nadine, welcome.

You're on the air. Yes. Um, I wanted you to answer a question that you had asked earlier, way, way early at the beginning where you said that, um, there was, um, either a pastor or a deacon, whatever it was, he was in the church and he was doing well before he fall off. And isn't that the same thing, like I know he left the elders to being charged with two or three are gathered.

Okay. They can judge you so that, um, your body can be gone and your spirit, so I believe in all of that. But at the same time, isn't that the same thing that Jesus, um, taught where, um, the Jewish stars, whatever they were, um, and they were, um, pointing the finger at the lady. Um, just because somebody fell off, um, doesn't mean the rest of his teaching the word, um, is no good.

I think they should, um, just remove, um, what, what's not good and just leave the rest. So, yeah, no, the thing is that people in leadership who are Christians are not like that woman in John eight who was caught in adultery and then the religious leaders were trying to stone her in their hypocrisy because they weren't, they didn't have the guy cause it takes two to tangle. And so, uh, there's a problem there. But a religious leader, a pastor, for example, is required to have a higher standard of morality. Uh, he is obligated to live a good life because in Titus chapter one and, uh, first Timothy three it talks about the necessity of the elder to be above reproach. Now, if he falls into sexual sin or some sin like that, then, uh, he has disqualified himself from that, that condition. He's no longer above reproach, so he's no longer qualified to be an elder teaching position.

And so he needs to step down. The question then becomes, what do you do with his teachings? Do you keep them or not keep them?

Do you use them or not use them? And that's not an easy discussion. It takes time to work through those because there are variables that need to be addressed. Okay.

So I would, I would, I would suggest that, um, that if he's teaching before he fell was what's good, then, um, just keep those and keep using those until something else better come along. Well, it's not that simple and, uh, it's, it's just, it's just not that simple, but I understand the sentiment and I'm not saying we should or should not do anything with this, his teachings, but I'm just saying it's not that simple and there's a bit of a discussion about it. Okay. All right. Okay. Thank you.

You are welcome. Have a great weekend. Okay.

You too. Okay. Bye bye. Okay. Goodbye.

All right. Let's get to Craig from Kentucky. Hey Craig, welcome. You're on the air. Hey Matt.

Thank you for taking my call. Um, so I've been a Christian for, I'm 37, so I've been a Christian for close to 20 years now. Um, and, uh, you know, I remember in high school or in, in college or whatnot, taking apologetics courses and really thought that was a solid, uh, I thought I was solid there for some reason, but, uh, uh, a friend of mine who is, uh, an atheist, um, approached me a couple of weeks ago. Um, and we were talking scripture and we were talking faith and he brought up something that, um, what he calls a contradiction, something that I can't reconcile. And in regards to the two genealogy, uh, two genealogies, one in Matthew, one in Luke and specifically his contention, cause I thought the way to reconcile the two were to say one was the lineage of Mary and the other one was the lineage of Joseph. What he pointed, what he pointed out was that specifically in Matthew one 15 that, uh, Joseph's father is, uh, Jacob and Jake's father, father is monotony and monotony's father's father's liaison, but that in Luke Joseph's father is, uh, Genia whose father's Malachi, his father is Levi.

So it shows three or it shows two different paternal, um, uh, um, the father, grandpa, the father of Joseph, the grandfather of Joseph, the great grandfather of Joseph. It shows a different, um, set of names in both, uh, for the life of me, brother, this is a, uh, uh, a deeply, it has been a deep issue on my heart since weight heavy on the other two. Well, I'll tell you what, uh, apart from inerrancy, I don't know how, I'd like you to do is write me right to me that issue and I'll research it, but I will tell you, and I'm serious. I want you to do that. And, and send it at info.com.org and maybe I'll look at it for today and I can start, I mean, I got so many articles backed up to write.

I've got so many things to do, but you know, it's worth it. And uh, generally speaking, and I don't know exactly what the issue is, but I'll tell you that sometimes they did not use every genealogical name. Sometimes they skipped some because of representation and in order to keep a line or a number of them, uh, in order and, or because sometimes the names translated into English, like, uh, you know, where is, um, you know, uh, uh, uh, uh, running bear, you know, like the Indian names because like, for example, Methuselah means when he dies, it will come.

And so these genealogists have names, so sometimes what they can do is they will take one name out because what they're trying to do is show the sentence and the system that goes along with it. It could be that. Write up the issue and send it to me. I'll take a look. Okay.

What was that email again? Uh, just info at karm.org info at the bottom of the website. No problem. All right, buddy.

We'll take a look. All right. All right. God bless. Hey folks, we're out of time. May the Lord bless you. By his grace back on your Monday. Have a great weekend. Another program powered by the truth network.