How Do You Get Out of a Spiritual Rut, and Answers to Your Instagram Questions

The following is a pre-recorded program.

I'm not taking calls today. We've devoted our entire broadcast to answering questions that were posted on Instagram. But remember, my goal is not to be so much of a Bible answer man or just ask me questions, as much as to do my best to answer your questions to help equip you, help empower you, help you engage on the front lines. It's a constant burden that we carry in a joyful way, a sacred privilege. What can we do to strengthen you? What can we do to encourage you? What can we do to build your faith?

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Okay. Sam asks this on Instagram. This is Dr. Michael Brown on Instagram. On X, formerly Twitter, it is Dr. Michael L. Brown. So the two L's there, Michael L. Brown.

On Instagram, it is just Dr. Michael D. R. Michael Brown. Sam asks this, I'm guessing you hold the Arminianism view, but I'll ask you this anyway. Would you please talk about the perseverance of the saints in Calvinism versus conditional salvation and Arminianism? I would love to hear your view and where you stand with the scriptural basis.

So let's put out three views so everyone understands. Three views that are held among evangelical believers. One view would be called once saved, always saved, which would mean that if you cry out to the Lord for salvation, put your trust in Jesus, you're saved at that moment. No matter what you do, no matter how you live, your sins are forgiven. If you live in sin and rebellion, your life may be cut short or you may lose a heavenly reward. But once you're saved, you're always saved no matter how you live, no matter what you do. Then there is the Calvinist view that is called perseverance of the saints, which says those who are truly saved will persevere in holiness until the end. In other words, they will not live in willful sin and rebellion all the days of their lives. If they do fall away into overt rejection of God, God will bring them back and that will be a further proof that they are truly saved. Those who live in sin and rebellion without any sign of repentance were never truly saved. The view of conditional salvation is salvation is a free gift from God, that there's nothing we can do to earn it.

It's a complete free gift from God. We are saved by grace and faith. We are not saved by grace and faith and kept by works. However, we can reject that grace and faith. God does not force us to stay in His house. And if we choose to walk away from Him, then He will not force us to stay and therefore we could forfeit our salvation.

So I hold to the last view. I do not hold to the middle view of perseverance of the saints. But I appreciate the fact that it does emphasize God's keeping power, which I emphasize as well. And I appreciate the fact that it does not give a license to sin. It does not say no matter how you live, no matter what you do, even if there's no fruit of repentance in your life, you're still saved once you've prayed a prayer of salvation.

It doesn't say that. The weakness is it robs you of full assurance right now. Because if you tell me that you know that you know that you know you are saved and there's no question about it, then that means it's impossible for you to ever fall away. And that the warnings are simply there as divine guidelines or you could say divine fences along the road to stop you from falling off the edge. But really it's impossible for you to ever truly fall away because you're absolutely truly saved. Someone might say, well, God knows those who are saved, but I can't know what that same level of assurance. In other words, you know for absolute sure without any possible shadow of a doubt when you die and you're now with the Lord forever.

Now you can know for sure. Otherwise, otherwise, you know, second Peter one says, make your calling and election sure. And if you do these things, you will never fail. So you must determine to persevere. And again, if you say, well, I know that I know that I know that I'm saved and it's there for it's impossible for me to ever fall away no matter what I do. Well, then I think everyone would realize that's a dangerous mentality. And if you say, no, I take the warning seriously, but you know ultimately that the warnings, the fences are there, but you really can't go off the side of the road because you're predestined not to.

So that would be some of my main difference. I'll come back to more scripture in a moment. Once saved, always saved I find dangerous. The idea that you don't have to demonstrate any fruit of repentance. The idea that no matter how you live, no matter what you do, you're still saved.

I find that view dangerous. I don't find perseverance of the saints dangerous. I just personally differ with it scripturally. So why do I differ scripturally?

Because you have many warnings in scripture to believers about the real possibility of apostasy. In Colossians 1 we're told that we'll be presented holy and blameless in God's sight if we continue in the faith. If we continue in the faith. When Paul is writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, and he says, you know, if we're faithless God remains faith alone.

He remains who he is. But he also says if we deny Him, speaking to believers, if we deny Him, He will deny us. We have warnings for example the end of Jacob, James 5, that if a brother turns away and you can bring him back you save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. In other words if you don't bring them back their sins are going to damn them.

That's why 2 Peter 1 says do these things to make your calling and election sure so that you don't fall away. And some have fallen away. 2 Peter 2 says explicitly that there are those who once knew the way of righteousness. They've come to the knowledge of the truth and now gone back.

It's worse for them than at the beginning. Meaning it's worse for them than not knowing the Lord at all in the first place. Obviously it's apostasy. So all the promises of God's keeping power they're absolutely real and beautiful and glorious and I live by them and I glory in Him. I put 100% trust in the Lord, 0% trust in me. All my trust is in the Lord.

And He said no one can pluck me out of the Father's hand. Nothing can separate me from the love of God expressed through Jesus. That's all true. I affirm it.

I live in it. I revel it. I never think about losing my salvation for a split second. At the same time I recognize God will not force me to stay in His house. At the same time I recognize that I have the ability to reject God's grace just as I had the ability to receive it. Salvation is all by grace but we can reject it or we can receive it which is why God holds us responsible. Alright I'd encourage you on our YouTube channel to check out my debate with my good friend Dr. James White where we debate Calvinism and you get to hear good presentations of both sides. Okay Ross of him. Ross of him?

Yeah you know who you are. When did Constantine's Creed happen and how could it affect the world? What specific bullet points did the Creed command? Do you mean the Nicene Creed which would have been 325 AD or CE as our Jewish friends would say? So the Nicene Creed and the gathering of leaders put that forth was organized by Constantine after his conversion to Christianity and it has many elements that are important for doctrine to this day. At the same time it had some anti-Semitic elements very clearly and it wanted to distance the church from the Jewish people hence the full separation of Easter from Passover aside from being celebrated one at the same time as part of the church did.

Now they completely broke and the language made clear they didn't want that connection anymore. So those are some of the aspects of a separation and the severing of the church from its Jewish roots that were related to not only because of the Nicene Creed but related to in some ways. But beyond that I don't know what specific points the Creed commanded what you're asking there.

If it is obvious it's just not obvious to me because I'm not a church historian so I can't answer more. Chris, how to get back on track after a rough time in my faith. I greatly appreciate this but I'm trying to but I'm still wrestling with things. Here's the challenge right Chris that when you're struggling in your faith and faith is the one thing you need what do you do? If really putting your full trust in God is the key but you don't know he's really there or you don't know that what you believe about him is true or you don't trust your own faith then what do you do? The very thing you need is the very thing you don't have. You know it's like saying okay I'll sell you this life-saving medicine but you don't have any money to buy it. So what do you do?

It's kind of a catch-22. If you're able to get it I would encourage you to read the book I wrote called Has God Failed You? Has God failed you? Finding faith you're not even sure God is real. Has God failed you? I think you'd find it helpful edifying. But to take a couple minutes just to answer the question right here I would say this I would first just talk honestly to God and I whatever your level is God I'm talking to you but I'm not even sure you're there I'm talking to you but I'm not even sure you listen to me anymore I'm talking to you but I don't even know who you are or I don't even want to try hoping you just just be honest wherever you at wherever you're at the worst thing that can happen is you're talking to the wall all right I'm sure you're not I'm sure you're not God is near to the broken hearted but I would come in complete honesty and just say God I'm hurting I'm struggling I have real issues I I don't know which way is up and I need help I would start there and then anything that can help connect you to God be it worship be it reading key scripture be it reading edifying testimonies whatever it is that will help give you some hope some encouragement I would go there to try to rebuild faith think of it like this someone gets in a bad accident and they have to learn how to walk again and it's it's painful and it seems like baby steps but it's the process so understand that in a moment of time God could touch you and everything changes but until then it may be baby steps don't despise the baby steps maybe you know the Lord is true but you've been so hit you feel like the winds knocked out of you okay one step at a time one day at a time spend time with him lean on him spend a little more time you feel the prompt and get more in the word you feel the prompting to do some of the things you used to do faith-wise take those steps draw near to God and he'll draw near to you before you know it breakthroughs will start to come and as they come build on them and then make yourself totally vulnerable to God so he can help you encourage you correct you and understand he wants to bless you he wants to smile this is Michael Ellison founder of TriVita wellness I want to introduce our TriVita Alfred Libby original patented sublingual b12 b6 and folate formula I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Alfred Libby a pioneer in vitamin research I also had the opportunity to obtain the patented formula and the rest is history with over 50 million tablets being taken by our TriVita members through the years the amazing testimonies of mental clarity mood enhancement and more energy have been thrilling to me as a founder of TriVita wellness not only is it an amazing b12 product but it is loaded with the essential b6 vitamin I call it the workhorse vitamin it is vital for strong immune function and every body system here's what the National Center for biotechnology information says and I quote it plays a key role and is crucial to immune function it is a molecule necessary for the proper functioning of the entire body system and its role cannot be overestimated Harvard Medical School of Health says folate is the natural form of vitamin b9 and it plays a key role in breaking down homocysteine an amino acid that can exert harmful effects on the body when it is present in high amounts I encourage you today to try the TriVita Libby b12 b6 and folate formula to order Alfred Libby's b12 for yourself call 1-800-771-5584 or online at TriVita.com order today and use promo code BROWN25 to receive 25% off your order as a new customer 100% of your order proceeds from your first order will go to support the line of fire radio broadcast 1-800-771-5584 or online at TriVita.com it's the line of fire with your host Dr. Michael Brown get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH here again is Dr. Michael Brown welcome back my friends to the line of fire by the way we are doing a new 30 minute radio broadcast on many new stations across America in addition to our daily live talk show and it's an intensive equipping show maybe on a station near you already or maybe coming near you on a station and we're focusing this month on my book can you be gay and Christian and all the related subjects it's a must read it's so eye opening it's so helpful I believe you'll find it written with compassion as well as with practical wisdom from the word as we really poured into that book we're getting it out to folks for gift of any size it's a great way for you to help us reach more people help us equip the body and infuse the body with faith and truth and courage and to get the book for yourself rather than just buying it in a traditional way your gift of any size those who have more help those who have less so you can do it at the line of fire.org just go over there the line of fire.org you see it right on the home page and go ahead and get that for yourself we really encourage you all right Frank should the allegations against the advocate group that they were only identified victims and harassed non-victim women and gaslit them about their experiences be investigated by an independent third party God doesn't need the help of false victims to expose genuine sins and all abuses are serious if it was IHOP case C's job to establish the credibility of the Jane Doe's which I fully agree then it is it is also not the job of the advocate group to establish the credibility of non-Jane Doe's either will there be a third party investigation and allegations against the advocate group so this is regarding the controversy surrounding allegations concerning Mike Bickel and IHOP case C for the joint statement that I helped write and publish go to the line of fire.org run on the home page click read where we see our articles the line of fire.org and you'll see it posted with our latest articles and it's written with brokenness it's written without self-righteousness it's written recognizing we're all recipients of divine mercy Frank right now there are allegations of allegations there are allegations of AG group abuse there are allegations excuse me not abuse harassment and there are allegations that people are lying about harassment I would say this that a full third party investigation is going to unearth what needs to be unearthed you're not gonna have every social media battle unearthed the whole purpose of a third party investigation is serious accusations of sexual abuse okay serious accusations of clergy abuse that's the purpose of it a major third party investigation is not meant to get into social media battles or things like that however if wrong has been done people will be interviewed and the findings of that investigation will be put forward so all it takes is the people who claim that they're victims of somebody else and again we cannot and you're not doing this but you cannot compare allegedly gaslighting someone or allegedly saying that they were a victim and they say they weren't with actual cases of sexual abuse and clergy abuse okay so let's not make that comparison this might be clear there however all these people need to do if they feel they've been wrong is once the investigation is launched they just contact the investigator there'll be open information a portal for this to be done and just contact them and say here's my issue here's what's going on and and their their testimony can be part of a report and it can be investigated as needed as needed Tucker favorite book outside of the bible oh gosh your favorite single book that I've read outside of the bible and let's let's say we're talking outside of of ancient literature you know the in terms of apocryphal or pseudographical books the wisdom of ben sira ecclesiasticus has a lot of good stuff in it but if we're talking about you know books written in the recent hundreds of years I mean why revival tarries by leonard ravenhill had the privilege of being close with the last five years was like that's still a you know rock them sock them shake them up wake them up book it really is it's timeless in that regard even though it gives examples that are you know from the late 50s into the early 60s and so on it's it's still such an intense book I mean that that was a favorite finished lectures on the revival of religion that's a another book their series of messages that really rock my world you know there are missionary biographies and biographies of persecuted christians I read that that heavily heavily impacted me you know if there's a single chapter it's it's in Abraham Joshua Heschel's book it's two volumes in one most newly published but two volumes originally on the prophets the opening chapter what manner of man is the prophet yeah that would be a favorite chapter of everything I've read and when I've told leonard ravenhill is the most intense stuff he ever read reading Heschel on the prophets let's see a sirach man do you believe we were seeing end times signs happening now I know you do not like dates but what about the signs talked about in the bible that we'll be able to see the final signs when you see these things happen lift up your eyes your redemption draws near you know that Jesus would speak about for example in luke 21 no I don't believe we're there yet definitely don't believe we're there yet now things could intensify in such a way that overnight we're there but as intense as things are in the world right now as wild and crazy as they are across the world and as we literally could be on the verge of an explosion and and world war three and who knows what could come out of that I mean there's so many little things that could just explode with Russia or with China with Iran or other things that could just explode but no I don't I don't believe we're there yet I would say that the way the world is right now compared to the final end of things we're in a we're in a calm period compared to what you're becoming and in the midst of that the greatest outpouring that we we've seen so in many ways the table is set in ways that it has never been set through the centuries I'd say that for sure and the potential of a rapid escalation that brings us closer to the end the table's more set than ever on the other hand bear in mind that as as I many others would understand that the gospel of the kingdom must be preached as a witness to all nations and then the end will come and that means every tribe and every language and every family not individual family but people families they all have to be reached and they haven't been there are two billion plus people have never even heard the name of Jesus and have no clue about anything having to do with the gospel whatsoever so that has to accelerate as well so much has to happen for Israel's salvation too I don't think it's just going to be snap your fingers in a silver night but the acceleration could be such that before we know it everything's exploding around us but are we there right at that point yet no I do not believe we are see craw what is your opinion on the shroud of Turin it's a supposed burial cloth of Jesus I personally believe it's real based on all the evidence I've seen for it okay so the deal is a couple years ago when last year things before last year the the shroud of Turin exhibit came to the Bible Museum in DC I really wanted to get there to see it and I never got there and so it's not the the original shroud of Turin but a replica so there were some Catholic colleagues reached out to me did some interviews on the air about it the Bible Museum folks came on but they you know they were trying to be as objective as they could those that believe in it make a very strong case the alleged evidence is against it in terms of the dating issues have been explained further studies have indicated it seems like something supernatural happened you know there are larger questions something like this if it was known in the early church would have been such a relic and would have been so widely discussed and yet it doesn't seem to be discussed but of my colleagues those who studied it in greatest depth I don't mean close close friends of mine but larger ministry colleagues or or online writing colleagues those who have studied it in the most depth believe it's real and I would like to think it's real the whole story of it is is quite extraordinary and the image on it does not seem to have a natural explanation I would love for it to be real but I've not studied it for myself at all in any depth and therefore I can give no comment worth your time you can only say those that I know that have studied it intensively really believe it is true and real but because I have not even studied their evidence in their arguments my opinion is really not worth much on the subject we'll be right back hey friends Michael Brown here my delight to serve as your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity we are living in such urgent times today friends that all of us are in the line of fire there's a target on your back there's a target on my back if you simply seek to live by biblical values or just conservative moral values you could be canceled you could be cast out you could be put down you could be silenced I'm here to say friends that I am not about to be silenced and I don't believe you are either it is time for us to stand up it is time for us to say enough is enough it is time for us to push back in Jesus name not fighting the way the world fights no overcoming evil with good overcoming hatred with love overcoming the flesh with the power of the spirit overcoming lies with truth and that's what we're here to do on the line of fire broadcast and friends it's not just a broadcast it is a movement of people around the world God's people standing up saying enough is enough and saying Lord here we are send us use us I want to urge you today to join our support team because we are on the front lines together and we are literally touching people around the world in America in the nations in Israel and together with your help we're going to amplify this voice and spread this movement around the globe so I encourage you go right now to the line of fire.org the line of fire.org click donate monthly support the line of fire.org click donate monthly support when you do you become a torchbearer we immediately send you two great life-changing books we immediately give you access to many classes I've taught others have to pay to take those you get them for free exclusive video audio content a new audio message every month an insider prayer newsletter 15% discount our online bookstore so much more join our support team today go to the line of fire.org donate monthly support it's the line of fire with your host Dr. Michael Brown get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH here again is Dr. Michael Brown welcome back to the line of fire Michael Brown delighted to be with you another reminder if you're just tuning in if you don't get my weekly email updates that let you know about our latest articles and our latest videos and even more importantly if you're not getting our monthly equipping edifying impartational inspirational instructional frontline newsletter what are you waiting for it's all free go to the line of fire.org and when you get the first edition of the newsletter because we'll send out the last one to immediately share with friends the line of fire.org right on the home page just takes a few seconds to sign up all right I'm answering questions from Instagram not taking calls today has been Joe Revelation 6 9 and when he had opened the fifth seal I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held and they cried with a loud voice saying how long O Lord holy and true does that not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth and white rose were given unto every one of them and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled question why are the saints of today under the impression that we must forgive like Stephen who asked God not to hold his death against those who were stoning him to death when the Bible clearly depicts the righteous dead as being comforted after they cried out to God please explain to them why God has not yet paid back those in the earth who murdered them doesn't this verse say we say answer justified and asking God to keep his word to repay the enemies of Christ who want us dead I love my enemies but I despise God's enemies am I wrong in this number one this is a prayer from heaven this is not a prayer on the earth this is a prayer from heaven there is no personal vengeance there is no desire for for payback for themselves in a fleshly way this is desire a pure and perfect desire for God's justice and he will bring that to pass and that's covered when you say your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven you've covered all that but on a personal level we are called to forgive those who sin against us we are called to forgive those and pray for those who persecute us all right so as for the enemies of God which is human beings outside of Jesus according to scripture we were all in enmity with him before we were saved I'm not praying for God to curse them I'm praying for God to save them I'm praying for God to deliver them look I want Hamas brought to justice I want to see the end of Hamas for the sake of the people of Israel and for the sake of the people of Gaza but I mourn over the death of a terrorist because that's a lost sinner I'm glad that that that they can't hurt anybody anymore and if justice came so be it God is right you shed blood your blood's gonna be shed so be it but I grieve over their lost soul I would much rather that they repent and surrender and then spend the rest of their lives in prison as free people going to heaven then then that they're they're killed and dying their sins the psalmist at the end of Psalm 139 says don't I hate those who hate you with the perfect hatred then praise search my heart God if you mean I absolutely stand against those who do evil and in my heart I fully reject their evil deeds and and I abhor them and I'm appalled at them that's a good attitude if it I hate you I despise you I want to see you suffering go down no that's not God's heart that's not God's heart so it's not up to me to forgive someone that kills a Christian in Nigeria today or in Afghanistan today or in North Korea today it's not my calling to say Lord I forgive them I have no connection to them but let's say they killed a family member in Nigeria and I was a Nigerian Christian I would ask the Lord to forgive them and save them and as opposed to destroy them you could pray for justice but let it be justice so that the stuff stops and then prayer for mercy and salvation let there be no personal vendetta or personal desire to see them hurt but I would say Stephen is our model here on earth just like Jesus was on the cross and then the teaching to bless those who curse you pray for those who persecute you and despitefully use you that's the teaching from Paul and Jesus on this and the heavenly activities in Revelation are heavenly not earthly Alexia what's the difference in the word weary in these scriptures you have wearied the Lord with your words how have we wearied him yes you have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord's sight and he's pleased with them you have weird him by asking where's the God of justice do you not know have you not heard the Lord is the everlasting God says Malachi to the creator of the ends of the earth he will not grow tired or weary and his understanding no one can fathom all right so first I'm just gonna grab the Hebrew here and and give you the difference in terms of vocabulary that's actually used okay and let me just jump over here to Malachi chapter two Malachi chapter two and yeah the the the word that's used there that the Hebrew that's used yeah it's it is to to to work hard or in this case to grow weary yourself but to make someone else weary okay so that's like saying you're wearing me out right you're wearing me out and and then in in Isaiah forty Isaiah forty twenty eight yeah so the grow faint or weary same root same root is used yaga but in Malachi it's in what's what's called the Hiphil which is a causative form saying you're wearing me out you are wearing me you're wearing me out and the other is you've grown weary so two different aspects just like in English you've grown weary you're serving God you're hoping for him you're looking to him and you've grown weary versus versus you're wearing me out you are wearing me out with your sin and your disobedience and God speaking obviously metaphorically okay thank you for the question let's go Sosa how do you exegete Romans nine from an Arminianist perspective that you first keep reading till the end of the eleventh chapter so you don't stop in Romans nine you go nine ten and eleven where it ends with God saying Paul saying that God has concluded all men and unbelief that he may have mercy on them all so that's the extension of God's heart if you say that just means Jew and Gentile I'd ask well who is there aside from Jew and Gentile right so that's how it ends that's number one number two I'd remind you the context is not a discussion of predestination but of God's purposes for Israel which seemed to have failed because the nation did not turn to follow the Messiah so Paul is addressing that and when it talks about Jacob and Esau it's not something about choosing for salvation but for service God did not choose Jacob for salvation at birth and damn Esau to hell at birth or before birth in fact where two verses were quoted in Romans nine about Jacob and Esau Genesis 25 is quoted that the elder will serve the younger right it has nothing to do with salvation it just has to do with purpose of calling in the earth and then Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated Malachi one that's about the nations it's not saying that God loves all descendants of Israel and they're all saved and he hates all descendants of Esau and they're all damned no again it was it was for service so he selected Israel for service he rejected Edom Esau so he selected Jacob Israel for service for a divine mission he rejected Esau Edom for that divine mission he's free to do what he wants to do he's God and Paul even says hey if he wanted to if he wanted to go even further and and and you're set apart for damnation but he never says that's what God actually does he concludes by saying he has mercy on him he has mercy he hardens me hard well who does he harden he hardens Pharaoh who first hardens his heart over and over and over before in the Hebrew it first says God strengthened his heart then after strengthening then it made firm and then finally hardened so this is progressively giving Pharaoh over to judgment but again keep reading until you get to the conclusion that God concludes all in unbelief why because he wants to have mercy on all that is the conclusion Eric if I believe the church equals believing Israel plus believing nations do I unconsciously adhere to replacement theology no no the church is believing Israel plus believing nations the church is all who are born from above one new humanity in Jesus Yeshua Jew and Gentile joined together as one family one body equal status equal standing no caste system no class system all joined together as one in him absolutely gloriously so that is the church the ecclesia the messianic congregation at the same time God's purposes for the nation of Israel remain salvation only comes through faith in Jesus Yeshua right there is no salvation outside of him for Jew or Gentile however God has called the Jewish people to a mission and the earth and we have been judged for it we've suffered for it we've come under satanic attack because of it the world hates us because of it that's part of our calling and Paul is explicit in Romans 11 after saying all Israel will be saved what Israel is he talking about the Israel that has been hardened verse 25 the Israel that is currently at enmity with the gospel verse 28 what does Paul say as far as the gospel their enemies for your sake this is what Paul says to the Gentile believers in Rome in other words the Jewish people rejecting Jesus has now opened the door for the gospel to go to the nation so they are enemies for your sake right the gospel is now gone to you but as far as election as far as being called they are loved because of the fathers so that election that calling remains right it is a calling to services it is a purpose as far as election they are loved because of the fathers and then what is verse 29 say for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable so if you believe that the promises that God once gave to physical Israel have now been given over to the church that's replacement theology if you say that there are no national purposes that remain for Israel individual Jews can be saved but there are no national purposes that remain for Israel that is replacement theology okay if you say believing Jews believing Gentiles are the ecclesia the church that's true amen to that I believe the same thing all right Franciscine do you believe the Protestant doctrine of sofia they must be affirmed for salvation God bless you in order to be saved you must put your faith in Jesus to save you you must recognize your own bankruptcy and sin and you must put your faith in Jesus to save you and say I have no other hope in my own righteousness only you can save that's the gospel right if you think you can do it on your own with little help from Jesus that's not the gospel now you may be Catholic and say I absolutely 100% believe that and I believe now that as I walk with God that my faith will be manifest in my works so I am justified by faith plus works I don't believe that will damn you to hell it could get you in a wrong mindset but if you believe that there is no salvation outside of the blood of Jesus that only he can save that we are 100% indebted to him for salvation that's being justified by faith in a nutshell if you now believe in the importance of the pattern of the works that's not damn good I'm Paul Burnett a board-certified doctor of holistic health over the years I have helped countless people increase and maintain their natural energy production with Alfred Libby's slow dissolve super b12 sold only by Trivita I have never met anyone deficient in caffeine or sugar but I have met many people deficient in energy supporting vitamin b12 vitamin b12 is one of the eight B vitamins and is an essential nutrient meaning the body cannot make b12 on its own you see unlike other oral b12 supplements Alfred Libby's slow dissolve super b12 is fast acting because the formula is scientifically developed to dissolve under the tongue bypassing the digestive process making it immediately available for use in the body Alfred Libby's slow dissolve super b12 is also formulated with other natural energy supporting ingredients such as folate ginseng root and other natural ingredients not only are the ingredients beneficial for energy but they are also support healthy cognition mood nerve function and natural hemoglobin production you deserve to live with greater energy and mental clarity and now like millions of others you can with Alfred Libby's slow dissolve super b12 sold only by your wellness partner Trivita to order Alfred Libby's b12 for yourself call 1-800-771-5584 or online at trivita.com order today and use promo code BROWN25 to receive 25% off your order as a new customer 100% of your order proceeds from your first order will go to support the line of fire radio broadcast call 1-800-771-5584 1-800-771-5584 or online at trivita.com it's the line of fire with your host dr michael brown get on the line of fire is dr michael brown welcome back friends to the line of fire hey would you do me a favor would you take a moment and just from your heart give a little thank you to our co-sponsor Trivita through their generosity we're able to reach so many people on the radio and their great supplements are helping a lot of folks if you'd like to find out more about these great wellness supplements that are part of my own life go to trivita.com if you're interested if you go there you can use the code BROWN25 if you've got questions about i got this i'm dealing with what do you recommend for that etc give them a call at 800-771-5584 okay luke what should i look for in a church what are the marks of a good church so certain fundamentals they must hold to the absolute essentials of the faith they must hold unswervingly to the bible as the word of god not the word of god kind of passed down by people i'm not totally reliable but no absolutely reliable the word of god so they must hold to the basics of the basics belief in one god and one god only belief in salvation only through the the divine son of god jesus the and you know we just go through the basics i'm assuming you we understand those for me i i want a church that embraces the work of the holy spirit you may be a cessationist and have a different view but that's also important to me that they embrace the importance of the presence of god and worship and the working of the holy spirit supernaturally in the church and in the world that's important it's very important to me that they believe in community that it's not just showing up at a meeting that there are ways that you can connect either through small groups or through other means of service that that you can get connected to a body and build solid relationships and then that you don't have a superstar leader and an elitist type of spiritual mentality where you've got the anointed man of god or the anointed woman of god and you just show up for performance every week uh you may have a powerful preacher dynamic preacher that's awesome thank god for that uh but you're not coming for a show you're coming because the word's being preached and lives are being changed and and sin is not being compromised and there's a solid leadership structure that's not just one person so if it is a senior leader you've got a solid eldership you've got accountability you've got transparency i don't mean that every little thing of everybody's life is known but it's not like you're dealing with a cult-like type of atmosphere so authenticity community adhering to the fundamentals no no exalting of the superstar leader and and welcoming the spirit if i was going to add to that uh really having a heart to reach out to the lost and impacted community where you are those things would be important to me as well uh okay so all right i know tell you what i'm going to come back if i have time because that would be answering two questions before answering others romans 11 can you show which books you have or had read okay i have thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of books some videos we've done in my office which is right across the hallway here i've got some of my library out i don't know a couple thousand books in there i imagine most of my rabbinic library is out there i've got my smaller library at home then i've got boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes of books in my attic and then several thousand ebooks so sorry i can't answer that otherwise um what books i've read well how many years do we have for me to recount them and look i've read x number of books cover to cover but i've read endless numbers of books a little here a little there yeah uh someone once saw you know books in the old days of highlighting now i you may still highlight i like to just do it in an e-form so you can more easily cut and paste and highlight etc but they said i was looking at some of your books you got all this highlighted the first chapter two and then yeah because i started it and never finished it so that's yeah that's a pattern uh suevooma snow swave swavema swavema who do you say allah is satan in disguise ah okay for sure to the extent that people are worshipping a being who is not the one true god to the extent that people come under the power of a being that is not the one true god to the extent that being is mighty and supernatural and influencing hundreds of millions of people would i say that that being is saint most certainly second excuse me second corinthians 4 4 says that the god of this age the god of this world has blinded the minds of the those who don't believe first john 5 19 says we are of god little children and the whole world is in the power of the evil one and when we see radical muslims killing and mutilating in the name of allah committing atrocities and shouting allahu akbar that's certainly satan that they're worshipping not god but let's also remember that satan comes as an angel of like there are many aspects of islam that we would find beautiful as christians and would agree with many aspects of devotion many aspects of morality many aspects of separation and honor before god that we would think are beautiful concepts and you might talk to a muslim and be very impressed with their ethics you might talk with a muslim and be very impressed with their depth of devotion to god as they understand him and in their view allah is beautiful he's arachman arachim the merciful and compassionate and he's perfect in every way so let's just say that there are elements of truth in islam about the one true god because muhammad learned from jewish and christian teachers and much of that made its way into the quran so there is a borrowing of some of the beauty of the god of the bible especially the old testament that makes its way into the quran and that gives a good and beautiful picture of god but the distortions of god the the ultimately the god of islam being different than the god of the bible then to the extent that that deity is worshiped yeah that would be that would be satanic that would be the enemy for sure um okay let's see all right we go to sosa another question how do you distinguish between the flesh and the demonic it's not always obvious at first glance and paul does speak in first corinthians 12 one of the gifts of the spirit is discernment of spirits so there is that aspect of of needing discernment sometimes to recognize the difference between the flesh and demonic but if i had to go deeper the flesh you could say is under our control on a certain level whereas the demonic could be beyond our control in other words if you're just getting all worked up in the flesh and just in a friend just say hey calm down calm down or like get somebody's attention slap your hands clap your hands oh oh they snap out of it but if they're under a demonic power it's going to take the power of the name of jesus to set them free also the flesh you can get addicted you can develop appetites and desires that are harmful to you but if you're in the demonic power it will drive you to harm yourself even more in other words you might just get yielding to the flesh become an alcoholic and you're drinking more and more and getting more and more depressed but that thing that's going to push you you need to end it you need to kill yourself you're of no use to anybody that would then be demonic it would be more destructive also you can't crucify a demon you can't cast out the flesh remember that old adage that many have said so we are called to crucify the flesh we're called to drive demons out hence some of the differences and how we approach things and the second question from francis seeing how would you combat an objection to jesus d that goes like this since psalm two seven uses the word today jesus was begotten within time and not eternally god must be eternal therefore jesus can't be god yeah easy to respond to that one number one acts 13 understands today having to do with the resurrection psalm two is a coronation psalm and when the the king would be installed the devita king they would say over him at the coronation god says today i have begotten you if you read second samuel 7 14 god tells david his son solomon and by extension the sons after him the devita king god said i'll be a father to him he'll be my son and elsewhere in the psalms like psalm 89 the the devita king is called the son and most exalted over all the earth so acts 13 applies this to his resurrection that with the resurrection god was declaring today i declare you my son that's what romans 1 paul speaks of that being declared son of god in power so that's the first thing if you say so that's the answer for today today i have begotten you on on the other hand on the other hand the idea of the eternally begotten son that you find in certain church creeds that would say in eternity past the son proceeded forth from the father so it was before time and it was not a matter of giving birth in terms of creating but rather of coming forth that the son comes forth from the father is eternally begotten in that sense you could say for the plan of redemption interestingly first corinthians 15 says when everything's put under his feet then the son will submit once again to the father that god may be all in all so there's there's one eternal god complex in his unity who has made himself known to us as father son and spirit um but yeah psalm 2 i would just say that it's speaking of coronation and jesus in that sense receives his coronation with the resurrection that's when god declares this is my son for the world to see this is my son i've given him birth yeah i've become a father to him so that's the answer there hey to all our friends on instagram i hope you enjoy the many posts that our team puts up there every so often i'll just get in with a real personal one a fun one haven't done a silly one in a while maybe we'll do one of those just to bring a smile to your face but we're constantly posting material that we hope will edify you bless you encourage you help you 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