You're listening to KFI A six forty on demand. John, Welcome to the
Jesus Christ Show. Hey, good morning, Jesus, Hi John, what's
going on? Yeah? My question is is that I've been baptized a believer,
and I do read scripture and I do attend church. However, I'm
surrounded by in my family what I would call scientific atheists. In other words,
there are non believers, never been baptized. They mock every word and
action that I pursue in my life, and it's very damaging and very painful
to me. And I was wondering if there is a passage in scripture that
you can help me focus on so that I can receive some answers from them.
Okay, Well, for one, I'm not sure why you'd expect them
to love you through this. I mean, they disagree with you and every
single moment. Yeah, and they think it's silly in their own eyes.
And that's okay, there's why are you looking for them to somehow pat you
on the back for something like this? Well maybe excuse me, maybe I'm
not, but it sure feels like I'm carrying the cross. Well that's part
of the process, I will assure you as the one who did carry the
cross. You're not, but that there is a process of growing that happens
through this, and Scripture says that, hey, they're going to treat you
the same way they treated me, and that there's going to be there's going
to be problems. If you read in Matthew chapter ten, starting at verse
thirty four, says, you know, do not think that I came to
bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.
For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter
against her mother, and a daughter in law again to mother in law.
And a man's enemy enemies will be members of his own household. And that
points out that there's going to be problems even in your own family, and
that's okay. As you grow in Scripture, as you grow in your learning,
expect people to press up against you. Resistance is not a bad thing,
John, If you look at everything in life and its beauty, the
bird flying, the fish swimming, that those things can only happen due to
resistance. The bird only flies because of the resistance of the wind. The
fish only swims because of the resistance of the water. Resistance is something that
should propel you forward, not keep you back. Don't expect everybody to love
you. They didn't love me. Don't expect everybody to high five you,
even your own family, when you're bettering yourself or you're living for God,
especially if they don't understand it, if they don't conceptualize it and be able
to put it, especially if they're you know, as you say, scientific
atheists in your own words, and they're not always synonymous, by the way,
but just because they come from that mindset, they can't put your experience
in a petri dish. They're not going to understand it. Steve, Welcome
to the Jesus Christ Show. Hi, thanks for taking my call, Holy
host, my pleasure, Steve. I have a what I suspect is a
very typical hot potato, and that is my just of the horns at the
idea that as a part of the Christian faith, that hell could really exist,
or exist as it is stated, where you know people outside the faith
or those who perhaps don't utter at a level of sincerity the right words at
the right time on it, but then spend an eternity in hell. And
it's not a new topic to me. I've been involved in the church for
many years off and on, and in the last four or five years have
really given it a strong thrust, gotten involved in the church with the Old
and New Testament, not thairoly, but enough to get a good sense just
you know, sort of exited Deuteronomy and Leviticus was a sort of sense of
nausea with all the horrifying things that take place in there and anyway, but
the big thing for me and it has caused me to sort of abandon,
you know, the faith as I have portrayed in my own life. I
am fallen on my face in front of God, said, please just help
me find you, because I cannot accept that a loving God would send people
guilty or not. The level of guilt had never equal, I think,
eternal torture, and therefore I cannot except that it is un Christian. As
far as the logic that God has bestowed on me, I will hold off
to that the fact that what if the this is just an excuse for you
to continue to control and enjoy certain sins or it gives you kind of a
break. In other words, if there were no hell mentioned in the Bible,
would I still find reasons to sort of sidestep it because I want my
own selfish me. So I accept, but I've examined that pretty closely and
I don't think so. And just lastly, for instance, I have some
Mormon colleagues that I work with, and they're great friends, and they are
far more faithful and holy than I. And according to those in my congregation,
it's a cult and they're all held bound. And just when I think
of that, and then I try to express my faith to someone else,
all of the credibility drains right out of my feet. Because I think of
that, I say I cannot, in good faith, you know, follow
a faith that would express that as a consequence of the differing dogmas that surround
the various sorts of Christmas, Christian faith, and then of course all the
rest of them, you know, Muslims, Buddhism, etc. So that's
my plight, okay, And I think it's a legitimate one. I think
it's a healthy place to be. I think if you are a believer and
you don't go through this in your walk, if you don't ask those questions
and you're not concerned about that, I think that there might be an issue
with your heart. However, if you don't work through it. I think
that there's an issue with your faith and possibly your head. They meld together,
and there's a way to explain and to see them. And we'll go
through as much as we can that we have time for to give you a
little different perspective. First of all, I've always been humored by the fact
that the people have an issue with Hell, have an issue with hell because
they feel people have earned it. But they have no problem thinking people have
earned Heaven, which they have not. So if it is based on those
kinds of concepts, people have a problem with that. Yet innate inherent in
every culture, every belief, belief system, so every religious belief, everything
always has a punitive or punishment system. Always it is inherent in man to
understand that punishment is not only important, that it's just and it is good.
Everyone stands up at the end of the movie when the bad guy gets
it and cheers. Everyone stands up when the bad guy is arrested or has
to pay for the crime that they committed, because that's good. Yet,
for some reason, when it comes to God or the things that are the
holiest of holies, that God should just kind of brush it off and say,
eh, well, it's all right, look and see what really is
being done. And the problem is that man keeps comparing themselves to one another.
You look, you just did it with religion, and you said,
all these religions, Ah, they're kind of the same, or they may
be different, but they're really trying hard, or they're sincere. And as
it's been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The
problem lies in the fact not that there are differing views, that no one
believes that there is a true view, yet they do in every other walk
of their life. You know, if you pick up gasoline and put it
into a glass, it looks very similar to apple juice, but there's two
very different consequences when you consume it. So it's not about appearances, it's
not about things that you feel comfortable with. It's about the reality. And
the reality is that the sins you commit are not against one another. The
sins you commit are against God, who is a holy and righteous, eternal
being. So any act against that being, no matter how small it is
to you, is a complete and total infraction against the holy will of God.
Sure, and I'll tell you one too. An today, one thing
you had said is that everyone seems to have a sense that, oh gee,
well, Heaven certainly exists, and I could accept it that if I
fall short of the mark, and I hate to put it so lightly,
but if I fall sharp, No, that's the actual biblical term sin is
missing the mark. Right, So I missed the mark, and then therefore
the just consequence for me is eternal damnation. After having spent sixty years on
earth doing or not doing whatever I did, the scale just doesn't equal.
I can accept. But no, no, no, no, it's because
you're looking towards man, though it's not against. The analogy that I give
is that if you were to slap your brother in wrestling. You're messing around
in the house and you slap your brother, it's a bad thing. But
if you were to slap your mother, that's a worse thing, right,
same act on a different person, different consequences, right, sure, Okay,
Now the police officer comes and he says, why did you slap your
brother? And why did you slap your mom? And you slap the police
officer. Different consequences, right, same act, same act, right.
Okay, when you slap the face of the Holy, righteous, eternal God,
the consequences, by definition, are eternal period. Now to wrestle with
that is to make God human or to make you suppearer, and you're not.
Neither are true. The key is to understand. You get focused on
the act, and this is how humans work. They focus on themselves,
even the faithful, focus only on themselves instead of focusing on God and who
they're slapping when they reject the will of God. That is what the punishment
is. In a moment, I'll explain a little bit more. So hang
tight, Steve. We'll get into what hell really is and maybe that might
give a better understanding. But marinate, think about that. It's not about
the act. You keep going back to the act. It's about who you're
doing the act upon. That is why the consequences are so great. We
were chatting with We were chatting with Steve. Steve, you're still there,
Thanks so much for holding on. I marinated on our little bit of what
I was saying about that it's not about the act, it's about who you
do the act on that creates the consequences. I will say also that the
concept of hell, which is a great concern not only for you, for
others, is different than what people think. It is now wash away all
of the emotive parts of different belief systems. It's not about that. Logic
states that regardless of how you feel about something, there are certain laws in
which are universal. You have a phone number, it has certain digits in
it. If I call that phone number and I'm off one digit, I
don't get you by default. I don't even get your neighbor necessarily. So
in life there you can't just say, well, if it's close enough,
I should be okay. That would be great for people who counterfeit money,
it's like, well it looks pretty close. There is reality and there are
things that aren't reality. There are things that are true and there are things
that are That's just the way it goes. Every every truth claim is going
to have is going to be exclusionary by definition. So that's something you need
to get over because that's the reality of everything. Every belief system you mentioned
believes the same of you. So it's it's that that is everything you are
who you are, Steve, and no one can take that away from you.
Just it's the concept of a kid yelling mom in a grocery store.
You might have a bunch of women that turn around, but only one is
his mother. So there's more to it than just the term God. There's
more to it than just sincere faith. And it's not about ignorance either.
Hell is not about ignorance. It's about rejection of God. So everyone will
hear the message and reject it. So like that that glass of apple juice
versus the glass of gasoline, everyone will be told one of the this one
is gas and will hurt you if you drink it. This one is apple
juice, and you'll be fine. But they will refuse one and drink the
other. And that's where the consequence lies. In addition to that, the
concept of hell is very different from what people think. The concept of hell
is not about the fire and brimstone that people assume that it is. Hell
is the absence of the salvation of God, and in that is a place
that there's nothing to satiate that quench. I'll explain more in a moment.
We're having a conversation with Steve that keeps getting rudely interrupted by commercial breaks.
A very interesting question is Steve was asking about the concept of hell, and
I love that it comes from such a great place, Steve, I know
that this is something that is rock your faith and the reason why I'm so
impassioned by it because I think it's imperative to have an understanding that punishment is
not evil, Punishment is necessary because of evil and the concept of hell.
If you don't. Is there a particular music that you can't stand Steve?
Yeah, you know the poka. Okay, polka, that's a legitimate choice.
So polka. Yeah, Steve doesn't like poka. I get that.
I understand that can be problematic. So you don't want to listen to poka
for a couple of hours, you certainly don't want to listen to it for
a year, right sure. And if you don't want to listen to it
yere for a year, you wouldn't want to listen to it for ten years.
And if you don't want to listen to it for ten years, you're
not going to want to listen to it for eternity. So God creates a
place where the salvation of God is not because there are those that reach project
God throughout life. And God says, if you don't want to serve me,
if you don't want to love me and obey me. For the seventy
eighties, generously ninety years that you have, measley years that you have on
this planet. I will not force you to do it for eternity. I
will allow you to go to a place where I am not now. The
consequence of that is that people don't understand how much God they get in life.
Whether they believe or not, they're still reaping benefits. It's like somebody
who drinks soda all the time says they hate water, but don't understand that
water's in soda they're getting If they didn't get water, they'd die. So
they're getting it from somewhere. It's maybe not the best choice, but they're
getting it from somewhere. Likewise, people are getting parts of God, even
non believers are as the Bible says, it rains on the just and the
unjust alike. But there must be a place, there must be a place
where those that don't want God, that reject God. Now that doesn't mean
you can say I believe in God or I'm doing good, because your good
doesn't matter, Steve. God's good is the ruler. And if you think
about having a contractor come and build something for you in your house, you
don't want somebody who means well, well, but whose ruler is different than
yours, because the house needs to be built based on a measuring system that
you adhere to, or that the rules of the land adheres to, Otherwise
it's going to be built faulty. So in that sense, if it's just
anybody's belief, and anybody believes anything, then there is no truth and there's
no worthy of having faith at all or any purpose to it. It is
all about God. It's not about you in that sense. And to compare
yourself to others and say well, I'm better than this, or even as
those group of Mormons you said that, I agree and amazingly dedicated and lovely
people, and you start pointing to all these different faiths and saying or different
belief systems, and you say, well what about these people? What about
that people? Then it becomes a hard issue. I get that, and
there's argument to be said, especially for the different denominations of Christianity. And
some would put you, obviously Mormons into that category versus there were some,
as you said, that would say, oh no, they're separate. Well
above all of that, to compare yourself to another human being may get you
far in the judicial system of the United States or any government of the land.
But it doesn't get you far enough for God. If the measuring rod
is next to God and not the person next to you, then it's important
to understand that God is the final judge. So to sit there and kind
of measure yourself and say, well, I'm better than this person, or
they're better than me, or this, and that that's not what it's about.
If there is a God, there is one our Jewish brothers and sisters,
wou would say the shma shmah y Israel, Ahad here oh Israel,
the Lord, our God. The Lord is one Ahad one. There is
but one God. And if there is one God, that one God is
the one that deserves the attention of creation, regardless of emotion, regardless of
what have you. Every belief system is exclusionary. Every belief system believes that
it's right. Every belief system contradicts one so they cannot all be right.
They can all be wrong, but they can't all be right. So it's
fair to say there is a right way to do it. You do this
every day in your life. Every day in your life, you make decisions
based on what is right versus what is wrong. But when it comes to
religion, nobody wants consequences. Nobody thinks it's fair. Well, let me
tell you what's fair. A holy, righteous, true, and eternal God
created you and wants you to be with him for eternity. But if you
reject him out of respect, he will allow you to go where he is
not, and in doing so, you will feel burning. The gnashing of
tear not based on the punishment of flames and fire, but on the unquenchable
thirst of having an eternal decision made by you and having the consequences the same
as if you pulled a gun on somebody and shot them. The decision is
final. You don't get to say, oh, well, I don't like
the way the consequences look, so I'd like to reverse it. Now it's
done. Not because God is mean, not because God is stamping his feet
like a child and petulant says, you didn't do it my way, so
you're done. But because God is loving and God is just. And it's
not that everywhere else gets justice except God. That God is supposed to be
supposed to waive it. That is not loving, That is like the parent
that doesn't care or doesn't give any consequence to their child. That is not
loving. You see it every day. It is not loving to look the
other way and just hug someone when they do wrong and harm others and reject
truth. So don't expect that from God either. Don't expect God to look
the other way. Jeff, Welcome to Jesus Christ Show. Hello Jesus.
Well, hello Jeff. How can I help you? How does one know
they are assured of salvation? Uh, you're well, the question is is
a healthy one. But you know, the principles of salvation deal with you
know, giving your life to Christ. Have you mean exactly? Well,
it means that there's a lot of things that drive your life, you know,
sex, drugs, rock and roll, whatever it may be, and
whoever is at the wheel is the one controlling it, whether that be you
and self worship and that it's all about you, or whether the principles that
are in scripture and the things that are taught in the Judeo Christian precepts are
part of your life. If they're not, it's like it's like you asking
me right now, well, what does a relationship mean? Well, it's
when you put somebody in a place of importance in your life. You exchange
ideas, you propel yourself based on that relationship, protecting it and understanding it,
ever deepening it. It's a process. It's not just one particular day.
But as far as salvation, the word itself means security, safety.
The purpose of it deliverance, The purpose of it is to understand that there
is a God that loves you, that created you, that wants to have
a relationship with you, and once to guide your life, wants you to
understand his will because he's the maker and his will is what will help you
to live efficiently in a way way that is just and loving towards the rest
of creation. And if you rebel against those ways and you continue to just
do it however you want, then you're not in that place with God.
However, if you put God first and you have given your life to God,
truly to God, that is salvation. It's said in scripture that if
you confess your sins and that God is faithful and just to forgive that if
you confess before man that God is your savior, if you believe. Some
people talk about it as the sinner's prayer, and that's praying for God to
be in your life. God, I give my life to you. You
are the center of my life. I want you to direct my life for
here on out. I will see myself as a Christian. Respond to those
to ask that I am a Christian, not because they're looking for a label,
but because the word means to be a follower of the anointed One,
and that if you find yourself in a good Bible teaching church and you're reading
God's word, then you're in that relationship and you're your experience and receiving that
salvation. That's what it means. Tom, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show.
Well, hello, Jesus. I appreciate you taking my call, my
pleasure. Tom, what's going on. I've had a question for a long
time. I was raised as a Lutheran. I grew up in a Catholic
neighborhood, and one of your commandments says, I shall not tell a faulse
against thy neighbor. I'm crazy. Obviously that's not tact. And I always
said, well, there's a reason it says it that way. It doesn't
say like thou shalt not kill or thou shalt not steal. It says thou
shall not take tele false But against thy neighbor. So I think in that
respect it means sometimes inconsequential lies might be okay, just because you might not
know you're lying. You passed on something you thought was fact from someone else.
But that's not lying, right, That's that's not lying. If you
passed on something you believed to be true. Lying is for the purpose of
deception, okay, But against thine neighbor. I mean, you know,
I hate to be such a you know, persistent on this, but I
just I just think that you're getting hung up on the word neighbors. That
that what I'm here. Well, no so much as against you know,
that you're you're lying to hurt someone. Yes, For an example, if
your wife were to ask you how she looked, and addressed that she just
bought and you know, let's say your wife's eighty five years old and she's,
you know, looking kind of you know, not so good. You
have to say you look fine, you look great, okay? Are you
sinning or are you okay? This is what they call situational ethics and applies
to scripture. Thusie that there are times where it is better to you know,
kill a lie and to save a life than to kill a life to
save the truth. The neighbor part. I will tell you this. The
neighbor is referring to anyone. It's not just the immediate people. The term
neighbor was because of the small communities that were inherent back in the time of
Scripture. Well, and I brought that up for a reason. I need
to tell you that quickly. The Catholics used to believe very strongly that they
couldn't eat meat on Friday, and if they ate meat on Friday was a
sin. And I would tell them what I didn't believe it was a sin.
So they'reinion was that that was definitely a sin against God. And as
well, how can that be. It's not biblical, it's not anything,
and they know that's they all practice that. Then they talked about it all
the time, and that was one of the big issues that we had as
kids growing up, trying to say, well, why are you of that
belief? Why do you think that is? They could never tell me,
yeah, that's but see, that's a Catholic doctrine that partakes They think of
sin as missing the mark, and the Catholic Church they believe that that's missing
the mark, and that it was disrespectful. That's in the Catholic Church.
That's not everywhere. And there are those that Protestants would point to one Timothy
chapter four, verse three, don't partake of any group that who forbid marriage
or advocate of staining from certain foods which God has created to be gratefully shared
by those who believe in those who know the truth. So there are those
that might argue back and forth. But ultimately, first question I think stands
as far as there are going to be times, the worst sin of lying
is when you're applying it for personal gain. You're lying for personal gain.
And this comes throughout scripture. You see in Proverbs that talks about a false
weight, the merchants that would falsify the weight so that they could get paid
more for produce or what have you. Well, okay, so that that
is when you know the most harmful. Now, honesty is important in a
relationship, and I think that if you genuinely don't like the way something looks,
you should say so and why in a loving manner. And I know
many many couples that are very honest. My producer Neil is he and his
wife have a very open and honest relationship where they'll tell things that they don't
like, and there's going to be tastes and flavors involved, and someone go,
oh, well that I don't like the way that looks well, but
I really enjoy it. Or you've got something in your teeth, or you
need to blow your nose, whatever it is. I think there should be
incredible open communication in a relationship. When it comes to lying, you have
to understand circumstance may dictate. Otherwise, if you're in nineteen forties Germany and
you're a Christian and you've got Jews in the floorboards to save their lives and
the SS comes knocking at your door, you lie. You lie to protict
to for the purpose of protecting your neighbor, and that's imperative. Now,
if your neighbor did something illegal, truly illegal, that is against the law
of the land and not against the law of humanity like it was in Germany,
and you're protecting them, then that's different. So there are circumstances that
dictate. But all lies are evil in the sense that they are rejecting truth.
God doesn't want you to reject the truth, but sometimes the implied situation
is that it is made up by a community. In this case, the
SS saying that that that it was bad to harbor certain humans at the time,
and that in fact supersedes the lie. Thank you for joining me this
Sunday, this wonderful Palm Sunday. I hope you joined me every Sunday,
including on Easter. Remember I am with you always, KF I am six
forty on demand.