WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:06.919 You're listening to KFI A six forty on demand. John, Welcome to the 2 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:10.320 Jesus Christ Show. Hey, good morning, Jesus, Hi John, what's 3 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:15.439 going on? Yeah? My question is is that I've been baptized a believer, 4 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:20.199 and I do read scripture and I do attend church. However, I'm 5 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:27.399 surrounded by in my family what I would call scientific atheists. In other words, 6 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:31.920 there are non believers, never been baptized. They mock every word and 7 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:37.119 action that I pursue in my life, and it's very damaging and very painful 8 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:41.960 to me. And I was wondering if there is a passage in scripture that 9 00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:47.079 you can help me focus on so that I can receive some answers from them. 10 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:50.799 Okay, Well, for one, I'm not sure why you'd expect them 11 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:56.320 to love you through this. I mean, they disagree with you and every 12 00:00:56.359 --> 00:00:58.880 single moment. Yeah, and they think it's silly in their own eyes. 13 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:06.519 And that's okay, there's why are you looking for them to somehow pat you 14 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:11.000 on the back for something like this? Well maybe excuse me, maybe I'm 15 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:15.719 not, but it sure feels like I'm carrying the cross. Well that's part 16 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:21.000 of the process, I will assure you as the one who did carry the 17 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:27.799 cross. You're not, but that there is a process of growing that happens 18 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:32.480 through this, and Scripture says that, hey, they're going to treat you 19 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:38.319 the same way they treated me, and that there's going to be there's going 20 00:01:38.359 --> 00:01:44.920 to be problems. If you read in Matthew chapter ten, starting at verse 21 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:49.519 thirty four, says, you know, do not think that I came to 22 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:53.200 bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 23 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:57.239 For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter 24 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:00.920 against her mother, and a daughter in law again to mother in law. 25 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:08.240 And a man's enemy enemies will be members of his own household. And that 26 00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:14.120 points out that there's going to be problems even in your own family, and 27 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:20.599 that's okay. As you grow in Scripture, as you grow in your learning, 28 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:24.599 expect people to press up against you. Resistance is not a bad thing, 29 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:31.199 John, If you look at everything in life and its beauty, the 30 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:36.319 bird flying, the fish swimming, that those things can only happen due to 31 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:39.479 resistance. The bird only flies because of the resistance of the wind. The 32 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:44.599 fish only swims because of the resistance of the water. Resistance is something that 33 00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:49.120 should propel you forward, not keep you back. Don't expect everybody to love 34 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:52.639 you. They didn't love me. Don't expect everybody to high five you, 35 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:55.879 even your own family, when you're bettering yourself or you're living for God, 36 00:02:57.560 --> 00:03:01.919 especially if they don't understand it, if they don't conceptualize it and be able 37 00:03:01.960 --> 00:03:05.599 to put it, especially if they're you know, as you say, scientific 38 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:09.960 atheists in your own words, and they're not always synonymous, by the way, 39 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:16.120 but just because they come from that mindset, they can't put your experience 40 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:23.919 in a petri dish. They're not going to understand it. Steve, Welcome 41 00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:29.039 to the Jesus Christ Show. Hi, thanks for taking my call, Holy 42 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:34.599 host, my pleasure, Steve. I have a what I suspect is a 43 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:40.800 very typical hot potato, and that is my just of the horns at the 44 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:46.199 idea that as a part of the Christian faith, that hell could really exist, 45 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:52.800 or exist as it is stated, where you know people outside the faith 46 00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:59.439 or those who perhaps don't utter at a level of sincerity the right words at 47 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:02.120 the right time on it, but then spend an eternity in hell. And 48 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:05.400 it's not a new topic to me. I've been involved in the church for 49 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:09.719 many years off and on, and in the last four or five years have 50 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:14.479 really given it a strong thrust, gotten involved in the church with the Old 51 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:16.920 and New Testament, not thairoly, but enough to get a good sense just 52 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:21.800 you know, sort of exited Deuteronomy and Leviticus was a sort of sense of 53 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:28.199 nausea with all the horrifying things that take place in there and anyway, but 54 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:30.879 the big thing for me and it has caused me to sort of abandon, 55 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:42.879 you know, the faith as I have portrayed in my own life. I 56 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:46.040 am fallen on my face in front of God, said, please just help 57 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.879 me find you, because I cannot accept that a loving God would send people 58 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:55.199 guilty or not. The level of guilt had never equal, I think, 59 00:04:55.879 --> 00:05:02.040 eternal torture, and therefore I cannot except that it is un Christian. As 60 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:09.560 far as the logic that God has bestowed on me, I will hold off 61 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:14.959 to that the fact that what if the this is just an excuse for you 62 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:19.040 to continue to control and enjoy certain sins or it gives you kind of a 63 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:24.720 break. In other words, if there were no hell mentioned in the Bible, 64 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:28.759 would I still find reasons to sort of sidestep it because I want my 65 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:32.279 own selfish me. So I accept, but I've examined that pretty closely and 66 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:36.480 I don't think so. And just lastly, for instance, I have some 67 00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:41.319 Mormon colleagues that I work with, and they're great friends, and they are 68 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:46.279 far more faithful and holy than I. And according to those in my congregation, 69 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:49.839 it's a cult and they're all held bound. And just when I think 70 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:53.800 of that, and then I try to express my faith to someone else, 71 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:58.759 all of the credibility drains right out of my feet. Because I think of 72 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:02.040 that, I say I cannot, in good faith, you know, follow 73 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:10.639 a faith that would express that as a consequence of the differing dogmas that surround 74 00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:15.079 the various sorts of Christmas, Christian faith, and then of course all the 75 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:17.240 rest of them, you know, Muslims, Buddhism, etc. So that's 76 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:20.360 my plight, okay, And I think it's a legitimate one. I think 77 00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:24.680 it's a healthy place to be. I think if you are a believer and 78 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:28.199 you don't go through this in your walk, if you don't ask those questions 79 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:30.439 and you're not concerned about that, I think that there might be an issue 80 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:35.399 with your heart. However, if you don't work through it. I think 81 00:06:35.399 --> 00:06:41.319 that there's an issue with your faith and possibly your head. They meld together, 82 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:44.160 and there's a way to explain and to see them. And we'll go 83 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:47.879 through as much as we can that we have time for to give you a 84 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:54.680 little different perspective. First of all, I've always been humored by the fact 85 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:59.079 that the people have an issue with Hell, have an issue with hell because 86 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:01.319 they feel people have earned it. But they have no problem thinking people have 87 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:09.360 earned Heaven, which they have not. So if it is based on those 88 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:14.040 kinds of concepts, people have a problem with that. Yet innate inherent in 89 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:18.560 every culture, every belief, belief system, so every religious belief, everything 90 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:26.160 always has a punitive or punishment system. Always it is inherent in man to 91 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:32.480 understand that punishment is not only important, that it's just and it is good. 92 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.920 Everyone stands up at the end of the movie when the bad guy gets 93 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:43.560 it and cheers. Everyone stands up when the bad guy is arrested or has 94 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:47.839 to pay for the crime that they committed, because that's good. Yet, 95 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:50.759 for some reason, when it comes to God or the things that are the 96 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:56.399 holiest of holies, that God should just kind of brush it off and say, 97 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:01.680 eh, well, it's all right, look and see what really is 98 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:07.040 being done. And the problem is that man keeps comparing themselves to one another. 99 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:09.079 You look, you just did it with religion, and you said, 100 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:13.800 all these religions, Ah, they're kind of the same, or they may 101 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:16.600 be different, but they're really trying hard, or they're sincere. And as 102 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:22.000 it's been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The 103 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:28.040 problem lies in the fact not that there are differing views, that no one 104 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:31.279 believes that there is a true view, yet they do in every other walk 105 00:08:31.320 --> 00:08:37.320 of their life. You know, if you pick up gasoline and put it 106 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:43.360 into a glass, it looks very similar to apple juice, but there's two 107 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:50.279 very different consequences when you consume it. So it's not about appearances, it's 108 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:54.960 not about things that you feel comfortable with. It's about the reality. And 109 00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:00.600 the reality is that the sins you commit are not against one another. The 110 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:05.519 sins you commit are against God, who is a holy and righteous, eternal 111 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:13.039 being. So any act against that being, no matter how small it is 112 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:18.159 to you, is a complete and total infraction against the holy will of God. 113 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:22.320 Sure, and I'll tell you one too. An today, one thing 114 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:26.559 you had said is that everyone seems to have a sense that, oh gee, 115 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:31.840 well, Heaven certainly exists, and I could accept it that if I 116 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.000 fall short of the mark, and I hate to put it so lightly, 117 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:39.559 but if I fall sharp, No, that's the actual biblical term sin is 118 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.399 missing the mark. Right, So I missed the mark, and then therefore 119 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:52.000 the just consequence for me is eternal damnation. After having spent sixty years on 120 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:56.480 earth doing or not doing whatever I did, the scale just doesn't equal. 121 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:58.919 I can accept. But no, no, no, no, it's because 122 00:10:01.080 --> 00:10:07.080 you're looking towards man, though it's not against. The analogy that I give 123 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:13.200 is that if you were to slap your brother in wrestling. You're messing around 124 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:18.720 in the house and you slap your brother, it's a bad thing. But 125 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:20.600 if you were to slap your mother, that's a worse thing, right, 126 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:28.200 same act on a different person, different consequences, right, sure, Okay, 127 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:31.519 Now the police officer comes and he says, why did you slap your 128 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:33.960 brother? And why did you slap your mom? And you slap the police 129 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:43.000 officer. Different consequences, right, same act, same act, right. 130 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:48.480 Okay, when you slap the face of the Holy, righteous, eternal God, 131 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:56.759 the consequences, by definition, are eternal period. Now to wrestle with 132 00:10:56.759 --> 00:11:01.000 that is to make God human or to make you suppearer, and you're not. 133 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:07.000 Neither are true. The key is to understand. You get focused on 134 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:11.559 the act, and this is how humans work. They focus on themselves, 135 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:18.240 even the faithful, focus only on themselves instead of focusing on God and who 136 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:24.679 they're slapping when they reject the will of God. That is what the punishment 137 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:28.279 is. In a moment, I'll explain a little bit more. So hang 138 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:31.679 tight, Steve. We'll get into what hell really is and maybe that might 139 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:37.279 give a better understanding. But marinate, think about that. It's not about 140 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:39.840 the act. You keep going back to the act. It's about who you're 141 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:48.279 doing the act upon. That is why the consequences are so great. We 142 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:54.399 were chatting with We were chatting with Steve. Steve, you're still there, 143 00:11:54.679 --> 00:12:00.559 Thanks so much for holding on. I marinated on our little bit of what 144 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:03.840 I was saying about that it's not about the act, it's about who you 145 00:12:03.879 --> 00:12:07.960 do the act on that creates the consequences. I will say also that the 146 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:11.159 concept of hell, which is a great concern not only for you, for 147 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:16.399 others, is different than what people think. It is now wash away all 148 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:22.720 of the emotive parts of different belief systems. It's not about that. Logic 149 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:28.120 states that regardless of how you feel about something, there are certain laws in 150 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:33.480 which are universal. You have a phone number, it has certain digits in 151 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:37.039 it. If I call that phone number and I'm off one digit, I 152 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:41.159 don't get you by default. I don't even get your neighbor necessarily. So 153 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:46.080 in life there you can't just say, well, if it's close enough, 154 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:50.639 I should be okay. That would be great for people who counterfeit money, 155 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:54.559 it's like, well it looks pretty close. There is reality and there are 156 00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:58.519 things that aren't reality. There are things that are true and there are things 157 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:05.799 that are That's just the way it goes. Every every truth claim is going 158 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:09.639 to have is going to be exclusionary by definition. So that's something you need 159 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:13.879 to get over because that's the reality of everything. Every belief system you mentioned 160 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:22.039 believes the same of you. So it's it's that that is everything you are 161 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:26.399 who you are, Steve, and no one can take that away from you. 162 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:30.960 Just it's the concept of a kid yelling mom in a grocery store. 163 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:33.399 You might have a bunch of women that turn around, but only one is 164 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:37.679 his mother. So there's more to it than just the term God. There's 165 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:43.440 more to it than just sincere faith. And it's not about ignorance either. 166 00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:48.080 Hell is not about ignorance. It's about rejection of God. So everyone will 167 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:54.919 hear the message and reject it. So like that that glass of apple juice 168 00:13:54.080 --> 00:14:00.840 versus the glass of gasoline, everyone will be told one of the this one 169 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:03.519 is gas and will hurt you if you drink it. This one is apple 170 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:07.919 juice, and you'll be fine. But they will refuse one and drink the 171 00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:13.519 other. And that's where the consequence lies. In addition to that, the 172 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:18.480 concept of hell is very different from what people think. The concept of hell 173 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:24.320 is not about the fire and brimstone that people assume that it is. Hell 174 00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:30.080 is the absence of the salvation of God, and in that is a place 175 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:39.799 that there's nothing to satiate that quench. I'll explain more in a moment. 176 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:48.120 We're having a conversation with Steve that keeps getting rudely interrupted by commercial breaks. 177 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.159 A very interesting question is Steve was asking about the concept of hell, and 178 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:58.720 I love that it comes from such a great place, Steve, I know 179 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:03.360 that this is something that is rock your faith and the reason why I'm so 180 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:09.559 impassioned by it because I think it's imperative to have an understanding that punishment is 181 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:15.840 not evil, Punishment is necessary because of evil and the concept of hell. 182 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:20.159 If you don't. Is there a particular music that you can't stand Steve? 183 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:28.080 Yeah, you know the poka. Okay, polka, that's a legitimate choice. 184 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:31.320 So polka. Yeah, Steve doesn't like poka. I get that. 185 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:35.799 I understand that can be problematic. So you don't want to listen to poka 186 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:39.960 for a couple of hours, you certainly don't want to listen to it for 187 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:43.720 a year, right sure. And if you don't want to listen to it 188 00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:46.679 yere for a year, you wouldn't want to listen to it for ten years. 189 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:50.399 And if you don't want to listen to it for ten years, you're 190 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:54.799 not going to want to listen to it for eternity. So God creates a 191 00:15:54.879 --> 00:16:00.360 place where the salvation of God is not because there are those that reach project 192 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:03.000 God throughout life. And God says, if you don't want to serve me, 193 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:08.799 if you don't want to love me and obey me. For the seventy 194 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:14.879 eighties, generously ninety years that you have, measley years that you have on 195 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:18.879 this planet. I will not force you to do it for eternity. I 196 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:22.960 will allow you to go to a place where I am not now. The 197 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:27.720 consequence of that is that people don't understand how much God they get in life. 198 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:32.919 Whether they believe or not, they're still reaping benefits. It's like somebody 199 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:37.120 who drinks soda all the time says they hate water, but don't understand that 200 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:41.279 water's in soda they're getting If they didn't get water, they'd die. So 201 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:44.720 they're getting it from somewhere. It's maybe not the best choice, but they're 202 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:48.120 getting it from somewhere. Likewise, people are getting parts of God, even 203 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:52.799 non believers are as the Bible says, it rains on the just and the 204 00:16:52.879 --> 00:17:00.000 unjust alike. But there must be a place, there must be a place 205 00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:03.960 where those that don't want God, that reject God. Now that doesn't mean 206 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.799 you can say I believe in God or I'm doing good, because your good 207 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:15.240 doesn't matter, Steve. God's good is the ruler. And if you think 208 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:22.039 about having a contractor come and build something for you in your house, you 209 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:26.160 don't want somebody who means well, well, but whose ruler is different than 210 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:34.720 yours, because the house needs to be built based on a measuring system that 211 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:38.359 you adhere to, or that the rules of the land adheres to, Otherwise 212 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:45.200 it's going to be built faulty. So in that sense, if it's just 213 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:48.279 anybody's belief, and anybody believes anything, then there is no truth and there's 214 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:53.440 no worthy of having faith at all or any purpose to it. It is 215 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:57.519 all about God. It's not about you in that sense. And to compare 216 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:02.160 yourself to others and say well, I'm better than this, or even as 217 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:07.839 those group of Mormons you said that, I agree and amazingly dedicated and lovely 218 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:14.680 people, and you start pointing to all these different faiths and saying or different 219 00:18:14.680 --> 00:18:17.480 belief systems, and you say, well what about these people? What about 220 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:19.480 that people? Then it becomes a hard issue. I get that, and 221 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:26.839 there's argument to be said, especially for the different denominations of Christianity. And 222 00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:33.000 some would put you, obviously Mormons into that category versus there were some, 223 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:36.359 as you said, that would say, oh no, they're separate. Well 224 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:44.160 above all of that, to compare yourself to another human being may get you 225 00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:48.039 far in the judicial system of the United States or any government of the land. 226 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:52.920 But it doesn't get you far enough for God. If the measuring rod 227 00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:57.599 is next to God and not the person next to you, then it's important 228 00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:04.279 to understand that God is the final judge. So to sit there and kind 229 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:07.799 of measure yourself and say, well, I'm better than this person, or 230 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.240 they're better than me, or this, and that that's not what it's about. 231 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:17.960 If there is a God, there is one our Jewish brothers and sisters, 232 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:26.039 wou would say the shma shmah y Israel, Ahad here oh Israel, 233 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:30.680 the Lord, our God. The Lord is one Ahad one. There is 234 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:37.519 but one God. And if there is one God, that one God is 235 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:45.640 the one that deserves the attention of creation, regardless of emotion, regardless of 236 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:53.440 what have you. Every belief system is exclusionary. Every belief system believes that 237 00:19:53.519 --> 00:20:03.160 it's right. Every belief system contradicts one so they cannot all be right. 238 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:11.039 They can all be wrong, but they can't all be right. So it's 239 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:14.920 fair to say there is a right way to do it. You do this 240 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:21.119 every day in your life. Every day in your life, you make decisions 241 00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:23.559 based on what is right versus what is wrong. But when it comes to 242 00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:27.960 religion, nobody wants consequences. Nobody thinks it's fair. Well, let me 243 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:33.279 tell you what's fair. A holy, righteous, true, and eternal God 244 00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:42.319 created you and wants you to be with him for eternity. But if you 245 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:48.640 reject him out of respect, he will allow you to go where he is 246 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:59.720 not, and in doing so, you will feel burning. The gnashing of 247 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:07.240 tear not based on the punishment of flames and fire, but on the unquenchable 248 00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:15.039 thirst of having an eternal decision made by you and having the consequences the same 249 00:21:15.160 --> 00:21:19.640 as if you pulled a gun on somebody and shot them. The decision is 250 00:21:19.799 --> 00:21:22.160 final. You don't get to say, oh, well, I don't like 251 00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:26.920 the way the consequences look, so I'd like to reverse it. Now it's 252 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:32.400 done. Not because God is mean, not because God is stamping his feet 253 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:36.759 like a child and petulant says, you didn't do it my way, so 254 00:21:36.920 --> 00:21:44.200 you're done. But because God is loving and God is just. And it's 255 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:47.880 not that everywhere else gets justice except God. That God is supposed to be 256 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:51.880 supposed to waive it. That is not loving, That is like the parent 257 00:21:52.200 --> 00:21:59.160 that doesn't care or doesn't give any consequence to their child. That is not 258 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:02.559 loving. You see it every day. It is not loving to look the 259 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:08.119 other way and just hug someone when they do wrong and harm others and reject 260 00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:18.079 truth. So don't expect that from God either. Don't expect God to look 261 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:26.160 the other way. Jeff, Welcome to Jesus Christ Show. Hello Jesus. 262 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:30.759 Well, hello Jeff. How can I help you? How does one know 263 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:37.720 they are assured of salvation? Uh, you're well, the question is is 264 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:44.160 a healthy one. But you know, the principles of salvation deal with you 265 00:22:44.200 --> 00:22:48.400 know, giving your life to Christ. Have you mean exactly? Well, 266 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:52.799 it means that there's a lot of things that drive your life, you know, 267 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:55.400 sex, drugs, rock and roll, whatever it may be, and 268 00:22:55.480 --> 00:22:57.440 whoever is at the wheel is the one controlling it, whether that be you 269 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:03.000 and self worship and that it's all about you, or whether the principles that 270 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:08.880 are in scripture and the things that are taught in the Judeo Christian precepts are 271 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:12.799 part of your life. If they're not, it's like it's like you asking 272 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:17.759 me right now, well, what does a relationship mean? Well, it's 273 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:22.160 when you put somebody in a place of importance in your life. You exchange 274 00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:27.200 ideas, you propel yourself based on that relationship, protecting it and understanding it, 275 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:33.039 ever deepening it. It's a process. It's not just one particular day. 276 00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:37.279 But as far as salvation, the word itself means security, safety. 277 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:42.319 The purpose of it deliverance, The purpose of it is to understand that there 278 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:45.880 is a God that loves you, that created you, that wants to have 279 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:49.880 a relationship with you, and once to guide your life, wants you to 280 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:56.519 understand his will because he's the maker and his will is what will help you 281 00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:02.799 to live efficiently in a way way that is just and loving towards the rest 282 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:07.119 of creation. And if you rebel against those ways and you continue to just 283 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:14.079 do it however you want, then you're not in that place with God. 284 00:24:14.359 --> 00:24:19.960 However, if you put God first and you have given your life to God, 285 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:26.359 truly to God, that is salvation. It's said in scripture that if 286 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:30.480 you confess your sins and that God is faithful and just to forgive that if 287 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:37.480 you confess before man that God is your savior, if you believe. Some 288 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:42.240 people talk about it as the sinner's prayer, and that's praying for God to 289 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:45.799 be in your life. God, I give my life to you. You 290 00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:52.200 are the center of my life. I want you to direct my life for 291 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:59.759 here on out. I will see myself as a Christian. Respond to those 292 00:25:00.119 --> 00:25:03.839 to ask that I am a Christian, not because they're looking for a label, 293 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:07.319 but because the word means to be a follower of the anointed One, 294 00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:18.039 and that if you find yourself in a good Bible teaching church and you're reading 295 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:25.160 God's word, then you're in that relationship and you're your experience and receiving that 296 00:25:25.319 --> 00:25:34.599 salvation. That's what it means. Tom, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. 297 00:25:36.279 --> 00:25:38.680 Well, hello, Jesus. I appreciate you taking my call, my 298 00:25:38.759 --> 00:25:42.440 pleasure. Tom, what's going on. I've had a question for a long 299 00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:45.319 time. I was raised as a Lutheran. I grew up in a Catholic 300 00:25:45.720 --> 00:25:52.359 neighborhood, and one of your commandments says, I shall not tell a faulse 301 00:25:52.599 --> 00:25:56.119 against thy neighbor. I'm crazy. Obviously that's not tact. And I always 302 00:25:56.119 --> 00:26:00.440 said, well, there's a reason it says it that way. It doesn't 303 00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:03.920 say like thou shalt not kill or thou shalt not steal. It says thou 304 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:07.440 shall not take tele false But against thy neighbor. So I think in that 305 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:15.880 respect it means sometimes inconsequential lies might be okay, just because you might not 306 00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:18.960 know you're lying. You passed on something you thought was fact from someone else. 307 00:26:19.640 --> 00:26:23.200 But that's not lying, right, That's that's not lying. If you 308 00:26:23.640 --> 00:26:29.000 passed on something you believed to be true. Lying is for the purpose of 309 00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:33.880 deception, okay, But against thine neighbor. I mean, you know, 310 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:41.480 I hate to be such a you know, persistent on this, but I 311 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:44.720 just I just think that you're getting hung up on the word neighbors. That 312 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:47.880 that what I'm here. Well, no so much as against you know, 313 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:52.440 that you're you're lying to hurt someone. Yes, For an example, if 314 00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:56.400 your wife were to ask you how she looked, and addressed that she just 315 00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:02.599 bought and you know, let's say your wife's eighty five years old and she's, 316 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:06.960 you know, looking kind of you know, not so good. You 317 00:27:07.079 --> 00:27:11.039 have to say you look fine, you look great, okay? Are you 318 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:17.920 sinning or are you okay? This is what they call situational ethics and applies 319 00:27:17.960 --> 00:27:25.160 to scripture. Thusie that there are times where it is better to you know, 320 00:27:25.319 --> 00:27:29.640 kill a lie and to save a life than to kill a life to 321 00:27:29.720 --> 00:27:33.200 save the truth. The neighbor part. I will tell you this. The 322 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:37.039 neighbor is referring to anyone. It's not just the immediate people. The term 323 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:41.240 neighbor was because of the small communities that were inherent back in the time of 324 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:45.599 Scripture. Well, and I brought that up for a reason. I need 325 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:49.119 to tell you that quickly. The Catholics used to believe very strongly that they 326 00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:52.799 couldn't eat meat on Friday, and if they ate meat on Friday was a 327 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:56.519 sin. And I would tell them what I didn't believe it was a sin. 328 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:03.400 So they'reinion was that that was definitely a sin against God. And as 329 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:07.440 well, how can that be. It's not biblical, it's not anything, 330 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:11.599 and they know that's they all practice that. Then they talked about it all 331 00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:14.640 the time, and that was one of the big issues that we had as 332 00:28:14.759 --> 00:28:18.119 kids growing up, trying to say, well, why are you of that 333 00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:19.480 belief? Why do you think that is? They could never tell me, 334 00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:26.200 yeah, that's but see, that's a Catholic doctrine that partakes They think of 335 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:29.279 sin as missing the mark, and the Catholic Church they believe that that's missing 336 00:28:29.359 --> 00:28:33.200 the mark, and that it was disrespectful. That's in the Catholic Church. 337 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:37.279 That's not everywhere. And there are those that Protestants would point to one Timothy 338 00:28:38.200 --> 00:28:47.160 chapter four, verse three, don't partake of any group that who forbid marriage 339 00:28:48.279 --> 00:28:52.279 or advocate of staining from certain foods which God has created to be gratefully shared 340 00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:56.279 by those who believe in those who know the truth. So there are those 341 00:28:56.400 --> 00:29:02.400 that might argue back and forth. But ultimately, first question I think stands 342 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:07.720 as far as there are going to be times, the worst sin of lying 343 00:29:07.079 --> 00:29:12.200 is when you're applying it for personal gain. You're lying for personal gain. 344 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:17.079 And this comes throughout scripture. You see in Proverbs that talks about a false 345 00:29:17.160 --> 00:29:19.720 weight, the merchants that would falsify the weight so that they could get paid 346 00:29:19.799 --> 00:29:26.359 more for produce or what have you. Well, okay, so that that 347 00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:33.319 is when you know the most harmful. Now, honesty is important in a 348 00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:37.359 relationship, and I think that if you genuinely don't like the way something looks, 349 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:41.039 you should say so and why in a loving manner. And I know 350 00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:45.119 many many couples that are very honest. My producer Neil is he and his 351 00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:49.599 wife have a very open and honest relationship where they'll tell things that they don't 352 00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:52.799 like, and there's going to be tastes and flavors involved, and someone go, 353 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:56.160 oh, well that I don't like the way that looks well, but 354 00:29:56.279 --> 00:30:00.240 I really enjoy it. Or you've got something in your teeth, or you 355 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:02.720 need to blow your nose, whatever it is. I think there should be 356 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:08.279 incredible open communication in a relationship. When it comes to lying, you have 357 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:14.640 to understand circumstance may dictate. Otherwise, if you're in nineteen forties Germany and 358 00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:18.880 you're a Christian and you've got Jews in the floorboards to save their lives and 359 00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:23.519 the SS comes knocking at your door, you lie. You lie to protict 360 00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:29.839 to for the purpose of protecting your neighbor, and that's imperative. Now, 361 00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:36.440 if your neighbor did something illegal, truly illegal, that is against the law 362 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:40.759 of the land and not against the law of humanity like it was in Germany, 363 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:45.680 and you're protecting them, then that's different. So there are circumstances that 364 00:30:45.799 --> 00:30:52.119 dictate. But all lies are evil in the sense that they are rejecting truth. 365 00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:56.319 God doesn't want you to reject the truth, but sometimes the implied situation 366 00:30:57.559 --> 00:31:03.200 is that it is made up by a community. In this case, the 367 00:31:03.400 --> 00:31:10.400 SS saying that that that it was bad to harbor certain humans at the time, 368 00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:15.200 and that in fact supersedes the lie. Thank you for joining me this 369 00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:18.519 Sunday, this wonderful Palm Sunday. I hope you joined me every Sunday, 370 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:25.119 including on Easter. Remember I am with you always, KF I am six 371 00:31:25.240 --> 00:31:26.400 forty on demand.