Matt Slick Live: May 23, 2024

The Problem of Contradicting Scripture and the Veil Over the Gospel

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

It's Matt Slick Live. Matt is the founder and president of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry found online at karm .org. When you have questions about Bible doctrines, turn to Matt Slick Live for answers.

Taking your calls and responding to your questions at 877 -207 -2276. Here's Matt Slick.

All right, and welcome back to the show. And let's listen to Matt Slick Live. Okay, sorry about that, doing all these things here. Hey, welcome. So let's see, today is January 11th, 2024. Listen to Matt Slick Live.

I am your host, Matt Slick. Hope you're all gonna have a good show. Tonight, I teach Bible study, and it's still on here in semi-snowy Idaho. I like the snow. You know, from Southern California, where it was illegal to get below 60 degrees.

So this concept of this white stuff falling from the sky was great. I like the snow. I appreciate it. All right, hey, look, if you wanna give me a call, all you have to do is dial 877 -207 -2276. You can also email me at info at karm .org, info at karm .org.

And put in the subject line there, put in radio question or radio comment. And I just started thinking here, just as I was saying that, we're doing one-minute videos, and I'm writing them and voicing them and doing stuff.

And then Ernie takes them, he puts them up, distributes them, and stuff like that. So I'm curious if any of you have watched them, what you think. I'd like to hear from you, if you wanna give me a call and say, yeah, I've watched a few, and what you think, some feedback.

We're always adjusting. I'm gonna try a little bit of something new with the next couple, three that I'm gonna do. Just a little bit, just slight variations on things, but we're just always looking for feedback.

So if you have seen any of the one-minute videos that we've been producing here at Karm on the social media area, please give me a call and let me know. Just give some feedback, 877 -207 -2276. All right, so last night, I went into the Metaverse, and the Metaverse is really cool because when I sit in front of my computer and I'm just working, or I am in a chat room on my computer, not in the Metaverse, but I'm in there, and it's not very visual because there's this audio and looking at words on a screen and stuff like that.

But the nice thing about the Metaverse is you are surrounded in 3D, in a new world, and it's really a sensory change. It's actually interesting and relaxing in a weird way. Well, anyway, so I went into a room last night and I had a conversation with, humble places, we need a slick of verse.

There'd be things about heresy all the time, everywhere. So I was in this one room and I like to go in and just sit and wait and see what's happening, get the feel of it. And so we made a comment and I just go, well, you know, blah, blah, blah.

And they know who I am, so generally speaking, they know who I am. And that's fine. And I had this conversation with a Catholic and it was really interesting. And really, it bothered me. It bothered me for the simplicity of the mistake he made.

And the simplicity of this mistake is so common. And it was simply that, you know, I said, well, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that salvation is obtained through your faith, baptism and the observance of the commandments.

And I said, the Bible says, so the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. All right, so what's interesting is they hear the verse and then they immediately do one of two things.

And this guy did both. They immediately try and contradict that verse with another verse. And they don't realize what they're doing. And he went to James 2, 24. You know, man is not justified by faith alone.

And I said, yeah, the context. And he says, I know the context. I said, well, good, what is it? Well, the church fathers say, no, what's the context? He didn't know. So I had to explain it to him. But they do that.

They'll set scripture against scripture. That's one thing. And it's really bad. So if you have a verse that you come across in the scriptures and another one you think contradicts it, well, then you got a problem.

It's not the Bible that's a problem. It's your understanding that's a problem. You gotta change. But most people refuse to do that. And I've discovered over the years that what people will do is they become emotionally committed to an intellectual position.

They identify with it and that's it. And whatever you present can't be correct if it disagrees with their commitment. It's not an issue of the word of God. It's an issue of what does their church teach?

What is their preferences, their humanist philosophy, which is rampant in the Christian church, both in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. But nevertheless, so I put the verse in context.

I says, look, you don't set scripture against scripture. You have to understand each one in this context. Otherwise, you're gonna have problems. That's why you jumped to another verse to contradict what this clearly says.

And I said, it's a mistake on your part. You shouldn't do that. You should look at what the text says. And he didn't wanna hear anything like that. And he just jumps into what gives you the authority in your interpretation.

It's like, dude, just read what it says. Just read it. You don't need authority, just read it. And so the conversation went on for a little bit. And then he did the second thing that I find interesting.

And that was, he went to, I had to tell him where it was, but he says, he says, a new command is gonna, you love one another. I said, yeah, it's John 14, 34. And he says, well, that's what you gotta do.

And I said, does it say there, that's what you do to be saved or to be justified. And when I said this to him, it was interesting to me, because I've done this a thousand times, but it just, the light really shined on the issue once again, in that they don't think, they don't examine God's word.

Their loyalty is to a church, not to God's word, not to the person of Christ. And the evidence of that is exemplified in something like this, where they look at a verse where Jesus said, I command you to love one another.

And he said, see, that contradicts what you're saying. I said, no, it doesn't. And it's just, it's amazing. And then he comes on, he goes, he says, well, it's contradicting your interpretation. I said, I just read it.

I'm absolutely dumbfounded sometimes why people will refuse to believe what the word of God says. And I'm so accustomed to that problem that sometimes I don't think about the reason, which is a spiritual blindness, that there is a true blindness.

In 2 Corinthians 4, verses three and four, I'm gonna read that to you. It's really interesting. And it says this right here. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they may not see the light of the gospel, the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

So this pericope of verses, 2 Corinthians 4, verses three and four, I've used in a tricky kind of way. And sometimes you gotta trick people to see something because they don't wanna see anything. It's like magic.

You know, this isn't magic, but I mean, you know, magic, they trick you to make you think you're seeing something that's really not true. Well, we're gonna do this in reverse, trick them to see what the truth actually is because they prefer the trick that blinds them.

So one of the things that I'll do is I will ask, what is the gospel? And I get varying answers from people, particularly Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. They'll tell me the gospel is these variations of forms.

I'll say, well, it's the proclamation of what Christ did and the sacraments and baptism and the work of the church and all this. They'll say things like this. And I'll say, are you sure that's what it is?

And they'll repeat it, a variation of that. And I'll say, okay, you sure that's what the gospel is? And they'll say, yes, that's what it is. That's right, I said, okay. I take them to 1 Corinthians 15, starting at verse three.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he's buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.

And that's what it says right there. And what precedes that is verse one where he says, brethren, I make known to you the gospel. Paul reveals that the gospel is, and he says that Jesus died, was crucified, died, was buried.

And I say to the people, I say, look, you didn't get the gospel right. The gospel is right there in scripture, and it was so simple. And the reason is because 2 Corinthians 4, verses three and four, and even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they may not see the light of the gospel, the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

And I'll say to them, so you didn't get the gospel right. The Bible tells you why, because the God of this world has blinded you. Let's just say that doesn't go over very well with the people I address it to, but I do.

And they don't like it. And in the case last night, I got kicked out of their room because I wasn't saying things that they wanted me to say. And people don't wanna hear the truth a lot of times. They wanna hear what they want to hear, and it's a shame.

I would say, read the Bible and open your heart and your mind to it. Believe what it says, even if you don't agree with it. Romans nine's a good place to start. Let's get to Rick from Ohio. Okay, Rick, welcome, you're on the air.

The Meaning of the Altar in the Old Testament

Oh, hello, Matt, how are you doing today?

Doing all right, hanging in there by God's grace. So what do you got, man?

Well, fantastic. Hey, I got a question for you. Can you give me some pointers or some significance of the word, the altar, like the first time it was used in the Bible and whatnot, and why it was used?

Well, it first occurs in Genesis 8, 20. Noah built an altar to the Lord and took every clean animal and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the word is mesbah in Hebrew. And I just did a search.

It occurs 401 times in the Old Testament. So the altar is a place where an offering is made. It's a location. So when I was in Israel, we went to some of the high places. And sometimes when we go to these places, we'll see these constructs, these stone things.

And I don't know, because I'm not an archeologist, I don't know which ones particularly are altars, which ones are not. Maybe we've seen some of them. But they generally are built of stones to be permanent.

And then you go to that place, you take an animal, you sacrifice it, you kill it right there, usually. And then you take the blood and you put it on the altar, on this construct of stones, this thing, it's arranged.

And that's what it's for. And it's a place of, they hope, propitiation and stuff like that, okay? Does that help any?

To, yes, yeah. To get God's forgiveness for their sins, correct? And this is how they use it, it's all, right. Okay, all righty, well.

We need a break, okay? So you gotta hang out, so you just hang on for the break.

No, that's fine, that's fine, that's all I need.

All right.

Thank you.

God bless. Hey folks, we have wide open lines if you wanna give me a call, 877 -207 -2276. Be right back after these messages.

It's Matt Slick Live! Taking your calls at 877 -207 -2276. Here's Matt Slick.

Everybody, welcome back to the show. If you wanna give me a call, all you gotta do is dial 877 -207 -2276, all right. You can also email me at info at carm .org. Just put in there a radio question or radio comment.

Let's get to Brandon from Utah. Brandon, welcome, you're on the air.

Hello, Matt.

How you doing?

I'm good, I just had a question in Genesis 3, 22, after the fall, then the Lord God said, behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also the tree of life and eat it and live forever.

I just don't understand, like, you explain it?

Explain what, live forever, the tree of life,.

Not eating it?

Well, yeah, like, become like,.

So how do we become like one of them? And then, like, I know God doesn't worry, but the way it's worded, it's like, lest he reach out his hand and take also the tree of life and eat it and live forever.

Okay, so, okay, so you said several things there, but to become like one of us, it's the plurality of the Trinity speaking. You'll notice that Genesis deals with the early aspect of the revelation of God given to us as associated with the created order.

And the plurality of God is known, and so the Lord God, the, it's a singular said, is kind of like one of us, knowing good and evil. And that's the context, that he has knowledge that God already had, good and evil, the knowledge of it.

And now, Adam and Eve, they had that knowledge. And that's all that's going on. And so they were in a fallen state. The general idea here that's going on is that they have to be blocked from eating the fruit of the tree of life, in that they would then stay in that condition of fallenness.

And the guard was put on that, so they could not get to it. This is ultimately pointing to the cross, because the tree, Jesus was raised upon a tree, that is the true tree of life. We're by faith, we trust in Christ.

We're supposed to eat of the bread that Christ has produced, the bread of life, and his blood and his stuff, not in what is here in Genesis three. So that's all that's going on is the idea, generally speaking, is that God does not want them to remain in that condition.

There's something better coming, and that's in the redemptive order and resurrected body and things like that.

Okay, well, thank you. Yeah, that explains it better. I just didn't understand it, so.

All right, well, there you go.

I appreciate it.

Okay, you're welcome, God bless.

Hey, God bless you, too, Matt.

Okay. All right, well, we have nobody waiting. If you wanna give me a call, then all you gotta do is dial 877 -207 -2276. All right, I had an idea, I was talking to him. Look up the word us. And that's interesting, because it's become like one of us, and knowing good and evil.

How come it doesn't have that? Become like that, let's see, like that. And so the plurality of God is what I was a little bit intrigued with here, because God, in the early parts of Genesis, does speak of himself in the plural.

You go to Genesis 1 .26, for example. God says, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. We see that us, that plurality right there. And I think that's really interesting, I do. To me, it's revelatory of the very nature of who and what God is, okay?

And so, let's see, get over here with this. And we already went over this verse, Genesis 3 .22. The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. And we also find where God said, let us go down and confound our language in Genesis 11 .7.

Anyway, I just find this interesting. Now, I could get into some philosophy about this, Christian philosophy, in that God, the Trinitarian being, is the necessary precondition for intelligibility. And in him is the one and the many, the equality and equal ultimacy of that which is one and that which is plural, that exists in the nature of the triune being.

This has certain philosophical ramifications as far as knowledge goes, and justification, and justified true belief, and some other things. And I find it interesting. To me, I find it very interesting.

So, anyway, you know. Hey, we have four open lines, or three open lines, if you wanna give me a call, 877 -207 -2276. Don, from Ohio, welcome, you're on the air.

Jonathan Cahn, False Gods, and Confusing Claims About Israel

Hey, I'm in a notion familiar with an artist named Jonathan Cahn.

Okay, what about him?

Well, he's writing, reading a book called Return of the Gods, and he talks about different gods, and they are in the Bible, like in the Shaddin, Mesopotamia, I think, the old Iran, and all that stuff.

What I don't understand is, all these people in Israel who scattered away from God, why didn't they, like, and it doesn't explain it, why weren't these gods, like millions of other gods, created in Israel?

Why did they have to scatter to do that?

I don't understand the question.

Sorry, you don't understand?

No, why did. God, what's the, that's all right. No, no, rephrase the question, because I'm not sure what you're asking.

Down in the book, it talks about when all the Israel people ran away from God, and they went other places, and they created other gods, like Ishgar, Baal, all that stuff. Right, okay. You ever heard of that?

You know, that's, okay. Yes, yes.

Okay, what, why did, and they talk about, even, like, today in America, how the spirit of all that stuff, like the bull in New York City, you know, that big bronze bull that's in New York, that's, you know, that's another part of Baal, and anyway, the book, like, goes into all that stuff, and it talked about the 19, what was it, 1969 in New York City, when the homosexual bar went to a riot and all that.

You remember that?

No, so what's your question? I'm just curious.

Oh, no, my question was, no, my question was this, is why did, why did, how many of those Israelites did it take to spread away from Israel to go to, like, the old Iran and this to create God? Why didn't they just do it in Israel?

Why did they have to go out to other areas and do it?

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,.

Well, hold on, hold on. So you're asking why did the Jews go to other countries like Iran to create gods?

Yeah, I mean, when they were running away from the real God, not these false Buddhocrats, I'm talking about there's only one God. They ran away, like, millions, and created all kinds of,.

Like, different gods. Where are you getting this?

There's millions of different gods.

Hold on, hold on, hold on. Where are you getting this?

What?

What you're telling me, where are you getting it? In the book.

They're reading the book I was reading, and then when I Googled over it, some of them guys that he's mentioning are actually.

In the book. I just asked you, I just asked you, I just asked you where you're getting it, okay? And that's it, so you're getting it from this book,.

And it sounds to me like,.

It sounds to me like the guy's confused, okay? I, hold on a second, we've got a break coming up, okay? So hold on, hold on. Okay. We'll be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned.

It's Matt Slick Live! Taking your calls at 877 -207 -2276. Here's Matt Slick.

Morning, welcome back to the show. If you wanna give me a call, all you gotta do is dial 877 -207 -2276. Let's get back to Don. Don, you're back on the air, are you there?

Hey, Matt.

Okay.

Yeah, I got a question. Oh, not a question, listen. I like the King James Version Bible, that's it. And I also like preachers when I hear it. I'm into like the old Hellfire, like Lester Roloff, Lawson, them type of guys and stuff, and it's a problem around my house and stuff.

I'm sorry, what?

Yeah.

Okay, that's okay. You have a, what's your, okay. I wanted to continue with the Jonathan Cahn thing a little bit, I did some research during the break.

Oh, okay, okay, I thought I was confused there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, awesome.

Yeah, he's a big time writer, he's a Jewish rabbi.

Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on. So I would not trust him. Don't follow what he says. There's a lot of prophecy, what he said, he's made prophecies. He seems to be overly sensationalistic. He uses too much personal revelation, things like that.

So if I were you, I would avoid him, okay?

Oh, okay, well, this is what my pastor said. He says, I don't agree with, this is what he said. I don't agree with everything he says, but this book, he did like, so I just audibled it. But it's super hard to understand, but I appreciate it.

Yeah, I think you're probably right. But I don't know if he has, if he follows the precious blood or not. He don't like come out and say it when I try to Google, a lot of people don't. But I know I do, you do too, right?

Yeah, yeah, so what's your next question?

Oh, well, no, I was just saying that when I like, I like the King James Version, like there's a ton of, you know, there's a ton of different like, or not a ton, a few different versions of the Bible. I like the original one that came out in the early 1900s to follow from.

It's hard to find preachers who preach from it, like straight from it. A lot of preachers around Ohio, they don't even use the word hell, or they have like, I'm not joking, you can Google it, there's yoga.

Some Baptist churches even have yoga. You have a, they accept sodomy. Now these are bad, this is, I'm not lying, you can Google it. I don't go there, unfortunately. Oh, you know?

I know, there's an apostasy that's brewing in the Protestant movement as a whole. That's right, they're not trusting the Word of God, and they're adopting secularism and humanist philosophy. Yeah, it's, I'm well aware of it.

So yeah, and parts of those adoptions are things like Christian yoga, and the 12-step program, which is bad. We should not be in churches. And the acceptance of false teachers like Kenneth Copeland, and Joyce Meyer, and Joel Osteen.

Oh my goodness, never mind. My mom went to one of her things in St. Louis. It was awful.

Yeah.

That Joyce Meyer individual.

Yeah, she teaches there.

Hey, um.

So there you go. Any other questions?

No, man, I appreciate that. I'm just gonna, Jennifer, no more Jonathan Cahn, but it was confusing and stuff, but like I said, the guy I really liked, I don't agree with him all the time with this book, but he's wrote seven or eight.

He's never mentioned any of them, but I appreciate him.

He keeps doing it.

Hopefully he'll get more callers, though. I don't understand why. It's pretty, the most easiest gentle call I've ever had, and I call radio all the time. Thanks, man, you be careful.

God bless. Okay, God bless. All right, wow. Let's get over to Jared from Indiana. Jared, welcome. You're on the air.

Calvinism, Dispensationalism, and the Meaning of Election

Hey, so I called in a couple of days ago and asked you about Calvinism. We hadn't got to talk again, so I wanted to ask you, first of all, what your thoughts about Calvinism versus dispensationalism.

Calvinism, generally speaking, holds to, or those who hold to that Reformed perspective hold to covenant theology.

Yes, sir.

And then there are Calvinists who hold to dispensational theology. So it's not Calvinism against dispensationalism. Generally, it's covenantalism versus dispensationalism. And covenantalism is the view that God works covenantally as a primary means throughout history, and that the covenant, which is a pact or an agreement between two or more parties, and has a covenant sign, this is how God works, beginning with the inter-Trinitarian eternal covenant of Hebrews 13, 20, and it goes on, and then the word in Latin for covenant is testamentum, so Old Testament, New Testament.

So I'm a covenantalist, and when you adopt covenantal theology, other things fall in line, but we won't get into that right now. So dispensationalism is an approach to biblical interpretation, which assumes that God uses different means to working with different people at different times, different places, and there certainly is a level of truth to that.

So not all, and I'll get into more, but not all covenantalists avoid certain concepts that the dispensationalists will use, and vice versa. So dispensationalism, however, generally they will divide history into periods, and the most common one I've heard is seven periods, an age of innocence, and then, yeah, where Adam and Eve were there, and then before they sinned, and conscience, that's from them to the flood, and then civil government.

After the flood, there was government, and then the age of the promise, from Abraham to Moses, then the law, Moses to the cross, then grace, cross to the millennial kingdom, and then millennial kingdom, the rule of Christ for 1 ,000 years.

And so most reformed, and most that I've occurred, I've understood, this is my experience, I could be wrong on the statistics, but most of my experience tells me that those who hold to covenant theology are also a millennial or post-millennial, not pre-millennial.

So there are differences, but both are within orthodoxy, and it's okay, all right?

Yeah, so the other day, whenever I had called you, and we had talked, and we got into John six, and I had brought up a verse about the spirit hadn't been given yet. So if I give you a thought, would you be willing to just pick it apart, and show me where I'm wrong?

Sure, give me a thought, let's see. Okay. Let's see what you got.

So because I had quoted that verse, and I asked if you thought that maybe when he was talking to John six about they couldn't come to him unless the father had given them, and so I said, I thought that because the spirit hadn't been given, it wouldn't reside in them, and we had stopped, and you went in further.

So this was the thought. So before the cross, the older prophets, they went to, or anybody in the Old Testament, I should say older saints, they went to Abraham's bosom after Christ is risen. He brings them with, and that is because then, because obviously he's glorified at that time, it says in John seven with that verse about the spirit hadn't been given because he hadn't been glorified yet, and that is why they got to go, because Ephesians one says that we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, and that's why they got to go then, because they hadn't had the spirit of promise in them to seal them to go to heaven.

You're close, okay.

Okay.

So before the cross, they went to Abraham's bosom. That's out of Luke 16, 19 to 31, and then after Jesus died, he brought them out, and that's out of Ephesians chapter four verses roughly eight through 12, and you can also cross-reference it with first Timothy, excuse me, first Peter three, 16 to 18, okay.

It talks about that kind of stuff, but it wasn't until after the shed blood of Christ that they could then be moved out of Abraham's bosom into the heavenly realm. The crucifixion and the atoning sacrifice is what made the difference, not just the giving of the spirit, but the giving of the spirit was done because of the work of the blood which cleanses the temple in which the spirit can dwell, and so in the Old Testament, blood was sprinkled on objects and individuals in order to purify them, so the same kind of thing here is, Hebrews speaks about this, but nevertheless, the blood of Christ is what cleanses us and the Holy Spirit lives in us in that new and permanent and more better way, let's just say, okay.

Yeah, so you don't think that has anything to do with John 6 then, though? That whole not being able to come to the Father was it given because of that, or just because I'm taking it in the view of dispensationalism.

I'm an independent fundamental Baptist, so just so you know exactly where I'm coming from, but I listen to a lot of people as long as they're preaching and teaching the Bible and they're not way off, I'll listen, especially, I listen to a lot of Calvinists.

There's lots of people, lots of apologetics I like to listen to, but I'm trying to see where the difference is. I'm trying to pinpoint because when it comes to the gospel and election and predestination, it's so far off.

I know it sounds close, but when you really dig, the two are way off.

We got a break, but we're gonna go for a break and come back. I want you to summarize, what do you mean by way off? What exactly is way off? Because I'm curious about that. We'll be right back, folks, after these messages and talk to Jared, and hopefully you'll still be listening.

We'll probably be right back.

It's Matt Slick Live! Taking your calls at 877 -207 -2276. Here's Matt Slick.

All right, everybody, welcome back to the show. We'll get back to Jared here in a sec. Thanks, Ernie. And for the $5 rent there in Rumble, really appreciate it. Good stuff. All right, Jared, you're back on the air.

All right, so what I was saying about the Calvinism and, well, not necessarily just dispensationalism, but how independent Baptists believe. So when it comes to TULIP, for example, so we'll just break it down to what it is.

They have, there's a lot of differences in what is believed in an independent Baptist church as opposed to maybe what a Calvinist would teach about TULIP. So like total depravity, right? We believe, like in the church, we believe that men are totally depraved, but not because they were, they were born in sin, but they pick sin, and not according to their nature as much as that is the choice that they just make because they love sin more than they love God.

That's what Calvinists hold to that, too. Okay, variations of that, yeah.

Well, and then unconditional election. We believe there is conditions, and it's in Christ, not the person, but only in Christ, that the elect is Christ.

That's what Calvinists teach, that it's not based on anything in the individual. It's based on what God wants to do. He doesn't look in the future to see what you're gonna do and then pick you. Not conditioned on anything in you, it's conditioned on what's in him.

Okay, that's what it means.

That, but that's a little bit different than the definition. The definition that is taught in the independent fundamental Baptist churches that God's elect is Christ, and until we're in Christ, you're not elect.

No, no, no, that's faulty. I mean, I would just actually bury that one in the dirt. All right, the elect are the individuals chosen, and you can go through and look up the word eclektosiklegamai and things like that, and you can find out.

The elect are those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. That's Ephesians 1 .4. So that one, they're just wrong on. Jesus is a chosen one, but the elect deals with those who are in Christ because they were chosen before the foundation of the world.

That's what election is, okay? Yeah, they blew that one.

And they would also say that, and then that election is to service, not to salvation.

Yeah, they're, okay, to elect, hold on, I gotcha. Yeah, election means being chosen, right?

Right.

Okay, 2 Thessalonians 2 .13. But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the spirit of faith and truth.