Matt Slick Live: June 11, 2024

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The following program is recorded content created by The Truth Network. It's Matt Slick Live!

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Matt is the founder and president of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry, found online at karm .org.

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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.

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Here's Matt Slick. Hey, everybody. Welcome to the show. It's me, Matt Slick. You're listening to Matt Slick Live.

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Today's date for the podcasters, as always, is June 11th, 2024. Hope you're all having a good day and a good time.

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We have nobody waiting right now as far as calls go. But if you want to give me a call, the number is 877 -207 -2276.

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Also, if you want to email me a comment or question about the radio show, all you have to do is send an email to info at karm .org,

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info at karm .org, and put in the subject line, radio comment, radio question. You know,

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I was thinking today, whenever I could create an email that had, like,

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Matt Slick Live email answers, whatever, dot com, or dot whatever, wouldn't that be easier for people?

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I don't know. Just thinking. So, there you go. And we have nobody waiting, like I said.

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And I do have, let's see, I do have, boy,

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I'm reading all this stuff. Oh, interesting. Oh, man, look at that. I'm reading, I'm reading the emails.

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I got this one in here. I met Matt and the team back when he had street evangelism with Ray Comfort in Washington, D .C.

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Fortunately, I've got a friend who's in the process of being brainwashed by a rather notable self -proclaimed prophet, a guy named

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Cleck. Huh. And a variant of Arnold Murray stuff.

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Oh, boy. There's so much heresy, so little time. So, that's something that, we have a lot of email helpers, and that's really good, because these guys are doing some good work, and they are answering emails.

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We need to get a section on CARM where we actually take the email answers, questions and answers, and just put them in there, and we're going to do that.

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And let's see, looking for some of the, there we go, radio, oh, my goodness. That's a humongous radio question.

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It's like the longest one I've ever seen. It's like three pages. Jesus was not the last Adam at all.

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He wasn't? I'm just going to read these. I'm not going for it. The first Adam was of flesh, carnality, and of mind.

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The second Adam became born again of God. When he gained God's knowledge, it became like him to know the difference between carnality of flesh and spirituality.

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That is not of the flesh, proven, Genesis 3 .22. This guy does not know what he's doing. It says in 1

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Corinthians 15 .45, Jesus is the last Adam. So when it says Jesus was not the last Adam, the

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Bible says he was the last Adam. That's what it says. So, I mean, sheesh. And when you read

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Matthew 3 .16, you will see the very same thing happened in Jesus. You can't relate to that in yourself, can you?

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It's really interesting. I love this kind of stuff. It's like Whack -O -Mail to me. I'm just jumping in on it because we've got nobody waiting.

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And people call up, you know, or excuse me, the email, I'll go with that. They'll email me and they think they've made some incredible point and say, you can't handle it, can you?

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Who are you? What are you talking about? And what will happen a lot of times is

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I'll meet people who they've emailed me and I'll meet them online, you know, and this has happened before.

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I've been online someplace in the chat room. Someone will come in. Hey, I want to talk to Matt Slick. And so, yeah, okay, what's your question?

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And he says, why come you don't answer my email? It's got to be because you're afraid. And I'm like, first of all, who are you?

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And what emails are you talking about? Don't lie to me. I'm like, dude, dude, man,

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I've got like 5 ,000 emails. We have like five people who help going through emails. Don't assume

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I see every email. Oh, I don't believe you. I don't believe you. You're just afraid of me. And I say, guess what?

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Here's a delete key. And so I meet people like that, and it's really kind of entertaining.

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They think they, you know, they beat me and stuff like that when I don't even know what they're talking about. Anyway, your education is of man, he says, and is very elementary and not from God himself lacking in being born again as Jesus became.

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Jesus was, goodness, look, folks, if anybody tells you Jesus was born again, just take four steps backward and wait for the lightning bolt to hit him.

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It's just dumb. He was not born again. Now, there's some heretics within Protestantism are teaching them like Kenneth Copeland and Joyce Meyer.

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They're heretics. I'm sorry. They're outside the Christian camp. I don't call them believers in Christ.

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They teach false doctrines and all kinds of stuff. And the people that they brainwash, it's just ridiculous.

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But anyway, they make a lot of money, aren't they? So, he says, if you're looking at it,

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I'm going on with this email, I'm enjoying this. If you're looking at it from what someone's besides what is written has told you, you know, this is when the phrase, he does not have all his paws in the litter box comes into play.

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You know, his bolt isn't tightened well enough, you know, his wattage is flickering, you know, just all kinds.

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I love those things, you know. His bearings aren't greased. Let's see. Jesus came upon, up -o, he came up -o with the team, ye must be born again, or whatever.

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When you are born, we are not born spiritually minded, we're born. I will do as Matt says,

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I've got my name in here now, and quote that what Jesus said without adding to or taking away from what is written.

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All you are doing is editing, editing in your own interpretations.

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Editing is what you do. You know, we have a recording or a writing and then you do something good.

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Let's see. So did Matt. So did Matt. When these questions were presented to him, ooh, they were presented to me, okay.

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And when, and, oh, this is hard to read. And you do that from lack of God in himself interpreting his will in you.

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Obedience to him is key. You never have communicated with God directly one -on -one in communication, have you?

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Ooh, wow, oh, man, this goes on and on, it's kind of rambling, and I like that.

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And Matt, when he, I'm skipping through. And Matt, when he was presented with what

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Jesus said, he got all upset and was like you and tried to explain away from his own understanding that what

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Jesus actually said. Okay. So, yeah, this guy's name's

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Gary. Gary does not have all his paws in the litter box. Ooh, man, oh, that's a long email, too.

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I won't get into all that stuff. All right, let's get to Alberto from Georgia.

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Alberto, welcome, buddy. You're on the air. Alberto. Yes, good afternoon, evening, Matt Slick.

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Good evening. Yes, my question is, if a pastor says that God told him that 70 % of the church members will stay behind because they're not living right, now, if I reverse it,

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Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, I'm cracking up.

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A pastor said that God told him that it was 70%, right? That's the number?

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Uh -huh. Well, I heard another pastor before him in that same church,

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God told him 90%, the previous pastor, the first pastor when I first went there. Well, I guess things are getting better.

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It went from 90 % to 70%. Now, it's down to 70%. It went a few more weeks, maybe down to 50%.

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You know? Well, in a way, uh -huh, yeah, I understand. What about if I say, me as a church member would say, well,

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God revealed to me that 70 % of the pastors across America will stay behind if Jesus will come because they're not living right.

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Would they get special treatment or a slap in the wrist for that? Yeah, maybe. Who knows? But I always like to respond with stuff like, well, 70 % of the time, 80 % of the pastors are 90 % wrong.

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And just see what they do with that, you know? What? But I like it that God tells them the percentage.

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I think that's really great. And what gets me is when people come up to the pulpit, God told me something here.

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There's a percentage. I'm gonna just let you know what he said. Because if God told me something and I knew it was

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God, I'd be like crawling up to the pulpit. Okay, folks, God's audible voice came to me.

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And I'm telling you, oh, man, I can't even been able to eat or sleep for three days. This is what he said.

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You know, it wouldn't be. Hey, guess what? Guess what? God told me something. I'm gonna tell everybody. Oh, that's interesting.

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Yeah, it's just it's just charlatan stupidity. That's all it is. Okay. Okay. What about if I challenged the pastor in front of the congregation and the congregation says he's their pastor, they'll protect him, what he's saying.

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And they'll attack me for exposing his false revelation. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Because people become loyal to pastors more than Jesus a lot of times.

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I don't know what your situation is, if you're representing everything accurately. I'm just going off what you said. But it's not that uncommon that people become loyal to a pastor.

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And there's a legalistic, emotionally damaging church that I've known about up here in Idaho, where the people are so loyal to the pastor that they clean his house, wash his car, you know, this is how it used to be, and various things.

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Because he wants them to. It's not what you do as a pastor. Okay. Yeah.

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I mean, I have to just say the last pastor I had as a day one, we said that he supposedly got revealed my sin, but I already knew they would gossip it.

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Months ago to a co -worker, one of the church ladies, I know who knows the guy. And the deacon licked my face.

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He said that, no, nobody knows when he told it two weeks before the pastor said it and before his son said it to confirm the pastor, two weeks before, both of them.

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And he licked my face and he said, nobody knows about it. It's a voluntary baloney. I caught him on a lie. So how can you believe what the pastor says and his son says?

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I mean, yeah, you know, I mean, there are a lot of, there's a lot of wackos out there and a lot of people who plainly hear from God and the inner arrogance.

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Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's a problem. You can't challenge them. Yeah, you can, but I understand what you mean.

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You can challenge and what will happen is that's the unpredictable thing. But I'm with you, buddy. I get it.

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Yeah. Okay. All right. God bless you. Take care. Great work, Matt. Slick. Okay, man. Thanks a lot.

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All right. God bless. All right. Now, hey, we have four open lines or three open lines.

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If you want to give me a call, 877 -207 -2276.

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Let's get to Elijah from Pennsylvania. Welcome. You're on the air. Hey, Matt.

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So my question today is out of Revelation 13 -7.

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Some people say that the saints that are mentioned in this passage are

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Christians, and others say that the saints in this passage are not Christians, but referring to the 144 ,000

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Jews who were persecuted. So what is your interpretation on this? Oh, I don't know.

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I'd have to look at that in the context to see. But the word saints there is hagios, and it means basically in reference to those who are truly believers.

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So without having looked at it, I can't tell you exactly who it is, but I would think that it means the saints, not just the 144 ,000.

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And the reason I say that is because it goes on just a few verses later to talk about ...

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Oh, is it there? No, it's not there. Oh, I was wrong. It's a different place. So, no,

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I don't know what it is. I'm not sure what it is from what your question is. I'd have to look at it to make sure.

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Okay. Yeah, but I know some people, especially the pre -Tribbers, they'll say that they can't be

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Christians because they get raptured. So they say that maybe it's the people after rapture, they have to believe in Jesus afterwards, and then they get persecuted for their conversion to Christ.

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Yeah, that's one view. And the thing that the pre -Tribbers will say about Revelation is that because a church isn't mentioned after a certain chapter, and it is mentioned, they just don't want to admit that it is.

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But it is. And it's the 24 elders. That's generally considered to be the church, but representative of that.

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And also, just because something's not mentioned later on doesn't mean it's not still extant and true. For example, in 1

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John, justification by faith isn't mentioned. Doesn't mean it's not true, or it's not still in place.

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But hold on, man. We've got a break. Okay, buddy. There's the music. So, hey, folks, if you want, you can give me a call, 877 -207 -2276.

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You can also email me, info at carm .org, C -A -R -M dot O -R -G.

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Just put in there, radio question, radio comment, and we'll get to it. God bless.

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

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Here's Matt Slick. Hey, buddy, welcome back to the show. If you want, you can give me a call, 877 -207 -2276.

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Let's get back on with Elijah. Hey, buddy, are you still there? Yep, I'm still here.

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All right. So, okay, so we were back at Revelation 13.

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So I'm not sure. Not sure what it is, but I think it's not just the 144 ,000.

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That's my opinion right now. But who knows? Okay. Okay. My other question is out of 1

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Peter 4, 18. Some translations say the righteous will scarcely be saved.

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Others say it is hard for the righteous to be saved. So what is Peter trying to say here?

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Well, the Greek, let's see, and if it is with difficulty that the righteous will be saved, the word there is malus.

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It just means labor pains with difficulty, hardly, scarcely, with difficulty, painfully, or in toil.

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So that's all. That's what it means. So they're just trying to pick the right one.

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And so and if difficulty, the righteous is saved.

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So what it literally is saying in the Greek is chi, which is and, a, it's an ei word, but we pronounce it a, and if malus, that's just difficulty.

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So literally it's and if difficulty, the righteous saved. So that's what's going on in the

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Greek. So we can have a bit of range on exactly how we want to say it.

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But if it's hard for the righteous to be saved, if it's with difficulty, if it isn't easy that the righteous are saved, things like that.

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And it would all be legitimate, okay? Yeah, and so I guess some people would say, it seems to say that you have to have good works in order to be saved because I can already see somebody trying to bring that argument up this verse.

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Well, if they say they do good works to be saved, then they're not Christians. They're false converts, okay?

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We do good works because we're saved. Our works don't contribute to salvation, which is why the

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Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Mormon Church, whether Mormon, Christian, at all, but that's why they're all false churches, yeah.

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So, okay, well, yeah, okay. Yeah. Oh, yeah, and one more question.

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Sure. Joshua 5 mentions the angels of the

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Lord, and he's referred to as the commander of the

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Lord. Yes. And Michael, the archangel, is also called—

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I mean, the term archangel or chief prince also means a commander of the

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Lord's army. So both of them are called commander of the Lord's army. So I can see some people trying to use this to say that Michael and Jesus are one and the same because of this, so, like, what would be your response since the

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Bible calls both of them the commander of the Lord's army? You have to ask a lot more questions. Just because the same word is used of different people, situations, doesn't mean it's identical.

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That's the first thing, just because both of them use commander. There's a phrase,

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Morning Star, used of God, there was Christ in the Old Testament, also the devil.

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So when you have a phrase like that or a term that's used similarly between individuals, it's not—you don't transfer the meaning over there.

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So that's an exegetical mistake on their part to assert that. If they want to do a phrase and in the context the phrase is more limiting in that it seems to be descriptive of a certain something with a word that goes along with it, then the argument is strengthened.

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But when they say it's Jesus, Jesus did not exist in the Old Testament. And I get more technical than most people do.

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Jesus started to exist 2 ,000 years ago. And by definition, Jesus is the union of the second person of the

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Trinity who's always existed and the human nature, that union where one person has two natures is who

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Jesus is, that began 2 ,000 years ago. Which is why when we talk in the Old Testament about this stuff,

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I say the pre -incarnate Christ. That's how I refer to him so that people understand the difference.

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So if they want to say that Jesus is the pre -incarnate Christ who's deity but was not an angel, and they want to relate that, it's not heretical,

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I would then examine whether or not they're actually— Jesus warrants it. If, however, someone were to say that the angel

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Michael, et cetera, the created being angel Michael is the pre -incarnate

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Christ, then that's a damnable heresy and needs to be addressed because it can't happen that way.

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So we just have to examine each thing in its context and what they're saying, okay? Yeah.

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Oh, yeah. So since you brought up the natures of Christ, some people like to say that Jesus had two spirits in him because of a passage in the

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New Testament. I can't remember what it was. But they like to say that Jesus had a human spirit like we do, and he also had the divine spirit in him as well.

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See, we've got to be careful we talk like that because the word spirit can be interpreted in different ways.

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They would have to define the term very precisely. This is why we say he's one person with two natures.

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Now, if they say that each nature has a spirit, what do they mean by a spirit?

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Because if Jesus, the pre -incarnate one, the pre -incarnate Christ has a spirit, do they mean the spirit is its own being?

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If that's the case, then that's flat -out heresy. So it just depends on what they mean by the words.

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So this is a mistake a lot of people make when they talk to people who raise issues like this, people who use different words to describe

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Jesus, God, incarnation. And then you have to start asking, what do you mean by these terms?

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Because it's very, very important to get those definitions down. And if they're not clear, then they shouldn't be using them anyway like that, the way the theologians don't use them.

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And they don't use them for a reason. So we've got to be careful when newbies come along and say

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Jesus has two spirits, what do you mean by that? You want to say he has two natures? Okay.

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Yeah. I think when they say that, I think they literally mean the pre -incarnate

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Christ was a spirit. And then when he was incarnated, the human baby also had a human spirit as well, just like we do.

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So they think it was two spirits in one body. Now they're using the word spirit in slightly different senses because when it says that he was spirit, they're talking about his form in an eternal sense.

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We talk about spirit with human as a beginning. And in what sense you talk about spirit, is it spirit as a relation to the soul or what?

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So even then, they've got to be careful in how they use the terms. They've got to be very, very precise. Because trust me, this is very important when you talk about the personal work of Christ.

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You have to be very, very precise in what it is you're saying. This is why in this topic, theological understanding is a necessity.

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All right. Okay, buddy. All right. All right. Thank you.

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All right, buddy. God bless. Okay. All right. Now let's get to Steve.

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Oh, hey, Steve. Sorry about that. The music just now came on. So hold on, buddy. We got a break. We'll get right back to you after the break.

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So hold on. Hey, folks, here's the break. There's the music. We'll be right back. If you want, give me a call.

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877 -207 -2276. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick Live!

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

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All right, everybody. Welcome back to the show. As soon as Steve's reactivated, we'll get him back on the air. If you want to give me a call, 877 -207 -2276.

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Let's get back to Steve. You there, buddy? I'm here. All right, man.

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Okay, so what's your question? Yeah, I hear you. What's your question? My question, hello,

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I've got a couple of questions. I was wondering, is smoking pot and smoking cigarettes sin?

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And if it is, I've been hearing on the radio station here lately that if you have a sin for a long time, that it's possible that you're not even saved.

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And I'm kind of scared. Everybody has sin for a long time, okay? And we all have sins that we deal with.

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And so if you're a Christian and there's things you're struggling with, it doesn't mean you're not saved.

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It means you're struggling with sins. And sometimes we have issues that we just can't beat very easily.

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It takes a lot of work. So when someone comes along and just says, you know, hey, maybe you're not saved.

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It depends on the topic. If you're out, you know, committing adultery constantly and stuff, you know, then that's a very serious sin.

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And if there's no conviction, if you are a Christian, God will either kill you or He will deal with you or you never were saved.

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So there's some truth to it. But we've got to be careful at the same time. Now, about smoking cigarettes.

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Well, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6 .16 that our bodies, our bodies are temples of the living

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God. All right. Now, so this is what generally is brought up about the issue of smoking cigarettes.

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We'll get to pot here in a second. So, or should you smoke cigarettes? Well, I don't think anybody should smoke cigarettes.

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That's my opinion. I don't think anybody should do that kind of a thing. And it's bad because it's bad for your lungs.

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But, I don't think it's sinful. You know, it's not sinful. I don't see why it's sinful because if they're going to say, look, you can't smoke a cigarette because it's hurting you.

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Don't eat sugar. Sugar is bad for you. It really is. Don't eat, you know.

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And, you know, we could, I mean, maybe there's a study done. Which is worse for your health, sugar or cigarette smoking? Yeah, I'm not going to say

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I know which one is or isn't. But these are serious issues. So, sometimes what people want to do is they want to point out the visible things, not the invisible things.

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Yeah. You go and you have a chocolate shake and a couple candy bars at home while you're watching movies and whatever.

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Well, is that worse for your body? It may very well be. But I don't know. I'm not a doctor. You know,

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I'm just saying we've got to be careful. So, I've had friends who smoke cigarettes. I never talk to them about it.

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I don't care. That's their business between them and God. And if I want to say to them, hey, you know, you shouldn't be smoking cigarettes.

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All they got to do is say, you know, I see how you are with the candy bars and the M &Ms. Yeah, you got me. Because it's true.

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You know, I'm trying to get off all that stuff. Yeah, I'm having less and less sugar. It's bad for you. So, in fact,

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I haven't had any for a few days now. So, the thing is, that's a debatable thing. Now, let's get to pot.

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All right. Can I say that smoking marijuana automatically is sin and the answer is no. We can have different situations.

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I do know of certain medical conditions where they actually do recommend that you smoke it because it's helpful for certain kinds of things.

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If it's under doctor's supervision, I don't have a problem with it. If it's just for, how to say this, just casual use, you know,

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I have more of a problem with that. Now, I've never in my life ever smoked pot. Never have. And, I rarely even have any alcohol ever.

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Rarely. And I'll smoke a cigar about once every six months. So, that's how bad

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I am and all that stuff. But, if someone smokes pot, I don't judge them.

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I think the Holy Spirit needs to work with them. I have heard of people who just do it regularly and they justify it and it's got a bit of control over them and that's a sin.

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So, if you're doing something and it has control over you, then it definitely is sinful. So, if people want to do marijuana as a recreational thing, then the question

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I'm going to ask is, are they also doing this with alcohol? Because, people can drink alcohol and it's not considered a sin.

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Because, even in Proverbs 31 .6, give strong drink to the man who's perishing and wine to the one who's in distress.

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So, it's described in the Bible. But, it's prescribed as a kind of a medicine.

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Well, can that work with pot? Yes, it can. So, you see, this is, it's a tough one.

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And then, there's stuff that has the helpful part of marijuana without the,

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I think it's called TCP, without the brain altering stuff. And so, what if you take that?

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I don't have a problem with that. I mean, if it's medical stuff, yeah. So, this is not easy. I know

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I maybe have really surprised a lot of people. I am against any drug usage. I hardly ever drink.

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I don't think people should do this kind of stuff. But, I can't find anything in Scripture that says, oh, you can't do it.

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And I had to base it on Scripture. So, there you go. Okay. I used to drink and God took it away.

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And so, now it's just a very occasional glass of wine or something.

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I was just wondering, I've been smoking for over 50 years and I have always considered myself to be a

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Christian. you know, I asked the Lord to be my Lord and, you know, received

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Him as Lord. And, I mean, there have been times where I thought, well, maybe

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I didn't get saved. Maybe I didn't know quite what I was doing or didn't have enough information.

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So, I'll get saved now. look,

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I'm wondering what to do. I've been trying to leave it alone.

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But, it is something I just kind of reach for, you know. Yeah, cigarettes, because you're addicted.

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And, nicotine is highly addictive. Now, I wouldn't call you an unbeliever. I wouldn't say you're going to hell.

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I wouldn't say anything like that. I'd say somebody's got a little bit of control over you. You just see if you can beat it.

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It's not good for your health. But, that's between you and God. So, that's it. Okay? Okay.

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Thank you. I knew a seminary professor who smoked. Alright? He was in seminary.

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And, we went out and did some stuff together. And, he was smoking. And, I was shocked. But, I was like, whatever. You know?

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So, okay. And, I know a lot of people are teetotalers who are

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Christians who say that Jesus never made wine. Yes, he did. It was alcoholic wine. And, this idea that grape juice is ridiculous.

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But, we don't want to have things master us. That's the issue.

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That's the issue. So, we want to have something that is good for us. Well, what would you call control?

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What would be considered control over you? Well, let's say, let's use cigarettes as an example.

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Let's say you try and stop and you can't and you're really trying and you can't do it and you want to stop and you can't and you can't and it's just too hard on you.

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Then it has control over you and then I would say it's a sinful issue. It doesn't mean you're not saved.

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It just means that you've got to work on something. And, we all have these things. I've got stuff in my mind and heart that I've been working on since the day

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I got saved. there's still not, let's just say, there hasn't been 100 % victory in a lot of areas.

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There's been 95%, maybe 98%, maybe 87%, you know, whatever, in some areas.

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But, we want to be giving this to God, working towards being more like him and just being as best we can with him.

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So, you know, if you can give up cigarettes, praise God and you can serve him longer. If you can't, that's between you and God and I would not say you're not a

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Christian. Right? Your Christianity is not dependent on your smoking, it's dependent upon your faith in Christ.

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And then you want to work that faith into other areas of your life. Okay? Yeah, that's true.

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I know a lot of Christians that smoke pot and smoke cigarettes. So, I was wondering if we were all like on the wrong road.

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Well, there are issues here because, you know, if a bunch of guys and girls after church go smoke pot and they just get together and do that, that's not a good witness and that might be an issue where they need counseling and help.

32:34

It's like a bunch of people, let's get together and go drink. What? Yeah. Why would you want to do that? And so, there's issues here and it becomes a gray area.

32:43

I would say, what's the reason for it? And also, if it's illegal, don't do it.

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Don't do it. Yeah. And so, it's a hard one to work through all the time in every situation, but there are people with chemo who

33:02

I understand that certain aspects of marijuana are very helpful for them and if that's what would help them then that's what helps them.

33:10

Okay? So, it's not that easy to just say yes or no all the time. Okay? Okay. Alright.

33:18

Thank you. You're welcome. Have a good one. God bless. Okay. You too. Alright. Now, I just want to make sure

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I don't want anybody taking me out of context and say, Matt Slick approves of smoking and drinking and marijuana and drug use.

33:33

That's not what I am saying. Please don't do that. I get people do that all the time. You know, take me out of context and exaggerate what

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I say. I think it's best if you don't do any of those things. But I will say that Jesus made wine and it was used for medical, medicinal kind of purposes in Proverbs 31 verse 6.

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So, I think that these kinds of things, if they have medical purpose and reasons, I think that that's okay.

34:00

So, there you go. There's the music. We'll be right back after these messages. Please, stay tuned.

34:08

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

34:15

Here's Matt Slick. Everybody, welcome back to the show. Let's get on with Luke from Washington.

34:20

Luke, welcome. You're on the air, buddy. Luke. How are you?

34:26

Doing all right. What do you got, man? What's up, buddy? Today, my question is, can a true

34:32

Christian sin or not? You are talking about a smoker, you know, he's a

34:38

Christian. And then, my question is, can a Christian sin or not? The reason is, in 1

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John 1, it says that if you say that we have no sin, we are deceived. And then, same

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John is saying that, 1 John 3, 9, no one who is born of God practices sin.

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Yes, Christians can sin. Yep. Okay. All right.

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So, a Christian can sin? I'm sorry, what? One second.

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So, yes, Christians sin. They still do. Yep. And this sinless perfectionism and stuff is just a load of malarkey.

35:23

Hello? Yeah, are you still there? Yeah, I'm still there. Okay. So, did

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I answer your question? Yes, you can still sin. Yep. Even as a Christian. I'm not saying it's okay. I'm just saying it's what we do.

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We're not perfect. That's what I'm saying. Okay. So, is that contradicting this statement, 1

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John 3, 9, and 1 John 5, 18? No one who is born of God practices sin.

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that's what it's talking about. Practices. Right. Who abides in it and lives in it. Okay.

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So, a born -again person can sin, but we can confess.

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That means sin is not a practice of a born -again person. This is not that easy to discuss because everybody sins, but what he's talking about here, at least what

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I believe it is, is outright sinfulness. You're going in, you're seeking it, you're doing bad things.

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It's not to say that we're perfect in our hearts. There's different levels of understanding here.

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So, we still sin as Christians. We struggle against our sin.

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That's what it is. So, I'm not saying it's okay to sin. I'm just saying it's the way it is with us.

36:44

Okay. So, if I call my friend a stupid and then a born -again person calls you stupid and then

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God predestined me to call stupid or can I blame God or can't blame me?

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You blame yourself for what you say and do. Don't blame God. All right. But I think a

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Christian can confess what we did, what

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I did. Yes. Christians confess what they've done and they move towards Christ and hopefully they have more and more victory over more and more sins because we can't do a hundred sin corrections all at once.

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We're not capable. We have to do one thing at a time, two things at a time kind of a thing. God works on us.

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We get this taken care of. We become more and more like Christ. And if people say that no, they don't sin anymore that means they've already arrived at being just like Jesus, never sinning.

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And that's foolishness. So, it's called the sanctification process. We have to undergo it and it's a lifelong process.

37:51

We're all working on it. Okay? So then, one more question. So then I can say

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I was saved. I was being I am being saved. I will be saved. No.

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No, don't, no. Those are tenses taken out of context used by false religious people when they say that salvation is a process.

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I'm saved. I'm being saved. I will be saved. And it's false. So it's just different meanings in different contexts.

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If you're saved, you're saved. That's how it is. You don't get more saved. You're saved by what

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God has done in faith and trust that he's granted to you that's in Christ. You're justified upon your belief.

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That's it. Done. Okay? Then if I sin, if I say person is keep on sinning then that person is not saved person or a

38:40

It depends in what kind of sin. It's not not all sins are equal.

38:46

What if someone is thinking things about a neighbor he shouldn't be thinking.

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He knows that. You know, he's angry about something. He's saying, Oh Lord, please help me with my anger towards this neighbor.

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And he's struggling with it. That's different. And that's a sin. Unrighteous anger. That would be different than going out robbing banks and killing people.

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And so when people talk about this issue they're not differentiating between the different kinds of sin and levels of sin.

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All sin is bad. But some are that we can deal with even as Christians we can live with them.

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Not that we want to. But that we're struggling through them. And that means we're saved.

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But the stuff that's really bad which you can go to 1 Corinthians 6, 9, and 10 and you can read through those.

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You know, sorcery and adulteries and murders and things like that. These are the things you do these things.

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You don't have God abiding in you. So the scriptures differentiate. Okay? If I lie today 10 times

39:47

Okay. We got other callers so I want to get going. So okay. So all right. Could you say one more?

39:53

I got callers waiting to talk about some other stuff. Okay, buddy? Okay. Thank you. Okay. All right.

39:59

Next longest waiting is Rebecca from Utah. Rebecca, welcome. You're on the air. Hello, Matt.

40:05

How are you doing today? I'm doing okay. Hanging in there. I know.

40:11

Me, too. Anyway, I wanted to tell you a little bit about my marijuana.

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Okay? Now, I was born in 1948. So I've seen a lot.

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The Vietnam War and all that. You know, I've seen a lot.

40:30

Anyway, I was in a terrific car accident in 1982 for a

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I was DOA on arrival. They had a hard time keeping me alive. And people say, well, what did you see when you died?

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You know, everybody's curious. I didn't see anything. But when I did recover from my coma,

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I felt peaceful. I had a smile on my face. I was peaceful. I can't describe it.

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It was just wonderful. So perhaps I was with Jesus. I don't know. But anyway, consequently, from that car accident,

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I had an MRI on my brain and et cetera, et cetera. So I need marijuana.

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My doctor immediately sent me out to the dispensary here.

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So for me, I have to have it for my pain, my anxiety, et cetera, et cetera.

41:30

So that's my input on marijuana. Okay? So for me, it's sort of just no purposes.

41:38

Okay? So that's my input on that. Okay? Okay, Matt.

41:44

Well, you have a nice day, honey. You too. Thank you. You're welcome. All right. All right.

41:50

Now let's get to Clay. Hey, Clay, welcome. You're on the air. Brother Matt, top of the thankful Tuesday to you, brother

41:58

Matt. It's been a while since you and I have been able to have a heartfelt conversation on the phone. But I find it interesting that you're having a conversation with an individual

42:08

I think a couple of callers ago about drinking and smoking. Well, yes, I used to,

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I used to smoke. I did it two packs a day every day for four years when I was in the military. I slowed down because I got out of the military and I started working for UPS.

42:26

Okay. So I was drinking. I only, I don't hardly drink anymore.

42:33

I will have an occasional sip of a beer. But from what I understand and what's been what is shared biblically,

42:41

I understand what that lady shared before. But when you go through things, there, you know, the

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Bible, the book, the first chapter of the book of James says, consider it your joy that when you face trials of many kinds, okay, each of us goes through something because of what we have done before.

43:02

We say that we are followers of Jesus. You know, the drinking and the smoking thing, we, the

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Bible says that we are supposed to take care of our bodies because those are living temples for him.

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When we go against that, we will receive, I mean,

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I mean, I received a little bit of, you know, not feeling well.

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I mean, when I smoked, I know I would get, I won't say definitely ill, but it's a major difference when you do something.

43:35

And in a way, when you go against the commandments and the principles that God has laid down in the foundation of the

43:44

Bible, you're, I mean, what is that old saying? You're going to reap what you sow. If I'm not mistaken, we say that we are followers of Jesus.

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Read, people will read Isaiah, chapter 53, from the night that Jesus was captured till the day that he was put on the cross.

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Look at what they went through. Okay? We say that we are followers of Jesus who was, you know, who died on the cross for all of our sins.

44:13

Do you have a question? Do you have a question or anything? Well, no, I would, no,

44:18

I don't. I was just going to share something with you. I understand what people are saying, but I mean, when we go against the commandments and the principles, it's not going to be a positive turnout.

44:31

I feel that I have done much better than what I used to do, you know, 30, 40, 50 years ago because of where I was.

44:39

I mean, I haven't known Jesus that long, about 5, 6, 7 years, but I know the difference between what is correct and what is incorrect.

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What is, what I'm accepting and what I'm rejecting. I accept Jesus Christ as my personal

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Savior. I'm not going to reject him because if I do, then I'm going against him. So, I would say that all those people out there listening, just please be mindful.

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You say that you're a follower, know that you are doing the correct thing.

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And I just want to give you thanks, I'll give thanks to the Lord for you, Brother Matt. I really do because you are a great man of Jesus and I've listened to you, you know, over the years and I really am thankful for that.

45:26

Well, I think your praise is a little overdone because I'm just a guy just answering questions to the best

45:31

I can. But as far as this stuff goes, I know that a lot of people have had traumas and we had someone who worked with Karm, she was a clinical psych nurse and she's since been gone to be with the

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Lord and she was telling me how incredibly helpful certain kinds of medications were for varying people with varying problems and traumas.

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And so, there's a wide variety of stuff and we talked about a lot of things.

45:58

So, long story short, if it's medically permitted and it's for help, there's no problem with it even if it's marijuana, that's fine.

46:08

Okay? Yes sir, I completely understand that. But when you choose to abuse a situation and you're going against, you know, the commandments and the principles for the biblical foundation that has been laid out, then,

46:24

I mean, you're doing it in the wrong reasons. I mean, I understand the medical part, but are people out there expanding it for more than what is needed?

46:36

You know, I would say that I'm... Now, when they start using something else to make them feel good as something they go to to make them feel good, that's a problem on a regular basis.

46:48

That's a problem. I wholeheartedly agree. I do. I really do. Again, I just want to come and give thanks to the

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Lord for you, brother, and just keep doing what you're doing, and we will talk again soon, brother.

47:00

God bless you, man. Have a great day. You too, man. Thanks. Yes sir. All right.

47:05

Okay, buddy. God bless. All right. Let's see. We've got about, yeah, 20 seconds left in the show.

47:12

Controversial topics, and tried to handle them biblically, and I do know that a lot of people have a lot of issues, and they need a lot of help, and praise

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God that we live in a time where varying forms of help are available. Don't feel bad if you need to depend on things to help you get through stuff.

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All right? Doctors, you know, under doctor supervision and all that kind of not a problem. Just go do what you've got to do.

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That's what I would say, and serve Jesus the best you can. All right. There's the music. I'm out of here.

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May the Lord bless you, and by His grace, we'll be back on air tomorrow. We'll talk to you then. Have a good evening, everyone.

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God bless. Another program powered by the