WWUTT 320 Q&A Social Media, Assurance, and Breastfeeding?

How can I truly know that I am saved? Why are there so many different denominations in the church?

Is it ever okay for Christians to rise up against the government? And breastfeeding in public? These questions and more when we

Understand the Text. Many of the

Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we Understand the Text is an online ministry dedicated to teaching the

Word of God in context, promoting sound doctrine while exposing the faulty. Here's your teacher,

Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. It is Friday and we are reaching into the eBag and taking questions from the listeners.

If you would like to submit a question, our email address is whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

All five of the questions that I'm responding to today came from our email inbox. And over the next several weeks,

I'd actually like to spin things in a more holiday direction. Not every question has to do with Christmas, but maybe you can think of a

Christmas question to ask. Maybe something to do with a Christmas myth. I don't know. I can't even really think of any examples off the top of my head.

I'm looking for Christmas -themed questions, so you can send those questions or any question about anything you'd like to ask and have answered to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

This first email that I'm going to respond to, I'm not going to read the email or mention the woman's name.

She's very embarrassed about an exchange that happened online, and she's emailing to apologize for that exchange.

Well, apology accepted. You are forgiven. But there was a comment that she made in the email that I wanted to single out because I think that there are a lot of people that would be able to relate to this.

She mentioned in the email, whether she was serious or joking, I'm not sure. But she said that because of the exchange, she was going to delete her social media account.

And if every time I said something silly or stupid, I deleted my social media account,

I would have been through a few hundred social media accounts by now. It is something that is always going to happen.

You're always going to say something silly or stupid that you're going to regret saying and wish that you could take it back.

It happens in person, and it also happens online. But the best way to deal with it is the way that you should also deal with it concerning a personal interaction, an in -person interaction.

If you say something to somebody that you regret saying, maybe the spirit convicts you about it later.

You go to that individual. You apologize for what you said. You say that it was insensitive or that you weren't being empathetic, and you were being pathetic and not empathetic.

There you go. Maybe you can use that in your next apology. And you ask for forgiveness.

And that person, if they are a God -fearing person, will forgive you. And these kinds of interactions need to be the same way online.

If you say something to somebody that you regret saying, apologize to them and ask for their forgiveness.

There is just as much a real person on the other side of those comments as there is a real person standing in front of you when you have interactions like this in person.

We need to be just as respectful and considerate of one another on the Internet as we would be of somebody in person.

When Jesus says in Matthew chapter 12, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, that applies online as well.

Just because you're typing words does not mean that that is any less applicable.

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good fruit. And the evil person out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.

I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak or in the case of online, every careless word they type for by your words, you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.

So we need to be mindful of that and considerate of those things in our online interactions as well.

Apologize to those that you have misspoken to and ask for their forgiveness, even on the

Internet. Now, in an online world, I know that your comments just kind of stick around. It's a little bit different than in person, because when you have a conversation with somebody and you say something wrong, those words are not just floating around that anybody can access.

Whereas when you have those conversations online, anybody can go back to those old conversations and find something embarrassing that you said.

So I understand the trepidation there. And if it's difficult to deal with, then don't be online.

Don't have a social media account if you can't handle it. But always know you can delete your comments.

There's no rule on the Internet that says that you can't delete those old comments. It doesn't have to be anybody else's business to go back and find embarrassing things that you've said and hold that against you at some sort of future date.

The person that you have said those things to that you regret saying them to apologize to them, delete the comments and continue on.

Learn from this and try not to let it happen again. But when it does happen again, be respectful of the individual and apologize when necessary.

I've had my share of apologies. I've even deleted comments before and issued a statement on Twitter where, hey, that last comment that you saw me post,

I'm sorry I spoke out of turn. I did not even have the right heart when I said such a thing.

So I've deleted the comment. Please accept my apology and forgive me even when our comments are not directed at anybody in particular.

I think it's good to be able to admit in public when you're wrong. All right.

This first question comes from Cameron. Well, that was that was the first question. I guess this would be the second one. He says, my name is

Cameron and I sincerely enjoy your videos and just recently found out that you have a podcast and I've been enjoying your messages on there as well.

My question is concerning the time and the place of salvation, specifically the moment of conversion.

I grew up in a church culture that emphasizes the moment of conversion, knowing the time and the place.

I prayed several prayers as a child and made at least three professions growing up. One reason

I feel a sense of doubt is because I question what I understood about the gospel, repentance and faith and what

I did in the moment of my conversion when I was about 14. My question is, do you have to know where you were saved or should

I focus more on trusting Christ now? Thank you for your time and may God bless you in your ministry.

Well, Cameron, I've got a couple of books that I would like to recommend to you. One is from J .D. Greer entitled

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart. It is a great book, short book to just a little over 100 pages taking you through the scriptures and helping you, helping you to know with certainty that you are truly in the faith.

And another one is from Mike McKinley. It's a nine marks book called Am I Really a

Christian? It's about the same subject matter, but a little bit different approach. The apostle

Paul said to the Corinthians to examine yourself, to see that you are in the faith if you are able to pass the test.

And so I think that it is good for us as Christians to examine our own hearts. But the apostle

John wrote in first John 5 13, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

And so the things that have been given to us in the scriptures are given to us so that we would know with certainty that we are saved.

God did not meant for us to be in mystery about that. Always wondering if we're really saved or not.

You know, as a father, when I leave home and I go to work, my kids love to give me hugs and kisses before I go out the door.

And then when I come back home, they're doing the, you know, daddy and running to me at the door, that whole thing.

So before I leave for work, before I leave my home and I go over to my office at the church, if I were to say to my kids, well, hey, kids,

I'm leaving. I'm going to work. I'll be home later. Maybe, maybe I'll be home later.

Maybe you're never going to see me again. You never know. So get your hugs in while you can.

I mean, would that be would that be a loving approach? Would that be good to instill that sense of doubt in the hearts of my children?

Absolutely not. And God, as our father, does not want us to have doubt in our hearts either.

He has written things to us in his word so that we would know with certainty and confidently that we are in the faith, that we are truly saved, that we have been rescued from sin and death into his marvelous light, as we've been reading about in 1

Peter. So further in 1 John 5, verse 14, and this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

And if we know that he hears us and whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

So how is it that we can know to ask of God according to his will by reading his word, by reading the scriptures?

We know the word of God. I'm sorry, we know the will of God when we know the word of God, his revealed will as given to us in the scriptures.

So know the scriptures well, study the scriptures. And that is how you can have greater certainty in this salvation that has been given to you in Christ.

Cameron, I'll tell you that I have no authority as a pastor to be able to dictate to you whether or not you are saved.

And I've had these conversations before many times with somebody that has come into my office and they have said to me,

I'm doubting my salvation. I don't know if I'm really saved or not. And I'll ask them certain questions and they'll respond with certain answers.

And it's tempting for me sitting across from that individual to say, well, you know, based on what it is that you've said,

I think you're saved. But I can't know that. I cannot be certain that this person truly is saved.

The only person who knows that is you. You know, if you are saved,

I can't know if you are saved. Now, I can see by a person's fruit. We talked about fruit just a minute ago.

I can see by a person's fruit whether or not they are walking in the faith, whether or not they are being sanctified, whether or not

I can call them a brother or sister in Christ by their profession of faith. But I, I can't dictate to a person who is struggling with matters of salvation, whether or not they are truly saved.

That is for you to know. And you can know that by a study of the scriptures. So I encourage you to be in the word of God.

Read through first John. That would be a great place to start. Read through first John today. Tomorrow, read through it again.

The day after that, read through it again. All five chapters get really familiar with first John over and over and over again, that you may know these things that have been written to you so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Well, there was another part of Cameron's question here I didn't I didn't address, but he said that he comes from a church background where they really emphasize the moment of conversion, knowing the time and the place.

I'll tell you, Cameron, I don't know the time when I was saved. I do know the place. In fact, I could

I could even go to the very house where where I prayed to God and submitted my life to him, confessing in Jesus Christ as Lord and asking forgiveness for our sins.

I know exactly where I did that. I don't know when it was. I know how old I was. I don't know the date.

I don't know the year. I get a I have kind of a general idea, but I don't know exactly when, not the month, nothing like that.

So I don't know for sure when it was that I I prayed to Christ and ask forgiveness for my sins.

But in this walk of sanctification, I can look back on periods of my life and see where I was less mature than I am now.

And you're going to identify that in your own Christian walk. So you look back at who you were when you were 14 years old, when you first gave your life to Christ and you're going, man, there are so many things that kid didn't know.

Could he have actually been saved? Yeah, he could have been. I mean, that's for you to know. I again,

I can't say that for you, but he could have been. I mean, you are going to look back to that guy who was first baptized and you're going to see a totally different Christian than the

Christian that you are now. And you should you should be identifying growth and maturity and and knowledge and understanding as you continue to familiarize yourself with the word of God.

We mature as we as we spend more time with the Lord and more time with the saints, be in a good church, talk to a pastor about these things, continue to read in the word of God and pray, pray fervently to the

Lord. John even mentions that here in first John five, verse 15. We know that he hears us in whatever we ask.

We know that we will have the request that we have asked of him if we ask according to the will of God.

I hope that that is able to give you a little bit of peace there, Cameron. This next question also comes from a

Cameron, but it's a different Cameron. Yes. He asked a couple of questions here. Thank you so much for your consistency and passion and drive and love in this work of ministry.

Thank you. Well, thank you for saying so, Cameron. I appreciate that. I just have a couple of questions. Number one, why are there so many sects in the body of Christ?

That's SECTS, sects, by the way. Why are there so many sects in the body of Christ?

Apostolic Baptist, Wesleyan, et cetera. Well, as long as we are alive in this flesh, on this earth, there are always going to be denominations.

I had a conversation with an evangelist not long ago who was traveling through our town, and he came by the church and was visiting with me and was trying to encourage me toward a non -denominational approach, not being a

Southern Baptist church anymore. If I was ever going to plant a church in a future in the future, that it was going to be a non -denominational church.

And I didn't really think of a good response to that until later. But what I should have said was, look, brother,

I mean, as long as we're here on this earth, there are always going to be denominations. There will always be a difference in some of those secondary doctrines, differences of opinions related to secondary doctrines.

And that's that's why there are so many different kinds of Baptist churches, American Baptist churches, independent

Baptist churches, independent fundamentalist Baptist churches, Southern Baptist churches, free will

Baptist churches. And that's just among the Baptist churches. The list goes on and on.

And there are different Baptist churches because of differences of opinion related to certain secondary doctrines.

Now, Baptists also differ from Presbyterians, and it's because that we have different views in regards to covenant.

Presbyterians view covenant promises a certain way and Baptists view those covenants a different way, which is why we have a difference of opinion regarding the administration of baptism.

That's the primary doctrine that differentiates between the Baptist and Presbyterian denominations.

You've got Methodist, Wesleyan and Nazarene denominations, which are all really, really close to one another in terms of what it is that they believe and teach.

As a matter of fact, the Nazarene spun off of the Wesleyans because they wanted to be more missions minded than the

Wesleyans were. And so then you had the Nazarene denomination. But their doctrines, for the most part, are almost exactly the same.

And on and on the list goes. So we have these different denominations because of differences in the secondary doctrines.

Now, one of the ones that you mentioned was the Apostolic Church. There are also going to be differing churches out there that teach falsely.

And the Apostolic Church would be one of them, because Apostolic Churches believe that Apostolic appointment continues and it's not.

If there is still continuing Apostolic appointment, then God is continuing to reveal truth in addition to what is mentioned in the scriptures.

And that's simply not the case. The canon is closed. Everything that we need to know about the will of God has been revealed to us through his prophets and apostles.

There is not going to be any additional new revealed truth. So that's how the apostolics and the

Pentecostals are very incorrect in their exercise of of worship and the way that they preach as well.

But with some of these other denominations, there's the differences related to those secondary doctrines. And we're always going to differ in those opinions.

The Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians that there must be factions among you so that those who are genuine might be revealed, even though the

Southern Baptist Church has a difference of opinion regarding certain doctrines than the

First Christian Church down the street has. We still do ministry together with one another because we keep the main things the main thing, for lack of a better term.

We still believe in the essentials. I know that my brother that serves over there at the First Christian Church, even though it's called a

Christian church, it's actually nondenominational. I know that my brother that serves over there is just as faithful to the word of God and shepherding his flock as I am.

And there's no reason for me to say that he is any less Christian. And so we can encourage one another, challenging one another in our differing views related to certain doctrines so that we grow one another in love.

There are things that a a specific body of believers will agree upon, but there's even going to be differences of opinion in individual churches as well.

But we need to overcome those differences of opinion and love one another, growing in the truth and knowledge of God's word as we do.

So a second question that Cameron asks here, I've listened to the tithing teaching that you have and gained some ground in my own understanding, but are able to give are you able to give a little more extensive teaching on it so that I can understand enough to teach it myself?

That's a pretty broad question, Cameron. I don't really know where to begin. I mean, you've watched the what video, the four and a half minute video that we have on tithing.

And the main point of that video is Second Corinthians nine, six through seven. The point is this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver.

That's what we need to understand when it comes to giving to the Lord. We need to support our churches first and then also find ways to give to charities in your own community, charities that reach out around the world, missions, organizations on and on it goes.

Free will giving is the pattern of giving that has been given to us in the scriptures. Let us do so with a joyful and cheerful, cheerful heart unto the

Lord. Cameron, as for whether or not you're ready to teach it yourself, I would advise you to seek the counsel of your elders or your pastor.

I don't think that anybody should embark on any heavy teaching on any particular subject without a blessing and an understanding and accountability from your own elders at your church.

Ask them if you're ready. See if they know you a little bit more personally and they can identify.

Yes, Cameron is a man who is ready to teach on certain subjects, and maybe they will give you an opportunity within your church to teach a class.

So be submissive to the leadership and the authority of the elders in your church.

This next question comes from Connor. It was a very brief, quick question that he sent to me by email.

Do you think it would ever be right for a people group to rebel against a crooked government?

That's a pretty broad question, because like what would you call a rebellion?

Would you call the civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s a rebellion? I mean, that's a perfectly acceptable rebellion.

It was peaceful protesting and it accomplished much in the

United States of America. The civil rights movement continuing to have an effect as a matter of fact. But even while the civil rights movement was going on, you also had violent protests,

Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, etc. And that would be the wrong way to respond or or to enter into some kind of an uprising against a crooked government or even the social mindset of the people in a particular culture.

It may not even be an uprising against the government. It may just be combating a certain mindset that the culture has.

So we don't do that violently. We would do that peacefully. I think that when you look at the civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s, that's a correct way to respond.

But should we rise up against our government with with guns and force?

I really don't think we should. I'm a gun owner, but I own a gun for self -defense. And if a day ever comes when my government has decided that I can't own a gun anymore, if the government comes knocking on my door and say, hey, law's been passed, you can't own a gun.

You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to give them my gun because that's the law of the land. And I am expected to obey it.

Now, there's going to be some people that will not obey that law and they're going to respond to whoever tries to take their guns from them forcefully.

It will be a you can have my gun when you pry it out of my cold, dead hand sort of a thing.

And that's not the way that Christians are supposed to respond. And this is based on what we've been reading the past week in in first Peter, be subject for the

Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.

For this is the will of God that by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God, honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear

God, honor the emperor. And Peter goes on to say, what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?

But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. And so we need to do good being submissive to the governing authorities, even if that governing authority says we can't own weapons anymore, we're still going to be submissive to that authority because it has been established by God.

The only thing we should not do if the government tells us to is stop preaching the gospel.

We should always be preaching the gospel. And if the government tells us to stop doing that, we stand boldly and continue to preach the name of Jesus Christ.

Last question here. This comes from Jim. Greetings, Pastor Gabe. Glad to hear today that you got your church roof fixed.

Yes. Amen. Praise the Lord. It sounds like you are doing some wonderful things at your church.

Good thing that it is being used all week and not just on Sunday morning. Amen to that. I'm glad that our building gets used as well.

And that's not my doing. I mean, we've got some good, faithful people in our congregation that that are ambitious, that want to see ministry done in our building.

And so they're the ones that put together these projects and keep things going daily. I don't have the time.

I don't have the time to be able to apply something each and every single day. And I help out where I can. So it's because that's the heart of our church, to always be able to use our building for some sort of ministry in our community that it seems like our doors are open all the time.

So anyway, Jim goes on. I got into a rather lengthy discussion with a reformed Bible teacher last night after he posted a picture of a woman sitting in a chair, nursing a baby with both breasts completely exposed.

The discussion below was the result of that post. And then he gives me the discussion. I won't go into that. I would love to know your position on this issue.

It is interesting that as some people grow in Christ, they become more aware of sin in their life and want to get rid of it, while others, because of liberty, do things that they would not have done before.

Wow. It seems that our Christian journey can really be confusing. OK, so related to the breastfeeding issue, where do

I stand on that? Well, I think it's acceptable for a woman to breastfeed in public. I do not think it is acceptable for her to expose her breasts in public.

Those are two completely different things. A woman can breastfeed in public and be completely covered. And we've got women in our church that do this.

And they've got, I mean, these full blankets that come all the way over the top of them. There's no chance that any part of them is going to be exposed.

It's not an embarrassing thing. It is not a stumbling block. But those who who think it's acceptable to breastfeed in public also means that you can expose your body in public are a little bit mixed up because that's not what breastfeeding permits a woman to do.

First, Timothy to nine says that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel with modesty and self -control.

That even applies to breastfeeding. Just because you are feeding your child doesn't mean that you should be any less modest than you would be in any other circumstance.

Paul talks about in first Corinthians, chapter 12, that we present our that we treat our unpresentable parts with greater modesty.

And he's talking about that as it pertains to the body of Christ. But he's using the human body as an example of of how we treat certain members in the body of Christ.

And so there are certain members on our body which we treat with greater modesty. And a woman needs to be mindful of that when it comes to breastfeeding in public.

You still need to be covered and you still need to keep in mind that what you uncover could cause another man to stumble.

It is inconsiderate to think that exposing your breasts in public just because you would be feeding your child is not going to cause another man to stumble.

I'm going to tell you, ladies, that's just ignorant. If you if you think to yourself, well, he just needs to learn to control his thoughts.

You need to be gracious and you need to be considerate of the way that his mind works, which is different than yours.

Always being considerate of one another. That is the way that we have been called to be in any circumstance, in any matter that we put others needs ahead of our own.

As Paul talks about in Philippians, chapter two, in Romans, chapter 15 and in other places, let us, for the sake of the growth of the body of Christ, put others needs ahead of our own needs.

Thank you so much for your questions today. Again, if you have any questions that you'd like to submit, maybe some Christmas themed questions you would like to contribute.

The email address is when we understand the text at gmail dot com. God bless. We're back to our study of First Peter next week.

This is a protection of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find us on the Web at www .utt

.com. Good.