Matt Slick Live: June 12, 2024

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

I hope you're all gonna have a good day today. It's a nice day here in sunny Idaho. It's perfect temperature. Really nice outside.

And I've been taking advantage of it walking. I've been to three mile walks. And I listen to my bows to chat rooms and discussion rooms and theology.

And went to the gym today and I didn't do that today. Usually I listen to Catholic radio while I'm working out because it motivates me because when

I encounter heresy, like, oh man, and keeps me going.

So anyway, hey look, if you wanna give me a call on this lovely June 12th, 2024, all you have to do is dial 877 -207 -2276.

And if you wanna email me, that's easy to do as well. Just direct your email to info at karm .org.

Info at karm .org. And in the subject line, put in there, radio comments, radio question, something like that.

And you got some people coming in with doing that. So yeah, I just gotta put them in there. Radio, look at that, good stuff.

And we'll get to them. So also, you know, I'm thinking.

You know, I'm always thinking how to get more going. And maybe we could do a radio question segment. We could take it out and then put it up as a radio thing.

I don't know. You know, we need a lot of help, too. Boy, do we need help. You know, a friend of mine made a comment a few days ago and it stuck with me.

But he wasn't commenting about anything in particular. It's just one of those phrases you say in the middle of the conversation.

And it just stopped me getting in my tracks. We're talking about this weird concept called retirement.

And you know, I joke around about that. I say, well, what is that? I have to look it up, you know. Because I'm always working and I'm 67 and there's no retirement on the horizon for me.

And so a group of us were talking online and one of them said, yeah, Matt's still paying into Social Security.

And it just, it stuck with me. I'm like, man, I still am.

Because I'm working and the money gets taken out, you know. And I'm actually getting

Social Security, too. It's kind of a weird thing. So I was talking to my wife yesterday about the idea of retirement.

And I'm telling you, I cannot understand it. I just don't grasp it.

Now, maybe if I was still working in the computer industry for, you know,

I've been doing it for 30 years and I retired from that, then I could say that's retired, I guess.

But one of the things that gets me is this concept of you're a

Christian and then you retire and you don't do anything for the Lord. I don't get that. Now, of course, there are people who, you know, have disabilities and have financial difficulties and I get that, you know, and I get it.

But for me, the idea of retirement, you know, I said to my wife, I said, and do what?

Watch TV? Go fishing? That's it? That to me, for me, that's robbery.

That's robbing from God what he's given me in my life and that I need to serve him.

And it's not because I'm trying to earn salvation. I don't have to worry about that. That's all done for, I'm in. What I wanna do is just serve him and I'll do it as long as I can.

And I'm thinking about changing my diet and more, but I've tried different things. I'm trying different stuff here. And if you're a nutrition expert, give me a call.

I mean, if you know your stuff. Because we're trying to figure things out. I gotta have my brain going.

Gotta have that mental alertness. And it's just a fact, at 67,

I'm just not as good as I used to be. I remember back in, when I was in my 40s, I could go into self -hypnosis and work for six, eight hours.

It was great. And my wife would come to me and I'd say, who are you? You know, and I'd come out of this realm of self -hypnosis and then she'd introduce herself.

Oh yeah, I remember you. And so it was great, but not anymore.

Man, I'd be concentrating and all of a sudden I'm drifting off into some cosmic whatever it is. Where was

I? What was I thinking about? And I know a lot of you can relate to the idea of, I'm gonna go to the kitchen and get, and by the time you're in the kitchen, you're like, why am

I in here? That's happening. That's just all part of what's happening with our old age. But I wanna serve him and I gotta get that going.

So anyway, retirement. I just don't get it. I love to be able to teach and answer questions on radio, write articles, do video work, just love it.

I spent a couple hours today working on some video stuff and a template,

I'm gonna try something and try to do it with some articles and stuff like that. But there's just so much to do about SEO, work to do, article, things that I just, it's humongously large of the amount of things

I gotta do, it really is. And I'm not whining, I'm just saying, that's what it is.

So hey, you know what, just thought of this, you could pray, pray for me and Laura and Joanne and Charlie and my wife for the continuation of this ministry.

Because it takes a lot of work to get it going and we're struggling because there's just so much to do.

Now if Laura would do some work, that'd be great. She could just, I know she's probably just sitting around eating candies in a hammock, taking care of chickens.

That's what I'm thinking. Hey, maybe if you're retired, you wanna help out. Anyway, Laura probably gave me that look after the show.

But she kinda combines it with a smile, so I think it works. All right, like I said, if you wanna give me a call, 877 -207 -2276.

Let's get to Laura from North Carolina. Laura, welcome, you're on the air. See, I just called and you weren't nice to be talking about me like that, okay?

Anyway, a God chuckle, right? If you were, yeah, I have been thinking,

I just turned 67 and I'm absolutely full of the Spirit. So that's, you know, but I am,

I care for people. Well, actually, I'm too young to be this old. And so I said, well, if you'll see me on TV, I'll be the lady with the hand on my hip, you know, saying,

Raza, Raza, we're too young to be this old. And like, and I was, it's like it,

I felt throughout the years, you know, the aging, but it's like all of a sudden,

I'm like, come on, man. But I was on the phone talking to a friend and I was,

I said, hold on, Mary, I got to go. I left my phone outside. I was talking on the phone.

So I should have gone by anonymous again. Yeah, once I was looking for my glasses and I found them, you know,

I was wearing them. You know. On the other side. Yeah. Oh no, we might be, uh -oh, we might be doing a you -know -who impersonation.

Yeah, I got that, yeah, that's right. Well, if you're, you know, if you're the age you are, then what can you do for the

Lord? I mean, it could be anything. Are you thinking about serving him? And so how? It's a trip.

It's a trip. I have been all these years. I call, I think

I gave my, well, that was Michael Brown I gave my testimony. I'll leave that one alone, but that I'm even alive is a miracle many times over.

Born on Easter, earthly father's name was Shepherd and he could be pretty cruel. He was a perfectionist.

So there's nothing we could do to earn his love, right? A lot of stuff. So I went to purposely kill that sensitive kid inside.

But after all those years and car and motorcycle and everything else that I'm even alive, overdoses,

I'm even alive. So I am on fire for him now. Yes, sir.

Okay, so what do you plan? How in your, you know, I'm gonna say old age cause

I mean, I'm 67 also, but. Yeah, I'm still too young to be an adult, so it's okay. Yeah, so how do you plan?

I mean, that'd be interesting to have people who are retired just this topic, you know, call up and say, if you're retired, how do you want to be used of the

Lord? And how are you being used of the Lord? It doesn't have to be radio. It could be anything, you know, what are you doing?

So how about you? What are you doing? Well, I live in a, I didn't know where I was gonna live.

I was praying and the rent was so high, I couldn't afford my heat or air. Well, coincidentally not, the place where I live is for over 55.

I was slick, I got in anyway, ha ha. Oh, good name.

Anyway, but right where I am, I realize it because I'm right in this smack dab in the middle of a liberal town.

And it's wild to see him. I'm honored, he's using me to talk to people.

Who was it, Greg Laurie said, be winsome to win some. Yeah, and that, forgive me, but the word

I've been using with that slick that I used to have, or the old man had, he's turned that, he's even used that to where, he's used that to be winsome, come around someone.

Don't dive right on in with it. Feel his discernment of what the situation is, you know?

And he's given, I never thought that I'm even alive as in this, and then this, to know that I'm going.

Okay, so the way you're being used. So how are you being used? Okay, so, this is being focused on, okay.

Yeah, well, people around here, you know, I don't have transportation, so it's been a lot of thought around here.

But yeah, just tell of the goodness, and they see a difference in me. I've been here like nine years or so, you know, but there's been a lot of changes in nine years.

But yeah, I just, I talk to them, and I pray with them at times, which is unusual for me.

I just started doing that, so. Yeah, he's given me strength. Good.

I'm sorry? No, good, good, that's good. That's the kind of stuff we wanna hear. So good stuff, all right. I wonder how other people are being used.

I feel more alive now. I was a walking dead, literally. I feel more alive than I ever, ever, ever could have imagined.

I'm full of life. And even though I know something's around the bend, you know, we all do, if we have a discernment, we know something's up, okay?

It's just a matter of short time. But even so, what's the worst that could happen?

I pass away, and I go and be with my Savior, right? Oh, well, it's almost worth it.

Yep. And he diagnosed me with something in my lungs, and I've been fearful, but I've never been closer to him.

So I'm holding you up. Hello out there in radio land. I always wanna say that.

Okay, all right, well, good. Okay, well, God bless you, sir. I listen to you often, so, you know.

Good, got it, all right. All right. Good, okay. Didn't mean to blow your phone up there, but okay. It's all right.

Take care, brother. Wow. It's all right, God bless. All right, man. Okay. You too, bye. All right.

All right, you know, that was interesting. You know, kind of an impromptu discussion.

You know, if you're retired, or how about this? If you wanna retire, you can call me up and say, this is how

I wanna be used when I'm retired. Or how I am being used when you are retired, you know, in that state.

Call me up and let me know. You know, 877 -207 -2276.

But we don't have to talk about that. So if you have a comment or a question, all you have to do is dial 877 -207 -2276.

If you're new to this show, my real name is Matt Slick. I do this every now and then. Matt Slick is my real name.

It's a great radio name, that's what they tell me. I also have a great face for radio, that's what they tell me also. So if you wanna call, and we talk about all kinds of topics.

Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Unity, Baha 'i, Islam. Oh, that reminds me.

So where is that file? I got it someplace. Oh, I remember. So I started asking,

I'm asking, there's the music, darn it.

I'm asking Muslims some questions. I'm getting some interesting responses. I'll talk about it when

I get back from the break. And there we go. Hey, be right back after these messages. Give me a call, 877 -207 -2276.

We'll be right back. 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 have to do is dial 877 -207 -2276.

Now I'm a little puzzled because I was doing a file and my notes.

Why do Muslims believe Islam is true? And I was asking that of Muslims yesterday in some chat rooms.

And they gave me four different reasons. And the file's gone. I don't know what happened to it.

So I remember two of them. And that's what I've been doing lately. I'm asking Muslims why they believe the

Quran is true. And so far, nothing is of any substance.

Nothing is of any substance at all. And again, that's about our time. Let's get to Chris from California.

Chris, welcome. You are on the air. Hey, Matt, how's it going?

It's going, man. It's going. What do you got, buddy? Good. Okay, well, my question's kind of regarding original sin.

And I kind of just wanted to get your opinion on this, like the idea of the sin, us being accountable for somebody else's mistake.

I mean, because when you kind of unpack it, that's kind of what is occurring. We're having to take the blame for another person's mistake when it comes to...

Am I incorrect about that? Or, I mean, would you agree with me on that? There's a yes and a no.

So what we want to do is go through scripture. But I want to introduce a concept before we get to it.

Because the concept is simple. It starts off with Jesus. Now, Jesus represented his people.

And because of it, we then are able to be saved. So that's just how it is.

Jesus represented his people, and because of it, we can be saved. So he is the one who bore our sins in his body on the cross.

So he took our place. He represented us. Would you agree? Yes, I would agree on that.

All right. So in that, what we're finding out here...

My notes here, okay. There we go. What we're finding out...

Isn't that... I was just gonna say, but that's kind of moving away from the original idea of the original sin.

Well, maybe not. No, no, I'm laying a foundation, okay? And I'll show you why, okay? So in 1

Corinthians 15, 45, it says that the first man, Adam, became a living soul.

The last Adam became a life -giving spirit. That's Jesus. So Jesus is called the last

Adam. All right. Why is this important in relationship to original sin and us being found guilty?

Because of representation. The reason Adam could, I believe, this is my opinion. The reason

Adam represented us is because in order for us to be saved, Christ had to represent us.

So the idea of representation is there in scripture. So when we go to, for example, we go to Romans 5, 18 and 19.

So then as through one transgression, there resulted condemnation to all men. So that's Adam's sin.

Now, what I'm gonna do is jump over to another verse and then come back to this. For as in Adam, all die.

So also in Christ, all will be made alive. That's 1 Corinthians 15, 22. So the phrase here that's important is in Adam and the phrase in Christ.

Because what that means is federal headship, that the male, not the female, represents the descendants.

So we find this, we go to, for example, Hebrews 7, seven through 10, where it talks about Levi paying tithes to Melchizedek while in the loins, the seed of his ancient father, you know, great, great, great, great, great grandfather,

Abraham. So he was said to have paid tithes. So that means Abraham represented Levi.

Abraham represented him. Well, this concept of representation is right there. So then as through one, back to Romans 5, 18, so then as through one transgression, there resulted condemnation to all men.

So also, or even so, through one act of righteousness, there resulted justification of life to all men.

So here we have Adam representing his people and Jesus representing his people.

And they're both referred to as all because what is going on here is in the theology of federal headship, that all in Adam and all in Christ.

So back to 1 Corinthians 15, 22, for as in Adam, all die. So also in Christ, all shall be made alive.

The all is in reference to those who are in Christ. That's who he represented. Now let's go to Romans 5, 19.

For as through the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners.

Now that's what's interesting because when it says many were made sinners, in Greek, it's the aorist passive indicative.

And what that means is, aorist is past tense. Passive means you receive the action and indicative means it's a fact.

So they were made sinners by what Adam did. That's what

Romans 5, 19 is teaching, okay? Can I interject this one point in here?

Because I was thinking about this and even going before Adam, okay?

So the angels had direct connection to God. So they're in the heavenly realms and then

Lucifer fell, he was cast down. I feel like in that situation where he had that direct connection with God and he's experienced it to like that, you know, a level that none of us have ever experienced, that would warrant somebody being damned.

And then the same goes for Adam and Eve. Wait, wait, wait, I'm confused. I'm confused. You're saying

Satan's sin warrants us being dead or damned? No, no, no, no, no.

What I'm saying is like him being in the presence of God and being, yeah, having a direct connection to God.

That's kind of the situation there. And then he was cast down. I feel like that warrants damnation.

And I feel like that also - For who? For Adam and Eve. For who? Wait, wait, you have to be specific. It warrants damnation for who?

Well, when I say damnation, I say - No, no, no, no, no, no. Answer the question. For who? Satan or people?

Well, I'm trying to get to the next point, but I'm saying for Satan in that scenario. Okay, so his sin warranted damnation for himself.

Okay, gotcha. Okay, good. Okay, so now in Genesis, it talks about man,

Adam and Eve walking with God, having like a connection with God that none of us have ever experienced.

So they had a deep connection with God in a way that none of us have had that.

So when they ate the fruit, they sinned, then they should have been liable for that action.

They were. They were. Well, they were, but what I'm saying is like, we never got the opportunity to have that -

Doesn't matter. Interaction with God. Here's the thing. If you want to deny that the first Adam represented us, then be consistent and deny that the last

Adam represented us. And how would they think we have salvation? This is the theology of scripture.

The first Adam represented all people. Jesus, the last Adam represented his people.

Because it says in Romans 6, for example, well, we've got a break coming up, but I'll tell you this really quickly.

Romans 6 .6 says, our old self was crucified with him. And then in Romans 6 .8,

we have died with Christ. So I'm gonna ask you, and then you can think about it during the break. What does it mean for us to be crucified with him and we died with him?

When was he crucified and when did he die? We'll be right back, okay? Hold on, buddy. Hey, folks, 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. All right, everyone, welcome back to the show. Chris, are you still there?

Yeah, I'm here. All right, so I'm trying to guide you theologically, okay?

So you're a Christian. When were you crucified with Christ? When did you die with Christ?

It would have been the day that I accepted him as Savior. Wrong. Wrong. Oh, really?

Yeah. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him. When was he crucified?

When was he crucified? When was he crucified? 2 ,000 years ago. Right. Now, we have died with Christ.

So when did he die? 2 ,000 years ago. Here, check this out. This is Colossians 3.

This is important theology that a lot of people reject because of what it actually means, but I'll teach it to you.

This is Colossians 3, verse two. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

Now, the things on the earth are humanistic. So God won't represent us because I have to have free will choice.

This kind of a thought, okay, is the things of the earth, all right? But it says in the next verse, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Well, when did you die? Some people say, well, when you were born again. Well, I could see that. You died yourself and I get it.

You know, that makes sense. But what we find is that it says we're crucified with him and we died with him because we were in Christ.

That's 1 Corinthians 15 .22, Romans 5 .18. These are the verses that teach that,

I'm going to just tell you flat out, it's election, that he chose us in him.

Now, I'm going to go to this. I'm going to show you something and then hopefully all this will make sense and we'll get back to Adam. This is what it says in Ephesians 1 .4,

just as he, that's the father, chose us, that's the elect, that's us, in him, that's

Christ. There's that phrase again, in him, in Christ, okay? Before the foundation of the world that we'd be holy and blameless.

This is proof that the choosing is by God the father before the foundation of the world and notice this critical phrase, in him.

He chose us in him, which means before the universe existed in the

Trinitarian communion, the father elected or chose us in Christ, which means that the election of choosing for salvation cannot occur if Christ, the pre -incarnate

Christ, second person of the Trinity, who's going to become flesh and atone for us. If he wasn't going to do that, there could be no election and the atonement must work in harmony with that election and all of it's before the foundation of the world.

So, in him means that you, me, and others were chosen from before the foundation of the world.

That's what Ephesians 1 .4 says. This is representation, okay, you with me?

Yeah, yeah, I'm with you, I'm listening. Okay, a lot of people don't like that, but that is biblical theology.

We get amateur theology preached from a lot of pulpits and they'll deny that and they'll say, no, God looks at the future to see who's gonna pick him, he knows what they're gonna do and that's how he chooses them and that's heresy.

It is, if any pastor or elder is teaching that, you're teaching heresy, okay? Right, and I mean, you're giving me scriptures and things, but I mean,

I was calling more in like your main, like kind of thinking outside of the box, like the system of how everything, original sin came about, how we're being accountable for somebody else's sin.

Because representation is how it works. Adam also was representative of us.

So we were made sinners by his action, by his sin. That's exactly what

Romans 5 .19 says. And I gave you the theology of why that works because of representation, which is scriptural, okay?

Right, okay. Have you ever heard that before? All right, yeah, yeah.

I mean, everything you've gone over, I'm pretty familiar with it, so. Well, good. Yeah, I just, you know,

I was thinking like, they had direct connection with God and, you know, they basically, they should have taken account for that on their own.

And then anybody else past that point should, well, and they did, right? But I'm just saying, but anybody past that point should have had the same opportunity.

They had a direct connection. Why? But that's - Why, why? I'm just saying because of what's at stake.

You can be damned to hell and have the worst - Well, let me ask you - Outcome ever.

Okay, Chris, I'm gonna ask you a difficult question, okay? And I don't mean disrespectful at all, but I do this with Christians a lot and a lot of people,

I say, well, I understand what you're saying, but, you know, no disrespect, but so, show it to me in Scripture.

Because what we often do is we make something that we think, it makes perfect sense. That's how it has to be.

But does it ring true in Scripture? So you have to find that in Scripture. But they have to have the opportunity and representation and all that.

Go ahead. Okay. Yeah, yeah, I understand where you're coming from. I mean, you have to always refer back to the

Bible. What does the Bible say about that? But I don't know. I mean, for us, sometimes it may come down to that whole human understanding aspect that we just don't know the whole picture.

So we've gotta accept it on a faith and we've gotta accept it in a way, right? Absolutely. Your question is a good question.

It's something I've wrestled with for probably 25 years. And - Oh, it is? Okay. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

How can that happen? How could it? And this is the answer. Right. And it's that same question of like, because of their connection with God and, you know,

I felt like they were more in an advantageous position because they had direct connection with God, right?

And we are born into the fallen world and we have all these different religions calling us different directions.

And then with that stake on top of it, being damned to hell, you know, it makes it even...

But yeah, I understand what you're saying though. Well, the Bible does say that we are by nature children of wrath,

Ephesians 2 .3. We're dead in our sins, Ephesians 2 .1. And sin entered the world through one man.

Yeah. Romans 5 .12 says sin entered the world through one man, Adam. So original sin is a tough concept because on one hand, wait, wait, are we guilty of what

Adam did? There's a way we could say yes, if he represented us, but not necessarily if it's the consequence of his sin that led to our sinful nature.

And then we are naturally damned because of that. So there's different ways of looking at it too.

Right. And it could be also because God is structured on how he, you know, with like atonement, blood sacrifice.

I mean, we have to go through a process and this is it, right? Like the sin has to be transferred to all other, you know, humans or whatever.

So I don't know if that makes sense, but. Yeah, I've wrestled for this with, not for it, but with it for a long time.

And that's the solution I've come up with. And I've read theology on it as well.

And it seems to be pretty consistent. Okay. Right. And you feel very comfortable accepting that idea of what you're talking about?

Yes. And not because it was, hey, in three minutes, oh, I figured it out. It was, man, is this what it really says?

And I've examined it over the years. Yes, I feel comfortable with it because it took me a while. So. Right.

And then it also may come down to the fact, hey, if you're not, you got to accept it. I mean, otherwise, kind of what's at stake, right?

Yeah. It's a tough one. It is, it's just a tough one.

It is. But yeah, I think that pretty much does it for me then. I don't know if there's anything you want to add to it.

No, I wanted to give the theological foundation for it so that it's grounded better and hopefully can move ahead further.

But look up federal headship on CARM and that's what you'll see. I think it'll be helpful.

Federal headship is a doctrine as valuable and as important as the doctrine of the Trinity and the incarnation because of the theology attached to it.

Okay. So federal headship, is that pretty much, is it just that topic alone, original spin, or are there other topics that are included with that?

Well, let's just say that, you know, when you're really knowledgeable about something, you know the basics, you know what needs to be done.

It lays a foundation so you can explain it to others. Well, because I've been doing theology for so many decades, federal headship is one of those things that's needed to be understood in this area.

And it's attached to election and predestination as Ephesians 1, because, excuse me,

Ephesians 1 .4, because it says so. And so there's the connection. And then you got to work with some theology and it gets tough, but it's doable, all right?

Right, right, okay. I'll check it out. All right, man, sounds good, buddy.

God bless. God bless you. All right, take care. All right, man. All right, hey. All right, hey, that was a nice conversation.

Hope it was helpful. We'll be right back after these messages for the last break and we'll get to David from North Carolina.

We'll be right back after these messages. It's Matt Slick Live!

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

Hey, everybody, welcome back to the show. If you want to give me a call, 877 -207 -2276.

Let's get to David from North Carolina. Dave, welcome, you're on the air. Hi there,

Matt, how you doing? Oh, hanging in there, man, hanging in there. What do you got?

I got a couple questions to ask you about the sons of God in the book of Job.

I talked to a Jehovah's Witness and he was telling me the sons of God were angels and he said that in Genesis 6, the sons of God were attracted to human women and had intercourse with them and produce hybrid children.

And another question, which didn't come from a JW, was that in the

New Testament, the Pharisees were going to stone Jesus for calling himself the son of God because that made him

God. And I don't understand how that can be true when the Old Testament clearly shows the sons of God were less than God.

Because the same word can be used in different contexts to mean different things. So the same phrase can be used.

So in the context of, and the Jehovah's Witnesses are right in this, they are correct, even though it's a non -Christian cult, they deny their stuff.

But the sons of God in Genesis 6 are the angels. They had relations with women and produced the

Nephilim. Now, in Job 1, for example, the Lord said this, yeah, verse six, now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the

Lord and Satan also came among them. So this is the angelic horde. All right, well, the term can have a certain meaning in a certain context.

And then the term can mean something different in another context. So let's go to Psalm 82, for example.

And it says, God takes his stand in his own congregation.

He judges in the midst of the rulers. Now, the word there, rulers, is

Elohim. But that's the word God. We think of Elohim as just meaning

God. But it may or may not. Because it depends on the context.

So Psalm 82, verse one, God takes his stand in his own congregation. He judges in the midst of the rulers or of the

Elohim. But when it says God takes his stand, that's the same word as rulers.

So God takes his stand in his own congregation. He judges in the midst of the gods. Well, wait a minute.

What does that mean? I'm just using this as an example. In the context, this is an imprecatory psalm.

And so it is a condemnation to the unrighteous judges of Israel at that time, and they're called gods.

It doesn't mean that they're gods like God, but that they're gods in the sense of power, life, and death.

So you can see how the word changes meaning in different contexts. Now, when you go to, for example, in John 5, 18, it says something really interesting there.

It says that Jesus was calling God his own father, making himself equal with God.

So the phrase here, the son of God, has something that we need to look at.

And when we go to John 10, 30, Jesus says, I and the Father are one. The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.

Jesus answered, I showed you many good works from the Father. For which of them are you stoning me? The Jews answered, for good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, because you being a man, make yourself out to be

God. Wait a minute. And he said, well, when do they do that? Well, he was claiming to be the son of God, John 5, 18, making himself equal to God in other areas when he was saying before him was

I am. But he goes on right there. He says, when he says they are condemning him, you make yourself out to be

God. Jesus answered, has it not been written in your law? I said, you are gods. That's from Psalm 82, which

I was just referencing before. And it's a condemnation. He says, if he called them gods to whom the word of God came and the scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the

Father sanctified and said unto the world, you are blaspheming, because I said I am the son of God.

He's playing with them. The term son of God in this context certainly means that he is divine.

The Jews knew this, but he's playing with them. He's saying, well, wait a minute. In Psalm 82, it says you're gods.

Now, can you explain this? And they're stuck because they have to answer to the word. So what

Jesus is doing, excuse me for using this word this way, but he's being pretty slick. And that's what he's doing, he's showing them.

Okay, so I'm trying to show you is the term son of God has different meanings in different contexts.

Plus, also, the term sons of God. That's another term.

Because when it says the sons of God, that's different than the son of God. So there's a plurality and singularity issue as well, and I've already blabbed for a whole bunch of time, so I hope that makes sense.

Okay, well, thank you. That was from a JW, by the way, and I wasn't surprised that they were correct on that.

Yes. Just because they're Jehovah's Witnesses doesn't mean everything makes sense. Have you ever encountered a Jehovah's Witness that told you that?

Oh yeah, yeah, I've talked to hundreds and hundreds over decades, but they'll say stuff like this, but I already know their doctrine, so I stay away from things like that.

I go to other things they don't know about. But the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons can both teach things that are true out of the

Bible, but they're not Christians. And so we have to be careful of what's called the genetic fallacy. Just because they're not

Christians doesn't mean they can't say something that's true. So we have to judge everything they say by the scriptures.

But with the Jehovah's Witnesses, in this context, they got it right. But in other ones, they got it very wrong, okay?

Okay, well, thank you very much, Matt. You're welcome very much. All right, man,

God bless. Okay. Hey folks, if you wanna give me a call, all you gotta do is dial 877 -207 -2276.

And let's see, we've got a caller coming in. And I'm trying to decide. We gotta wait till they kinda get through.

There's kind of in the gray, literally, it's in the gray area. We have a program I look at. I know the caller's coming in.

And it goes gray when it's in transition. Sometimes they hang up and sometimes they don't.

But anyway, there we go, there we go. All right, it went to the caller. Now we need, and that's

Cole from Texas. Cole, welcome, you're on the air. Oh, hey,

Matt, sorry, I didn't know we were live. I was wondering how we reconcile, as a Calvinist, from the

Calvinist perspective, how do you reconcile the verse, I'm sure you're getting this a thousand times, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever.

And it doesn't say, for God so loved the elect, that should the elect come to him, they should be saved.

Sure, no problem. Yeah, so Jesus was sent covenantally only to the lost sheep at the house of Israel.

He was not sent to the whole world. And this is what Jesus said in Matthew 15, 24. Quote, I was sent only to the lost sheep at the house of Israel, close quote.

That's Matthew 15, 24. So when I ask people, I say, who was he sent to? They say, the world. I say, nope,

Jesus said he was not. Well, yes he was. And I go, let's read what Jesus said again. Because they're so entrenched in their ideology that they're not submitting it even to the very words of Christ.

But he said he was sent only to the lost sheep at the house of Israel. What does that mean? The covenant that God made with the nation of Israel.

He didn't make it with the nation of Egypt, or Syria, or Australia, or United States, or Canada.

He made it with the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The term house of Israel means the nation of Israel.

So the covenant that God made with them, the land, the Messiah would be coming in, follow the

Messiah, et cetera, they rejected the Messiah. So they broke the covenant. Therefore, we the

Gentiles are then grafted in. Now, this is prophesied in Genesis 12, three, when

God says to Abraham, in you all the nations shall be blessed. All the nations shall be blessed.

And then that's quoted by Paul in Galatians 3 .8, and he calls it the gospel. So when we go to John 3 .16,

and people say to me, that proves, you know, Reformed theology is wrong. I say, no, it doesn't. I say, what does the word world mean?

And they say, it means every individual. I say, how do you know? How do you know? Well, this is what it means.

Well, how do you know it's what it means? How do you know the word world doesn't mean the planet? How do you know it doesn't mean all the nation groups?

How do you know it doesn't mean something else that you think? And I ask them, they don't like talking to me sometimes, because I ask these questions.

And I show them Matthew 15 .24, the lost sheep of the house of Israel, okay? And then there's a way where the world can mean that the secular realm too, we'll get into that.

And then it says, so he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes. Well, the word whoever is not there in the

Greek. The Greek word for whoever is omega sigma, hos, with a rough breathing mark over the vowel.

So omega sigma, hos, but it's not there. It does occur in the Bible, but not right there.

What it does say is, whoever is pascha, the, it's all the.

And then literally, it says whoever believes is literally pascha pastuon, all the believing one.

So we don't really talk like that. So we say whoever, and that's fine. But what they'll often do is say whoever automatically means every individual.

And I'll say, does it? And I'm setting them up. And I say, are you sure? Does it also mean that Jesus atoned for every individual who ever lived?

That's what John 3 .16 means. I say, yep. I said, then let me go to 1 Samuel 3 .14, where God is talking.

He's, God says, therefore, I've sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.

So I ask them, does that mean that Jesus sacrificed himself for them, for the house of Eli?

What are they gonna say when the Bible says, when God says that their iniquities or sins will not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever?

And I say, does it mean every individual? And then now they're stuck. So John 3 .16, the great verse that it is, is often so misused theologically that people read into it what's not there, and they don't have to do that.

They should study for what it says compared to other scriptures, and then we can get a better understanding. God so loved the world, all the nations.

That's what it means. Okay. The believing ones will not perish. Go ahead. I'll follow that up just within Matthew 15 .24.

Reading there, she showed great faith, and then her request was granted.

So what about that? So was she activated by God to show great faith? The covenant does not mean that he can't help anyone else.

He was sent to Israel. Israel's job was to recognize the Messiah and promote the

Messiah. It doesn't mean that God couldn't bless anybody else in the process, okay?

So the covenantal aspect was that the Messiah was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

That's who he was sent to. But this woman came forward, and it was really, it's a great statement, because he says, because she bowed down before him, "'Lord, help me.'

He said, "'It's not good to take the children's bread "'and throw it to the dogs.'" The word dogs was a derogatory term used by the

Jews to refer to Gentiles, and Jesus used that. And she said, "'Yes,

Lord, but even the dogs "'feed from the crumbs that fall from their master's table.'"

She recognized who he was, far more than the Jews did at that point, which

I think is great. Women often recognized who Jesus was before the men did, and that's a good truth to examine.

And then Jesus says, "'Oh, woman, your faith is great. "'It shall be done for you as you wish.'" And her daughter was healed at once. So you see what's going on?

She knew her place and bowed to the Messiah. She recognized it before the Jews did, a lot of them, okay?

So from a Calvinist perspective, was she given the faith? He said, "'You have great faith.'" Of course. She was in possession of the faith.

Yeah, because Philippians 129 says to you it has been, yeah, to you it has been granted to believe, Philippians 129.

Okay, and we're out of time. Call back tomorrow, man, we can go through more of this. These are things I've thought through so many times, different ways, and many conversations.

Okay, buddy, we're out of time. Hey, everybody, I hope you enjoyed that intellectual -ish conversation. May the

Lord bless you. Be back on here tomorrow, by His grace. Another program powered by The Truth Network.