Welcome to Truth Time, where you'll get a shot of the truth with no chaser.
And now, your Truth Time host, Trey Searcy.
Right now, we're going to address Eddie's question.
Eddie wrote in and asked, Why would a loving God send someone to hell?
Why would a loving God send someone to hell?
Well, if I kill a snail, nothing happens to me.
If I kill a homeless man, I'll go to jail for a while.
But if I kill the president, I'm gone.
Same crime three times, but my punishment changed.
If you lie to your child, no punishment.
If you lie to your boss, you get fired.
If you lie to your government, it's called treason and you go to jail.
Same crime, different punishment.
Why?
Because the one whom you committed the crime against is esteemed higher and has more
power.
Now, imagine a crime against the God of the universe, the God of all creation.
So you see, God has sufficient grounds, and He could rightfully and justifiably send us to hell and punish us forever for our crimes.
Now for the good news.
He's not.
He could have, but He's not.
In this the dispensation of God's grace, He has chosen to send no one to hell for their sins.
No, the good news is that He died for all the sins of humanity.
All, not part, not most, but all the sins of the world.
And the crimes that we just mentioned and more were paid for by the blood of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And no one in this dispensation will go to hell for their crimes, their sins.
They'll go there for their unbelief, their unbelief in what Christ accomplished at Calvary on their behalf.
Rejecting Christ and His perfect finished cross-work is what will send you to hell.
Religious denominations teach that you can be saved by something you do in your flesh.
Not a chance.
There's nothing you can do in your flesh to deserve God's grace.
His grace is undeserved.
If you've simply taken God at His rightly divided Word of Truth and believed that what He did in His flesh was sufficient for your salvation, then you can now rest in God's preferential favor.
Human nature tells you that you must do something in your flesh to gain God's attention, to gain His favor, to get in good with God.
Well, that's a satanic lie.
By faith, not works, you now have first-class favor with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The grace of God is undeserved, unearned, unmerited favor.
God longs for you to experience more of his favor from day to day.
Now, that's not to say that he's going to give you more favor from day to day.
No, you're already Colossians 2:10, complete in him.
So his favor has already been freely given to you.
By rightly dividing the Word of Truth, you'll begin to see your standing before God through the lenses of grace.
And what happens next?
Well, you'll begin to experience more of His favor from day to day.
Extricate yourself from the myths.
Free yourself from the religious entanglement.
Don't let yourself become spiritually oppressed and unable to see the truth, unable to distinguish the differences found in Scripture.
Here's the problem.
Once we decide that we have the answers and we figured it out, we sometimes stop processing data. And from that moment on, the only data that we might process, that we might consider, is that which confirms what we already believe to be the truth.
So let's say you've decided in your mind that any new information being presented to you is a lie.
Then the only data that you're going to process is that which supports your conclusions.
You'll search for reasons and examples to support what you believe, and you won't process any new data that contradicts that.
You see, we all tend to trust ourselves while letting the window of truth close, while refusing to process any new data.
I'm guilty, you're guilty, everyone has done it, but it's wrong.
But the good news is, it's curable.
The cure is to reopen the window.
I watched a local television program the other night and heard a gentleman say that the Bible has no contradictions.
Listen to me.
The Bible most certainly has contradictions.
You heard me correct.
The Bible has contradictory information.
But what is even more noteworthy is that the Bible does not contradict itself.
God is perfect.
For example, get James chapter 2 and Romans chapter 4.
James chapter 2 and Romans chapter 4.
Now, while you're getting those books, let me say, it's wonderful hearing from those of you who have contacted us to let us know that you're waking up and beginning to see these truths for yourself.
We serve an awesome God, an awesome God, a God who in his infinite wisdom gave us this amazing study principle, the study principle of rightly dividing the word of truth.
And when used properly, it clears away all the confusion.
Now, in the book of James chapter 2 verse 24, and let me preface this by saying that James is writing
to, and I quote, the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.
And we know this from the very first verse of the letter, James 1 verse 1.
Now, James to these twelve tribes says this, You see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only.
Let me repeat that.
James, when writing to Israel, not the Gentiles, said, By works a man is justified and not by faith only.
Meanwhile, in the book of Romans chapter 4 verse 5, the apostle Paul who is our apostle said this, but to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Are you seeing the dichotomy here?
James said, by works a man is justified and not by faith only.
While Paul says the opposite.
In stark contrast, he said, by faith only a man is justified.
And Paul says to do no works for salvation.
Now, that's the opposite of what James says.
This is as different as night and day.
This is as different as up and down, left or right, stop or go.
God says that when we study, we must make sure and rightly divide the word of truth.
Now, by simply following this study principle, you'll avoid a lifetime of confusion.
It's these types of conundrums that have caused much of the division we see today.
We have thousands of denominations.
We have atheists and agnostics.
Just pick a letter from the alphabet, and we've got one.
And not only that, with each one there are different flavors.
Here at Truth Time Radio, we've been hearing from those who have been in these dead churches for so long, and now they're getting a taste of the word of truth rightly divided, and they can't get enough of it.
Make no mistake about it, in this crazy, mixed-up religious world, there are still droves of people that
hunger and desire for truth.
And we love hearing from you, so you guys continue to correspond with us from the website TruthTimeRadio.com and our 24-hour toll-free line 1-888-988-9562.
Now, let's continue to examine the evidence.
With only a cursory read, you'll quickly discover that these verses are diametrically opposed to one another.
What you must remember is that the verses outside of Paul's letters were all written in accordance with a covenant.
A covenant made between God and Israel, not God and you.
Why do we read the rest of the Bible?
Because we can grow spiritually, and we learn.
But our doctrine, our instructions for life today, is simply not there.
The information God wants you to follow today is the information that was written TO you.
The information to you was not written in accordance with Israel's covenant, but rather in accordance with a dispensation of the grace of God.
When you come to the New Testament of your Bible, you'll find that this dispensation was not given
to Peter, this dispensation was not given to James or John, this dispensation had been hid in God, to only later be revealed to the apostle Paul.
Now, under covenant, James asked Israel this rhetorical question.
James chapter 2 verse 14, What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works, can faith save him?
So, James asks, can faith alone without works save you?
And then he answers this question just three verses later.
James chapter 2 verse 17, Faith, if it hath not works, is dead.
So there's his answer.
And that answer is clearly no.
Faith without works would not save the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, the twelve tribes James was writing to.
Now, let's compare that to what Paul says about salvation in the book of Romans.
Paul, of course, writing to us.
Romans chapter 4 verse 5, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Wow, now that's amazing grace.
You see, under grace, Paul answers the question with a resounding yes.
Faith must be by itself in order to save.
And then he says it again in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Get James chapter 3 and Romans chapter 8.
James chapter 3 and Romans chapter 8.
These verses are saying something different, and things that are different can't be the same.
Under covenant, James warns about receiving condemnation and being condemned.
Listen, James chapter 3 verse 1, My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
And he says it again.
Look at James chapter 5 verse 9, Here he said, Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the judge standeth before the door.
So you see, the twelve tribes of Israel that James was writing to could be condemned.
It was conditional to their performance.
Now, listen to this amazing grace God gives us through our apostle Paul.
Under grace, Paul writes that we who are in Christ have no fear of condemnation.
Praise God.
Look at Romans chapter 8 verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The dichotomy between these verses should be apparent to any saved Bible believer.
These are outright contradictions to anyone who does not rightly divide the word of truth.
We must consider who's speaking, who's being spoken to, and what are the circumstances.
So, who's speaking?
Well, in one case it's James, in the other it's Paul.
Who's being spoken to?
Well, in one case it's the twelve tribes of Israel, while in the other it's the Gentile nations.
And what are the circumstances?
Well, in James, he's writing to the twelve tribes under a covenant.
In the books of Paul, he's writing to the church to the body of Christ under grace.
Now, listen closely.
Matthew chapter 2 verse 6, chapter 15 verse 24, and Romans 15 verse 8 all make it clear that during Christ's earthly ministry, He was only given the doctrine to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And in Matthew chapter 10 verses 5 and 6, we see that Christ even tells His twelve apostles to only go into the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And He says to stay away from the Gentiles.
But then here comes Paul in Galatians chapter 3 verse 28, and he says this, There is neither Jew nor Greek, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Now, anyone desiring to understand God's word, a student of the Bible, has to ask themselves, how could Paul have said there is no difference between anyone, because we are all one in Christ, even though Jesus said there was?
There was a difference.
Why did Christ make a distinction between the two, but later tell Paul that there is no difference between them?
Something changed, and this is why it will be to your benefit to understand the word dispensation and to understand how to rightly divide the word of truth.
Truth Time is on the radio to help you put an end to your Bible questions by reason of irrefutable facts.
You see, God placed the cookies on the bottom shelf, making them accessible to everyone, not to just the so-called elite.
Truth Time is here to equip you to not only be defenders of the faith, but to be better communicators of the Acts 20:24 Gospel of the Grace of God.
Not the Gospel of the Kingdom, but the Gospel of the Grace of God.
The reason they sound different is because they are different.
You see, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is an account of Jesus Christ coming to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
If all, not some, but all Israel would have accepted Him as their Messiah and King, that earthly kingdom we read of in prophecy would have been given to them.
However, Israel as a nation rejected it.
Jesus was killed, but before He died, He cried out from the cross, saying, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
And God, being the merciful Father that he is, well, he done just that.
And is why another offer was made to Israel in the first several chapters of the book of Acts. However, Israel as a nation did it again.
Only a remnant believed, and the rest rejected the Holy Ghost.
And just as if Israel would have accepted Jesus as their Messiah when he was alive, here they were given another chance to accept the Holy Ghost, but they rejected him as well.
And in Acts chapter 7, Stephen, just like Christ, asked God to show his mercy once again.
And again he did.
Acts chapter 7 verses 58 and 59 is where we see that they stoned Stephen, but while he lay dying, he cried out with a loud voice and said, Lay not this sin to their charge.
Do you see the harmony with what Christ said from the cross concerning Israel, to what Stephen also said about them later in Acts chapter 7?
Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
And Stephen said, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.
You see, Jesus had to come because Israel as a nation are terrible baseball players.
They rejected God throughout the Old Testament scriptures by killing His prophets.
Strike one.
Then Jesus took the mound and pitched His ministry to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and they likewise swung and missed,
rejecting God through their unbelief and killing His Son.
Strike two.
But they're not out yet.
Oh, it might be a three-two full count, but they're still standing at the plate, and God gives them one more pitch.
This time He pitches the Holy Ghost, waist high and right down the middle, and just as before, they swing and miss.
Strike three.
They're out.
But listen to me.
Make no mistake.
It's not over for Israel.
This replacement Israel theology is false and rotten to the core.
It's not over for Israel.
Being that the last rejection happened in Acts chapter 7, we'll call it the seventh-inning stretch.
Or we could say it's a rain delay.
But instead of being delayed due to weather conditions, it would be better said that God's dealings with corporate Israel has been delayed due to their unbelief condition.
Now, let that sink in.
Give that some thought.
Read the Scriptures for yourself and come to your own conclusion.
Don't believe it because I said it.
Anything I can talk you into, someone else can talk you out of.
Dig in and search out these truths for yourself.
Now, just two chapters later, in Acts chapter 9, God calls on Saul, changes his name to Paul and sends him out with a ministry to all humanity, no longer exclusively to the nation Israel.
It was exclusive to Israel during their rise, Isaiah chapter 60 verse 3, but now they have fallen, Romans chapter 11 verse 11.
When people argue against this, what they do is first set up a straw man.
They set up a straw man, call that your position, and then knock over the straw man.
They then run away, claiming victory, when they've not even successfully argued against what you actually believe.
This is nothing more than straw man argumentation.
It's sort of a red herring, if you will.
It's a logical fallacy where someone will present a piece of information intended to be misleading and to distract from the actual question.
They misrepresent what you said and then argue against their own misrepresentation.
I'm Trey Searcy, and now, you know the truth.
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