Thank you so much for allowing me, a minister of reconciliation, to come to you and present
the Gospel of Christ.
If you're not sure that your sins are forgiven, call me, and with an open Bible I'll show you that they are.
God stopped counting your sins against you at Calvary almost 20 centuries ago.
Now, he wants to save you.
Truth Time Radio is an evidence-based broadcast.
We base what we say on scriptural evidence, the word of truth rightly divided, and any other way of getting our Bible questions answered would leave us ashamed.
Shameful workmen make a mess.
Let's not do that.
Let's keep it clean by rightly dividing the word of truth.
Okay, let's go to our first caller.
Yes, my name is Charles and I was calling with a question regarding the phrase "born again" that's in the Bible, and I was wondering, does that phrase have anything to do with the body of Christ, or is it strictly something that's related to Jews and the children of Israel or both?
Or how does it relate to either-or?
Many years ago, the term "born again" somehow worked its way into the church manual, the church how-to book, but the church manual does not always match the Bible.
So, let's press in and ask ourselves, how could we be, quote, Born again, considering that the first born wasn't us?
And right here is where someone may talk back to the radio and say, the first born is Jesus, but that would be a wrong answer as well.
So far, I have found the Bible to be my best resource for answering Bible questions.
Kind of stands to reason, does it not?
But the Bible is the only book that people read other books to try and understand.
But here at Truth Time, we're kind of old fashioned and actually believe that we can go to the Bible to answer Bible questions.
So let's give it a try.
Exodus 4:22, here, God declares his first born son to be Israel.
I know, this can be hard for some who are hearing this for the first time, but let's just read and believe the Bible.
Exodus chapter 4 verse 22, And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first born.
Don't miss it, Israel is my son, even my first born.
Who did the Lord say was his first born?
Not your denomination, hang on now, let's put the denomination aside for just a moment and let's dig in and get acquainted with some Bible truth.
According to the Bible, not the church lexicon, was Jesus Christ God's first born?
John chapter 3, let's go there.
Just searching the scriptures to find answers, letting God's preserved word be our guide.
To find answers, we compare scripture with scripture, not preacher to preacher.
John chapter 3 verse 16, here's where some will say, see, Jesus is God's first born son.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
Now think about that.
He gave his only begotten son.
Where in the passage does it say Jesus is God's first born?
Listen, the only begotten son has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus.
The term "only begotten son" is not about baby Jesus in the manger.
Jesus Christ was not the first born, Israel was, we just read it.
Christ was the only begotten, not the first born.
In Psalm 27 we read, I will declare the decree, the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my son, this day I have begotten thee.
What day?
What day is the quote, "this day," of the verse?
Is it a reference to the virgin birth?
No.
Turn please to Acts chapter 13, Acts chapter 13 and look at verse 33.
What we're doing here today is comparing scripture with scripture.
Where was Jesus begotten?
The book of Acts chapter 13 verse 33, listen, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children in that he hath raised up Jesus again, and it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.
Please note the part of the passage, quote, He hath raised up Jesus again.
There you go.
That is the quote, "this day," of Psalm chapter 2 verse 7.
The begetting actually took place at the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's nice to walk in truth, in Bible truth and not tradition.
And here would be a good place to insert a bit of truth about John 3:16.
If you want to get John 3:16 right, and I presume you do, you should know that you can't get it right by reading a new translation.
The new Bible translations declare Christ to be God's one and only Son.
That's a Bible error.
He is not the one and only Son.
Again, remember, we just read it.
Exodus 4:22, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn.
So the new Bibles, Bibles other than the King James Bible, missed it, missed the mark.
They're incorrect.
Now that we know Israel is God's firstborn, we thereby know who the quote, "born again," will be.
Look in Acts chapter 3 verse 19.
Here Peter says, Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
Peter gave a timeline.
He is referring to a future event when the Lord returns to blot out Israel's sin at their rebirth.
This is when they will be born again.
This has never had anything to do with us today, the church, the body of Christ.
Today, tomorrow, and for each of your remaining days here on earth, you can tell everyone you see that you are a born again Christian.
You can shout it from the rooftop, but it won't make it so.
The Bible, God's word, is the only authority on the matter.
Paul states that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
Question, if you're a new creature, now think about it, think with me, if you're a new creature, just how does that fit with being born again?
How does new and again go together?
A new car is not new again, it's just new.
If I made some changes to my old car, that does not make it my new car.
It may look nicer, run better, but it's still my old car.
Born again would mean it was there previous, and who would that be?
Israel, Israel, God's first born, but, right now they are Romans 11:8 blind and have verse 11 fallen, but in the future they will be born again.
What happens to you is not a rebirth.
Listen to God through the prophet Hosea, chapter 11 verse number 1, When Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt.
Who was God's first born son?
Israel, and it is Israel that will be born again.
You can't be born again and also be new.
Born again would be the old thing having been redone.
If you're saved, you're a new creature, I've been crucified with Christ and have become a new creature, not born again, not redone, I'm new.
The term born again only appears twice in the scriptures.
One time when Peter is addressing Israel, and one time when Christ is talking to, yeah, you guessed it, Israel.
This should be our first clue as to who the term born again applies to.
The likes of you and I, members of the church, the body of Christ, are not in the audience in neither instance.
Can a saved person refer to themselves as being born again?
Yes, it's just bad terminology, but it doesn't mean they're not saved.
If you're saved and use this term to describe yourself, so be it.
I did my part in pointing you to the word of God and away from the traditions of men, but you're saved and that's a great thing.
My real concern is for those who not only use Israel's term, born again, in describing themselves, but also follow Israel's instructions on how to be saved.
That's who I'm most concerned with.
They're following after things written exclusively to Israel, and that could leave you with a false sense of salvation, because Israel's doctrine is not the Ephesians 1:13 gospel of your salvation.
Do most dispensationalists believe that the blood of Christ does not apply to their sins until they believe in the gospel?
All right, Gene, I really don't know what most of the, as you say, dispensationalists believe concerning this matter.
All I can do is with an open Bible rightly divide the word of truth and tell you what God has to say to you today.
God says that he was in Christ at Calvary reconciling the world unto himself, and it was there, it was there at the cross, that through the finished work of Christ, he decided to stop charging the world's sins unto them.
This thing people like to say about how it only applies to someone after they believe is birthed out of a form of religion, because the word, "world," does not translate to mean only those who believe.
No, it means what it says, "world."
The world's sins are already forgiven, and I don't know any other way to put it.
There are church signs, t-shirts, and bumper stickers that say, God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.
Well, that's not true.
No, God said it, and that settles it.
It don't matter if you believe it or not.
And let me add this.
If God reconciled himself to the world, but is waiting, waiting for them to believe something before he stops imputing their sins unto them, as some would have you believe, then God reconciled himself to sin.
I have more than one program at the website that deals with this, deals with reconciliation, so I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on it today.
And Gene, I wouldn't concern myself with those who call you a universalist for believing
2 Corinthians 5:19 and just believing that it means what it says, for they're obviously unlearned and don't know what a universalist is.
A universalist believes that, in the end, everyone winds up in heaven.
Now, someone please tell me where it says that in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 19.
It doesn't.
Never has, never will.
Therefore, just because you believe 2 Corinthians 5:19 actually means what it says, does not make you a universalist.
It makes you a Bible believer.
The fact that God is not charging the world's sins unto them does not mean the world is saved.
No, it means just what it says.
The world's sins are not imputed unto them.
The reason some cannot see the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:19, is that they have yet to understand that salvation does not equal getting your sins forgiven.
This is their major blunder, the hurdle they just cannot seem to get over.
Again, salvation does not equal getting your sins forgiven.
We are saved by faith, not by getting our sins forgiven.
If that were true, then the whole world is saved and universalists are right.
But they're not.
But neither are the ones on the other side of the fence that say what Christ did at Calvary does not apply to the world until they first, until they first become believers.
Now you see, they have to change the words in the verse to make it say that.
2 Corinthians 5:19 doesn't say that, and therefore they have a problem.
And their solution is to stoop to calling you a universalist.
This is nothing more than deflecting.
You see, the reason people want to lump you into a category is so they can straw man you to death.
It's the straw man effect.
Not the carbonaro effect, it's the straw man effect.
They put the straw up so they can march in and knock it down.
This makes them feel good about themselves and look pretty good in front of others who don't know any better.
But it don't change the truth one iota.
Instead of straw manning, how about proving it?
Prove that 2 Corinthians 5:19 is only speaking about believers, even though it plainly says, The world.
Listen, the world having their sins forgiven means the world has their sins forgiven.
God, not imputing the world's trespasses unto them, means God is not imputing the world's
trespasses unto them.
You see, finally yielding to the fact that you aren't as special as you thought you were can be a bit uncomfortable, especially for those who still hang on to just a little bit of their past religion.
Gotta keep a little bit.
Coming to grips with the fact that as far as having your sins forgiven, you're no different than the guy you judged last night on the evening news.
Well, it's a little rough, huh?
But that's God.
That's his unmatchless grace, unmerited grace.
Grace is unmerited, and no one, including you, can do anything to merit his grace.
His grace took care of the world's sins on the cross, and there's nothing you can do to earn that, not even believe in it.
You can look at the verse, 2 Corinthians 5:19.
You can look at it 10 times, 20 times, 1,000 times, and it won't change.
But if you'll just believe what it says, you'll be on the side of truth.
You'll also be a more effective witness.
But if you want to, you can just find you a preacher, one that'll make you a video, and change the verse for you.
Then maybe you can both feel more comfortable.
My name is Glenn Leith.
I live in Memphis, Tennessee, 75 years old.
Question is, does a Christian who is sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, can he be punished
by the Lord for practicing fornication or some other sin?
And I'm thinking about the man in 1 Corinthians 5, 1 through 5, who was sleeping with his father's wife.
What about those people?
Thank you.
Glenn, good question.
A saved member of the church, the body of Christ, is, as you said, Ephesians 1:13, Sealed and also Colossians 2:10 Complete in him.
We can't add to complete.
That's the best we can get.
We are in Christ.
Christ is our head.
Where we go, he goes.
Colossians 1:27, Christ in us, the hope of glory.
And if God were to punish the believer, spiritually speaking, he would be punishing his son.
As to the man in 1 Corinthians 5, let's read here, starting with verse 1.
Paul writes, It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication, as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
So, this is not God punishing this man, who is a believer, no, Paul told the church to turn him away, to put him out of the church and let Satan have him, for the destruction of his flesh.
God doesn't need to punish us, we do a good job without him.
We reap what we sow, we punish ourselves.
There are consequences to our decisions, there are consequences to sin.
You see, this seal and this completeness we have in Christ is positional.
It deals with our position in Christ, but our day to day walk, our day to day state can suffer.
Some days we may not feel sealed, we may not feel complete, we can do things outside the will of God that will affect us, but cannot affect our position, which is in him and sealed unto the day of redemption.
Can tattoos, which I have plenty of, can tattoos get you a one-way ticket to where it's hot?
By the way, all my tattoos, except for one, all relate to the Lord and how good he is, salvation message on my arms.
Thank you again and the Lord bless you, bye bye.
Okay Ed, thanks for the question.
Let me see, let's go to Leviticus chapter 20, Leviticus chapter 20, no back up, get Leviticus chapter 19, Leviticus 19, drop in at verse 28.
This is the verse many use in their vain attempt to condemn those who decide they want to get a tattoo.
Leviticus chapter 19 verse 28, Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print
any marks upon you.
Obviously, the Israelites were making cuts in their flesh and marks on their body to honor their dead, and the Lord told them not to do this.
Now, for all those legalists out there who make a big deal about someone having a tattoo, I find it quite interesting that verse 27, which is the verse before 28 by the way, says Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
Don't round the corners of your head, neither the corners of your beard.
But no one talks about this.
They'll look down their pharasitical holier-than-thou noses at those with tattoos, but are silent about someone who has rounded the corners of their head or of their beard.
When studying scripture, staying within the parameter of context is vital.
It's crucial to getting this right.
And if we just keep reading, in verse 30 we read, Ye shall keep my Sabbaths.
Now, who in the Bible were Sabbath keepers?
Correct, Israel, not us.
I know, I understand that seventh-dayers are confused on this, but we're not.
Our first clue as to who is being addressed here is found in verse 2, way back up at the top of the chapter, verse 2, and it says, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them.
Did you catch that?
This is not written to us, and it's not doctrine for us.
It's to and for the children of Israel, just as the Bible says.
And the people being addressed here were also making animal-sin offerings in verse 21 that no one wants to talk about.
They don't dare mention bringing a ram blood offering and laying it on the altar at the church this Sunday morning.
No, they don't do that as they stand there in their own self-righteousness, condemning others of something as insignificant as a print on their flesh.
Listen, your flesh is going six feet under, and it ain't coming out.
It'll be maggot food.
And hey, in verse 36 and 37, Moses wrote, I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Is he talking about you here?
When did he bring you or me out of Egypt?
Common sense goes a long way when trying to make sense out of the Scriptures.
Verse 37, Therefore shall he observe all my statutes and all my judgments, and do them.
I am the LORD.
Is he talking about you here?
Hmm, all my statutes and all my judgments?
It's obvious that this is speaking of the law, the law that we're not even under today, and thankfully so, because if we were, we're doing a horrible job at keeping it.
And may I remind you that if these laws in Leviticus are for us to follow, we would not be allowed to cherry-pick and choose which ones were comfortable in following.
No, it don't work that way.
Now, I do think motives are important.
Asking yourself, Why do I want a tattoo, may prove to be a wise question.
Should we go around trying to draw undue attention to ourselves by how we look?
Believe me, if you're speaking truth, you're going to get plenty of attention without altering your physical appearance.
In this day and time we live, a truth speaker stands out for simply speaking truth.
So, for those who don't have a tattoo yet, but perhaps you're thinking about it, you're contemplating it, my only advice to you would be to not be too hasty.
Take your time, give it some thought beforehand.
But there is no such law against getting a tattoo today, and anyone attempting to hold that over you is twisting and ripping the scriptures from their context to do so.
Now Ed, you already have a lot of tattoos, so just enjoy them.
And if you're witnessing to others, your tattoos could be used as a great witnessing tool.
So, relax and remember they're merely something on your flesh and have nothing to do with your salvation.
Your flesh isn't going to be saved anyway, and it's why 1 Corinthians 15:50 says, Flesh and blood won't inherit the kingdom of God.
So don't worry about it, just continue to rest your faith in the finished work of Christ.
Remember you only get two educations, the one you're given and the one you give yourself.
See you next time.
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