Okay, we're back with more Q & A.
Jill writes, "I am a PK who grew up in the church. Through the years, I have met some wonderful people and made some fond memories that I will forever hold dear to my heart. However, since I have come to understand my Bible, I am now having a hard time continuing to go somewhere that doesn't rightly divide the Word of Truth. With each service, it's becoming harder to endure all the wrong doctrines. My question is, what is your advice on going to church? We have come to a point where we think maybe studying at home would be a better time spent. Growing up, I was taught that as long as you are physically able, God expects you to be in church, sort of like a commandment. My husband and I have been blessed immensely since finding you in 2016.
We had no idea there was so much information in the Bible that we had never heard before. Your advice will be appreciated."
Well, Jill, my advice, go to a church building if you want to.
You're free.
But, nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to go to church.
We are to be the church, the church's people, the body of Christ.
We're to be the church seven days a week, not just on Sunday.
Should we assemble?
It's a good idea.
But. that doesn't mean we go and worship in a shrine that costs hundreds of thousands
and sometimes millions of dollars that sits empty the other six days of the week.
So that's my advice, Jill.
Sounds like this particular church building is not for you.
But, perhaps you'll find a good one, one that rightly divides the word of truth and equips you with the ministry of reconciliation.
If so, great.
Go there if you like.
You're free to go.
You're free to not go.
The decision is yours.
But, either way will not affect your heavenly position in Christ Jesus.
That's the good news.
You're Colossians 2:10, complete in him, and you can't add to complete.
Tyler writes, "Thank you for teaching me how to study my Bible. For many years, I read the Bible. But now as a 68 year old man, I finally know how to study it. My eyes were opened by Truth Time Radio."
Good for you, Tyler.
And thank you.
But your, your eyes were opened by God.
But thanks anyway.
I know what you mean.
Marcy, she asked, "Please explain Ephesians chapter 5, verses 5 and 6. On more than one occasion, I have had others tell me that this is proof that salvation can be lost. I don't think this is the case, and I trust that you can help. I was told of you several months ago by a coworker, and I'm learning much."
Okay, let's go to, what did you say, Ephesians chapter 5.
While I'm finding this, we want to thank everyone for your questions.
If you've sent your question in, or maybe you've voicemailed it, and you haven't heard it answered yet, please stay tuned.
We're going to, we're going to get to that real soon.
Okay, Ephesians chapter 5, looking here at verse 5, "For this ye know, that no
whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous man who is an idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."
Verse 6, "Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience."
Alright, Marcy, good question.
Being a big Andy Griffith fan, let's say it this way.
Okay, Otis, the town drunk, he traded in his cow for a Bible and got saved.
Now Otis, who's known around town as the town drunk, would now be the town drunk who got saved.
No longer known as the town drunk.
He's now a child of the light.
Well, several months go by, they pass, and Otis slips up and gets drunk again.
Let's say his wife died and he went into mourning, maybe even a deep depression.
Has one too many and gets drunk.
Does he lose his title?
Does his title change back to town drunk?
Or is he still saved?
A child of the light, a saved member of the body of Christ who drank too much.
And you can just fill in the blank.
I'm just using Otis here as an example.
It could be a saved person that was known for lying to people all the time.
They get saved, but then they tell another lie.
Lying's a sin.
Does their title change?
What about the saved person who has a moment of pride?
And I think that covers us all.
Am I stepping on any toes yet?
Hey, the sin list is extremely long.
If we had time, I'd get you sooner or later.
Not a one of us are without sin.
We all fall short.
Or, as verse 5 here says, maybe you had a moment when you coveted something.
I know I have.
I'm guilty.
No need to lie.
God knows it all anyway.
You might have gotten pretty good at fooling those you're around, but you ain't fooling God.
But the sins of the world, yours, mine, the whole rotten bunch of us, praise God, they were put on Christ.
Second Corinthians 5:21.
He took those sins.
The wages of sin is death.
Now, just because in a moment of weakness, a saved person looks down their haughty nose and displays disdain for someone else, they, they don't lose their position, their position in Christ.
They don't lose their salvation.
Gossiping, terrible thing, but you don't lose your salvation over it.
If you commit gluttony on Thanksgiving, you're still saved.
We're either children of the light or children of disobedience.
That's who's in focus here as verse 6 says.
We're not to act like them.
We're to flee from all manner of sin.
But when we fail, when we do one of these things, or one of the many other sins on the list, our position we have in Christ is not affected.
We've been sealed unto the day of redemption.
Paul couldn't have made it any clearer, so that makes losing the position you have in
Christ impossible.
Not going to happen.
A saved person can still sin, but they shouldn't feel comfortable living in it, practicing it.
You can only be saved by grace through faith.
And if you think living right is what saves you, good luck with that, because you'll never live up to the standard.
God's standard for living was only achieved by one man.
He was perfect, perfect on our behalf.
Perfection is precisely what God requires.
Perfection is precisely what God got in his Son, for you.
You'd have to live as perfect as Jesus to make it, but you can't.
Only he lived right enough for God, so our only hope is trusting him.
Verse 7, "Be not ye therefore partakers with them," who is the them?
That's not the in Christ at Ephesus.
No, this is not speaking of saved people.
This speaks of the children of disobedience.
Verse 8, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light."
Children of light, not as children of disobedience.
See the contrast?
This is about striving to walk out your heavenly position while you're still here on earth.
But what the legalists miss, is that your heavenly position doesn't change when you fail.
You're in Christ, that's how God sees you.
You're in him and he's in you.
Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Your hope's not in your daily walk, and thank the Lord for that.
The Ephesians here had a new position, a new life in Christ, and so do you.
Listen, these who teach these passages as if they're verses that tell us we can lose
our salvation, are teachers of the selfianity gospel.
It's the gospel of moralism.
It elevates man and reduces God to a powerless bystander.
They're teaching condemnation, and for you there is none.
He completed the work, now rest in him.
Paul said the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.
That's not you.
God sees you as righteous if you're saved.
Your name doesn't change from righteous to unrighteous when you sin.
The apostle Paul is not saying what religion has twisted these passages to say.
And anyone who has read Romans chapter 7 knows this.
If the lordship legalists are right, then here in Ephesians 5, Paul wrote about himself.
So he's out of luck.
You are crucified with Christ, saint of the most high God, child of the light, out of
Adam, you're a good soldier of Jesus Christ, equipped and strapped up with the whole armor of God.
Hey, you're ready to stand against the wiles of the devil.
And you're blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.
Now, walk in your newness, walk it out, and allow this word, allow God's word to effectually go to work in you.
Don't allow any modern day Pharisee to come along and rob you of your assurance you have in Christ Jesus.
If you fall short in sin, don't wallow in it.
Get right back up and back in the game.
Back on course.
And finish the race.
Alright?
Holly writes, "Hoping you can help me. Me, my husband, my sister and brother-in-law are meeting weekly for Bible study. My husband found you in June of last year. Since then, we have come to understand many, many things. The problem we're currently facing is, my sister and her husband are clinging to their Calvinist beliefs. The other night, during our Bible study, a bad storm came through. My sister jokingly said, 'God must be mad at us.' Which led to a discussion where we discovered that they really think that God causes storms. My brother-in-law said he also causes tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.
Trey, they believe God manipulates things in our daily lives. So earlier today, my husband sent them a link to your podcast, Does God Manipulate Our Circumstances? They also believe that every saved person was chosen by God to be saved. And said they were surprised that we did not know that Paul also taught predestination. The verse they use is Ephesians 1:4.
I know that Calvinists are wrong, but wasn't prepared to give an answer for this verse. Can you please help? Praise the Lord, next Tuesday we will be starting our second round through your programs. Thanks for everything."
Okay, Holly, so Paul is a Calvinist, huh?
Okay, Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4, "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love."
So we see here, God chose us before the world's foundation.
But, how?
How did God choose us?
You see, the problem with Calvinists who tiptoe through the tulips is, they do not rightly divide the word of truth along the way.
If they did, they would know that according to the dispensational information we've received from Paul, individuals are not predestined, the church the body is.
Before the foundation of the world, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit predestined, chose, the church, the body of Christ.
But not each individual that would be in the church, the body of Christ.
You see, that's different.
Did the Godhead know who would be saved?
Of course.
But knowing and choosing are not the same.
Calvinists miss this.
Watch closely.
Let's continue here.
Paul wrote, "According as he hath chosen us in him."
Let me say that again.
Make sure you catch it.
"He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." Ephesians 1:4.
So, when we slow down and read this with an open mind, instead of allowing our predilections to prejudice our thinking, it quickly becomes obvious who the chosen here are.
Individuals outside of Christ are not chosen.
He hath chosen us in him.
Now that's plain.
God did not choose us outside of Christ and put us in Christ.
I want you. I want you. Uh, you. No. I pass. I want you. And back there. Yeah. I want you. And, no, not you. But, OK, over here on this row. You. You. You. Not you. You.
Not you. Not you. Not you. You. Yeah, I like you.
No, that's not how it happened.
You're not chosen outside and then put in.
Rather, the chosen are those that, after hearing and believing the gospel, we're placed in him.
When thinking of those chosen, think after, not before.
Get it?
After, not before.
After an individual makes the free will choice to believe the gospel, they are put in Christ and become part of the chosen.
We're not chosen to be in him.
We're chosen because we are in him.
It's kind of, uh, sort of like you all hear me say, uh, we don't work to be saved, we work because we are saved.
Well, we're not chosen to be in him, we are chosen because we are in him.
See the difference?
This is where the fallacy comes in, but it doesn't have to.
All one must do is just let the verse stand alone without adding anything to it.
Paul says we're chosen in him, not out of him, or that he chose us to be in him.
Calvinists repeatedly misuse this verse, as they do others.
Okay, Holly, now you're ready for next week's Bible study.
Glad you all are dropping by to study with us.
We're here to help educate you, to help educate you.
That's it.
I'm certainly not the final authority.
You have to be fully persuaded in your own mind.
It's up to you.
That's why I often close with, you only get two educations, the one you're given and the one you give yourself.
"Hey, Trey. How you doing? This is John. I just wanted to say thank you for all your help on YouTube and all your videos. It really helped me understand the gospel of our salvation, the grace of God. Thank you again for all your help, and God bless you and your family. Bye-bye."
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