Bible Q&A • Episode 62

So I believe in perseverance from the standpoint of God keeping us, but I also believe that the specific condition to that is faith. Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. I'm Pastor Paul. I'm here with my wife, Sue, and this is our Bible question and answer that we do every week. Well, not every week. Sometimes we take a break.

Rarely.

You know, rarely. We did that during vacation. We took a break, and, and sometimes we'll do a different podcast. Yeah, um, but most of the time we're here answering questions, and we enjoy doing that. So what's on the agenda today?

First question is from Buha. How do we meditate on God's Word, and what does it involve?

Well, meditating on God's Word really isn't, uh, very difficult to understand. It's, it's basically just taking a passage of Scripture, whether it's a verse or a few verses. I wouldn't encourage probably a lot of Scripture, but just a few verses and just thinking about it throughout the day, praying about it, writing down things that the Lord reveals to you about those verses, taking notes about what you've discovered in those verses, maybe even outlining word meanings and that sort of thing, and just taking the day to think about a particular passage.

Yeah.

Maybe take a verse and think about it while you work if you have the kind of job where you can do that. Think about it while you're driving to work or driving home or something like that. It's just thinking deeply about a particular Scripture passage, and it's a challenging thing, I will say, because we've kind of gotten away from the habit of thinking deeply in our culture. We're very distracted. We have our phones with us almost all the time.

That's true.

And, you know, they are a huge temptation. to read and to scroll and—

Keep up.

Yeah, so, you know, it's probably something that you're gonna have to make some decisions about some of those distractions, to put them aside, to meditate on the Word during the day.

I remember I was taking a walk and listening to your teaching on Psalm 119, and you had mentioned some great theologian from previous generations, Maybe you can remember who this was, but his father, when he was a child, had encouraged him to take one verse out of Psalm 119 every day and spend the day meditating on it. Now, can you remember who that was?

I don't remember exactly who that was.

Well, anyway, if you're listening to this podcast, you can go listen to Paul's Psalm 119 and find out the answer to that.

Well, there's actually a few teachings out of Psalm 119.

It was the first one.

Okay.

Because it was your introduction.

Okay.

Yeah, but I thought that was, what a wise father to— Yeah, yeah, to encourage. Just to encourage his kids to meditate.

For sure, for sure.

The next question is from Tiago from Portugal. Thank you for your ministry, which has deepened our love for studying the Word of God. In your book, Pastor, I Have a Question, when addressing the question, can Christians lose their salvation? You state that the Bible suggests it is possible for a believer to adopt a position of unbelief and walk away from the Lord. How do you reconcile this with passages which emphasize God's ability and faithfulness to preserve believers to the end?

So how is that reconciled with those kinds of passages? Well, I don't think there's a disconnect between the two. I believe that God does promise to preserve us, but we're preserved as we continue in faith. You know, the Apostle Paul said, you know, this is my gospel and this is— and by this you're saved if you continue in faith.

Yeah.

He made it very clear that the continuation was based on the faith of the individual, trusting, believing. And, you know, I don't think statements or passages in the Bible about God preserving us or keeping us to the end are saying to us that if we lose faith, that, that, that, that God's going to preserve you based, you know, I don't think that's what they're saying. I don't think that's a catch-all for every circumstance in every situation. Yes, God preserves us. Yes, God keeps us, and he is able to do that, and he will do that. And but the Apostle Paul said, as long as you hold on to faith, he says, otherwise you've believed in vain. So you need to take the whole counsel of God's word.

Sure.

And that's what I've tried to do. And I, I, so I believe in perseverance from the start. standpoint of God keeping us, but I also believe that the, uh, specific condition to that is faith.

Yeah, very good. Uh, Blessed says, thank you so much for your studies, they're really interesting and informative. However, Hosea 11:12 confuses me because the Amplified Version reads, and Judah is not yet steadfast with God, with the faithful Holy One. Is God saying Judah is faithful but not yet steadfast?

Well, you know, that is a very, very challenging verse, and, and I know that a lot of people may not be in Hosea right now.

Sure.

But I'll just say this: the verse that this person is asking about is a very challenging one to translate. And if you read it in different translations, which I strongly advise, right, you're going to find that it is translated differently. And there are verses that make it sound like But Judah is faithful. And there are verse— there are translations that say, and Judah is also unfaithful. That's one of the verses that scholars are undecided upon. Sure, it's not a critical issue. It's not a salvation issue. But it is a difficult verse that is translated differently in different translations. So I'll just kind of leave it at that.

Yeah. It's a good thing we have more Scripture than just that one verse.

Yeah, that's for sure. And let me just add this. The Amplified Bible is fun to read. I had a copy. In fact, I still probably have it somewhere. It might be packed away, but I remember getting an Amplified Bible back— boy, I think I was even in Bible college at the time. And it is fun to read because it takes the verses of the Bible and amplifies them from the standpoint of making them a little more wordy. You know, and it can give interesting clarity.

Sure.

I wouldn't ever use it as a study Bible.

Right.

Okay, and so I would encourage this person and anyone else who may have an Amplified Bible that, you know, it's a great, great Bible to read, and by all means, you know, read it.

Yeah.

But if you're going to study and I really— and get down to word meanings and that sort of thing, I would recommend something like the New American Standard Bible, the ESV, the New King James, That sort of thing.

Very good. Okay, Petronella says, what could be the reason that Jesus did not do anything to get John the Baptist out of prison? Could it be because John doubted if Jesus was really the Messiah, or was John guilty of telling the king that he was living in sin?

Thank you. Well, John did tell King Herod that he was guilty for living in sin, but John wasn't guilty of doing that. John did it out of obedience to the Word of God.

Right.

And he got in trouble for it, and he ended up losing his head. I don't believe that Jesus, you know, didn't do anything about John's imprisonment for any reason of John's. I don't think it was because John did anything wrong or John— you know, this was very early in Jesus's ministry. He was barely recognized at this time, and he was just being recognized as a prophet from Nazareth who would perform some miracles. He really didn't have any political pull. Now, as God, right, he could have done anything he wanted. Yes, God could have gotten John the Baptist out of prison. But you know, you could ask the same question about the prophets of old. Why didn't God get Jeremiah out of that deep, empty well that he was thrown into? Yeah, uh, you know, why didn't God save this prophet or that prophet from being martyred, right? Because of what they said. It was, it was, it was God's will to, to, to see their lives end in the way that they did, and they glorified God.

Well, would it be fair to say Jesus saw John, John had finished his course?

Well, that, that's the other thing, you know, John's course. And he even said that, he, you know, when he was confronted with the crowds were going to Jesus and were leaving him, and he said, hey, he must increase and I must decrease. And he knew that his ministry was coming to an end then.

Right.

And he knew that, uh, you know, it was essentially over. But that doesn't really answer the question that she's asking, which is, why didn't Jesus do something about it? Well, again, You could apply that, that question, that same question, to a myriad of situations that we look at and we say, why didn't God do something? Why did God allow this? Why did God allow that? You know, those, those answers are bound up in the sovereignty of God.

Right. But it wasn't a punishment.

It was not a punishment for John's actions. Yeah.

Sharon says, thank you for your teaching on Hebrews 6. I understand from what you said that a person could choose to walk away from their faith, not backsplash, backsliding, but coming to unbelief. What if a person no longer believes in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice and resurrection, and that he is fully God and fully human, and that years later he returns to believing in him? A little bit of a twist on a previous question.

Yeah, yeah. So, so again, this is a what happens if. Yeah, you know, and it, it usually is speaking to some area of fear. in a person's life and saying, am I ever disqualified because this happened or that happened? And of course, this person references Hebrews 6 at the beginning, which is a very fearful passage in many people's hearts and minds, because the writer of Hebrews is saying in that passage, or I should say, is warning people in that passage, that if they turn away from the gospel, and they go back under the law, that, that it's going to go very badly for them. And there may not be a place of repentance under the law. Right. And people read that passage, they misunderstand it, and they think that if I was saved and then I backslid for whatever reason and however that backsliding might be, either whether it's falling into sin or if it's actually recanting their faith, but then they change their mind and come back to the Lord. Am I now disqualified? Well, not according— that's not when you can take Hebrews chapter 6 and say, here's the answer to that question. Okay? Because Hebrews chapter 6 is talking about a different set of circumstances, right, than, than just backsliding or even recanting. God knows why we go through the things we go through. God knows why someone would come to a place of saying, I no longer believe.

Yeah.

He knows what's in the heart. He knows what's going on.

Right.

The bottom line that I try to tell people is, do you believe today that Jesus Christ is your Savior? Do you believe today that he died on the cross for your sins personally? And if they say to me, yes, my response is, according to the Bible, you are saved.

Yeah.

You are born again, and you have the promise of eternal life. That's all. We can't get into these long, drawn-out what-if scenarios.

Scenarios.

They just don't serve us. They don't serve us at all. It only fosters fear, and that's where the enemy wants to keep you bound, in the area of fear. God wants to bring you to a place of faith. And so my response is, forget your question. Do you have faith today?

Sure.

That Jesus died on the cross for your sins? Yes, I do. Then don't worry about it. Just believe, and God will honor your faith.

Good, good comfort. Um, Buha again says, in Revelation 6:9-11, John says he saw the souls of the martyrs under the altar. Since he describes them as souls, I'm wondering how we should understand the fact that he could see them in the vision and that they were later given white robes. Does this mean souls in heaven have some kind of visible or recognizable form?

We're not told. Well, first of all, John was seeing a vision. All right. So, you know, he has to see things in the vision.

Sure.

So he had to see the souls. And those are the people who were martyred during the Great Tribulation. That's who he saw in that vision. Visions see everything.

Yeah.

Even the things that are unseen. So this question kind of proceeds from the assumption, well, a soul is invisible. Well, you know, do we know that? When a soul apart from a physical body is with the Lord, is that soul invisible? I don't think so. I believe that there is some physicality even to the soul in heaven. Now, That doesn't mean that they have a corporeal body necessarily, but, you know, angels can be visible.

Yeah.

And yet they don't have corporeal bodies like we do. They're not flesh and blood, right? So, you know, there's just so much we don't know about the spirit and the soul. But I do believe that those who are with the Lord now, okay, who have died in faith, right, they see one another. They, they, they see one another. I think they can even touch one another. Uh, they recognize one another. Um, so I think there is some, some level of physicality to the soul and the spirit in the presence of the Lord.

As I always say, we'll find out.

Yeah.

Larry from Texas says, I'm thinking about getting a dog since my last one died about 4 years ago. I'm retired and I need to walk more. Can Christians own pets without them becoming an idol? I live alone and have no one to discuss this problem with.

You know, Larry, anything in your life can become an idol. Anything. Anything. Even a pet. Sure, a pet can become— but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't have pets. That doesn't mean that every pet is going to become an idol. And, and it doesn't mean that because you love that pet, it has become an idol.

Sure.

An idol is something we turn to other than the Lord. Okay. I love my wife, but that doesn't mean she's an idol, right? There's a lot of things in life I love, but there— I don't idolize them. In other words, I don't turn to them in times of difficulty.

Yeah.

I don't throw all my money, you know, and that sort of thing. So I would say, Larry, don't worry about it. You need to get out and walk more, and a pet will help you to motivate Uh, in your walking, then go for it. Get a pet. Love your pet. Don't worry about it becoming an idol. Just do what you— and just keep your heart and mind on the Lord. You'll be fine.

What a tender heart to write in this question.

Yeah.

Monica says, God created the earth and Adam and Eve. Had they not sinned, there would have been no death. Would there not have been demons as well? Why do we have demons?

Why do we have demons anyway? They don't seem— yeah, I, I asked the same thing about mosquitoes. Yeah, you know, um, we don't know exactly when Satan fell. The Bible doesn't give us a time frame. Was it before the creation? Was it after creation and yet just before the fall? Yeah, we don't know. We— but we know that when, when Satan rebelled against God, that some of the angels followed him in that rebellion, and those angels became demons.

Yeah.

That's why we have demons. Now, I, I think that regardless of if Adam and Eve— if Adam and Eve had not fallen to the temptation concerning the, the fruit in the center of the garden, the knowledge, the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, Satan would have been a defeated foe, and that would mean all his demons at the same time would have been defeated as well, and that wouldn't have been an issue. However, because things turned out the way they did and they did fall to that temptation, Satan and the demons took on a role in the course of human history that has been nothing but death and destruction, right? So I think that they would have been around either way, but they would have been defeated one way, and they, they are what they are in the way that took place. So yeah, you know, they're, they're, they're angels. They're fallen angels.

Yeah.

And supposedly they can't die, but they are going to be punished. They are going to be cast into the abyss. We know that for sure. The demons that were confronted by Jesus begged him not to cast them into the abyss before their time and that sort of thing. So we know that there's a time, and there's a clock running on Satan and the demons, and it's going to run out eventually. And when it does, you know, they're going to be put away. For now, they're in a place where Satan is the temporary prince of the power of the air, the prince, if you will, of this world. Even though Jesus has all dominion, Satan is being allowed to continue for a period of time, and obviously his demons along with him. So I think that's the answer. Hopefully that's the answer to the question that—

Sure.

she's looking for. Why do we have demons? We have demons because they followed Satan.

Yeah.

And, and, uh, in his rebellion. Um, and yet we know that their, their, their day will come.

Yep.

When the Lord will deal with them.

Right.

So, yeah.

That's it for today.

That's all the questions for this episode. Uh, good questions. And if you have some you'd like to pass along to us, it's very simple. Just address your email to questions At lifebibleministry.com, and we'll do our best to get to your question as soon as we can. Thanks so much for joining us today. We hope to see you next time. Keep close to the Lord, stay in the Word, and draw near to him, and he will draw near to you. Until next time, bye-bye.