Bible Q&A • Episode 63

There's only one God that can save you. There's only one God that you should ever pray to. There's only one God in heaven who is uncreated, and that is the Lord God of the universe who created all things. Hey everybody, we're back with some more of your Bible questions. You sent them in and we're going to tackle them. So this, uh, in this episode, what do we have?

Well, our first one comes from Paulson.

Okay.

And he says, there are many YouTube videos claiming that some words in our English Bibles, such as faith, hope, patience, and glory, do not fully convey the meaning of the original Hebrew or Greek words.

Yeah.

How can we be sure that we're understanding scripture as the Holy Spirit and the biblical authors intended? Have we missed important biblical truths because of translation limitations?

No. I don't believe we have missed important biblical truths because of translation limitations. I believe that the full flower, to, to use that word, the full meaning sometimes of some of those Hebrew and Greek words is challenging to translate. And there may be more to the, the, the full dimension of some of those words that we— that, that we are— than we are able to succinctly, uh, translate into an English Bible. But that doesn't mean we aren't getting the sense of the Word.

Right.

We are. We're, we're getting plenty, uh, from the Word. And I believe that God has made it possible for his Word, originally written in Hebrew, originally written in Koine Greek with a smattering of Aramaic, is, is translatable into any language.

Yeah.

And although there may be elements of the full dimension of a word that are kind of challenging to reach in 2 or 3 or 4 English words, uh, still, I think we do just fine. I think we get plenty of the meaning in order to know what God was saying through those individual authors.

Right, so we can rest assured.

I think we can, yes.

Anna says, hello, Pastor Paul and Sue. I'm so grateful for your teachings. I'm learning and understanding the Bible so much more. My pastor says that the gifts of the Spirit are dead and not for today. He had also said that the only way the Lord speaks today is through the Bible. I'd like to know your thoughts on these things.

Well, Anna, uh, your pastor is a cessationist. That's what we call someone who believes that the gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased to function and are no longer available. They typically believe that they died out with the apostles and with that what they call the apostolic era, and that now the gifts of the Spirit are no longer functional in the church. And because we have everything we need in the Bible, and that's how God speaks. I believe that's a mistranslation, or I should say even a misinterpretation of some things that the Apostle Paul did say, because in 1 Corinthians Paul does say that the gifts of the Spirit are going to pass away. He makes it very clear. The, the problem is when they're going to pass away. The Apostle Paul says when the perfect comes, Right. then the imperfect is going to, uh, is going to pass away. And so people have interpreted that word the perfect in all kinds of different ways. And many pastors— and I think Anna's pastor is one of them— interprets that, that phrase the perfect as being the full canonization of Scripture, all 66 books of the Bible. And now that that has been completed, the gifts of the Spirit are no longer necessary. But that is very short-sighted in my opinion, because the gifts of the Spirit go far beyond simply what we have in the Word of God. And there are things that the Holy Spirit can and does empower believers to do that you just simply can't get just from reading your Bible, you know. And I'm talking about, like, you know, praying for someone's healing, having a gift of healing, or as the Bible even says, gifts of healing. Being able to give someone a unique and immediate word of wisdom, word of knowledge. Those things require the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And I, I believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit have not passed away and will not pass away until Jesus returns and we really begin and go into the millennial kingdom when we're with him and things have been set to rights.

Right.

And, and that's, I believe, when the perfect Comes. And because there are things that the Apostle Paul says to describe what life is going to be like when the perfect comes that you, you can't convince me are interpretations of our life today. For example, one of the things Paul says is that I will know as I am known. He says, now we, we look at life and truth and everything through what would appear to be a dim mirror, you know, a bad image, in other words. He says, but you know, when the perfect comes, we're going to see clearly. I don't think we see clearly today. We have too many debates going on within Christendom. We have people disagreeing with others. Yeah, we don't see perfectly clearly.

Sure.

We— and, and Paul says, I will know as I am known. Well, I'm known pretty, pretty good by God. You know, the Bible says he knows even to the very number of hairs on our heads. And, and we're going to know, Paul says, when the perfect comes, we're going to know as we are known. And that's just simply not a good description of life as we have it today, but it will be once Jesus returns. So, yeah.

All right, good answer. Uh, David says, in Galatians 1:15-18, Paul talks about his conversion.

Yeah.

And about 3 years spent in Arabia.

Yeah.

What is your opinion on the risen Christ instructing Paul during this time. Why do you think Paul mentions this 3-year period but doesn't give any details?

Well, because it's not relevant. What was relevant to that time that Paul spent is the gospel. Paul came to share the gospel. He was the apostle to the Gentiles, um, and it wasn't necessary, you know, for him to talk about all the details of what happened during the time when the Lord appeared to him and And, and when he received his gospel message, he makes it very clear that the Lord is the one who taught him. He says, I didn't receive it from any man. I was, I was not taught or instructed by any man. I was instructed by the Lord himself. Well, that's all we need to know. And then he goes on to explain his gospel, right, which is what he was told and is the most important thing to convey.

Mm-hmm.

Not all the details of how it happened, where it happened exactly, and that sort of thing. It just really wasn't relevant. Paul was an incredibly practical person.

Sure.

And he wasn't the kind of person who was going to sit and go on about things that really, frankly, didn't matter. Yeah.

So, all right. Kayla says, the Lord's Prayer says, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

That's what we're supposed to pray.

Since we know there's no sickness or disease in heaven, is it correct to say that anytime someone is diagnosed or becomes sick, that it not the will of God for their life?

Well, you have to understand, there's a difference between, um, when we talk about the will of God, there's a difference between the perfect will of God, which will come to pass after Jesus returns and things are, are made right, and there's the permissive will of God. For example, it was never God's will for, for human beings to die. He did not create us with death worked into the equation. That is going to be overturned one day. He's bearing with it. Meanwhile, we groan, as in the pains of childbirth. And God, God is bearing with it. We're bearing with it, sometimes not very patiently, but we're bearing with God's permissive will for a time. And we're even told why there's a delay. There's a delay because God is not does not want anyone to perish, but all to be saved. And so we bear with God's permissive will as we await God's perfect will. So in answer to the question, when someone is diagnosed with an illness that perhaps is going to ultimately take their life, yeah, that's not God's perfect will. It's his permissive will. He's permitting those things to happen during this age because he has set things in motion to bring about his perfect will. And we know from the Scripture that, that the last enemy to be destroyed will be death. And of course, obviously, there will be no more disease. There will be no more, you know, sickness in any way. And that is God's perfect will. But we're waiting for that. It's not here now. And that's what makes the Word Faith Movement out of balance. They're trying to bring God's perfect will into today, where we are living in the time of God's permissive will. And that's not to say that we shouldn't pray for people. We should, and we're told to.

Yeah.

You know, James says, if any of you are sick, let him come, call the elders, and they'll pray over them, and, and, and so forth. We are to pray. We're to pray the word of faith. We're to pray believing. But we also understand that we're in a time period that is not reflective of God's perfect will, yet that is yet to come.

Right.

So good.

Jennifer says, hi, Pastor Paul.

Hi, Jennifer.

In 1 Corinthians 3:15, what loss is the believer going to suffer? Are the rewards in heaven physical or spiritual?

Okay, there's 2 questions going on here. First, she makes reference to a passage where the Apostle Paul really is referring to people who build upon someone else's foundation, which is Christ, and begins to do the work of an apostle, even pastor. But he's building, and he's— he uses that reference to talk about rewards and how people's rewards will one day be tested. I believe what Paul is saying about the testing of people's work Okay, is reflective of really all of us, whether we fit that exact context where, uh, that he talks about in 1 Corinthians 3 or not.

Right.

And I've always taught that. I think what Paul is telling there, how the, the fire of God's presence is going to go through all of our works, and that which is of the Lord, that which is lasting, will remain. And that which is wood, hay, and stubble, which are basically works of the flesh, Right? Those things will be consumed. Now, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3 that there are going to be some who will suffer complete loss of everything, except they themselves will be saved.

Yeah.

Right? He says, however, they will be saved as if they were a man escaping through the flames. All right, what that means is everything that person worked for in life is lost. There's nothing to show for it because that person never really lived a life that was redeemable from the standpoint of the things they did.

Right.

Okay. That person is redeemed, however, because they put their faith in Jesus and they were trusting that what Jesus did on the cross was enough. And so that the person themself is saved. But he has nothing to show for the life he lived and the works that he did because they were not done unto the Lord. Right? They were really done unto self. And so we kind of learned something interesting there. We learned that somebody can be a believer and get into heaven with no rewards. That's what Paul's saying in that passage. Now, the next part of her question is, are the rewards physical or spiritual?

Yeah.

Well, I personally think they're going to be both. The Bible doesn't specifically say. I think there will be spiritual rewards. I think there will be physical. In fact, I think that when the new heaven and earth are created after the millennial kingdom, I think the line between physical and spiritual is going to be indiscernible. I think that physical and spiritual dynamics will take on a complete and total definition that is apart from what we have today. They'll be one and the same. So I think bless— and, you know, blessings are blessings.

Sure.

And they will be blessings and rewards. And we're not going to care whether they're spiritual or physical then.

Yeah, that's an answer to a lot of things, a lot of these questions. We're not going to care when we get there.

Yeah, for sure.

Paul is from Grand Rapids, and he says, some groups teach that Jesus died for our salvation, but then go on to add things we need to do to secure our salvation.

Yeah, that's true.

Do these people have salvation? I struggle because they're saying that what Jesus did was not enough. Yeah.

Well, you know, I'll just tell you what the Apostle Paul said, because he was— he wrote his letter to the churches in the region of Galatia who were being drawn into legalism, particularly circumcision, by the Judaizers who followed up in Paul's ministry by telling people that, you know, hey, Jesus— believing in Jesus is great, but you also gotta do this, you gotta do that. And they emphasized circumcision because it was the sign that God gave to the Jews. Um, here's what Paul said. He said, he said, let me tell you this now. If you allow yourself to be circumcised— and what that means is if you allow circumcision to be part of what you're trusting in alongside Jesus— he said, if you allow yourself to be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you whatever.

Mm-hmm.

That's what Paul said. I didn't say it.

Very strong.

That's very strong language. Somebody would say, well, they're still saved, right? Well, then Christ would be of some value to them, wouldn't they? I would say he was still a big value to them if they're still saved. He's telling them there, if you abandon faith in Jesus as the only means of salvation and you begin to add something else on top of it, and in this case it was circumcision, but for others it's water baptism, for some it's taking communion, for others it's living a good life, he said, you're gonna, you're gonna end up with no gospel at all, you know. And that's what he told the Galatians. You know, the Galatians were the only church Paul didn't commend in some way, and, and, and it was because they had begun to desert and, and abandon the very gospel that he brought to them. And he said, I'm amazed, I'm, I'm shocked and I'm amazed that you are so quickly deserting the gospel that was brought, that I taught to you. So, Paul considered it an extremely serious matter when we add to the necessity of salvation with other works.

Sure, and I think Paul is asking, is this dangerous? And your answer is yes.

Very. It is very dangerous.

Remy says, how should a Christian go about desiring and praying for good things without falling into the trap of prosperity. My double-mindedness renders me speechless when co-workers or friends come to me for a word of encouragement. I find myself feeling condemned, like I'm chasing after the world when planning for anything good.

This question kind of befuddles me a little bit because it seems like this person is coming from the standpoint that Christians shouldn't expect anything good in this life, and if we do, we're going to tumble into the prosperity movement where they talk about, well, it's all supposed to be good, And if it's not good, you don't have enough faith.

Yeah.

And I think that there's a balance that needs to be struck here. You know, yes, the prosperity movement is out of order. It's way out of order. But there's something else that's out of order on the other side of that same equation. And that is the idea that we're just— we're just poor and sorry and always weeping. And Christians should never be happy or enjoy life in any way. That's the other end of that spectrum.

The prosperity movement.

Yeah, I suppose that's what you could call it.

Yeah, is the other side.

Yeah. So, um, you know, I, I, and I don't, I don't believe, I don't believe either, uh, either extreme, you know. I don't believe in the prosperity movement because it's putting the not yet into the now, or at least it's trying to. And I don't believe the other end that we should never ever have fun. You know, Jesus said, I came that you might have life and have it to the full.

Right?

And, and I don't think there, there should be any contradiction or problem with praying for people. If somebody needs an encouraging word, the word is Jesus gives joy and peace and fullness of life, even in the world in which we live. You know, the reason that we can have joy, the reason that we can have peace and fullness of life, is because we know that God works all things together for the good of those that love him. and are called according to his purpose. And so, we have that confidence going forward that I am being led by the Lord, I am being fed by the Lord, I am being guided by the Lord, and he brings good things into my life. He is a good God, and he loves to bless his children. You know, you and I talk regularly—

We do.

—about how much the Lord has blessed our lives throughout the course of our years in Ontario, Oregon, And even the life we're living now that, since, even I've left pastoring that church full-time, but still walking in the gifting and ability that he's given for both of us, we're just amazed. We're amazed at how good God is. Yeah.

And I find that a practice of just gratitude, a practice of thankfulness, which is definitely encouraged in the New Testament for us to be thankful people. And so, uh, just recounting even the good things that are temporary on this earth— our family, having celebrations, having, you know, things work out well.

Yeah.

Um, you know, the Lord's— I'm finding in a lot of these questions that people write in, people, uh, do not have confidence in finding the balance between things.

Yeah, that's true.

You're often getting questions between where is the balance between legalism and grace? Where is the balance between austerity and prosperity? And it— I just sense that a lot of people just struggle to feel confident in that middle ground.

Yeah, and our God is a God of order and a God of balance. And, you know, the Apostle Paul said, rejoice in the Lord always, and I say again, rejoice. And that means there's something to rejoice about. And God brings brings good things into our lives. And there's nothing wrong with praying for good things and trusting the Lord for good things, even in the midst of the life we're living today.

Yeah, yeah, that's good. Okay, I think this is our last question from Reed.

Okay.

He says, in Isaiah 43:10, the Lord states very clearly that there are no other gods.

Yeah.

However, in passages like 2 Corinthians 4:4, the Apostle Paul calls the devil the god of this age or the god of this world.

Yeah.

Depending on the translation.

Yeah.

I have found that some people will cite verses like this to differentiate between God Almighty and lesser gods or spiritual beings who have divine qualities. They will say the Bible calls Satan a god, but that does not mean that Satan is God Almighty. To me, this sounds like an excuse for polytheism, but with the citing of scripture, I struggle to reply. Would appreciate your thoughts on this.

Well, polytheism is the idea, you know, that there are a multiplicity of gods. And the reason we call someone a polytheist, or that's basically pagan belief, is that they worship a multiplicity of gods. They have gods for everything. And this— what the Bible deals with and what the Bible reveals isn't polytheism, because the Bible is very monotheistic, meaning that there is only one God that is the Creator God whom we worship and who has sent his Son to save us by sacrificing himself on the cross. There are references in the Bible to other small-g gods, but they are all created beings. There's only one uncreated, all-powerful, all-sufficient, all-knowing God. There's only one, right? And there's only one God that we serve. There's really only one God that we even fully recognize. Although the Bible makes reference. If you really want to muddy the waters, God even at one time referred to the judges and leaders of Israel as small-g gods, and Jesus brought that up.

Yeah.

Um, so that's not polytheism. It's, it's simply the idea that there are principalities and powers, spiritual principalities and powers, that are referred to at times. as small-g gods. And that's, that's not a contradiction. It's not a problem because as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, to us there is only one God.

Right.

Right. As far as we're concerned, there's only— even though there are, he says, there are many gods and lords, for us there's only one God. And so we are, we are firmly monotheistic in that sense. There's only one God that can save you. There's only one God that you should ever pray to. There's only one God in heaven who is uncreated, and that is the Lord God of the universe who created all things, who is revealed in the persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Other than that, uh, yes, there are small-g gods that the Bible references. Satan is one of them.

Sure.

And when it calls him the god of this world, it means he's the ruler Of this world. So the word God can, can, can fill in for ruler.

Sure.

He's a temporary ruler. He is in a position of temporary rulership, and so he is referred to as the prince of the power of the air, the god of this world, and so forth. So you— we use these other terms, but don't get hung up on them.

Sure.

There is only one God, and that's all. And that's all we care about.

Yeah, yeah, that's good. And that's the end.

Those are our questions for this one. That went pretty fast. I know we have some more questions, uh, in the waiting, and we'll get to those next time. Hey, if you'd like to send along a question for us to tackle— and these were good ones— uh, just email us, bestwayquestions@lifebibleministry.com, and we'll get to it just as soon as we can.

Amen.

Until we meet you next time, God bless you. Stay in the Word, and we'll see you soon. Bye-bye.