Jesus Christ Show | Hour 3 [03/24]

You're listening to KFI A six forty on demand. John, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. Hey, good morning, Jesus, Hi John, what's going on? Yeah? My question is is that I've been baptized a believer, and I do read scripture and I do attend church. However, I'm surrounded by in my family what I would call scientific atheists. In other words, there are non believers, never been baptized. They mock every word and action that I pursue in my life, and it's very damaging and very painful

to me. And I was wondering if there is a passage in scripture that you can help me focus on so that I can receive some answers from them. Okay, Well, for one, I'm not sure why you'd expect them to love you through this. I mean, they disagree with you and every single moment. Yeah, and they think it's silly in their own eyes. And that's okay, there's why are you looking for them to somehow pat you on the back for something like this? Well maybe excuse me, maybe I'm

not, but it sure feels like I'm carrying the cross. Well that's part of the process, I will assure you as the one who did carry the cross. You're not, but that there is a process of growing that happens through this, and Scripture says that, hey, they're going to treat you the same way they treated me, and that there's going to be there's going to be problems. If you read in Matthew chapter ten, starting at verse thirty four, says, you know, do not think that I came to

bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter in law again to mother in law. And a man's enemy enemies will be members of his own household. And that points out that there's going to be problems even in your own family, and that's okay. As you grow in Scripture, as you grow in your learning,

expect people to press up against you. Resistance is not a bad thing, John, If you look at everything in life and its beauty, the bird flying, the fish swimming, that those things can only happen due to resistance. The bird only flies because of the resistance of the wind. The fish only swims because of the resistance of the water. Resistance is something that should propel you forward, not keep you back. Don't expect everybody to love

you. They didn't love me. Don't expect everybody to high five you, even your own family, when you're bettering yourself or you're living for God, especially if they don't understand it, if they don't conceptualize it and be able to put it, especially if they're you know, as you say, scientific atheists in your own words, and they're not always synonymous, by the way, but just because they come from that mindset, they can't put your experience

in a petri dish. They're not going to understand it. Steve, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. Hi, thanks for taking my call, Holy host, my pleasure, Steve. I have a what I suspect is a very typical hot potato, and that is my just of the horns at the idea that as a part of the Christian faith, that hell could really exist, or exist as it is stated, where you know people outside the faith or those who perhaps don't utter at a level of sincerity the right words at

the right time on it, but then spend an eternity in hell. And

it's not a new topic to me. I've been involved in the church for many years off and on, and in the last four or five years have really given it a strong thrust, gotten involved in the church with the Old and New Testament, not thairoly, but enough to get a good sense just you know, sort of exited Deuteronomy and Leviticus was a sort of sense of nausea with all the horrifying things that take place in there and anyway, but the big thing for me and it has caused me to sort of abandon,

you know, the faith as I have portrayed in my own life. I am fallen on my face in front of God, said, please just help me find you, because I cannot accept that a loving God would send people guilty or not. The level of guilt had never equal, I think,

eternal torture, and therefore I cannot except that it is un Christian. As far as the logic that God has bestowed on me, I will hold off to that the fact that what if the this is just an excuse for you to continue to control and enjoy certain sins or it gives you kind of a break. In other words, if there were no hell mentioned in the Bible, would I still find reasons to sort of sidestep it because I want my own selfish me. So I accept, but I've examined that pretty closely and

I don't think so. And just lastly, for instance, I have some Mormon colleagues that I work with, and they're great friends, and they are far more faithful and holy than I. And according to those in my congregation, it's a cult and they're all held bound. And just when I think of that, and then I try to express my faith to someone else,

all of the credibility drains right out of my feet. Because I think of that, I say I cannot, in good faith, you know, follow a faith that would express that as a consequence of the differing dogmas that surround the various sorts of Christmas, Christian faith, and then of course all the rest of them, you know, Muslims, Buddhism, etc. So that's

my plight, okay, And I think it's a legitimate one. I think it's a healthy place to be. I think if you are a believer and you don't go through this in your walk, if you don't ask those questions and you're not concerned about that, I think that there might be an issue with your heart. However, if you don't work through it. I think that there's an issue with your faith and possibly your head. They meld together,

and there's a way to explain and to see them. And we'll go through as much as we can that we have time for to give you a little different perspective. First of all, I've always been humored by the fact that the people have an issue with Hell, have an issue with hell because they feel people have earned it. But they have no problem thinking people have earned Heaven, which they have not. So if it is based on those

kinds of concepts, people have a problem with that. Yet innate inherent in every culture, every belief, belief system, so every religious belief, everything always has a punitive or punishment system. Always it is inherent in man to understand that punishment is not only important, that it's just and it is good. Everyone stands up at the end of the movie when the bad guy gets it and cheers. Everyone stands up when the bad guy is arrested or has

to pay for the crime that they committed, because that's good. Yet, for some reason, when it comes to God or the things that are the holiest of holies, that God should just kind of brush it off and say, eh, well, it's all right, look and see what really is being done. And the problem is that man keeps comparing themselves to one another. You look, you just did it with religion, and you said, all these religions, Ah, they're kind of the same, or they may

be different, but they're really trying hard, or they're sincere. And as it's been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The problem lies in the fact not that there are differing views, that no one believes that there is a true view, yet they do in every other walk of their life. You know, if you pick up gasoline and put it into a glass, it looks very similar to apple juice, but there's two very different consequences when you consume it. So it's not about appearances, it's

not about things that you feel comfortable with. It's about the reality. And the reality is that the sins you commit are not against one another. The sins you commit are against God, who is a holy and righteous, eternal being. So any act against that being, no matter how small it is to you, is a complete and total infraction against the holy will of God.

Sure, and I'll tell you one too. An today, one thing you had said is that everyone seems to have a sense that, oh gee, well, Heaven certainly exists, and I could accept it that if I fall short of the mark, and I hate to put it so lightly, but if I fall sharp, No, that's the actual biblical term sin is missing the mark. Right, So I missed the mark, and then therefore

the just consequence for me is eternal damnation. After having spent sixty years on earth doing or not doing whatever I did, the scale just doesn't equal. I can accept. But no, no, no, no, it's because you're looking towards man, though it's not against. The analogy that I give is that if you were to slap your brother in wrestling. You're messing around

in the house and you slap your brother, it's a bad thing. But if you were to slap your mother, that's a worse thing, right, same act on a different person, different consequences, right, sure, Okay, Now the police officer comes and he says, why did you slap your brother? And why did you slap your mom? And you slap the police officer. Different consequences, right, same act, same act, right. Okay, when you slap the face of the Holy, righteous, eternal God,

the consequences, by definition, are eternal period. Now to wrestle with that is to make God human or to make you suppearer, and you're not. Neither are true. The key is to understand. You get focused on the act, and this is how humans work. They focus on themselves, even the faithful, focus only on themselves instead of focusing on God and who they're slapping when they reject the will of God. That is what the punishment is. In a moment, I'll explain a little bit more. So hang

tight, Steve. We'll get into what hell really is and maybe that might give a better understanding. But marinate, think about that. It's not about the act. You keep going back to the act. It's about who you're doing the act upon. That is why the consequences are so great. We were chatting with We were chatting with Steve. Steve, you're still there, Thanks so much for holding on. I marinated on our little bit of what I was saying about that it's not about the act, it's about who you

do the act on that creates the consequences. I will say also that the concept of hell, which is a great concern not only for you, for others, is different than what people think. It is now wash away all of the emotive parts of different belief systems. It's not about that. Logic states that regardless of how you feel about something, there are certain laws in which are universal. You have a phone number, it has certain digits in it. If I call that phone number and I'm off one digit, I

don't get you by default. I don't even get your neighbor necessarily. So in life there you can't just say, well, if it's close enough, I should be okay. That would be great for people who counterfeit money, it's like, well it looks pretty close. There is reality and there are things that aren't reality. There are things that are true and there are things that are That's just the way it goes. Every every truth claim is going

to have is going to be exclusionary by definition. So that's something you need to get over because that's the reality of everything. Every belief system you mentioned believes the same of you. So it's it's that that is everything you are who you are, Steve, and no one can take that away from you. Just it's the concept of a kid yelling mom in a grocery store. You might have a bunch of women that turn around, but only one is his mother. So there's more to it than just the term God. There's

more to it than just sincere faith. And it's not about ignorance either. Hell is not about ignorance. It's about rejection of God. So everyone will hear the message and reject it. So like that that glass of apple juice versus the glass of gasoline, everyone will be told one of the this one is gas and will hurt you if you drink it. This one is apple juice, and you'll be fine. But they will refuse one and drink the other. And that's where the consequence lies. In addition to that, the

concept of hell is very different from what people think. The concept of hell is not about the fire and brimstone that people assume that it is. Hell is the absence of the salvation of God, and in that is a place that there's nothing to satiate that quench. I'll explain more in a moment. We're having a conversation with Steve that keeps getting rudely interrupted by commercial breaks.

A very interesting question is Steve was asking about the concept of hell, and I love that it comes from such a great place, Steve, I know that this is something that is rock your faith and the reason why I'm so impassioned by it because I think it's imperative to have an understanding that punishment is not evil, Punishment is necessary because of evil and the concept of hell. If you don't. Is there a particular music that you can't stand Steve?

Yeah, you know the poka. Okay, polka, that's a legitimate choice. So polka. Yeah, Steve doesn't like poka. I get that. I understand that can be problematic. So you don't want to listen to poka for a couple of hours, you certainly don't want to listen to it for a year, right sure. And if you don't want to listen to it yere for a year, you wouldn't want to listen to it for ten years. And if you don't want to listen to it for ten years, you're

not going to want to listen to it for eternity. So God creates a place where the salvation of God is not because there are those that reach project God throughout life. And God says, if you don't want to serve me, if you don't want to love me and obey me. For the seventy eighties, generously ninety years that you have, measley years that you have on this planet. I will not force you to do it for eternity. I

will allow you to go to a place where I am not now. The consequence of that is that people don't understand how much God they get in life. Whether they believe or not, they're still reaping benefits. It's like somebody who drinks soda all the time says they hate water, but don't understand that water's in soda they're getting If they didn't get water, they'd die. So they're getting it from somewhere. It's maybe not the best choice, but they're

getting it from somewhere. Likewise, people are getting parts of God, even non believers are as the Bible says, it rains on the just and the unjust alike. But there must be a place, there must be a place where those that don't want God, that reject God. Now that doesn't mean you can say I believe in God or I'm doing good, because your good

doesn't matter, Steve. God's good is the ruler. And if you think about having a contractor come and build something for you in your house, you don't want somebody who means well, well, but whose ruler is different than yours, because the house needs to be built based on a measuring system that you adhere to, or that the rules of the land adheres to, Otherwise

it's going to be built faulty. So in that sense, if it's just anybody's belief, and anybody believes anything, then there is no truth and there's no worthy of having faith at all or any purpose to it. It is

all about God. It's not about you in that sense. And to compare yourself to others and say well, I'm better than this, or even as those group of Mormons you said that, I agree and amazingly dedicated and lovely people, and you start pointing to all these different faiths and saying or different belief systems, and you say, well what about these people? What about that people? Then it becomes a hard issue. I get that, and

there's argument to be said, especially for the different denominations of Christianity. And some would put you, obviously Mormons into that category versus there were some, as you said, that would say, oh no, they're separate. Well above all of that, to compare yourself to another human being may get you far in the judicial system of the United States or any government of the land.

But it doesn't get you far enough for God. If the measuring rod is next to God and not the person next to you, then it's important to understand that God is the final judge. So to sit there and kind of measure yourself and say, well, I'm better than this person, or they're better than me, or this, and that that's not what it's about. If there is a God, there is one our Jewish brothers and sisters, wou would say the shma shmah y Israel, Ahad here oh Israel,

the Lord, our God. The Lord is one Ahad one. There is but one God. And if there is one God, that one God is the one that deserves the attention of creation, regardless of emotion, regardless of what have you. Every belief system is exclusionary. Every belief system believes that it's right. Every belief system contradicts one so they cannot all be right. They can all be wrong, but they can't all be right. So it's fair to say there is a right way to do it. You do this

every day in your life. Every day in your life, you make decisions based on what is right versus what is wrong. But when it comes to religion, nobody wants consequences. Nobody thinks it's fair. Well, let me tell you what's fair. A holy, righteous, true, and eternal God created you and wants you to be with him for eternity. But if you reject him out of respect, he will allow you to go where he is

not, and in doing so, you will feel burning. The gnashing of tear not based on the punishment of flames and fire, but on the unquenchable thirst of having an eternal decision made by you and having the consequences the same as if you pulled a gun on somebody and shot them. The decision is final. You don't get to say, oh, well, I don't like the way the consequences look, so I'd like to reverse it. Now it's

done. Not because God is mean, not because God is stamping his feet like a child and petulant says, you didn't do it my way, so you're done. But because God is loving and God is just. And it's not that everywhere else gets justice except God. That God is supposed to be supposed to waive it. That is not loving, That is like the parent that doesn't care or doesn't give any consequence to their child. That is not

loving. You see it every day. It is not loving to look the other way and just hug someone when they do wrong and harm others and reject truth. So don't expect that from God either. Don't expect God to look the other way. Jeff, Welcome to Jesus Christ Show. Hello Jesus. Well, hello Jeff. How can I help you? How does one know they are assured of salvation? Uh, you're well, the question is is a healthy one. But you know, the principles of salvation deal with you

know, giving your life to Christ. Have you mean exactly? Well, it means that there's a lot of things that drive your life, you know, sex, drugs, rock and roll, whatever it may be, and whoever is at the wheel is the one controlling it, whether that be you and self worship and that it's all about you, or whether the principles that are in scripture and the things that are taught in the Judeo Christian precepts are part of your life. If they're not, it's like it's like you asking

me right now, well, what does a relationship mean? Well, it's when you put somebody in a place of importance in your life. You exchange ideas, you propel yourself based on that relationship, protecting it and understanding it, ever deepening it. It's a process. It's not just one particular day. But as far as salvation, the word itself means security, safety.

The purpose of it deliverance, The purpose of it is to understand that there is a God that loves you, that created you, that wants to have a relationship with you, and once to guide your life, wants you to understand his will because he's the maker and his will is what will help you to live efficiently in a way way that is just and loving towards the rest of creation. And if you rebel against those ways and you continue to just do it however you want, then you're not in that place with God.

However, if you put God first and you have given your life to God, truly to God, that is salvation. It's said in scripture that if you confess your sins and that God is faithful and just to forgive that if you confess before man that God is your savior, if you believe. Some people talk about it as the sinner's prayer, and that's praying for God to be in your life. God, I give my life to you. You are the center of my life. I want you to direct my life for

here on out. I will see myself as a Christian. Respond to those to ask that I am a Christian, not because they're looking for a label, but because the word means to be a follower of the anointed One, and that if you find yourself in a good Bible teaching church and you're reading God's word, then you're in that relationship and you're your experience and receiving that salvation. That's what it means. Tom, Welcome to the Jesus Christ Show. Well, hello, Jesus. I appreciate you taking my call, my

pleasure. Tom, what's going on. I've had a question for a long time. I was raised as a Lutheran. I grew up in a Catholic neighborhood, and one of your commandments says, I shall not tell a faulse against thy neighbor. I'm crazy. Obviously that's not tact. And I always said, well, there's a reason it says it that way. It doesn't say like thou shalt not kill or thou shalt not steal. It says thou

shall not take tele false But against thy neighbor. So I think in that respect it means sometimes inconsequential lies might be okay, just because you might not know you're lying. You passed on something you thought was fact from someone else. But that's not lying, right, That's that's not lying. If you passed on something you believed to be true. Lying is for the purpose of deception, okay, But against thine neighbor. I mean, you know, I hate to be such a you know, persistent on this, but I

just I just think that you're getting hung up on the word neighbors. That that what I'm here. Well, no so much as against you know, that you're you're lying to hurt someone. Yes, For an example, if your wife were to ask you how she looked, and addressed that she just bought and you know, let's say your wife's eighty five years old and she's, you know, looking kind of you know, not so good. You have to say you look fine, you look great, okay? Are you

sinning or are you okay? This is what they call situational ethics and applies to scripture. Thusie that there are times where it is better to you know, kill a lie and to save a life than to kill a life to save the truth. The neighbor part. I will tell you this. The neighbor is referring to anyone. It's not just the immediate people. The term neighbor was because of the small communities that were inherent back in the time of Scripture. Well, and I brought that up for a reason. I need

to tell you that quickly. The Catholics used to believe very strongly that they couldn't eat meat on Friday, and if they ate meat on Friday was a sin. And I would tell them what I didn't believe it was a sin. So they'reinion was that that was definitely a sin against God. And as well, how can that be. It's not biblical, it's not anything,

and they know that's they all practice that. Then they talked about it all the time, and that was one of the big issues that we had as kids growing up, trying to say, well, why are you of that belief? Why do you think that is? They could never tell me, yeah, that's but see, that's a Catholic doctrine that partakes They think of sin as missing the mark, and the Catholic Church they believe that that's missing the mark, and that it was disrespectful. That's in the Catholic Church.

That's not everywhere. And there are those that Protestants would point to one Timothy chapter four, verse three, don't partake of any group that who forbid marriage or advocate of staining from certain foods which God has created to be gratefully shared by those who believe in those who know the truth. So there are those that might argue back and forth. But ultimately, first question I think stands as far as there are going to be times, the worst sin of lying

is when you're applying it for personal gain. You're lying for personal gain. And this comes throughout scripture. You see in Proverbs that talks about a false weight, the merchants that would falsify the weight so that they could get paid more for produce or what have you. Well, okay, so that that is when you know the most harmful. Now, honesty is important in a relationship, and I think that if you genuinely don't like the way something looks,

you should say so and why in a loving manner. And I know many many couples that are very honest. My producer Neil is he and his wife have a very open and honest relationship where they'll tell things that they don't like, and there's going to be tastes and flavors involved, and someone go, oh, well that I don't like the way that looks well, but I really enjoy it. Or you've got something in your teeth, or you need to blow your nose, whatever it is. I think there should be

incredible open communication in a relationship. When it comes to lying, you have to understand circumstance may dictate. Otherwise, if you're in nineteen forties Germany and you're a Christian and you've got Jews in the floorboards to save their lives and the SS comes knocking at your door, you lie. You lie to protict

to for the purpose of protecting your neighbor, and that's imperative. Now, if your neighbor did something illegal, truly illegal, that is against the law of the land and not against the law of humanity like it was in Germany, and you're protecting them, then that's different. So there are circumstances that dictate. But all lies are evil in the sense that they are rejecting truth. God doesn't want you to reject the truth, but sometimes the implied situation

is that it is made up by a community. In this case, the SS saying that that that it was bad to harbor certain humans at the time, and that in fact supersedes the lie. Thank you for joining me this Sunday, this wonderful Palm Sunday. I hope you joined me every Sunday, including on Easter. Remember I am with you always, KF I am six forty on demand.