Hour 2: Bible Study Questions

study the scriptures together. If you have a question, give me a call. The phone number is (877) 548-3675. That's (877) 548-3675. If you can't call, just go to our website openline radio.org and click on the Ask Michael a question button. And you'll fill out the form and your question will be put in the mailbag, and Tricia will ask it.

Sooner or later we'll get to it, I promise. Uh, hope you have your Bibles open and you have a second cup of coffee, because we're going to talk about the scriptures right now with Chuck in Cleveland, Ohio, listening on Whkf. Hey, Chuck, welcome to Open Line. How can I help you today?

they believe that faith plus repentance equals salvation. I think the repentance is, um, something like maybe besetting sin or something like that. You know, it's, uh, I would think that the Messianic Jew that would, uh, well, you know what?

to repent. You got to repent. I don't believe in easy believism, but faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin. Which is why in acts two or acts three, Peter doesn't call on people to believe. He calls upon them to repent. And what that means is to change your mind. In first Thessalonians one it talks about how they turned, which uses another Greek word, but they turn from idols to serve the living and true God. Now why do I bring that up? Because that's really

what repentance is. And in acts three, he's basically saying to the crowd, change your mind about Jesus used to reject him, now believe in him. Uh, in first Thessalonians one, what Paul is saying is, uh, turn from what you used to trust, which was idols, and now you have turned to the Lord Jesus in whom you trust now. Uh, so it's really the act of faith is stopping. We stop trusting what we used to trust, and we start trusting what God has done for us through the Lord Jesus,

that he died for us and rose again. So really, repentance isn't sitting in the front row on the sinner's bench and thinking about all the bad things we've ever done and crying about it and doing all that. What it is, is turning from what we used to trust and turning to the one we do trust. That's what it's about. So it's faith. No works. Uh, and then the the outcome is that we stop trusting and we start trusting. We stop trusting idols. Whatever it is, good works,

whatever it is we used to trust. And instead, now we're trusting in Jesus that he died for us and rose again. So faith and repentance, two sides of the same coin. Does that make sense so far?

the crowd that said, crucify him. And he says, brothers, I know you did this in ignorance, just as your leaders also did. They didn't realize who they were rejecting. Had they known, they wouldn't have done it. But what God predicted through the mouth of all the prophets that his Messiah would would suffer, he has fulfilled in this way. And then he says, so what he's talking about is their rejection of Jesus. And he says in verse 19, therefore repent and turn. Okay. What's he saying? Change your

mind about Jesus and turn to him. That's what he's saying. And so, uh, I'm just the context tells me he's not saying go sit at the sinners bench and cry over your sins. He's saying, change your mind about Jesus. Uh, turn you. You rejected him. Now trust in him. That's that's what he's saying. So. And the same thing happens in acts two with the crowds there. Peter tells them to repent. Uh, in acts 238. So, so often we take repentance to mean, uh, change your behavior. When the

Bible teaches it's change your mind about Jesus. That's what I'm trying to say now about your friend who says that faith is keeping the Torah. Uh, it just basically, I think what? Your friend may be mistaken because he understands the Torah. For followers of Yeshua of Jesus to mean keep kosher, keep Sabbath. Uh, the truth of it is the Torah or God's instruction. Uh, today is the is the Torah, the law of Messiah, the what the New Testament calls the law of Christ, the New Covenant.

And if we will trust in Jesus, put our trust in the Lord Jesus. What will happen is we will express that faith by keeping that Messianic Torah, the law of Christ, or being obedient to him. If you love me, you'll keep my commandments. The Lord Jesus said, so, uh, there. He may be a little confused about what the Torah is, that we will. And the thing is, it doesn't. Faith is not equal to keeping those commandments. Faith is expressed if we really love Jesus by keeping his commandments. That's

what it's about. So anyway, uh, hope that helps, Chuck. Uh, I'm not sure that you felt it did, but I'll do my best with it. Okay. Uh, Wilburn in Ohio, listening on Wqrf. Welcome to Open Line. How did I get your name right, Wilburn?

answer it. When we come back, we'll talk to Marilyn, and so stay with us. Welcome back to Open Line. You know the last caller or next to. Yeah, I think it was next to last caller. I talked about the book of acts and the issues of what does the book of acts teach about repentance. And one of the things that I found really helpful was talking about that subject with a professor I had in seminary, and

his name was Doctor Charles Ryrie. I had him for a course called The Doctrine of Salvation, and we talked about the book of acts. And he really knew the book of Acts because he wrote the moody, every day Bible commentary on acts. And that's our current resource. And he was very, very helpful in explaining those issues in that course. And it's one of the reasons why I love this book and why we're offering it as our

resource resource this time this month. Because, uh, for a gift of any size, I'd like to send you a copy by. Just say thank you. Here's Doctor Ryrie's book on the book of acts. It's very helpful. Uh, it's a good resource. Easy to read, easy to understand. No one made the Bible or theology simpler to understand than Doctor Ryrie. Uh, that's what I loved about his classes.

And it's what I love about this book. If you'd like to receive a copy of, uh, Doctor Rory's book, best thing to do is just head over to Openline radio. Org or you can call by going to (888) 644-7122. And with your gift of any size, just make sure you ask for Doctor Rory's book on the every day Bible commentary on Acts. Uh, we're going to talk to Marilyn right now. Uh, listening in Florida on Wmhb. Welcome to Open Line. Marilyn. How can I help you?

and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them. Notice good grammar would say in the names of the father, son, and Holy Spirit. However, in this verse it says, in the name of the father and the son, and the Holy Spirit. So it uses a singular noun name to describe the three persons of the Triune God. Uh, which would be sort of a hint at the triune nature of God that he is not three gods, but God is 1 in 3 persons. Does that. Uh, that's a

good verse. Very good. Yeah. Matthew 2819. Uh, you know, uh, here's what I'd like you to do. I'd like you to hang on. Marilyn. Uh, there is a book. It's not on the Trinity, but it's. It's a book I wrote called 50 Most Important Bible Questions. And it has, uh, a good one of the questions, I don't remember which number is about the. I remember the question was, can you give a simple explanation of the Trinity? And I said, no,

no one can. But what I do is I lay out the biblical evidence and deal with some of these verses, like Matthew 2819 and the ones that you mentioned, as well as some other verses that you might find really helpful. So if you stick on the phone. Uh, Marilyn, we'll send you a copy of 50 Most Important Bible Questions. Okay.

are other questions. You know, sometimes you think, well, I've got the 50 questions. What do I need to listen to Open Line for? No, no, no, keep listening. But I think you'll find that book helpful. We're going to talk to Stephen in Ohio, listening on Wqrf. Welcome to Open Line. How can I help you? Stephen.

days creation a people lived to be 900 years old. Uh, he was able, I think, to say you could have evolution and genesis because the literary genre of Genesis is an ancient creation myth, not meaning myth as it's untrue, but it's explaining spiritual things in a way that would have been understanded by the people who received it 2000

plus years ago. And I was wondering if you think that type of understanding of Genesis could be correct doctrinally, or if you just find that to be an incorrect way to interpret Genesis as a whole.

Genesis one and two. So, uh, let's be clear about that. And there could be a lot of believers that we learn a lot from, but in many areas that we wouldn't necessarily agree with their view of creation. Uh, there were many ancient myths about creation. I don't think it's fair to relegate the Hebrew Scriptures to that kind of mythic approach, although it does explain where creation comes from. But it's true myth in the sense This way, if you just take myth to mean an explanation, I think

it's crucial that we recognize that Hebrew narrative. Hebrew narrative is always meant to be taken as fact, not as some sort of story. Uh, even you mentioned the age of people, you know, in the primeval period, they were living all that length of time. And then in Genesis six, it's not like the the author doesn't recognize that something unusual is going on. Genesis six, God says, I'm not going to strive with people because they're evil. Uh, so much.

And then he says, uh, in verse three, uh, my spirit will not strive with mankind forever because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years. So he kind of limits the maximum number of years to 120. It doesn't do it instantaneously when you get to the end. Now remember, Genesis is just the volume one of a five book, uh, series. It's one book with five volumes, uh, that's called the Torah, or some people call it the Five Books of Moses, but it's like the Lord of the rings, you know,

there's three novels, but it's really one story. The same thing with the the Pentateuch. It's one book, the book of the law, and it's got five volumes. And if you look at the end Deuteronomy 34, how old is Moses when he dies at the very end? 120 years old. So it shows that God was going to reduce the number of years. And the reason I point this out is that, you know, people say, oh, look how long

they didn't know any better. No, they knew better. When Moses wrote this, he knew exactly what was going on, that people were going less and less and less years, so that by the end of his life, it was 120 years, just as God had maxed it out at, uh, and, uh, the days of creation, where the people take them, some people take them as eras, you know, ages. I don't, I think evening, morning, 24 hours. That's what I think it is. Uh, it's six days of creation. Makes perfect

sense to me. You've got Genesis one one and two where God creates everything. That's summary. And then more specifically, the six days of creation and the rest of one 3 to 2 four. And then what you have in two five to the end of that chapter is the sixth day of creation. So it goes from very broad to narrower to very narrow. Uh, and I think that's what we're talking about. People say, well, how can it be six days of creation? The world is so old. You know, you take this early earth with six days

of creation. I believe God created the world with apparent age. It was just like when Adam was created. When he was 20 minutes old. He didn't look like a 20 minute old infant. He looked like a man. He was created with apparent age. I think God created everything with age to make it look like even the light years of the stars shining. He created that, you know? So it came down. He created everything with age. And then, uh, the other thing is many things that we see as

look very old are the result of catastrophe. Uh, a catastrophe can explain a lot of these things. Uh, for example, when Mount Saint Helens had its top blown off, right. Uh, all the trees on top landed down in Spirit Lake. This is in 1980. And the the weight of the the water went into the right, into the roots and made those trees go down into the bottom of the lake with the roots at the bottom. And they settled there, and it looks like a forest under there. They were

covered in lava when they did this. Now there's a fossil, uh, forest at the bottom of Spirit Lake. And what's amazing about that is people would say if they looked at that, they'd say billions of years ago there was a forest here. But now through evolution. No, we know it's it's it's 60 years old. And what it is is a result of catastrophe. Well, there was a huge worldwide catastrophe where the foundations of the deep open, there were earthquakes. There was, uh,

volcanoes erupting. It just exploded all over the earth. And a lot of the things that we see as being ancient fossils are probably the just, just the result of that catastrophe. So to me, uh, taking the, the Hebrew Bible at face value makes the most sense. Uh, that's how I read it. If I have to defend it, I would use two aspects. Uh, in terms of science, uh, in terms of the age of the Earth and all

those things. One apparent age and two, uh, catastrophism. And so, you know, I'm not trying to judge Doctor Miller, you know, God bless him, he's with the Lord. Now, that's fine, but I wouldn't agree with his approach to Genesis. Does that help, Stephen?

There are so many people that tell me they listen every week, and if they can't get the program on time, they go on, they get the podcast, or they go on the Moody Radio app and they listen that way. And I'm I'm just amazed and grateful for that. And as well, I'm grateful, uh, that some are, uh, partners in even a more special sense and that that they in that they become kitchen table partners. They don't just listen.

What they do is they actively support this program by giving monthly so we can be on the air weekly. And we're so grateful for that as well. And I, I just am amazed that people care about us that much. This, this program and, and the teaching of the word to people that they will help out that way. And I appreciate them. And one of the things I do to show my appreciation is every other week we send out

a Bible study moment. If a person becomes a kitchen table partner, they get an email, click on it, listen to a Bible study. We're doing a series on the covenants over the summer, and that's been very fun for me. So if you're interested in becoming a kitchen table partner, we sure would appreciate it if you've given monthly some given occasionally, but we'd like to turn that into a monthly, uh, gift. Boy, that's really appreciated. Uh, however it is, we're we're just

grateful for your listening. But if you'd like to become a kitchen table partner, all you have to do is call (888) 644-7122 or go to Open Line Radio. Org. Now it's time for the Febc mailbag. Grateful to Febc for partnering with our program to bring you Openline and Febc. Org or Far Eastern Broadcasting Company. There's a lot there. Go to their website. You can check it out and see all about how they are bringing the gospel around

the world through media and personal follow up. Uh, check out their website because it's got a link to their podcast called Until All Have Heard. I think you'll really enjoy that. And joining me right now for the Febc mailbag is Tricia McMillan, our producer, and we've had two producers today. I didn't mention her at the outset of the program to Tiara Haynes, to Kyra Haynes. Haines. Hi. Michael is here. I told her, it's not fair. We've got tiara answering the phones and to hear her helping out.

I'm just too confusing. But I'm really grateful you're here to hear her.

received the Holy Spirit. So Linda wants to know, do we have the Holy Spirit when we accept the Lord Jesus, or does that come later?

they receive the Holy Spirit. It's because it's a transitional book. So what we should do is we should go to the epistles like Romans eight nine. If anyone doesn't have the Spirit of Christ, they don't belong to him. You know, every believer Romans eight nine has the Holy Spirit. Okay, okay. So how do I explain this in acts eight? It's fairly simple. What the issue was is Samaritans were a schismatic group. They said, oh, we're the true Jews. We

have the true Torah. And they were very independent. You can read about that in John four. You know, the Samaritan woman.

are under the authority of the apostles from Jerusalem. Okay. So that's that explains that transitional feature. But really, what where do we get our doctrine from? We get it from the the epistles.

read something like this. And this is it, that those who practice such things, not having trusted in Jesus, will not inherit the kingdom of God If someone trusts in Jesus, those things are forgiven. Uh, and now it may be that if a person is habitually, customarily, just flagrantly carrying out the deeds of the flesh, they may have said they've trusted in Jesus, but they may not have. I think that's why Paul says, examine yourself to see if

you're in the faith. But basically none of us are perfect. Even Paul says, uh, in the book of Philippians chapter, I think three says, not that I have arrived, but I press on. So if the apostle Paul who said these things has not arrived yet, well, I certainly haven't arrived yet, and there are still fleshly things that will erupt in my life, even though I've been a believer now for 52 years. Uh, the only person I know that's not like that is Eva, you know? But that's

that's not true. Even Eva occasionally will have something from the flesh, uh, pop out. Uh, Trisha? No. Never.

how much you've grown, how less. You know, I still may do things pretty often that are wrong, but I'm not doing it quite as much as I used to.

for that question, Randall. With that, mark in Ohio, listens to Wkkf and wants to know, as a born again believer, do we need to ask for forgiveness for every sin we commit? Or are they already forgiven? Are we already forgiven for those sins? Yes.

the light, the light of his word. Try to obey it. Uh, and we have fellowship together. And then if he brings to light in my life in an area of sin, a particular sin that I've committed, that's where first John one nine kicks in. If we confess or agree with God about that sin, that's what confess means to agree with him. Uh, if we agree with God that that was sin, then what we do is we agree with him, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

He is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's what I call fellowship forgiveness. Because we may be forgiven for all time, past, present, and future. But our sins that we commit after we come to know him, block our fellowship with him, and confession, uh, restores that fellowship so that we can speak openly and and come boldly and do all those things. And that also comes through the the death and resurrection of our Messiah. Okay.

his promises to his people. Uh, we're living in a time with a lot of tension, uh, and anti-Semitism, let's call it what it is hatred of the Jewish people. Uh, it's erupting on our campuses. It's erupting in our neighborhoods. It's. It's erupting all over the world. And as a result of that Moody Bible Institute, which has a firm conviction that God is faithful to his people and loves his people, and that we should, too. We are holding a summit.

We're calling a summit opposing anti-Semitism on November 9th. Check it out. Uh, hope you'll consider coming to us on that day. There's all sorts of information. Just go to our website, openline radio org and click on the banner there about the summit on opposing anti-Semitism. And you'll get the information and join us right here at Torrey Gray Auditorium in Chicago on November 9th. Now, uh, that made me think of what made me think of that is

also the fact that God has always been faithful. There's always been anti-Semitism. It's, uh, it's just a the oldest hatred and Chosen People ministries has their Messianic Jewish art calendar focusing on Jewish history and God's faithfulness. Despite the anti-Semitism, God is still faithful to his people, and this calendar has some wonderful pictures showing God's faithfulness to Israel throughout

Jewish history. and it could be yours free. All you have to do is go to our website openline radio org. They're offering it to you. All you have to do is go to the link that says A Free gift from Chosen People Ministries. Click on that and you'll get a copy of the Messianic Jewish Art calendar from Chosen People Ministries. Grateful that they partner with us and make this calendar available to our listeners again, go to openline radio org. Scroll down, click on the link that says

a Free gift from Chosen People Ministries. And we're going to go to the phones right now to Julie in Nashville, Tennessee, listening on Wkhm. Welcome to Open Line. Julie. How can I help you?

I don't think that that's what it's saying. I think it's stating a general principle that when people reject the gospel, there is, uh, they don't accept the love of the truth, and then they are continually being diluted, even in the tribulation. Uh, and so that's just a general rule, what breaks it. And this is true today and in the tribulation period, what breaks it is when God opens our eyes. God

opens our hearts. God will do that. It says in acts 16 that Lydia of Lydia, that the Lord opened her heart to believe the things that or to receive or or think about the things that that Paul was saying. I think that's what he'll do for all people. There's going to be a great revival in the tribulation. 144,000 Jewish people are going to believe according to revelation seven. Then it talks about people from every tribe and tongue and nation knowing the Lord. And so I think they're

going to be evangelists, and God will open hearts. God will break the delusion. For many it will be the greatest revival in history. It says the Lord in acts 1614 about Lydia. The Lord opened Lydia's heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul, and then she believed. Uh, and so it seems to me like.

that's where the heavenly places are. There's this great battle taking place and it delays him from coming the angel from God. And this is the unseen battle, the unseen world where there are evil spirits, the dark world trying to prevent God's work here in our world. That's what it's talking about. I can't believe that our program is done for the day. Thanks for listening everyone. And I want to say a special thank you to Tricia and to Chris, and to Yara and to Kyra and all those of you who.