Hello friends. It's time for the second hour of Open Line with Doctor Michael Ray. Domenic Moody Radio's Bible Study Across America. We're talking about your questions about the Bible, God and the spiritual life. My name is Michael Ray. I'm the academic dean and a professor of Jewish studies and Bible at Moody Bible Institute. We're live today sitting around the radio kitchen table taking your questions. So give me a call right now. The phone number (877) 548-3675. That's (877) 548-3675.
Beginning the hour. Always the best time to call. So, uh, give us a call (877) 548-3675. If you can't call, you can go to our website, open line radio.org. There's a link there that says Ask Michael a question. Click over there and you'll you'll be able to post your question and Trish will collate it. Put it all together and we'll put them in the mailbag and take them at
a future day. I hope you have your second cup of coffee and your Bible still open, because we're going to continue talking about the scriptures, and we're going to start with trip in central Illinois listening on the Moody Radio app. Welcome to Open Line Trip. How can I help you today?
Good morning. Thank you for having me on. So I've been a Christian a long time, listened to Moody Radio for several decades. So many excellent speakers such as yourself. My question is regarding the Trinity, and one of the things that I've picked up is that, of course, and I believe the Trinity is three distinct persons, just like Jesus was 100% man, 100% God when he was here on earth. The Trinity is three distinct persons in quotes.
And then the last part of that is we will never fully understand the Trinity till we get to heaven. So my question is if it's if God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit is three distinct persons. Am I not supposed to have a relationship with each three each of the three? Should I not be speaking to each of the one praying to each of them?
And that would be like having three gods, wouldn't it be trip? Or is there just one God?
No. Well, again, it's this mystery of three persons or 3 in 1. So I tried.
Wait, wait. Trip trip trip trip trip. I hear what you're saying. But three persons. But one essence. Yes. I mean, there's only one God. Uh, yes. And and so, uh, it seems to me that we should pray in the way that the Lord Jesus taught us to pray. Right. How's that.
Lord's Prayer? That was that was my next part of my question. We have that. But what other scripture? That's the other part of my question. What scripture do we have to lead us one way or the other in this understanding or misunderstanding?
First of all, we have the Lord's Prayer which directs us. He gives us a model prayer. It's not that we pray that very prayer. It's a model. It's exemplary. It teach us to pray. Pray in this way. And it starts off by saying, our Father in heaven.
Mhm.
And so we we address our prayers to God the Father. And then if you read the Upper Room discourse, the Lord directs the disciples in John 14 1516, uh, to pray in the name of the son. Uh, for example. Well, uh, John 1413, whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that your father may be glorified in the son. Uh, and, uh, so the idea is that we pray to the father in the name of the son. But, uh, where's the Holy Spirit in this? Well, it's interesting to me.
In John 15, it says that the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father, he will testify about me. So, uh, some people have called that the shy. The reason that the the the shy, the shy person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit is not about himself, but about pointing people to the son. And, uh, so the shy Holy Spirit, by the way, again, John 16, I assure you, anything
you ask the father in my name. He will give you. Uh, and so the clearest, clearest teaching I have from the Lord Jesus himself about prayer is that we should pray to the father in the name of the son. But the Holy Spirit has a role in empowering our prayers. Uh, the Holy Spirit guides us. Uh, and even we can ask God to have the Holy Spirit guide us into what we need to pray. I think God has to be in our prayer list as well. Uh, the Holy Spirit also, when we don't know how to pray anymore,
we're at the end of our rope. It says in Romans eight that the Holy Spirit prays for us. In the same way, the spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because there are times we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the spirit himself intercedes for us. So the Holy Spirit and words and groans too deep for words. It's not audible in any way. But the Holy Spirit will intercede for us. And I think there's a verse in Philippians, uh, that, uh,
seems to talk about the Holy Spirit's power. Oh, this is it. Uh, uh, it's Ephesians 618. Pray at all times in the spirit. Sometimes people take that, uh, as being, uh, praying in a unlearned language or something like that, or, or ecstatic utterance or something like that. That's not what it means. It means pray at all times in the power of the spirit, allowing the Holy Spirit to invade our prayer lists. Um, and and that's what what it's
talking about. So, uh, The idea is that when we pray, we pray to the father in the name of the son, by the power of the Holy Spirit invading our prayer lists. And that's how we should pray, not as having we not like having an individual relationship with each member of the Godhead, but praying to the one God, to the father in the name of the son, by the power of the spirit. Does that help at all, Tripp?
Well it helps. I'm still a little bit murky on this. And, you know, there's all kinds of songs and so forth about, you know, I walk with Jesus and Jesus carries me and on the sand and so forth. And it.
Does. Yeah. Let me ask you, Tripp. Tripp. Tripp, where are you going? To get your guidance for how to pray from the Lord Jesus and the word of God or from songs?
Yes.
I hope not. From songs, of course.
Right. Right.
Okay.
No.
That's true. That's a.
Basic.
Yeah. Uh, we don't we don't, uh, make decisions by what we think is a good idea. Uh, we don't make decisions about how to pray based on a song that we've heard, or a poem that we've read or a poster we've seen. The way we learn how to pray. And by the way, I would recommend wonderful books. I can't even you know how to resurrect a dead prayer. Life is one of them. But there are many books, several books written about prayer by doctor Bill Thrasher, a
professor at Moody. Uh, you can look up Bill Thrasher about all the books he's written about prayer. I would I would really encourage you, uh, to pick up some of those books. He gives a great biblical guidance on how we're supposed to be praying. Uh, he's he's one of the godliest men I know. He's, uh. I've known him for 50 years. Uh, he is. He's taught spiritual
life at Moody for about 49 of those 50 years. Uh, he was a doctoral student when I was a graduate student, a master's student in graduate school, and, uh.
Wow.
I just I've known him forever. And he has lived out that commitment to prayer. And he teaches people how to pray better than anyone I know. So, uh, why don't you pick up some of his books there? So.
Okay.
Uh, they're so biblical. Uh, that's what I love. He he gets the guidance for how? There we go. Uh, my producer just posted one A Journey to Victorious Praying by Bill Thrasher. That's a great book, too. So, um.
Check.
Check it.
You know what? You know what, trip?
I'm. That's a moody book. So how about you hang on a second? Uh, I bet Moody Publishers, uh, would happily send you a copy of A Journey to Victoria spraying everyone out there. If you're listening and you think I would like to enhance my prayer life, uh, that's a a great, great book, I'd encourage you to pick it up. You can go to Moody publishers.com, and you can find it there, or any online bookstore or Christian bookstore, wherever you want to go. But trip, you hang on.
We'll get your, uh, your address and, uh, to here. We'll get that information and we'll send you a copy of Bill Thrasher's Journey to Victorious. Praying. Okay.
Thanks so much.
Yeah, sure. Uh, thanks. Thanks for your call. Uh, you know, we're going to take a break here. Uh, and when we come back, uh, we'll have time to, uh, to take your question, the phone number (877) 548-3675. You're listening to Open Line on Moody Radio. My name is Michael Melnick. More questions coming up straight ahead. So stay with us. And we're back. Uh, you know, I think that, uh, this is Michael Ray Melnick. You're listening to Open Line.
There are times when I just can't encourage you enough, uh, to consider giving a gift to open line. Not because I think. I think our thank you response, our resource is so fantastic. Uh, and we'll send it to you for a gift of any size. I'd love everyone to build a good biblical library. Maybe I shouldn't, because that would put me out of a job. If people consult their books, uh, they're not going to call me with
their questions. But I do think you need a library and you should be able to check things out for yourself. I obviously talk about getting the Moody Bible Commentary. I think it's a wonderful resource to help you understand the Bible, but another resource that every believer should have is a Bible dictionary. And there are things that you wonder about persons, places, things in the Bible, you know, what are the Urim and Thummim? Things like that. And we want to send
you a copy. When you give a gift of any size, a copy of the Ultimate Bible Dictionary, it's published by BNA. That's the I love this publisher. They published one of my books, but they also published the my favorite Bible translation, The Ultimate, the Holman CSB. And now we are offering as a as a thank you gift for a gift of any size, the Ultimate Bible Dictionary. The Ultimate Bible dictionary is about the size of your hand. It's a small book with a ton of information. It's easy to use.
It's a great resource. I really want to encourage everyone to have something like this. And if you'd like a copy, it's yours. When you give a gift of any size, just go to our website openline radio.org or call (888) 644-7122. Let me give you that number again if you want to give a gift. And by the way, if you've never, ever given a gift before, this is a great time to start because this is a great resource. The number (888) 644-7122. Uh, we're going to talk to Lee in Cleveland, Ohio. Uh,
listening on CRF. Welcome to Open Line. Lee, how can I help you today?
Uh, yes, doctor. Um, you were, uh, were you were on the run the other day, and, uh, someone asked you where, uh, in scripture does Jesus say that he's God? And, uh, that's my question. And I've got pen in hand to write it down.
Okay. You got a pen in hand, right?
Well.
Where does Jesus exclusively. Is that what you're talking about? Where does Jesus claim deity, or where does the New Testament attribute deity to him?
Well, I would say both, because I want to write that down. That's something I've been wanting steady for quite some time.
Okay.
Okay. Um, well, a good place to start is, uh, John 14. You know, I was all all ready to go to. But if we're going to look at I was going to go to the Pauline epistles, but John 14. Uh, in verse eight, uh, Philip says, Lord, show us the father. Uh, John 14 eight Jesus said to him, have I been among you all this time without your knowing me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the father. How can you say. Show us the father. Don't you believe that I am in the father? And the father
is in me? Uh. The words I speak to you. I do not speak on my own. The father who lives in me does his works. Believe in me that I am in the father, and the father is in me. If you've seen me, you've seen the father. In other words, if you've seen me as deity, you've seen the deity of the father as well. The essence of deity. That's one place, uh, and uh, then, uh, another uh, verse is in John eight.
Where 24.
Well, no, that's not that's not the verse. But, uh, when, uh, your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see my day. That's verse 56. He saw it and rejoiced. And they said, you're not even 50 years old. And you've seen Abraham. Jesus said to them, I assure you, before Abraham was, I am. He is declaring his pre-existence. That's one thing. But more than that, when he says I am, he is using the Jewish name, the Jewish name for deity, for God. And so by saying, I am who I am,
basically Jesus is claiming deity. Uh, other places where, uh, people pick up stones to stone him are significant as well. Uh, so, Jesus, uh, that happens in, uh, in, uh, John ten, uh, 25 through 33. Uh, that's. That's one of the important verses, uh, where he says, uh, No one is able to. I, the father and I are one. John 1030. And they picked up stones to stone him, because they understood that that he was claiming deity. That's the same thing that
happened when he said before Abraham was I am. In John 859 they also picked up stones to throw at him because he was equating himself with deity. Uh, so I think lots of places in John. Also, when asked if he is the Messiah, the Lord Jesus says, you'll see the Son of Man descending. That's in Matthew, uh, which is a claim of deity. And the high priest understands this. Uh, he tears his robes and says, what more do we need? He's committed blasphemy. He understands this.
And I.
Think one. Really? Pardon me.
That's Matthew. What?
Uh, I'll tell you. Yeah. You expect me to know? Off the top of my head? I should, but it's in Matthew chapter 20. And it says in 26. Uh, let's see if I can find it. There it is, verse 20, chapter 26, verse 63. Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God. Verse 64, you've said it. Jesus told him, but I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power. That's deity and coming
on the clouds of heaven. That's citing from Daniel 713, where there's this deity figure called the Son of Man. And the high priest tore his robes and said, he has blasphemed because he's claiming deity. Why do we need witnesses? Look, now you've heard that. Blasphemy. What is your decision. So Matthew 26, verses 63 through 64. And of course this is in written by John. It's not a self-declaration in John by the Messiah, but here's what it says in
John chapter one. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in him and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness. The darkness did not overcome it. Then you look at. Verse 14, the word that was the eternal God. The word became flesh and took up
residence among us. Uh, so, uh, that's a verse that indicates that Jesus is fully God and the God man. He became flesh. Okay.
Okay. Are there any.
More? There's a lot more.
I really encourage you, uh, to do. Do you have a book like, um, uh, the Moody Handbook of Theology?
Uh, no, I don't.
Okay, well, you hang on. We're going to get you a copy of the Moody Handbook of Theology. Uh, the Moody Handbook of Theology goes through the deity of the Messiah, the deity of Christ, in a in a very clear way. Uh, and I think this is one of the problems that we have is, you know, we we sometimes forget that we need to pull together everything that the Bible says on a particular subject. Uh, and that's why we have a book like the Moody Handbook of Theology. Uh, because
it does that very thing. Okay. So you hang on, Lee, uh, to, uh, uh, Well, if you get Lee's address, if you're listening and you think I'd like a better grip of theology, that's one of the books that you could get the the Moody. It's and it's easy to understand. It's written for everyday people. It's the Moody Handbook of Theology by Paul Ends. Great tool. I really, really encourage you to get a copy that's going to help you a lot. Um, we're going to go back to the phones now and talk to, uh,
Ruth in Tampa Bay, Florida, listening on Moody Radio. Uh, welcome to Open Line. Ruth. How can I help you today?
Well, hello, Michael. I am a kitchen table partner. Saturday morning.
Hey. Thank you. Thank you so much.
I appreciate it, I love it. You've been listening to you for many years. I grew up listening to Moody Radio. I have a new friend here in, um, the community in Florida here who said, I've never had any pastor be able to answer this question. I said, well, ask me, you know, maybe I'll call Michael and ask him about. So here we are. He she said, um, she said.
Now is he. Let me ask you, is he a cynic or is he someone that believes?
No, she believes she is a lady. She believes. Believes Arianna. She believes. And, um, but she's a baby Christian. She just accepted Christ through my friend who's an evangelist, and she's, um. She's a riot. She's so much fun. So we're spending a lot of time together because she makes me laugh, right? So that's always a good thing anyway. So. Yeah. And we're, um. I was just thinking I should have invited you to the wedding. We're we're we're getting we're having a reception
next week. We got married in January in Chicago, and now we're down here to have receptions. But anyway, sorry I didn't get you an invitation. Anyway, this is her question now. Um, Genesis three, Adam and Eve. Okay, so she said, how could the the how could the devil, the serpent, have tempted Eve when he hadn't even been kicked out of heaven yet? And she said, she's asked all these pastors this. And I said, you know what?
I think I know the answer, but I'm going to ask Michael because I think it has to do with timing. He had to have already been kicked out of heaven. He already was the serpent. Right. And then it made me think, well, I wish there was a way we could know, because, you know, the Bible, the Old Testament especially, isn't in order, right? It's it's like, is there something like with this, this new book, you're saying the dictionary or the commentary? Does it talk about the order of
the actual. Because I know anyway.
Well, I'm sure The Moody Handbook of Theology is a book that I don't remember off the top of my head, whether it does, but I'm pretty sure it's got a section on Angelology, and it has the.
Oh, that's what it's called. Entomology.
Angel ology. Angel ology?
Oh, angelology.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Now who's getting married?
I, I got married in January in Chicago, and we're here because I have a place in Florida, and we're having two receptions because I have a.
Who are you marrying? Is what I want to know.
I am, I am, I'm Marrying. I'm marrying Rick Howell. He's the most wonderful man.
Okay.
Okay. I already married him. I already married him. But I was like, oh, man, I should have invited Michael. You could have had a trip down to Florida.
Yeah, that would be great. That's great. I was a little confused there when you. What you were saying? Okay, okay. Uh, now, um. And revelation 12, it talks about, uh, the Satan and his tail swept away a third of the stars and hurled them to earth. Uh, and so at the rebellion of Satan, I believe Satan was cast out of heaven. Uh, the Lord Jesus says the same thing, uh, when he says, I saw Satan cast from heaven. Okay. When he fell,
he was cast out of heaven. But that didn't mean that he didn't have access to.
Uh, um.
To heaven. So that we see in the book of job when all the sons of God present themselves. Satan presents himself there with the other angels, the sons of God being a term for angels. So and in the middle of the tribulation he will be cast out of heaven one more time for good. But the original casting out of Satan happened when he fell, which was likely before the world was even created, or perhaps after the world was created. And that's why he that's when he
became the God of this world. And that's when he, uh, uh, tried to tempt Satan. Satan tried to tempt Eve. And so, uh, they he was cast out upon, uh, his rebellion, but still had access. And he will have his final casting out right about the middle of the tribulation. And he's going to turn with venom, uh, on the people of God, the Jewish people, uh, during the tribulation period. That's what revelation 12 indicates.
But the access is what? That's interesting. That's the question. The access that he has.
Yeah. He's. Yeah. People think, well, how can he have access to God if God it's a place of purity. Uh, but, uh, God gives him access and is not affected by Satan's sin. Uh.
Jobe. Anyway, Jobe, I know we got music coming, but.
Yeah, well.
Uh, in job chapter one, we're going to come right back with more of your questions in just a moment. Stay with us. And we're back. I'm so glad to be with you today. My name is Michael Riedel, and it's time for the Febc mailbag. We're grateful that the Far Eastern Broadcasting Company partners with Openline to bring you the weekly Febc mailbag. Febc is a wonderful organization, and it brings the good news of Jesus to people all over the globe, through media, through personal engagement. It is
a terrific ministry. You can check out their podcast. It's called Until All Have Heard by going to Febc. Org or to wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Check out febc. Great location to see all about this really terrific ministry. Joining me right now is Taira Taira Haynes. She is the, uh, producer of Open Line. Uh, producer, associate producer, secondary producer. Other producer. What do we call you? I don't know.
My official title is producer. Uh, just in general for Moody Radio. But, of course, Tricia is the Open Line senior producer.
She's. Tricia is my boss, course. I always say whatever Tricia says I do. You know? That's what I do. Hey, you know, uh, people have been asking me, when are we going to go back to Israel? Yes. And I have, uh, I'm. I know people are a little nervous. They say, oh, there's a war. We're not going to go any place that's dangerous. We're going to be in a safe place. But we're going September 7th. Uh, there's, uh, a great trip. We're going to walk. Uh, I always say we we
not only walk where? Jesus. Walk where you walk where? Jesus. Uh, we all sail where Jesus walked. That's what we'll do, because we're going to go on a boat on the Sea of Galilee. And, uh, we're going to have a great time. And if you're interested in joining me in Israel, a great way to do that is go to Open Line radio.org. Click on the link that says Michael's, uh, web page. And that will take you to my web page, michael.org. And there's a link there about trips to Israel, upcoming
trips in a variety of ways. So if you're interested in that, check out Open Line Radio org and go to the link that says Michael's personal web page.
Thank you for that.
Yeah. And okay, so we've got some questions here.
We do. Yes. Thank you. Our first question is from Lisa in Ohio. Listening from she says, I have a friend who believes the Gospels were written 300 years ago, written 300 years ago. She says she has not heard that, but she does want to know when they were written and how she should respond to her friend.
Yeah. Well, uh. Robinson wrote a book called Redating the Gospels. I believe it is. Uh, I'm looking it up right now. Uh redating. The New Testament, that's what it's called. Um, Rethinking the dates of the New Testament. Maybe that's it, but Don A.T. Robinson wrote redating the New Testament. Uh, that's a book that really makes a case for the New Testament being including the Gospels being much earlier than
critics have assessed. And I think that's a really great thing. But, for example, the Gospel of John is one is considered the latest gospel. Most people believe it was written about 95, 90 to 95. And we have the John Rylands document. It's a fragment in Coptic, not even in Greek, the original language. It's a fragment from the Gospel of John found in Egypt, not in Israel. And it's dated about 125, 120,
something like that. Some people even say earlier. Now, the point about that is, if the Gospel of John was not written to 300. How do we have a fragment of the Gospel of John in a different language that's already been translated in a different location, from a different from where it was written? I mean, that's ludicrous. We have this fragment. Also, there are many, many papyri. A papyrus was sort of a writing paper that was used in Egypt, and because of the dry climate there, it
was preserved. And we have papyri of the New Testament from much earlier, from the late first century and early second century. And, and it shows that the critics, who mostly in the mid 19th century, wanted to redate the New Testament as 304 hundred were completely wrong, because all the fragments we have the papyri from Egypt from late first century, early second century, but I would say redating the New Testament by John A.T. Robinson, which deals with the.
It's about a 50 year old book, but it deals with 20 20th century evidence of the early books of the New Testament.
Thank you for that resource. Thank you. We also have a question from Jennifer in Illinois. She says that the story, she wonders, is the story of Jonah real when it comes to him being swallowed by the whale or large fish?
Is the story of Jonah wrong? Hmm. Ah. You know, people get all worked up that there was a miracle that Jonah survived, right? But, you know, the parting of the Red sea. Big miracle. Resurrection of Lazarus. Big miracle. If you believe in a God of creation, that God can create the world with a word. Uh, then certainly Jonah could have been real and that story could be true.
And I believe it is now. I guess in terms of genre, when the Bible has narrative story, it doesn't present it as myth in the sense of, oh, this is just a story. It's not a just so story. Uh, like Rudyard Kipling did. It's not Greek mythology. What it is, is it's factual. It states as fact what happened? Uh, now it's certainly, uh, composed in such a way to communicate a message. There's no doubt about that. But it is not. It is taken as at face value as true.
And so, in light of that being the nature of Hebrew narrative, uh, in the Bible, I would say that the story of Jonah, particularly the narrative portions, should be accepted as factual and that Jonah really was a person, especially when you think about the Lord Jesus. He talks about Jonah like a real person. Uh, I think he would know if he wasn't so. So I would say, yeah, uh, yeah, we should take it at face value.
Thank you so much for that question. We have another question. And this one is from Sheila in North Carolina. Listening through what she is reading a book about communion. And she says there are, um, are there scriptures that says communion has the power to heal us and that we should take communion or that we should take communion to be healed? And then also, is communion supposed to be taken with only your blood family, or is it to be taken with the body of Christ?
Well, first of all, the easier question is the second one, uh, or the gentler answer is first Corinthians 11 teaches that it's a fellowship meal for believers. So we take it in the in our congregations together with other followers of Jesus. Um. Uh, the she she bases this on a book called The Power of Communion Assessing miracles through the Body and Blood of Jesus. Um, now, let me just say, first of all, the Bible tells us what the purpose of communion is,
and it never says it's healing. The Bible says, uh, that, uh. Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me. So the point of it, just like a Passover meal, which is this the the Lord's Supper is rooted in the Passover meal, just as in the same way, uh, uh, the Passover was a memorial meal. So the Lord's Supper is a memorial meal. It's to remember, uh, the Lord's death and resurrection implied, uh, until he comes. So we do this in remembrance of him. It's a proclaim. It's a proclamation meal.
It proclaims our faith because we show forth the Lord's death. Until he comes. We proclaim. We proclaim his death and resurrection and return with this meal. So we're remembering and we're proclaiming by taking it. There's nothing in Scripture that would say that, uh, communion heals us. Uh, there's a book review by Ben Johnson on this book called The Power of Communion. And the book review Ben Johnson says he quotes Spurgeon. Spurgeon says discernment is not knowing the
difference between right. This is what the quote that he has of Spurgeon. Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It's knowing the difference between right and almost right. Now, what I think is funny is that this author who wrote the review said, unfortunately, there's nothing even almost right in this book. It is utterly and completely wrong and don't even waste a minute on reading it. Uh. The power of communion. Uh. Waste of time. Totally unbiblical. So. Okay.
Thank you so much.
You know, before we, uh, break here, I do want to say thank you for being part of the team to hear you're here. Even when Tricia is, uh, you do so much, uh, to help out during the week. And I appreciate how much you do on all these different moody radio programs. And I really appreciate you being part of the Open Line team, as is Lisa, who's there today. Uh, I think it is just a great help.
And I appreciate Omar, who keeps keeps me sounding good and keeps me from cutting off and other things like that. Omar Mendoza's great team member and I appreciate every listener. I think a listener is part of the team too. You know, what would we do if we had this program and no one was listening? No one was calling? Uh, it is amazing and I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for our partners, our kitchen table partners who are also part of the team. They want to keep us on
the air. So they give monthly. And I so appreciate it. And, uh, one of the things I'll be doing is, uh, today recording another Bible study moment with Omar. Uh, we're going to get that out to our open line listeners, our kitchen table partners. Every other week. They get that Bible study moment, a special audio Bible study prepared exclusively for our kitchen table partners. So thank you so much for you.
Kitchen table Partners for being part of the team. And I really want to encourage you, if you are part of the team of listeners, you may want to become part of the team of Kitchen Table Partners as well. If you're listening, the way you can become a kitchen table partner is by just committing to give monthly and call (888) 644-7122. That's (888) 644-7122. Or go to open line radio.org. And uh uh, I hope I hope you'll consider joining us as being part of that team as well. Thanks
to Hera for helping with the Febc. Uh, mailbag. We're going to come right back with more of your called in questions, not your mailed in questions in just a moment. You're listening to Open Line with Michael Ray Melnick to hear Haynes. And we'll be right back. More Bible study across America. America coming up straight ahead. Welcome back to Open Line. My name is Michael Radonich. I've had a great time with you this morning studying the Bible together.
People frequently ask questions about the Jewish people and Israel. I see we have a caller that we hope we can get on the air. Who has a question about that? Uh, where do the Jewish people fit in the plan of God? Are they still the chosen people? Well Chosen People Ministries, one of our radio partners, is offering a free book, Why Israel? It explores the topic of Israel through the lens of Scripture as the church replaced Israel and the plan of God. Does ethnic Israel still have a future?
What should we think about Israel today? These questions and more are answered in this book. Why Israel? For a free copy, just go to our website openline. radio.org. Scroll down until you see the link that says A free gift from Chosen People Ministries. Click on that. You'll be taken to a page where you can sign up for your own copy of Why Israel? We're going to talk to Claudio in Skokie, Illinois, listening on WNBA. Welcome to Open Line, Claudio. How can I help you?
Thank you, thank you. Doctor? Doctor. Uh, yeah. So my question is, um, as we're, you know, growing up in a Christian family or Christian church, and we're taught to fear the Lord, uh, as we mature and we accept the Lord as savior and we mature. Does that fear get replaced more by love? And I'm thinking, because of the passage in one John that says that perfect love casts out fear. So what fear of the Lord should we have as we mature in him?
Well, first John 418 is what you're talking about. That's what I was heading for as you were starting to talk. There's no fear in love. Instead, perfect love drives out fear because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection. in love. We love because he first loved us. Well, that's just talking about that. We don't have that servile, cringing fear of God that others would have standing before a holy God. We stand before a father who loves us one day.
Okay, okay, that makes sense.
And it's it's that's what it's saying. On the one hand, there isn't that kind of fear, that servile, terrified, uh, breathtaking fear. On the other hand, there's a verse that I want to encourage you to consider. Uh, it says in first Peter one, if you address as father the one who judges impartially based on each one's work, you are to conduct yourselves in fear during the time of
your temporary residence, your time on earth. For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life, inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, with the precious blood of of Messiah. Like the lamb without defect or blemish. Uh. So the one who called you is holy or to be holy. And if you address as father the one who judges impartially based on each one's work, you are to conduct yourselves in fear. What does that mean? If we're if perfect
love drives out fear. That servile fear. How do we have fear of God the Father who loves us? Well, I think there's a a genuine recognition that even as a child of God, he could discipline me, and I, I don't want to be disciplined. I would rather, uh, not face correction for wrongdoing. How about you, Claudia?
Yes, that that.
That's a healthy fear. Don't you think that's a healthy fear to have? Uh, my son, I preach first Peter one. My son was listening. He was about eight years old. We went for a bike ride that afternoon. He said, dad, how come you said we should fear God because you know God loves us? That's the very question he had. And it was that passage in first Peter one. And I said to him, well, uh, do I love you? Yes. Are you afraid of me? He said, absolutely not. I said,
what if you told a lie? He said, oh, you'd really give it to me. And I thought, yeah, he's right. And he does have a fear of fear of me. It's a healthy fear. So what I would say is, uh, first John 418 is saying that perfect love casts out unhealthy, servile fear. But if we love the father and we want to be holy, uh, then we have a healthy fear of what he expects of us. Don't you think?
Yes, I appreciate that.
Thank you so much.
Yeah.
Okay. Thanks, Claudia. Appreciate that. We're going to talk to Teresa in Georgia. Uh, who is listening, I guess, on the app. Welcome to Open Line. Theresa. How can I help you?
Hi. Well, I had the comment about the Book of Enoch.
Well, just go ahead. And we're really running up against the clock, so why don't you just go ask your question?
I just, I just.
Think it's very, uh, knowledgeable to open eyes from the Ethiopian standpoint, which is not in the King James Version. And it speaks more vividly about heaven.
Okay. Wait, wait. Theresa is your is your question is, is the Book of Enoch in the Bible?
It's not.
Okay.
It is.
Not. Uh.
Well, good. Well, it's, uh, it's not in the Bible. It is not inspired, uh, and it is not something that should be considered authoritative. Uh, and so I would just caution you about reading that. I, you know, it's hard enough to read the Bible every day. Stick with the Bible. I think it'll be better for us. Okay.
But it does stick with the Bible. That's the whole point.
Well, I don't think so. Appreciate you, Teresa, but no, I'm just saying stick with the Bible. You're you're going to do better with that if you stick with the word. Uh, we're going to quickly talk to Kirk. Kirk, go ahead and ask your question, because we're we only have about 30s.
Okay. You opened the show with the information about the things against Israel and the Jewish people. My son has been doing a dig for a couple of years, and he's believing that, uh, uh, the Jews that are in Israel are not true Jews, uh, that the Jewish people are not God's chosen people, uh, that there's no rapture. He's been following some people and reading books and so forth. And what do I do to talk to him?
Well, uh, I'm sorry that he's fallen into this, uh, anti-Semitic hole. I'm really, really sorry about that. Uh, I think the best thing to do maybe pick up that book from chosen people, Israel. And they also have one called Why the Jewish People? That would be a great gift, maybe to deal with him, uh, and help him or help you understand what he's saying.
We can read him. Yeah. Great. Thanks for your call, Kirk.
Sorry about the shortness of time.
That's okay.
That's the program for the week. I can't can't believe how quickly, uh, this show has gone. Really appreciate you listening. And all of you who called or wrote in. Thanks to Tahira and Omar and everyone that checked, checked out and helped us get through the program. Keep reading the Bible. We'll talk about it next week. Open line with Doctor Michael Ray Zelnick is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute. See you next.
Week.