Searches every word across every teaching, article, and Q&A on the site.
Searches every word across every teaching, article, and Q&A on the site.
Teacher: Pastor Paul LeBoutillier Sue: All right. First question is from George. He's from India, “As I was going through your Genesis Commentary you spoke of the signs God gave for the covenants He made with the Israelites. Similarly for us who were saved by Jesus Christ, can we say that the Holy Communion is the sign of the new covenant?” Pastor Paul: No, we can't. First of all, you need to understand that the New Testament really doesn't speak of a sign of the new covenant like we see in the Old Testament. And communion is definitely not the sign of the covenant. It is a right, and it is something that we do to observe and to remember. But, like I say, the Bible doesn't really say. Now, people over the years came up with their own beliefs. There are many people who believe that water baptism is the sign of the new covenant. The Bible doesn't say that. There are others who say that the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is the sign of the new covenant. I would probably, even though the Bible doesn't say, I would lean more toward probably the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Spirit, because that's something God spoke of even back through Jeremiah. He said, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days. I will write my law on their hearts. So that seems to be a real hallmark, obviously. But the Bible doesn't specifically give us a sign of the New Testament covenant. Sue: All right. Here's another one from Genesis. Debbie says, “In Genesis 32, when Jacob wrestled with God, he saw the face of God. I thought no one could see God. Could you explain? I've learned so much from your teachings.” Pastor Paul: Well, that's good. First of all, the statement that says, you cannot gaze upon my face and live, that was spoken by the Lord to Moses. You got to understand that Moses didn't just ask to see the face of God. He asked to see the glory. He said, show me your glory. So that's when God said, no man may look upon the face of God and live. So you have to understand that Moses was asking to see the unbridled glory of God and that no man can see, no mortal man can see and live. What others throughout the old Testament saw, and there were many people who saw God, but these are what we call theophanies. It's an appearance of God. You've got, Abraham who spoke with the Lord. You've got Joshua. You've got even the parents of Samson who saw the Lord. Gideon, it goes on and on. There were many theophanies in the Old Testament. This is where God made an appearance to people in human form so that they could interact and talk with him. But this is not the same thing as gazing upon the glory of God's face. Even though they saw a face, I hesitate to use the word reduced, but God condescended to be able to communicate with man without consuming them. In fact, Samson's parents, once they realized they had spoken to God, they were afraid they were going to die. They said, well, now obviously we're going to die because we've seen God. And then they were kind of like, now, wait a minute. Why would he kill us after just telling us we were going to have a child and da-da-da. So there's been a lot of misunderstanding about that for a long time. Sue: I think that's a good answer for Debbie. Pastor Paul: Good. Sue: All right. Sophie says, “Hi Pastor Paul and Sue. Your videos have really helped me through the Old Testament books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. How do I know if a church or group is the right place to be? It seems like people are generally nice and the preaching is very Bible-based with a strong gospel message. But I don't always feel comfortable there and I can't put my finger on it. I don't feel close to God when I am at church. I feel closer to God and stronger in my faith when I am alone praying or reading the Bible. Any advice is appreciated.” Pastor Paul: My best advice is be careful not to go on your feelings alone in a situation like that. There are a lot of people, myself included, who probably feel closer to God when you're alone than you do when you are in a large group of people. If I went by that, I would probably never, I probably wouldn't have become a pastor and I wouldn't have gathered with the saints. We gather with the saints because we're told to. We're told that we need one another. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are the body of Christ. The body functions as a collective unit and we're told that we are not to forsake that assembling of the body of Christ. We do it because we need to do it. It's important for our growth. We're not always going to feel perfectly comfortable with other people. People sometimes make us feel uncomfortable. I would encourage Sophie and anyone else who's dealing with this question to just simply make sure that the fellowship you're attending is biblical. Make sure that they are following the Word of God. Make sure that there are no dangerous doctrinal deviations that are going on in that fellowship and just press through. Do your best to press through and be a part of the body of Christ. We want to be careful as Christians not to become what I call dismembered members because when you come to Christ, when you make Him your Savior, you become a member of the body of Christ. Whether you gather with the body of Christ or not, you're a member. There are a lot of people who exist as dismembered members. They are members of the body of Christ, but they are really not connected to any local fellowship and that is something we're told to make sure we do. Sue: And it's very difficult to serve other people to use what spiritual gifts the Lord has given you if you're not with them. Pastor Paul: Exactly, precisely. So, again, I would encourage Sophie and any other to be careful not to base your church attendance on feelings alone. We're to walk in obedience and to understand the necessity of being part of the body of Christ. Sue: All right. Ana Maria from Costa Rica sends her greetings and she says, “She's learned a lot from your teachings. Do I have to congregate with other believers to be a true Christian? Jesus never needed a temple or a pulpit to teach His disciples or His followers. We are supposed to be led by the Holy Spirit as we read the Bible.” Pastor Paul: I find it interesting that people ask a question and then they explain to me why they believe the way they believe and yet they're still asking. So to Ana Maria, first of all, do I have to congregate with other believers to be a true Christian? No. We are a true believer when we put our faith in Jesus Christ and we are subsequently born again and that's a work of the Spirit when we put our faith in Christ. That's what makes us a true Christian. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than being in your garage makes you a car. So there are a lot of people who go to church but never become a true believer. That being said, once again, there is a necessity to be with the body of Christ and I would say to Ana Maria, you need to deal with Hebrews 10:25 which says, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as is the habit of some. So you can be a Christian and not go to church but you can't be an obedient one, at least not as it pertains to the issue of fellowship. Sue: Good. Krysta says, “I have a brother who is very set in his belief that many of the Bible prophecies have been fulfilled in the past and that God is finished with Israel. He also believes the Rapture and the 2nd coming are the same event and that we are in the Millennial Kingdom now. He's extremely zealous for God and Hebrews 10:25 (ESV) Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. has a full understanding of the gospel. I've heard replacement theology is heretical by respected pastors I listen to, but I've also heard this is a “secondary issue, not affecting salvation.” Is there a chance he'll miss the rapture due to his interpretation?” Pastor Paul: No, there's not a chance that he would miss the rapture because the rapture is going to be accomplished for all true believers in Jesus Christ who have put their faith in what he did on the cross and are waiting for him to return. So our salvation is not based on having perfect doctrinal beliefs particularly in these secondary areas and I would agree that these are mostly secondary. I mean they can affect your theology pretty strongly. Particularly the issue of ignoring what the Bible has to say about God's plan for Israel. I think that there's a lot of misunderstanding and misinterpretation going on in the body of Christ because of replacement theology as she mentions. Replacement theology again is the idea that the New Testament church, replaces Israel in biblical prophecy and it is not correct. I don't know if I would call it heretical. I'm not sure I would use that word. I would call it in error, as far as a doctrinal teaching. But if somebody is placing or has placed their faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, they are a believer even with regard to some misinterpretations of doctrine. Sue: So there's no theology quiz before we fly? Pastor Paul: No. God's not going to say, you just messed up on some of these points so you're going to have to wait and just hang out during the tribulation. No, that's not going to happen. Sue: All right. Miranda says, “Hello, Pastor Paul and Ms. Sue. My name is Miranda and I'm from Brazil. Weeks ago I was stopped by two women from South Korea who affirm that there is a feminine figure of God. They said she is a second image of a bride in the Bible (something like a motherly figure. They even called her Mother). They used Revelation 21:9-10 and Revelation 22:17 to justify their thinking. Can you help me to refute that? I knew right away that it wasn't a biblical view, but I didn't know how to explain that to them properly. Thank you very much for your ministries.” Pastor Paul: Well, I can help Miranda to understand. I don't know if I can help her refute this issue or not, and here's why. I have learned over the years that people believe what they believe because they want to believe it, not necessarily because it's reasonable, smart, rational, logical, or anything like that. Sue: Or when they have a lack of information. Pastor Paul: Exactly. So let me help Miranda for starters with this. The two passages that these women apparently quoted to her from Revelation are speaking of the body of Christ, the bride of Christ. Revelation 21:9-10 says, then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me saying, come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb. And he goes on to do that. And so the bride, the wife of the lamb is the church. It's not a motherly figure. It's not a feminine version of God. It's the church, the body of Christ. Revelation 22:17 Revelation 21:9-10 (ESV) Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. says the spirit and the bride say come and let the one who hears say come and so forth. Again, this is referring to the church, the body of Christ. We are referred to as the bride of Christ. So, Miranda can tell these ladies, listen, you've misinterpreted these terms. This is referring to the church, the bride of Christ. And she can go to other passages in the Bible that make reference to the bride of Christ. And she can look through the New Testament and find those to try to do that. Doesn't necessarily mean they're going to believe her. They probably believe what they believe because they want to believe it, or they've been taught it. They've accepted it. And to them, it seems perfectly logical. But at least Miranda knows how this whole thing plays out and how these fit in with the passages they quoted. Sue: All right. That's good. Haja says, “Greetings and blessings. I want to understand more about the favor of God upon our lives. As humans, do we all have the favor of God upon us, or is it something we have to ask God for? And how do we keep the favor of God upon our lives?” Pastor Paul: I can certainly understand someone wanting to talk about this because we all want God's favor. Sue: Sure. Pastor Paul: The fact of the matter is the Bible speaks of grace, which is defined in the Bible a couple of different ways. But one way is favor from God that is unearned. Revelation 22:17 (ESV) The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. We call it unmerited favor. And again, that's the favor of God that comes to us simply because God is good, because He chooses to favor us. When Paul wrote his letters to the church, he would say, grace and peace to you through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And the grace that he's referring to there is the favor that comes to us that is unearned. And because it is unearned, we then know we have peace with God. Now, that's something that comes specifically to believers. Now, there's an element of grace that is bestowed upon all mankind. And God defines it as his kindness that allows the sun to shine and the rain to fall, even upon the evil and the wicked. And that is definitely a form of God's grace. But there is a unique grace that is bestowed upon believers specifically, that comes to us with the understanding that we're not saved by our own works, but we're saved by grace, unmerited favor through faith, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9. So there is that unique element. So in answer to the question from Haja, how do you keep the favor of God upon your lives? You don't. It is something he bestows. We don't act in a way to keep God's favor because that is the opposite of what his grace is. It is unmerited favor. Sue: She used this phrase favor of God three times in a very short question. This isn't the only question that we've gotten in the last 30 days or so, asking about the favor of God, which makes me think there's a prominent teacher out there. Pastor Paul: Who's emphasizing? Sue: Yeah. And it might be great, it might not be. I don't know. You don't have time to research every teaching… Pastor Paul: No, I sure don’t. Sue: That becomes really popular. But it just makes me wonder. Pastor Paul: And I'm sure that's probably the case. And when someone begins to teach on a subject like grace or favor and does it to the exclusion of the rest of God's Word, it can create a situation where people begin to worry or become very concerned. How can I have this in my life? I want God's favor. I see how important God's favor is. And they begin to stress over the issue. But the fact of the matter is favor is granted through God's goodness, not through our goodness, not through our works or merit or behavior or obedience. Sue: And don't you think it's just so important in our Christian lives not to get fixated on a phrase that comes into our lives, comes across our path, but rather just keep pressing on through the scripture line by line and God will just make known these things and it's very dangerous to get fixated. Pastor Paul: I find that kind of fixation is dangerous in many areas. It could be favor. It could be repentance. I've had so many people come up to me and they've been following a teaching about the necessity of repentance, and now they're afraid that they haven't repented properly. So they will come to me and say, have I truly repented because I know that without repentance, there can be no salvation. And it literally becomes a fixation that creates distress. And I would really encourage people that if you have done a word study or you've been listening to someone do a study that has gone so far that it has begun to create stress and distress in your life, you need to back up a little bit and you need to re-examine the whole process because salvation is ours through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Sue: Amen. Pastor Paul: And it's not by works. It's not by repenting perfectly or repenting about every possible sin you've ever committed or earning God's favor or doing everything right or anything like that. That's why it's good news. The Gospel is good news. And you know what, good news is not distressing. It is joyful and it is freeing. And that's the beauty of the Gospel. Sue: Amen.
