Episode 39

Pastor Paul LeBoutillier Pastor Paul: Hey everybody, we're back with some more of your Bible questions, and hopefully our good answers. That's where we come in, and that's what we're going to try to do today. We have a bunch of questions again.

Yeah. Thando says,

And essentially, there is a connection to being saved and inheriting the kingdom because those who are saved inherit the kingdom. Once they're saved and they inherit the kingdom, there is a transformation that takes place in the lives of those believers, and Jesus talks about that transformation. And yet, we have to be careful not to go back and look at that transformation as a requirement of being saved. In other words, we can't go back and talk about life in the kingdom and then put it before salvation. You just can't do that. So we have to be careful, again, not to take the life of a believer and then go back and pull those things out or highlight those things as requirements for salvation. Those things are only possible for those who are saved, who have been saved, that we live the life of Christ.

Good, that clears things up, I think.

I hope so.

That was a good question. Sue asks,

Can a true believer live in a sinful lifestyle without the Holy Spirit convicting him? Well, certainly not at first. I mean, if this person is a born-again Christian and they are engaging in sin, the Holy Spirit is always faithful to convict and he will do that. Now, if she's asking, can someone's conscience become calloused from hearing that conviction and responding to that conviction, the Bible would say yes. The Apostle Paul talks about that and the danger of having a calloused heart or conscience, if you will (see 1 Timothy 4:1-2 and Hebrews 3:15). So, is it possible then for someone to be living in a sinful lifestyle and the Holy Spirit is, they're no longer able to feel or sense the conviction of the Spirit? Yeah, that's very possible. Now, God is still not out of options. I think a lot of people think that, the Holy Spirit, if they can't feel the conviction of the Spirit anymore, then that's it. They're just down the tubes. No, no, no. God still has options. I've seen the Lord. I've seen the Lord do things to get people's attention and the steps that He will go to get someone to respond and start taking things seriously for a lot of people, the pandemic was that. We've heard that from how many people? Multiple. People over the years, it's like, wow, when the pandemic hit, I was really walking the fence and then I decided I need to get serious. That's just one thing the Lord can do. Good grief. There's so many other things and I've talked to Christians who have come away from a very difficult happening in their life and they will say, I am so glad the Lord allowed that to happen because I was just ignoring Him with every ounce of my being, and He rattled my cage and my life has never been better. So how can you pray for people? One of the things I've said many times over the years is pray that people will be miserable because sin, we know, is enjoyable for a season. We're told that in the Bible. You're going to see a change of seasons in the midst of your sin. Summertime is glorious. Spring and summer are great. At the end of summer, you're starting to feel a little sunburned, but you're still having fun. And then fall shows up and things start dying in your life, and the colors start dropping off the trees and then comes the winter. And the winter season of someone's sin is a cold and painful and dark season. And that is for a reason, because that's what often gets people's attention. They have to kind of hit bottom, if you will. So, I tell people, if you've got a loved one, a friend, whatever, who's caught in a habitual sin, and they don't seem to be caring right now, they don't seem to be feeling the need to do anything about it in terms of coming to the Lord, pray that God would make them miserable. The Apostle Paul would have prayed that prayer. He wrote to the church in Corinth and he said, here's a guy who's doing something that is awful and I want you to put him out of the fellowship. But the whole reason was to get his attention so that he would feel shame and guilt and he would repent of his sin. And there was one time Paul even said, pray and turn this man over to Satan that his soul might be saved. Wow, that's heavy-duty stuff. But the end result is that he would come to the Lord.

That's great. Sheba says,

100%. As someone who pastored a church for 35 years, actually longer because that was just one church. Yes, bring it to the pastor. Some people might find this interesting to find out, but pastors are often the last person to hear about many things that are going on in the church. And many times, they have festered and gotten out of hand. And then he hears about it. And there's very little sometimes that even can be done because it's just so long past. So, yes, absolutely, 100%, always. And don't feel like you're it's a small thing or don't feel like you're bothering him. That's what he's there for. He's the shepherd of that flock. And yes, I know he's just an under shepherd under Jesus, but still, he needs to know what's going on in the in the in the fold.

And even as this gal said, it may not have been intentional. You and I, we kind of created a joking culture, I should say you created a joking culture, in our family. And I can imagine that when people have a different level of what joking is acceptable and what's not, sometimes that needs to be brought to their attention.

Somebody can say something with absolutely pure intentions, maybe just trying to be funny, and it just falls flat and comes across as racist or at the very least, just kind of unkind. Because some people were not raised in a joking family. And they don't they don't take things as jokes. I learned that the hard way.

Well, we did. And that's what I'm thinking of. A pastor can help kind of moderate those things that maybe aren't even intentional.

Yeah.

But a pastor can help someone understand.

Bring it to the pastor, 100%.

Ramie says,

Praise the Lord.

“It's amazing. However, before that, I lived an ungodly life where I had many ungodly relationships. When I came to Christ, I assumed I would be single forever because of 1 Corinthians 7:20 “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” I want to make sure I'm understanding this passage correctly. I want to know what you think about someone with an unclean past (but was never married), then coming to Christ and how that relates to them possibly getting married.”

In 2 Corinthians, the apostle Paul said that when we come to Christ, we become a new creature, a creation. I started to say creature, creation at the same time (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). And I think that's probably different translations were new. The old is gone. The new has come. I would tell this person, this is Ramie. When you came to Jesus, you were forgiven for your past. In fact, you were forgiven for your present and future as well. So there is a freedom. Listen, a lot of people before they knew the Lord and were walking with the Lord, lived in a way that was ungodly. And yet they have come to Christ. Their lives have been transformed, as this person says. And they've gone on to live wonderful, glorious, righteous lives before God. And many have entered into lifelong marriage relationships. So I would just really encourage Ramie in this and just say, listen, you need to know and understand that your previous life is under the blood of the Lamb. So just live your life. And if the Lord brings someone into your life that you feel the freedom from him to marry, then go for it.

So what is that passage in 1 Corinthians 7 referring to then?

I think it's chapter 5.

Well, she said 1 Corinthians 7:20.

Oh, the one she's referring to.

Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.

Thank you for asking. That really doesn't apply at all. Paul was writing to the Corinthians and he had a lot to say in that that chapter and into chapter 8 about marriage. And he was advising the Corinthians that if they could stay single, he thought it was better. But he made it very clear it was not a command from God. And he told them in very clear terms, if you marry, you have not sinned, you've not done anything wrong. Marriage is an institution created by God and it's a good thing. So that passage really doesn't apply to Ramie's issue.

Good. Alright. John says,

Maybe I should just take a look at it here and I did look at it ahead of time. And this is where the apostle Paul basically just kind of lines out. This is my gospel. So, he says; And that da-da-da, he goes on to talk about how he appeared to the disciples. So it's the same gospel. When we summarize by saying the gospel is putting our faith in the 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (ESV) Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures… finished work of Jesus on the cross, we're including everything about that finished work, including the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, whereby he bore our sin on the cross, sacrificed himself for us on the cross to pay our penalty. So whatever words we use, it's the exact same gospel. And the reason we call it the gospel, which means good news, is because Jesus did the work and we don't have to. It's a free gift now to those who put their faith in him. And that's what makes it good news. So there's no difference between what we're talking about in Galatians 1 and what Paul defines in 1 Corinthians 15.

Robert asks,

We're kind of moving into that time, aren't we, when we're recording this. Lent was created by the Church to help celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. And the whole Lenten season was really devised to help the worshiper focus on and to prepare their heart for the event of the resurrection and the celebration that goes with it. No, Lent is not in the Bible from that specific standpoint. It's kind of like Christmas.

Advent.

Yeah, sure. The whole Advent seasons. It's something we've kind of added over the years. So nobody should feel like they are obligated. If your church observes some kind of a Lenten calendar, cool, whatever. It's not one of those things that saves you. It was created as a mechanism to help us prepare our hearts. But it's not a command from the Lord, just like Christmas. Christmas is meant to help us remember the birth of Jesus but it's not a command. If somebody says, for that reason, I don't observe Christmas. I don't care. Fine. Knock yourself out. It's just a mechanism that we've come up with to just help.

Sophie says,

I need to let Sophie know that that parable is not talking about money. He's using in that parable an example of investments that had a return, but he's not talking about money. He's really talking about how we take the gifts and abilities and talents that are given us in this life and we put them to work for the gospel and for the kingdom of God and how we will be rewarded based on those. I want to encourage Sophie not to let discouragement come into play there. God knows what you are capable of and God knows that even in the midst of all the mistakes and maybe even some bad decisions you've made with money over the years, that's just part of being human and he loves you and he chose to love you knowing that you were going to make those mistakes ahead of time. So don't read into parables thinking that there are some expectations upon you that are burdensome and discouraging. I would encourage, she's already saying that I pray about these things, I pray for wisdom and diligence and the skill to do, that's the best you can do. And if you need some help from others, ask. One of the things we did when we were pastoring, you'll remember we had people in our fellowship that were not very good with money and many times they would come to us and say, I need help. And we would sit them down with someone in the fellowship who was good with money and could help them chart out a budget, help them get rid of things that were maybe dead weight in their current budget or what they were spending their money on and just talk to them about how they can get free from those sorts of things. So I know there is a certain amount of shame that goes along with people thinking, I should be able to do this. But we all need help with something. And there are people who are gifted. I know that because I married one. I married a person who's gifted with money. And there are other people in the body of Christ that are so gifted and we need to allow them to receive a blessing by asking for their help from time to time. So I would tell Sophie, go to your pastor and just say, listen, I have struggled in the area of money management. Who in this fellowship is gifted by the Lord in that area that I could sit down with once or twice and just talk about my finances to help get things in order, because I need the assistance and advice of someone who's good at it? And that can be so incredibly helpful, and then just keep praying about it.

Sure. And then I hope she's released from this literal view of that parable that it's talking about money to know that perhaps if you take a look at your life, there are things that opportunities and skills that God has given you that you actually are investing in the kingdom. Maybe this person really loves their neighbors well, much better than the person who's good at managing money or something like that. So we need to be real careful of the literal interpretation.

Absolutely.

Tolu says,

God is simply saying, I am sovereign in that passage. This has bothered people a lot over the years. We've heard this same concern. And honestly, I would tell this person, Tolu, first of all, don't be concerned with how people are going to misuse things. People have been misusing the Bible and using it to make claims about God for a long time. And they're not going to stop, even if you have an answer for this particular question. I would be, frankly, more concerned about the well- meaning Christian whose heart is challenged by passages like this, where the Lord speaks of his sovereignty in terms of saying, this is this is me. First of all, we have to know that the Bible tells us very clearly that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. When God tells us that he is utterly pure and without sin, we have to know and understand that that overshadows as an overarching sort of interpretation of every passage that may somehow seem to say the opposite. So I go into passages like this one in Isaiah 45, with the understanding that God is good and there is no evil in him. There's no darkness in him at all. That's my overarching interpretive anchor to dealing with this. So I look at this and I say, he's talking about sovereignty. He's talking about the fact that he allows this thing and that thing. You look at the book of Job, people can struggle with the book of Job. Why did God give the enemy permission to do the things that he did to Job? Well, God can come back and say, I allowed this. And we know that he did, and God could actually even use the language like he does in Isaiah 45 to say, I caused this. Actually, it was the enemy that did the work. God allowed it. But he had a defining and refining purpose behind his actions and that's the point. That's the thing we always have to keep in mind. God never does or never allows anything for which there is no purpose. I have to be careful how I said that. I think I had a double negative in that sentence. But I think you know what I mean. He always has a purpose. God always has a plan. He always has a redeeming element involved in his actions. So we need to just remember that what God says about himself is very clear in the Bible. In him, there's no darkness at all.

Our final question is from Kelli, “Do you think you will ever make a Study Bible with your commentary?”

That's an interesting question. I've kind of learned never to say never. I don't have any plans to do that. I am thinking about publishing some written commentaries that go along with my teachings. I'm not sure even if that's going to happen. We're kind of talking about it. But as far as doing a study Bible, no plans at this time to do that. But like I said, never say never.

That's a good answer. Good way to look at it.

But I appreciate the question nonetheless. So I guess that's it then, huh?

That is.

Those are the questions that we have for this episode. But you guys have been so faithful to write in and send us your questions. And at the end of this video, you'll see the email address to where you can send yours. And we'll look forward to getting them and answering your questions as they come in. So until next time, God bless you. Take care. Bye-bye.