Questions & Answers 3079

Guest (Male): Have you ever thought when an intimate relationship with Jesus would be like? Well, stay with us as we deal with that issue today.
Guest (Male): You're listening to the question and answer program with our Bible teacher Dr. J. Vernon McGee. This is a ministry of the Through the Bible Radio Network. Our first question comes to us from a listener in Lincoln, Nebraska who writes, would you please differentiate between the term ransom, propitiation, reconciliation, and substitution?
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Well, if I had time to give a lesson in theology, why we could go into each one of these, but in the time that's allotted to us here, let me attempt to speak on each one of these words because they are all different by the way, all are very different. Ransom is a word that went out of the English language for a long time until some of these rich kids were kidnapped and then the kidnapper would send a note back to the parents and say, I want a million dollars before I give your kid back to you. Well, one of the richest man I guess in the world at the time, Mr. Getty, had a grandson kidnapped. Nobody knows how much he paid for that kid to get him back. I guess millions. And he got him back and there was picture of that kid on TV. And I'll be honest with you, when I saw the kid, I thought my, if he paid more than a dime for that boy, he paid too much for him. And the minute I thought that, you know, my heart was smitten because I thought that there's somebody else that paid a ransom for me and I wasn't worth it either. The Lord Jesus Christ said, the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. You see, I was sold under sin. I belonged not to the Lord. I was against him. And he came and they paid a ransom to deliver me. They paid the penalty. And in that why he is the one who paid the penalty for my sin. And because of that, I have forgiveness through trusting Christ. Now, propitiation is a word that actually means mercy seat. You see, the throne of God was a throne of judgment. And it had to condemn me. But Christ came down and he paid this penalty now, the ransom. And he shed his blood. And he rose from the dead. And he's gone back to heaven. And now, God says he's paid the penalty for your sin. And my throne is no longer a judgment seat right now. It's a mercy seat. And you can come to me and find mercy. That's propitiation. You see, propitiation looks toward God. It's what God has done. God has his arms outstretched to a lost world and says you can come to me. Now, reconciliation is manward. The word is be ye reconciled to God. God just sees already reconciled. You can't do anything to reconcile him. He's already reconciled. His throne is a mercy seat. But now, the word to the lost sinner is be ye reconciled to God. And reconciliation is the message to man. As ambassadors for Christ, we beseech you in Christ's stead that you be reconciled to God. Now, that's reconciliation.
Guest (Male): Our next question comes to us from a listener in San Antonio, Texas who asks, is it wrong to ask forgiveness for our sins?
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Very candidly, that almost seems like a ridiculous question. But I know where it's coming from. That is the teaching that causes this question to be asked. Of course, you ask for forgiveness for your sins. If we confess our sins, and of course, that word confess has been distorted. Actually, the word it's it means to say the same thing. That is to say the same thing God says about your sin. God says it's sin. He also tells the church seven times to seven churches in Revelation to repent. And may I say to you that my feeling is you should repent. And I think that the scripture makes that very clear and you cannot edge away from it by taking the word 1 John 1:9 where it says if we confess our sins. That word confess means to say the same thing. That is you stand off and look at yourself and what you've done and you say exactly what God says about it. God says it's sin. And what about sin? He says repent. Tells the church to repent. So, I think that you ought to repent for several reasons. One reason is to make sure if you didn't need to repent, then hallelujah, you didn't need to repent. But the thing is you need to repent. And this party goes on to say that a certain radio teacher has taught this and it's become a problem in our church. I believe that we should ask for forgiveness. And that of course is repentance. Repentance by any other name will be as effective. And the model prayer in Matthew 6 is being used. That's not the prayer of a sinning saint at all. That's a model for the prayer of one in fellowship with God. And this part says I believe that when the Holy Spirit puts his finger on our sin, our reaction will be much like David's in Psalm 51. And that's it exactly. And if you want a role model, there it is, David's confession.
Guest (Male): We come now to a question from a listener in Ravenna, Ohio who writes, you speak so often of knowing Jesus intimately. Although I know I'm saved and read my Bible daily, I have prayed for an understanding of this intimate relationship with Jesus. Could you please explain what you mean by intimately?
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Well, let me say first of all that we are living in a day when there is so much that is merely surface and it's on the surface. That is so many of us are living rather artificial lives. And the word that's used is that there are great many cosmetic Christians. That is they're just made up on the outside and there's nothing from the heart at all. And I use that expression purposely to know the Lord Jesus intimately. What does that mean? Well, it means that this is not lip service that you're rendering to him. It doesn't mean that you have answered all the questions that were put to you by the church board or the pastor when you join the church. It doesn't mean this artificial sort of thing that is abroad today. Sort of a weak tea form of believism as it's called and it's almost makebelievism. So that what we're talking about is just simply this. Do you not only trust him, but do you know him to the place where you can say I love him? Many years ago, the late Dr. Bill Anderson of the First Presbyterian Church in Dallas, he asked one of his friends, what do you think about the second coming of Christ? And this man once says it's in our catechism, isn't it? I believe in the second coming of Christ just like you do. And Dr. Anderson insisted, he says I don't think it's the same. He says you say you believe in the second coming of Christ. I love his appearing. And that's the difference. There are great many people that are rendering lip service today in our churches. The whole thing is a ritual, church membership. And therefore, there's no real love for the Lord Jesus. And so I would say to you, can you say right now, I love you, Lord Jesus? And I talking to you now who sent the question in. And I don't know who you are. And I'd probably never met you. You probably never met me. But I ask you that question, do you love the Lord Jesus Christ? And you know whether you do or not. I would say that's the way to know him. It's to love him. He's a person. To love him is the important thing. Even went so far as to say if you love me, keep my commandments. In other words, just to go through a ritual and say you're obeying him and you're keeping his commandments, that may be one thing. But he says if you love me, that's the basis on which you and I are to serve him today.
Guest (Male): Moving on to our next question, we come to this one from a listener in West Union, Iowa who writes, is Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 given to all Christians?
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Well, Romans 12 1 and 2 it reads and I'm just quoting now, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice which is your reasonable or your spiritual service. And you have the next verse too. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Well, it's given to all Christians. Every believer this is given to them. And it says if so, why are there so few that have given themselves to the Lord? Well, the simple answer to that is that the reason they haven't given themselves to the Lord is because they haven't given themselves unto the Lord. Now, I believe as great many others believe that this is a separate act from salvation. Very candidly, I think it's all together different. Now, I also recognize that there have been many who have been converted and at the same time that were converted why they presented themselves a living sacrifice unto Christ. But for most of us, this becomes something separate. And therefore, today if you have not presented yourself unto Christ as a living sacrifice, well, it hasn't been done then. You haven't done that. And my feeling is according to this question here is that there are in our churches today multitudes that have never taken this step. And as a result, they are not in my judgment in the place of real service for the Lord although they could be very active in so-called Christian service. Now, this party goes on to say that they feel like there's a definite time when we do this and it's the only way of real joy and peace. Also, it takes a lot of love on our part. If we don't love the Lord more than ourselves, we can't do this. Well, I'm in thoroughly agreement with you. That's the position I hold. And this is something that I think that we ought to ask Christians to do. And we ought to present, I think, the gospel and present the word of God in such a way that they'll feel led to do this thing. The greatest compliment I think I ever had for a sermon was given by Country Boy. And he was really a Country Boy. He had on yellow shoes that buttoned up. And he came to the little Midway Church that I served out from Decatur, Georgia. And this boy I preached one morning on the Song of Solomon. And I tried to present the Lord Jesus and all of his beauty and his loveliness. And I felt I was totally inadequate and the message was inadequate. But this boy waited till everybody else left and he came up to me. And he said, I did not know that the Lord Jesus was so lovely and wonderful. And he tried to go on but choked with tears coming down his eyes and he just choked up and couldn't go on and he stood there for just a minute. And he turned and walked out of the church. And I watched him as he walked across that cotton patch. And I said then to the Lord, I said, Lord, may I be able to preach so that there'll be many people will say, I didn't know the Lord was so lovely. Now, that's what we're talking about here in this question that you asked about Romans 12. Oh, how we need today to love him and come to him and offer ourselves as a willing sacrifice, a living sacrifice to him.
Guest (Male): We come now to a question from a Seattle, Washington listener. He writes, in Acts chapter 8 verses 12 and 17, Philip baptizes his converts in the name of the Lord Jesus only. But they did not receive the Holy Spirit until Peter and John laid hands on them. I've been taught that at the moment we turn to Christ and accept him as our Savior, we also receive the Holy Spirit. Was baptism in the Trinity necessary or did Philip not bring them to a complete conversion?
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Well, let me say this that to begin with, we do not have Peter and John with us today. So, we can't call upon them to come by and lay hands on folk. But people are getting saved today and they're getting saved by trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. If we learn that up to salvation, God is not asking you to do something. The gospel is that God is telling you and me that he's done something for us. And he wants us to accept the gift of God is eternal life, Christ Jesus. And all we have to do is to hold out the weekend of faith and he will fill it. So very candidly, that's all that's essential to salvation. Now, at the time that this man was preaching down there and I have a notion that he did not have the complete gospel at that particular time. Now, I don't know that but I assume that that was what took place. And the reason that I take that position is because that if you'll recall that Apollos went over to Ephesus, preached there and people thought they were Christians. And so here came Paul the apostle to town and he began to preach. And he detected that these that said they were Christians, they were not Christians. And he wanted to know if they had been baptized by the Spirit of God. And they said they didn't knew nothing about the Holy Spirit. They knew nothing about the death of the Lord Jesus. All they knew was the baptism of John. They didn't have the gospel. That's quite obvious. They did not have the gospel. And only a very small part of the coming of the forerunner. But now, Paul preaches the gospel to them and they accept the Lord Jesus and they're saved. Now, that is the procedure by the way. And my feeling is that a person if he accepts the Lord Jesus, at moment he's not only regenerated, he's indwelt and he's also baptized by the Holy Spirit put in the body of believers. And I don't think that baptism has anything to do with it. But we notice here that after these men were saved, then we are told they were baptized.
Guest (Male): Here's a question from a listener in Santa Ana, California. He writes, my Old Testament professor in seminary was a former Hasidic rabbi who came to know Jesus as a Savior. This brother taught us that it is impossible for God to be jealous. Jealousy is a human failing. He maintained that the error occurred in translation and should be zealous. That is God is full of zeal about justice. My professor has had 26 years of Hebrew. Could you please provide your perspective on this issue?
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Well, it's very difficult to argue against a man like that and I won't argue against him at all. But I would like to say this that this needs to be seen in the setting of the fact that the Bible uses what is known as anthropomorphic terms that speak of God. In other words, there are certain things that are used of God that are actually not true of it. For instance, it says the eyes of the Lord run to and fro in the earth. Well, may I say to you God doesn't have eyes like you and I have. God is a spirit. But the spirit of God put it like that so a little fellow like I am would be able to understand it. I understand now that God sees everything's going on and knows all about it. And he doesn't need eyes like I've got. And he's got 20/20 vision. He doesn't need trifocals either. So that we understand God by using these terms. Now, it not only is in the physical realm, but you find it also in the psychological realm. For instance, it says that God repented in the book of Jonah for instance, that God repented. Well, God didn't repent like you and I are to repent. He didn't do wrong. He didn't make a mistake. He didn't even change his mind. But it looked like God changed his mind because he said he's going to destroy Nineveh, but he didn't destroy Nineveh. And who changed? God? No, Nineveh changed. And when Nineveh changed and turned to God, God does what he always will do. He will accept the individual and save him, not destroy him. And I feel like that to save instead of saying jealous, we should say zealous. I'm very frank to say I don't think that is satisfactory because God is full of zeal about justice. But that word includes more than that because you see, it has in it the idea of love. If you love somebody, you're jealous of them. And that's true of anybody you love, you're jealous of them not only for justice, but you want them. You desire them. Now, God wants you and me. He says he loves us. And in that word jealousy, he doesn't want you to give your affection to the devil and the things of this world because he's jealous of you. And I think that's the best term although God's not jealous like you and I are. But I think we understand it better than saying zealous. If you want to know the truth because it has in it love. God loves us. And therefore, he is jealous in the sense that he does not want you to serve idols or to serve the things of this world. So, I believe that that would be the better term in my way of thinking of it, but I'm sure that maybe technically that may be accurate. But I believe that this is certainly closer to the meaning that we have in the word of God.
Guest (Male): Our final question comes from a listener in Florissant, Missouri who writes, can you clarify your position of pretribulation rapture in light of Revelation chapter 20 verses 4 and 5? That is is the rapture a distinct revelation from the first resurrection described in verse 5?
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: The first resurrection is a resurrection that the book of Revelation makes clear includes the tribulation saints. And so I would like to read this passage of scripture because I think that it's rather important and it's Revelation 20 verses 4 and 5. It says, and I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. And the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Now, the tribulation saints are raised in what is called the first resurrection. The second resurrection is the resurrection of the lost. And your question is is the rapture distinct resurrection from the first resurrection described in this? The rapture is only those that are in the church. And that's when the church is taken out. The dead in Christ then shall be raised. This resurrection is the resurrection that takes place at the end of the great tribulation when not only the tribulation saints are raised, the Old Testament saints are raised. See, the Old Testament saints do not go out at the time of the rapture. If you read the 12th chapter first two or three verses in the book of Daniel, you'll make that discovery. But actually in the second resurrection and that is mentioned here later on of those that are raised at that time are raised for a judgment if you please. And that's the judgment of the great white throne. And that by the way is the resurrection actually of the lost. And that would be the lost of all ages by the way. So, this conforms, let me say entirely with the pre-mill, pre-trib interpretation of prophecy.
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