In today’s episode, Dr. McGee takes us through a comprehensive exploration of presumptuous sins, shedding light on their significance both historically and in contemporary settings. As we unpack scriptures from Exodus, Numbers, and 2 Peter, discover the deep-seated implications of deliberate versus accidental sins. We also discuss pivotal questions surrounding God’s physical nature and our perception of divine presence. This episode is sure to enrich your perspective and provoke deeper reflection on these essential theological themes.
This is the Question and Answer program with Dr. J. Vernon McGee, a ministry of the Through the Bible Radio Network. Stay with us as Dr. McGee deals with the issues of biblical inerrancy, the meaning of better manuscripts, God’s physical nature, and many others.
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How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
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You’re listening to the Question and Answer program with our Bible teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee. This is Steve Schwetz inviting you to join us for the next 30 minutes as we listen to the wit and wisdom Dr. McGee provided in answering the questions of his listeners. Biblical inerrancy, that’s to say the Bible is without error or is infallible, still continues to be debated as an issue. So it’s not surprising to get this question from a listener in Los Angeles who says, what is your position on biblical inerrancy?
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Well, my position on biblical inerrancy is that the autographs are absolutely inerrant and that the translations that we have today And especially, I accept that American standard as being a very fine translation. I like the King James much better, but the other, fine. And I accept it as the Word of God, and I stand on the question of the inerrancy of the Word of God. And I do not believe that until you’ve settled that in your mind, in your heart, that you can teach the Word of God and certainly teach it to preachers today without having your tongue in your cheek or at least have a snare on your lip because, my friend, You have to believe in the inerrancy of the Word of God. That’s where you’re going to begin. And my feeling is that that’s the crux of the whole matter today.
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We come now to a question from a listener in Douglas, Kansas. He writes, Would you please explain Hebrews 6, verses 4 through 6 and Hebrews 10, verse 26?
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It says, For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Now, this entire section here, if you read that which comes before and that which goes after, you will find out that what Paul is talking about, not salvation, but the fruits of salvation. He discusses that right after this. He uses the figure of speech. For the earth which drinketh in the rain cometh off upon it, bringeth forth herbs, meat for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God. And he’s talking about the results of the fruit of salvation. And I have a book, as I’ve said, on this particular passage of Scripture. If you’d like to have the book, really know the answer, and it’d take a little while to go into all the details, I’ll be delighted to send the book to you. Write in and ask the book on Hebrews 6, 4 and 6. And you’re quite right that Hebrews 10, 26 is of the same way. 26, For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Now, if you, and it’s written to the Hebrews, If they continue to go and offer sacrifices in the temple after they have received Christ as Savior, what they are saying is that either Christ has not come and died for our sins, or else that it was meaningless and it had no value for them, so they are continuing to offer sacrifice. And he makes it very clear if you read on, they trod underfoot. The blood of Christ, you make it of no effect whatsoever. Therefore today, when actually I think if you attempt to add anything to what Christ has done, people don’t bring sacrifices today, not even the nation Israel. They would love to have the temple so they could restore sacrifices in the temple in Jerusalem. They actually would like that very, very much. And if you today, not an Israelite, but a Protestant that thinks that you have to do something, that what Christ did for you was not enough and you can do something, you are making the death of Christ meaningless. And you trod underfoot the blood of Christ, you see. And that’s what he’s talking about in this passage here. I think this one is far more serious than Hebrews 6, 4 to 6. But we would like for you to have the little book, but understand he’s not talking about salvation in Hebrews 6. He’s talking about the fruits of salvation, that it is possible for a Christian to sin, to the extent where he could never get a reward at all. He could never hear the Lord say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Because of the fact of the life that he lives and he’s counting the death of Christ as absolutely valueless for Christian living because we’re to produce fruit as Christians. But you need the book to have the entire picture before you. important passage of Scripture.
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The booklet Dr. McGee referred to is titled, Is It Possible for a Saved Person Ever to be Lost? It’s available for purchase online at www.ttb.org or by calling one of our service operators at 1-800-65-BIBLE Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pacific Time. We turn our attention back to our questions now with this one from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The listener writes, What is a presumptuous sin?
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I’d like to turn to several scriptures to answer your question and then from these scriptures I think we can formulate what is a presumptuous sin. And I’m going to turn first to the 21st chapter of the book of Exodus 14. But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. Now, if he come presumptuously What does that mean? This is a presumptuous sin. This means premeditated. This man has planned this. This man, in his heart, has wanted to kill his brother. It wasn’t a flare-up that happened in a moment’s time, and he got angry, and before he knew what he was doing, why, he shot his brother. Only back in those days, didn’t shoot him. But they had other ways of killing them, though. The human family, since the days of Cain and Abel, has been able to decimate the human family when they got angry or something came up or they felt like that they were being injured. Now I want to turn to another verse of Scripture because I think here’s where we’re going to get our answers to your questions. Over in the 15th chapter, of the book of Numbers at verse 30. It says, But the soul that doeth aught presumptuously, whether he be born in the land or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Now again, the same type of a sin, one that He does presumptuously, and that just simply means he planned it. This is something that was in his heart. It’s not something that he did all at once. Today, I think that the courts make that distinction. It’s a distinction like this, murder or manslaughter. Now, manslaughter, as I understand it, is one that was done maybe accidentally. My mother was killed by a drunken driver, and I had the privilege of talking to that man, and he made a decision for Christ. I don’t know whether it’s genuine or not, but his cellmate in the penitentiary did come to the Lord because he couldn’t believe that Anybody would forgive him for what he had done. Well, I didn’t exactly forgive him, but I didn’t hate him for it. He was drunk and he didn’t run down my mother presumptuously. He didn’t plan it. He didn’t leave home and say, I’m going to run down Dr. McGee’s mother. He didn’t say that was not it. He was drunk. He didn’t know what he was doing. And I think he should have been punished. And they asked me when I was called in a witness, did I think that the man ought to be let go? And I said, oh, no, no. I said, I have forgiven the man, but I said, I think the court should take its course, and he should be given the full penalty, of course. I don’t think that he should be let go like that. And it was not, though, a presumptuous sin. It was what the court called manslaughter. And of course, that reduced his sentence a great deal. And I didn’t object to that at all, because I’ll tell you, the man that I wish they had put in jail is the man that sold him that bottle of liquor and the one that made that bottle of liquor. I wish they could be put back of bars, by the way, because that poor fellow was an alcoholic. But do you know that cured him? And I’ve heard that in the place where he lives, that he’s turned out to be a pretty decent citizen. And he goes to church. Whether he’s converted, I don’t know. I tried to lead him to the Lord. Now, let me turn to one more scripture, 2 Peter 2.10. But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government, presumptuous are they self-will. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Now, this adds another dimension to presumptuous sins, and that is they despise government. I think that those that are seeking to overthrow our government, and there are those that are, in fact, there are those that apparently in the Senate of the United States, that in order to have their way, they were liberals, they were willing to actually, looks to me like they’re willing to destroy the country. in order that they might have their way. Now, I call that a presumptuous sin. That’s what Peter calls it here. Their self-will, they want to have their way. That is presumptuous sin. And they’re not afraid to speak evil of dignities, that is, of God, things that are sacred and holy. And therefore, they are guilty of that. I think that’s probably as close as I can get to a presumptuous sin.
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Here’s a letter from a listener who says she is a widow and also has a daughter who is a widow. She writes, Could you please explain 1 Timothy 5 verses 3 through 16?
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Now, Paul is speaking actually to widows, and he divides them into two groups. Actually, the young widows and the older widows. And the young widows, he says, are trying to get married. And that’s generally true, by the way. And I think some of them do things rather foolish. It’s been my experience that that’s been true. And Paul is putting down rules for them here. And that a lifestyle for a young widow and a lifestyle for an older widow. And I think that I can’t go through all of this Scripture, but again, you give me a marvelous opportunity to do a bit of promoting, and that is I have a book on 1 Timothy. And in that book, I deal with chapter 5 and 4. I go into these things in detail that are here. Now, if you’re really interested, there’s two widows, an older widow and a young widow. You will find our explanation of this particular passage of Scripture here. And this is the thing that is all important, the reputation of both of them. And that is something that at the present moment that I’m afraid the church is not very careful about. And the reason that I think I know this is because I have had letters from young widows, one young widow that wrote me some time ago. She said very candidly that she was having an affair with a man. That’s not her husband. Her husband died. And she says, I love my husband. I’ve never met a man that I thought was his equal or that I wanted to marry. And the man I’m with now, I don’t want to marry him. but I’m having an affair with him. And she said to me, so what? So I just say back to her, so what? You are wrong. You’re entirely wrong. You’re not gonna get by with it. That is if you’re a child of God, because apparently your reputation where she works, and she’s a brilliant woman, she holds an executive position, and she very frankly admits that the office knows pretty much about her lifestyle, And I wonder what they think about her testimony as a Christian. I’m sure that they couldn’t think very much of her testimony as a Christian. Now, that’s what Paul’s talking about here. It’s something very practical, something very real. A young widow, Paul says, should get married. Nothing wrong of them getting married. Husband dead, sure, this woman should get married. But her excuse is, I can’t find a man that’s equal to my former husband. Well, that may be true, but she sure found a man that’s equal to her, and I think they probably would get along all right, but they should get married if they’re going to live together. And that is the same thing, and the older widows should have a testimony for Christ. I think that the woman, in spite… of what is being said today and all of this woman’s rights, women have always had a position and a right that a man never has. Number one, a woman knows who’s the father of her child. Man doesn’t always know that. The second thing is a woman has an influence over a child that no man could possibly have. Now, I’ve watched that in my own family. I’ve watched it in other families. The woman, the wife, has not only an opportunity and an influence, but I think a great responsibility. Now that’s what Paul is talking about in this particular passage of Scripture here, the responsibility of widows. And I think the way that you’ve asked the question that you haven’t really taken it too seriously. You had all this trouble and now you are wondering at this late date if maybe your lifestyle had something to do with it. Of course it did. no way of avoiding that. And then the second thing, now by your testimony as an older widow and your daughter as a younger widow, you have a tremendous opportunity and a responsibility and a privilege and an influence. And talk about women’s rights. You’ve got not only rights, but you’ve got responsibility. And no one should have a right that doesn’t have a responsibility, by the way. If you are given a certain privilege, a certain position, you should measure up to that, of course. And that is, I think, very important in these days in which we’re living.
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This North Palm Springs, California listener has an interesting question about a comment often made by Dr. McGee. She says, I hear you often mention better manuscripts. Where are these manuscripts, and have you had the opportunity to see them?
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Well, I have been to the British Museum and have looked through a glass case at a couple of them they have there. These manuscripts are scattered around. There’s one in Washington, by the way. I’ve never seen that one. I guess it’s in the Smithsonian Institute, but I’m not even sure about that. And then there are several others. The British Museum, I guess, has the better manuscripts. Now, when I say better, I mean because of their age, they go back farther, and because there is more authority that surrounds them. That is, they are connected with a certain period and certain individuals. And then you have in the Vatican, at Rome, the Vaticanus manuscript. They have one in Latin and they have several manuscripts there. And all of them are used in compiling the Greek text of the New Testament. And that’s the way that they’ve come about it. May I say that there’s probably no more scholarly work that’s been done in this world. They boast of what science has done and all of that. And I’m forgiving them full credit, But I think the greatest scholarship has been expended today in bringing together the manuscripts of the Word of God. And I think God has actually supervised it. I believe that He has had His hand in it all along.
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A listener in Syracuse, Indiana wrote asking, Would you please explain the meaning of Deuteronomy 14, 26?
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Well, Deuteronomy 14, 26 reads, And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, or desires. It doesn’t have really an evil connotation. for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth. And thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thine household.” Well, very frankly, you need to take in consideration this entire section And it has to do with bringing an offering to the Lord, and especially of bringing a tenth to the Lord. And this particular verse has to do with the fact that God says that when they get into the land, and you remember when He gave this law, they were not in the land of Israel. They were still wandering in the desert. And He says, when you get into the land, that I’ll choose out a place, where you are to come and worship me.” Well, we know now that the place was Jerusalem, that offerings were to be brought there. Now, if you lived way up in the tribe of Dan in that day, it would be a very long trek down to Jerusalem to worship. And if you had certain offerings to bring to the Lord, like the fruit of the vine, grapes for instance, grapes don’t keep too well and certainly in that land wouldn’t. By the time you get down to Jerusalem, they might have won a blue ribbon when you started out. but they wouldn’t win any kind of a ribbon by the time you got to Jerusalem. And you were to bring, of course, not only the tenth, but the best to the Lord. So he said to them here that if you’re not able to go to that place, then you’re to offer that offering locally. And when you offer it locally, why, the party was to use it for himself. He was to eat. of it, drink of it, and that sort of thing. And that is actually all that he’s saying here. It’s really part of the Mosaic system and how it was to operate under circumstances that were very difficult. For instance, if you lived in a day’s journey or two days’ journey of Jerusalem, It worked out nicely. But if you lived way up in the north or actually way down in the south, down south of Beersheba, way down in the desert, why, you would find that it’s quite a hike up to Jerusalem. And actually, those people in that day either walked or they went by riding some animal, a little burra. And he’s not noted for speed. You don’t see them on any racetracks at all. And so it was a way of enabling those that lived at a far distance to make an offering unto God.
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Our final question for today comes from a listener in Northville, Michigan, and he says, Does God the Father, who is Spirit, have physical attributes?
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No, he does not. We’re told in Scripture that only the Son took upon himself our humanity. And I do not believe that God the Father will take on any kind of a physical image whatsoever. Then the question arises, will we be able to see him? I’m chatting now, and I have advanced this theory before, and I want to say it’s just a theory. I don’t know this. But in view of the fact that the Lord Jesus said, God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth, that that will be true throughout the eternal ages, that you’ll never see God the Father. I feel that that is true. The one that took upon himself our flesh, we’re going to see him face to face. We’re going to look upon the second person of the Godhead. Now, God the Father will be there. I don’t think that with our physical eyes we’re going to be able to see him. I think we’ll be more conscious of him than if we could see him. But I believe that that’s the way that it has to be. Now, I don’t know that. And so if you get upset with me, just remember I’m chatting about these things, and I could be entirely wrong about it. Now, I’ve given to you what I believe is a scriptural explanation of it.
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Well, with that question and answer, it’s now time for us to bring this program to a close. If any of today’s topics have sparked your interest and you’d like to know more, then we suggest you contact us for a complete listing of our books, booklets, CDs, and CD-ROM by Dr. McGee. If you’d like to order Dr. McGee’s booklet, Is It Possible for a Saved Person Ever to be Lost?, ask for a resource catalog or request to be added to our mailing list. give our offices a call at 1-800-65-BIBLE, Monday through Thursday, from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific Time. To download any of the notes and outlines or the e-booklet, Is It Possible for a Saved Person Ever to be Lost?, visit our website at ttb.org. For those who’d like to make their request by mail, send your letter to Questions and Answers. For those in the U.S., Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. Until next time, may God answer all your questions and solve all your problems.
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Jesus made it all All to Him I owe
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