In this compelling episode, we dive deep into an age-old theological debate: Can a believer lose their salvation? Travel through scripture with Dr. J. Vernon McGee, as he shares his insights into the nature of eternal life, drawing from a wealth of biblical verses to support his stance. The discussion also touches on the fascinating differences between the soul and the spirit as depicted in scripture, providing listeners with a comprehensive look at what defines the human essence in God’s eyes.
Today, a great controversy continues that has been going on for several centuries. It’s summed up in the question, can you lose your salvation? Some believe it’s possible to lose your salvation and others say it can never be lost. Well, stay with us as we find out what the Bible has to say on this issue.
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of foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
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What more can he say than to
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have said to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled fear not I am with You’re listening to the Question and Answer program with our Bible teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee. And this is Steve Schwetz for the Through the Bible Radio Network. Join us for the next 30 minutes as we benefit from the wit and wisdom Dr. McGee provided in answering the questions posed by his listeners. Now, as we come to our questions, we’d like to remind you that your prayers provide a great blessing to the ongoing work of this ministry. We ask that you would continue to remember us in your prayers as we continue working to get the whole word to the whole world. Now let’s get to our first question. A San Francisco listener starts off with this question. Can a born again believer in Jesus Christ ever lose his salvation?
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And of course the answer to that is a born again believer in Jesus Christ cannot lose his salvation. If you can lose it, then you never had it. And to tell the truth, you can’t lose what you never had. Therefore, you couldn’t lose your salvation. Now, the only kind of life that the Lord Jesus is offering today is eternal life. Now, if the life you got is something that you lost the second week after you were saved, then you didn’t get eternal life. And what you lost was something you never had to begin with. If you’ve been born again, then you are a child of God, and you can’t undo that. Now, you can be a disgrace to your father. For instance, I can never keep from being the son of my father. That I cannot be undone. I can disgrace him. I can do many things that would be contrary to him, but I’d always be his son. And because I am his son, I would want to honor and please my father. And that is true of a child of God. If you’ve actually been born again, Then he says, to as many as received him, to them gave he the right, the authority, the power to become the sons of God, even to those that don’t do any more nor less than simply believe in his name. And then you remember the Lord Jesus talking to Nicodemus. He said that you must be born again. And he said that which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. And the question would arise, then how are you born again? And he said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have, what kind of life does he offer to a son? He offers eternal life. To as many as received him, to them gave eternal life. They have received eternal life. Now, he makes that abundantly clear in 1 John 5, 12. He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Now, the whole question rests on do you have Christ as your Savior? Do you have Him? Well, then you have life. Well, you say, I don’t feel like it. It doesn’t rest on that. It rests on that, do you have Christ as your Savior? And somebody says, well, I can’t be sure. Well, he says in the verse 13, 1 John 5, “…these things have I written unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” Now, somebody might say, I don’t have any feelings. Shouldn’t I have feelings that I’m a child of God? Well, I hope you do, but it doesn’t rest on feelings. It doesn’t rest on anything that’s subjective. It rests upon the objective fact that Christ died for you and that you received Him as your Savior. Now, some people, that to them is a great emotional thing. experience to others. It is not an emotional experience whatsoever. They just accept Christ as Savior. Now is a question of whether you believe and trust Him. Now, as a son of God, you have the nature now of the Son of God, and somebody says, well, what about this Christian that sins? Well, he can’t live in sin. John says in this first epistle, he that practices the sin, he’s not born a God. Somebody says, well, I accepted Christ 25 years ago. How can I know? Well, you can know like this, because this is the place where the devil bothered me. And then I heard Dr. Schaeffer in class one day when I was a student, and that is many years ago. He said, sometimes the devil says to me, you’re not a child of God. You’ve never really accepted him, and it’s so long ago, how do you know? And so he said, when that comes to me, I say to the devil, I said to him, wait a minute. I want you to hear me right now, accept Christ as my Savior. So if I never did it before, I sure do it right now. And so friend, how about you? Can you right now say, if I never accepted him before, I accept him right now as my Savior. I trust him right now. And you’ve got the devil as a witness to that, you see, if he’s troubling you in that connection. So that I would say that this is something you can settle in your mind and heart right now.
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Here’s an interesting question from a listener in Beverly Hills, California. She says, could you please define the soul as used in Scripture?
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Now, the soul is, I think, in Scripture used in two different ways. I think that it’s used sometimes as synonymous with the spirit. And when God breathed into man the breath of life, he became a living soul. Actually, I think that that means also spirit too, you see. But there is a distinction made between soul and spirit. The Word of God, Paul says in Hebrews, is quick and sharp, sharper than any two-edged sword. And it divides even soul and spirit. So there is a distinction. Now, the word soul in the scripture is psuche. That’s the word that’s translated. Whereas the word for spirit is pneuma. And we get our word psuche, psychology, from it. And actually, it has to do with that which controls this whole nature of ours. The soul of man is that which controls our nature. We have a soul. That soul, of course, never dies when it leaves this body. Why, no longer controls this body at all. But the soul of man refers to that which controls and dominates the physical man today. Uses the body just like you use a telephone. There’s a question today whether the mind even originates thought or not. And it’s a belief right now that the mind that we have, our brain up here, is nothing in the world but a sort of a high-powered telephone system where connections are made and that thoughts have to originate somewhere else. It’s a very interesting sort of thing. Well, that is the soul. of man. And scripture speaks of that. The soul is not something at all that dies. We’re told the body dies and the body’s raised. The soul, we’re told, the spirit goes to God that gave it. And so we have times when they’re used, the soul and spirit are used in a synonymous way. But there is a distinction between soul and spirit.
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This listener in Lakewood, California writes, is Mark chapter 16 verses 14 through 20 for the church today? Was this passage given to the church?
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Now, I’m not quite sure just how you mean that. May I say to you, I do not know what is in your thinking. I think I do, but I may be entirely wrong. I want to say that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it’s profitable. and it’s profitable for its purpose. There are certain scriptures, all scriptures for the church, but all scriptures not to the church. Now, when he said to Joshua and the children of Israel, arise, go over this Jordan. Now, I’ve never felt he meant for me to go over Jordan. That has a marvelous spiritual message. In fact, I have a book on it, Have You Crossed Over Jordan?, And it’s an important spiritual message there, by the way. But to say that you’re literally crossover Jordan, you see the scriptures for us, but not to us. Now, this part of the gospel of Mark is, I think, for us. But now you have another problem here. And that is that here in this particular section, That is from verse 9 actually down through 20. This is not in our better manuscripts. In other words, the better manuscripts that we have today do not contain this. And for that reason, I have always felt that in view of the fact there’s no great doctrine involved and our salvation is not involved, and our Christian life is not involved, and actually our service is not involved in any of these passages, and there are several of them, they’re not vital by any means, that it’s dangerous to try to build any kind of a doctrine or to build your entire program on that. Now, unfortunately, there are those that have attempted to do that. and they have it says they shall take up serpents if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them now i believe frankly that that was given to the early church because you see the early church established itself by signs and wonders and not by the word of god to begin with it hadn’t there was no new testament that is this gospel of mark right here is one of the first And when Paul went out to preach, he didn’t say, now let’s turn to the Gospel of John. John wasn’t written until about 30 years after the death of Paul the Apostle. So that, you see, the great Apostle Paul couldn’t have had any of the New Testament. Well, to begin with, he wrote a great deal of it. But he didn’t have it with him. He did not have it. So he had to have another authority. And these men did. It was by signs and wonders. Now today, the whole point is, it doesn’t say if any man come among you today with signs and wonders. The John who wrote last, and when he wrote, you see, the New Testament is now in existence. Church is now established. And he says, if any come among you and have not this doctrine, You see, that’s the thing that’s important. It’s no longer signs and wonders. It’s now doctrine. That is the thing that’s all important today. And that’s the way that you check today the genuine from the counterfeit is whether a man or a church or an organization is preaching the doctrine or whether or not they are following some cult or some heresy. and that sort of thing. And by the way, gracious, I won’t detour on this, but they’ve got a new one in Southern California, a new religion. And it’s these people that have actually, so they say, have talked to spacemen. They’re in contact with them. It’s a new religion. One man even offered to take me out here, and it’s out here in Apple Valley somewhere, to a big rock. I’ve seen the spot, but I didn’t go with him. He said if I’d go out there with him that I would see spacemen landing and taking off, if you please. Well, I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t go. And the man said to me, that just proves that I was pretty stubborn, didn’t want to be convinced that if I just go out there, well, if it was true, I’d be a little afraid somebody would push me in one of those spaceman’s buggies. and let me be taken off. Because I do know two or three would love to put me in one of those buggies and let me take off. So I would not rather not go out. But we have them today. But you see, all you have to do is to test that with the Word of God today. It’s where they have the doctrine. Well, they certainly don’t, and they don’t even claim to. But they do claim to be a religion, by the way.
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This next question comes to us from Montana, where a listener writes, Do you believe we can accept 1 Thessalonians 5.18 literally for everyday life?
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Well, I don’t know any other way in which you could accept it. It certainly means exactly what it says, and it says exactly what it means. Let me read it. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And then you go on to say there are also three other places in the New Testament that deal with the same matter. that everything is controlled by God and that God’s will is that we thank Him for everything. I especially ask this because while listening to you, while you were in Luke, you said you could not thank God for having cancer, although He did make use of your illness. This verse and others has shown me a new picture of God’s plan for believers in this Satan-controlled world. Well, let me say that the statement I made needs to be considered in the context in which I made the statement. And the thought was this. When I was told that I had cancer, I believe you could have it, but I didn’t think I could ever have it. I just didn’t believe that God would ever permit me to. And when I was told that I had cancer, I very frankly couldn’t fall down on my knees and say, thank you, Lord, for giving me cancer. I didn’t feel that way at all. Now, if you put it back in the context, then I said, as you have indicated, that as time went on, I saw that God was using that in my life. And I thank Him for that experience. Now, I have before me right here on my desk a whole sheaf of the names of people with cancer. I call it my cancer club. And I find that a great many people with cancer write to us, that we minister to a certain group of people. I remember these people in prayer because I know how they feel, and they know how I feel. And there’s a mutual bond. I went in to see a man that he had terminal cancer. I thought I did at first. In fact, I was told I did. And I went in and I talked with him. I felt like he listened to me, even on his deathbed. He said he hadn’t listened to anybody else, but he did listen. His wife told me afterward, he said it meant everything to him because I had been through that experience. I knew what it was to be told that you wouldn’t survive. And friends, that’s not a very pleasant thing to be told. I don’t care what you say. But I could relate to the man, and I think I was helpful to him. He listened to me, and I honestly believe that he accepted Christ as his Savior. Now, I say that today I can thank God. I couldn’t then. I’m human, just human as you are. And that’s the reason. I wish folk could remember the context of many statements I make. I’m very blunt. I’m very frank. I don’t hold back anything. And if you’ll listen to the context, however, you’ll find out that these very strong statements fit in to a context.
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A listener in Oregon has a few questions about the end times. She says, Well, you’ve put quite a
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A few questions and one question here, I’ll assure you. I wonder if it wouldn’t be well for us to turn to 2 Peter 3.10. It says, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Well, the day of the Lord corresponds to a Hebrew day. The Hebrew day began at sundown, began with darkness, and then it went on into the next day, that is, we would call it the next day, and it would conclude at sundown. Now the day of the Lord, as Joel says, is not light but darkness, that is, it begins as the Hebrew day begins. That corresponds, of course, to the great tribulation period. The great day of His wrath has come is a familiar expression in the Word of God for this period. We believe that the believers are removed before that day comes because it’s a time of judgment on a Christ-rejecting world, a Christ-blaspheming world. And he comes to put down man’s little day and his little authority and assert his own to establish the kingdom. Begins with the great tribulation period of seven years. And it’s during that time that this earth on which you and I live today will be judged. Now, whether the burning takes place at the beginning of the millennium or the end of the millennium, I personally believe that we cannot be too dogmatic about that. However, I take the position that it does take place at the end of the millennium. That certainly fits in with the language here and elsewhere. And during that time, you seem to be disturbed about what will become of the Christians. Well, you see, they’ve been removed from the earth. That problem’s been solved. They’ve been removed from the earth to be with the Lord. And then your question about what happens to the Christians after the millennium, well after the millennium you see the city the new jerusalem coming down from god out of heaven prepared as a bride and that is the dwelling place of the church and i think the church is in the new jerusalem now that is the permanent abode of the church in fact the eternal abode of the church and then your question where is heaven Well, heaven is a place, but in this tremendous universe that we live in today, it’d be very difficult to point your finger and say, it’s that a way. I do not know which a way, and I’m not disturbed about that because I have one that’s going to take me there, and he knows the way. And that’s the thing that’s important. We run, as many of you know, tours to different sections of the world. We go to Hawaii, we go to the Caribbean, we go to Bible lands, we go to Europe. Now, very frankly, I never worry about the route or how we’re going to get there or when we’re going to get there. All I do is just follow the instructions. The tour director has charge of all of that. He says, one day, he said, now, tomorrow morning you’re to put your suitcase outside of the door. and it’ll be taken there and you go down, get on the bus and I just follow the instructions and put my suitcase out and go down, get on the bus and go to an airport that I never probably seen before and get on a plane I haven’t ever seen before and I do what I’m told and after a few hours, well, I find myself in a different country, in a different city, in a different place. And if you had said to me when I started out, where is this place? Well, I could get a map and show it to you, but I couldn’t point the direction and I wouldn’t know how to get there. But I do know that heaven is a place. Can’t point the finger, but I’m on the way. I’ve already put my suitcase out. And one of these days, I’ll be going, and I have a tour director. And he says, I’m the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. And so I’m just following his directions. And he’s my savior. And I don’t think if you are a child of God, you need worry about it. If you’re not, you don’t need to worry about where is heaven. What you need to worry about is to get the right tour director who knows the way there and can get you there. That’s the thing that’s all important.
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If you would like more information concerning the day of the Lord, the millennium, and heaven, then you’ll want to get a copy of our hardback book, J. Vernon McGee on Prophecy. This book offers over 200 pages of insight from God’s word, all pointing to the end times. We also have a number of booklets and sermons on CD, all dealing with this issue, along with many other subjects as well. You can also learn more about prophecy and the end times when you join us each weekday during the Through the Bible radio program. The Bible Bus with Dr. McGee will keep rolling on through the 66 books of the Bible in five years. So why don’t you come aboard and see where God will take you. To help you with the studies, we provide notes and outlines in both a printed and electronic format. To place an order for the book J. Vernon McGee on Prophecy, ask for our resource catalog, or to be placed on our mailing list for the monthly newsletter and the notes and outlines, call us at 1-800-65-BIBLE. Do that Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific Time. Now, if you prefer the electronic version of the notes or the e-newsletter, you can visit our website at ttb.org. where you can also find our online bookstore. To make your request by mail, send your letter to Questions and Answers in the U.S., Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325. London, Ontario, N6C, 6B1. Now until this time next week, we hope that the Lord will answer all your questions and solve all your problems.
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Jesus made it all.
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