The following program is recorded content created by The Truth Network. It's Matt Slick Live! Matt is the founder and president of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry, found online at karm.org. When you have questions about Bible doctrines, turn to Matt Slick Live! For answers, taking your calls and responding to your questions at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. Hey everybody, welcome to the show. It's me, Matt Slick. And you're listening to Matt Slick Live. As usual, if you want to give me a call, it's easy. Just dial 877-207-2276. I want to hear from you. Give me a call. And you can also email me at info at C-A-R-M dot O-R-G for the subject line, radio comment, or radio question. And we can get to them maybe today, maybe another day. We'll just see what the callers come in. We have already coming in right now. So there you go. I'm going to be in Salt Lake City this weekend, just going down there. I'm going to be visiting a friend and stuff. So looking forward to that. I hear it's supposed to rain. That's what I hear. And I'm really hoping it does rain because I just love rain. I do. I love rain. So I'm hoping to drive in the rain. I'm hoping that it is rainy. You know, I just love the rain. I love the rain. Yesterday I went walking and I was walking for four miles, did a four mile walk. And it was not rainy, but misting very, very heavily. And so everything was wet and I enjoyed that as well. Okay, having said all of that, you can also email me at info at carm.org, info at c-a-r-m dot o-r-g, put in the subject line, read a comment or radio question and we can get to them. We can get to that and we can hopefully answer some questions. Now, so a couple of my notes are from a couple of days ago. And I wanted to kind of mention something a little bit, not a big deal. It's just there's a movement going on inside of Christianity, a small movement, where people are starting to say they don't even sin anymore. They're called sinless perfectionists. And I first encountered them a few years ago, maybe 10 years ago or so, just stunned by the arrogance and the pride of those people that can't even see that they were that arrogant and prideful. I mean, come on. You don't sin anymore? And I asked this one guy about three or four days ago, he said he didn't sin anymore, it's online. And I said, let me get this straight. Are you saying that you keep the law on the same level as God? Because Jesus is God in flesh, the same level, intention of heart, mind, everything, just as good as God himself. And he goes, that's right. What do you do with someone like that? You just say, well, okay, I'll leave you to your pride and self-deception. And then you go, well, I just quoted scripture. It says that we don't sin anymore. And, um, you know, and I think he's missing the point, of course, but when someone starts saying that they can keep the law, You know love God with all your heart soul mind and strength and doing it on the same level as Jesus himself God in flesh I just say to them, maybe you're not aware of the pride that you have right now the arrogance Because you know, it's what are you gonna do at that point? You just kind of walk away. You just kind of walk away from them and You just move on because you know What are you going to do? So I encountered that and I've also encountered some, let's say, I encountered it yesterday. Yesterday I was walking during that walk around the block. There was a particularly difficult Eastern Orthodox individual and he was, let's just say, exceedingly rude, exceedingly stubborn, and basically kind of arrogant. And so I was talking to him about why the Eastern Orthodox Church is false. Now if someone calls me up and says, Matt, look, I believe Christianity is false, I'm going to say, OK, what's your reason? I'm going to hear him out. And so he had a room, proved me false, you know, that East Northodox. I get in there and I said, look, it's false because it teaches a false gospel. It has a false priesthood and teaches idolatry. And he said, what false gospel? And so I started explaining it and started quoting scripture. And that's when it hit the fan because he didn't want me to quote scripture. And the reason I know that is because every time I started to quote scripture, he would interrupt me and stop me. And then I'd say, why don't you let me finish quoting the word of God? And, you know, I was quoting Romans 4, 5, which says, the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies him in God. And he'd interrupt me. And this went on and on. And this is not the first time this kind of thing has happened with E-O-N-R-C, Eastern Orthodox Roman Catholics. Very often, I've noticed when I quote scripture, that they interrupt. They don't want scripture. They want the church authority, they want church tradition, they want church councils. That's the summation of what churchianity is to them. It is their church, it is their councils, it is their tradition, their church fathers, and things like that. And when I've noticed it, it's really interesting. I quote scripture, they interrupt. It's really interesting, seriously. So this guy started to continue. I said, let me finish scripture. Let me, you know, the word of God. And he would just interrupt. I said, just let me finish. And he would just interrupt constantly. Then he started saying, how do we know that what you're saying is true? What your interpretation is? I just, I'm not interpreting, I'm reading it. And then he said, well, how do you, you're reading it right? I'm like, oh my goodness. You know, and so just read it yourself. And it took me 15 minutes to finally get him to even read the one scripture I was telling him about. Just one scripture took about 15 minutes. Now, I'm not saying that all Eastern Orthodox are like that, but enough of them are. I have discovered that the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholics, in my opinion, this is my opinion, are stubbornly arrogant. They're stubborn, they are intolerant, and they are negative. So let's see, S-I-N, stubborn, intolerant, and negative. And they're not interested, from what I've seen, they're just not interested in going to God's word. Unless something in the word of God might be interpreted in their favor. Then they'll use it. But if you use a scripture that doesn't go with them, then they say, how do you know your interpretation is correct? Well, the funny thing is, he has no problem discussing things with me and me understanding what his words were. Yet, suddenly, when we go to God's word, we can't understand it. It's really an inconsistency, it's stupidity on his part. And so, you know, I was going in this room and people commented, I went on TikTok afterwards last night, a couple hours later. And two people came in and commented about, they said, we were there in that room hearing you, that guy was horrible. I go, yeah. So, granted, there are some nice Roman Catholics, nice Orthodox people who will talk to you. And that's fine, you know, we disagree. We can talk and I'll go through stuff. But what I've noticed is an increase in hostility. This is subjective, it's just my opinion. I've noticed an increase in hostility from the EONRC against Protestantism and against the actual preaching and teaching of the Word of God. I've noticed this. How do you get through to them? I don't know if it's possible. All you can do is quote the Word of God. Isaiah 55 11 says, the Word of God will not come back empty without accomplishing what God desires. And so I quote the Word of God. and by telling them that justification is by the faith alone in Christ alone. And then I asked this one guy, I forgot what you had to say, I think it was the same guy. I said, are you being good enough? Well, I remember now. And here's one of the questions I ask. I say, if you're to die right now, and I don't want that to happen to you, and then one of their EO buddies would go, yes, you do. They're so childish. Anyway, I'd say, no, I don't, because if you did right now, I'd believe you'd go to hell. I don't want that for you. And then they'd jump on that. You're mocking me, you're judging me. Guys, look, I'm having a discussion, let's talk. I say, if you're to die right now, would you go to heaven or hell? And he says, well, I hope I would go to heaven. I hope I would. Why would you hope you were? Because your salvation depends in part on your goodness. That's what it is. Your salvation depends in part on your goodness. You can't know if you're saved or going to heaven if your goodness in any way is part of what you need to do and be in order to be Christian and be saved and go to heaven. So let me talk about this a bit here. I know there's a lot of Protestants, even Catholics in Eastern Orthodox and others, maybe Mormons, you know, we can adapt this. But, um, The Bible says in 1 John 5.13, these things are written so you may know you have eternal life. You may know it. Do I know I have eternal life? Yeah, I do. When I say that to people, a lot of times they say, you're arrogant. I say, no, I'm not. No, I don't believe my works play a part in my salvation. It's arrogant to think that they do, which is why you are interpreting what I say in light of what you think, that salvation depends in part on your goodness. I deny that. I say it depends completely and totally on the goodness of Christ and by the faith that he's granted me, Philippians 129, that I know I'm justified in going to heaven because of what he did. That's not arrogance. That's just dependence on what Jesus did. They're the ones who are arrogant. And if you, if you think that your salvation depends in any way on your goodness, you are self-deceived. Your goodness has no bearing on whether or not you go to heaven or not. Your goodness, your ability to keep the law, your ability to not lie, your ability to go to church to tithe, your ability to participate in the sacraments, your ability to do what's right and not do what's bad. Are you saying that we can be evil and go to heaven? I'm not saying that. Because those who are evil and do evil things demonstrate they're not saved. The truly saved are the ones who are regenerate. They're the ones who try and do good works. To please God, for the glory of God, not to get saved. As you see, to say we're justified by faith alone, but not the faith that is alone. True faith has works, and those works are a manifestation of the true faith, as James 2.14-26 says. And so that's just it, but the works don't contribute to our salvation, they don't maintain our salvation. And if you think that your salvation is dependent on your goodness in any place, you don't know the gospel of Jesus Christ. So I'm going to give you that gospel. But I'm going to say this again. If you think your salvation in any way depends on your goodness, that you can lose it if you're not good enough and do things enough right, then you don't know the gospel. You probably are not saved. You're probably on your way to hell. If you think that your salvation depends on goodness, of your intentions, your abilities, and not doing bad things, and that this is how you keep yourself right with the infinitely holy God, then you believe a false gospel, you're probably damned. You're probably in a state of damnation right now. And this is serious stuff. Let me say it again, then I'll give you the cure. If you teach, if you believe, that your position with God, your ultimate salvation, depends on your faith in God, the faith in Christ, and a little bit of your faithfulness and your goodness in order to prove to God who you are, that you love him. Because the Bible says, if you love me, keep my commandments. And this is part of your salvation, too. Get yourself right with God. and to keep yourself right with the infinitely holy God, in part by your goodness, then you believe a false gospel. You believe the gospel of the devil himself. That's not the gospel. You see, the truth is this, Jesus Christ is God in flesh. John 1.14, Colossians 2.9, Hebrews 1.6-8. He is the one who fulfilled the law perfectly. 1 Peter 2.22. He never sinned. He then bore our sin in His body on the cross, 1 Peter 2.24. He died with our sin. He did everything necessary. The only thing you can do is trust in what He did. That's why the Bible says, having therefore been justified by faith. You see, Galatians 2.16, nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified, that means declared righteous before God, that means you're forgiven and righteous before him. A man is not justified by the works of the law, loving God and loving your neighbor, but through faith in Christ Jesus. And Galatians 2.21, do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, through what you do, then Christ died needlessly. So we've got a break. Maybe we'll talk about a little bit more after the break. If you want to give me a call, the number 877-207-2276. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. Welcome back to the show. If you want to give me a call, it is easy. All you have to do is dial 877-207-2276. Let's get to, let's see, that'll be Ebenezer from California. Ebenezer, welcome. You're on the air. Hey, Matt, can you hear me? Yes, I can. I just had a quick question. Matter of fact, I have two questions. One of the questions is... I was watching, like, well, I was on, like, a live stream on YouTube, and the guy, well, the guy who's, like, arguing, he believes, like, you can lose your salvation, and he went to passages, like, what did he go to? He went to... Hebrews 6, 4-6, Hebrews 10, 27. No, no, no. Matthew 25. No, no, no, not that. He went to, what is it, Romans 11? Romans 11, okay. Yeah, Romans 11, and then he, you know, how David was like, don't take your Holy Spirit away from me. Yeah, well, let's do one at a time. Let me answer them. Yeah, let's answer them. Okay, okay, my fault. Okay. Behold the kindness and severity of God to those who fall, fell severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in his kindness, otherwise you'll also be cut off. And that's Hebrews 11, 22. So Paul is speaking covenantally to groups of people, Israel as a nation and Gentiles as a people. He's not speaking to individuals. Cut off refers to the loss of privilege or covenantal position, not loss of salvation. It's just simply a truth, okay? And so these guys who say this stuff, they don't understand biblical theology. Now, as far as David saying, you know, don't take your Holy Spirit from me. Well, what does it mean? Does it mean you lose your salvation? Does it mean that the blessing of the Spirit upon you is removed? What does it mean? And so what they'll do often is they will just presuppose, it means you lose your salvation. It will show it to me in scripture that it does. It's like Hebrews 6, 4 through 6. They'll say this, in the case of those who once, you got a lot of background noise, man, I'm breathing here. Oh man, it's the wind, yeah, the wind is blowing. I'm trying to move around. Yeah. You get a lot of noise. You can put yourself on mute if you want for a little bit here. It says, for example, in Hebrews 6, 4-6, it says, for in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and made partakers of the Holy Spirit, they'll say, see, that means you're saved. And I'll say, where does that say you're saved? Was Judas enlightened? Yes. Did he taste a heavenly gift? Yes. Was he made a partaker of the Holy Spirit? Yes. Well, what does it mean to be made a partaker of the Holy Spirit? Does it mean you're saved? And I say to people, show me where the idea of being a partaker of the Holy Spirit means you're just automatically justified, you're saved. And they can't find the verse that says that, where another verse saying, partaker of the Holy Spirit for those who are justified. If you had that, then you'd have a good argument, but it just says partaker of the Holy Spirit, because you can be a partaker and not be saved. You can have the Holy Spirit's work upon you in conviction and around you, people who tell the truth, and you can participate in a lot of what is going on. It doesn't mean you're saved. It says, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. Well, what does it mean to taste these things? Does it mean that you are saved? No, and I can go on and on. And so the thing is that people what they'll often do is read a section of scripture and assume it means what they think it means. And I asked them, show me that that's what it means. And when we go to justification, I can show you where the Bible says what it is and how it's obtained. Romans four, one through five. I can tell you, I can quote it to you. But this, you can't. Anyway, you see, it's this kind of stuff happening here, okay? Does that make sense, buddy? Yeah. So you said, you said in Romans 11, he was talking to covenantal Israel. Yes. Okay. Covenant. So, so, um, so when, okay. Okay. So, um, he says, God did not spare the natural branches will not spare you evil either. He's talking about the natural branches, which is covenant Israel. And you is the, the, uh, the Gentiles. So he's talking about these different groups. He even goes on in verse 25 and 26. He talks about how Israel will be saved. And you were cut off. Okay. Yeah. Cause I figured that I kind of figured that, but, um, but, uh, you know, yeah, I figured it cause I, I aligned with, you know, the, the, you know, the Calvin, you know, I go to a reformed church and that I had aligned with that perspective, you know, well aligned with what the scripture says, you know? Yeah, exactly. Always make sure. Yeah. All right, good. And, uh, my second question, my second question is, um, my second question is, uh, yeah, so I was, I was talking to the orthodontist guy, right? And so it's like, I mean, he was kind of shotgunning and you know, um, like, uh, he, like, he literally, he tried to be sly with it and was like, uh, we, we, um, we do work, not to be saved or to get saved. And I was like, hold on, hold on, hold on. You know what I'm saying? It doesn't agree with, I'm, okay. Is it consistent? Yeah, you don't do works to keep yourself saved. And so, but you can lose your salvation. No, no, no, that's what he, no, that's what he said. That's what he said. He was like, we, as Orthodox, the Orthodox position is that we do works not to be saved, or to be safe or to, um, what is it? Or to stay safe. But the thing is that, um, in another breath, you would tell me, cause I was like in another breath. Okay. Let me read something to you. This is the confession of the Sisyphus, 1672, degree 13. 13 is the number of sin, incidentally. You're hearing the wind in your mic again. This is what the Sisyphus. This is an Eastern Orthodox confession. Quote, we believe a man to be not simply justified through faith alone, but through faith, which works through love. That is to say, through faith and works. That's what it says right there. And then, in the Confession of Moguila, part one, question one, write faith and good works, for whoever holds these two, the same is a good Christian, and has certain hope of eternal salvation, as the scripture says. And then, back to Josephus, decree three, the scriptures would be opposed to itself, since it promises the believer salvation through works. I mean, this is their document. And I can go on and on. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah. Oh, that's crazy. Oh, yeah. Okay, all right, cool, cool, cool, cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so here's one from, this is the Orthodox Catechism of Philaret, Larger Catechism, question three. What is necessary in order to please God and to save one's own soul? In the first place, a knowledge of the true God and a right faith in him. On the second place, a life according of faith and good works. This is their teaching. That's crazy. That's crazy. Yeah. They're cultists. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. Okay. All right. All right. Thanks. Yeah. I can. Thank you. Thank you, Matt. Thank you. Amen. You're welcome. Okay. All right. All right. So folks, when I say Eastern Orthodox is not Christian, that's why it's not Christian. It teaches the false gospel. The Bible says we're justified by faith without the works of the law. Romans 3.28, Romans 4.5, Galatians 2.16. That's what the Bible says. And yet, oh, these poor people, lost in this false religion. Oh, hey, there's the music. We'll get to Chuck from North Carolina next, and then Ree from Nevada. Oh, interesting. We'll be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned. It's Matt Slick Live! Taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. Alright, welcome back to the show. Now let's get on the air with Chuck from North Carolina. Chuck, welcome. You're on the air. Thanks a lot, Matt. Appreciate it. We're sealed with the Holy Spirit upon faith in Christ the Savior, right? Yes. But how in the world does the devil get to us so much? I don't think he can enter our minds. Well, no. There's nothing in the Bible that says he enters our bodies, enters our minds, and things like this, as believers. Now, it doesn't mean that he can't work with others to bring about sinful things in your life that can tempt you. And so he can work that with his servants. And the servants of the devil ultimately are all those who are not Christians. And the reason we say that is because Jesus says, you're either for me or against me. You serve him or you serve somebody else. And so that's just a generic statement of separation. So there's that. And there's also, we don't need the devil to be tempted. We can be tempted of our own flesh. We can be tempted of our own issues, our own problems. Yeah, I think my own issues, my own regrets. Yep. We've got them. Not until when we get into heaven, but it seems like forever on this earth, huh? Yes, it does. Yes, it does. Yes, sir. Also, Matt, I think our country is fracturing apart. It could be. Or it's going through a healing process. leftist wacko morons who preach love and then are violent, who preach tolerance and then are intolerant. They're being exposed. Yes, they're being exposed. So hopefully this will continue, that exposure of their hypocrisy and lies will be exposed. That's the right attitude, that's the right attitude, Matt. Thank you very much and keep on preaching the truth like you do. Thank you. By God's grace. I know you are. All right. Well, okay. Okay. Folks, you want to give me a call? The number is 877-207-2276. It's a Ree from Nevada. Ree, welcome here on the air. Hi, Matt. How's it going? It's going, man. It's going. What do you got? Hey, I'm a big fan. Hey, I'm a seminary student trying to enter the army chaplaincy. I have a heart for my soldiers. I've been in the Guard for 12 years now, but my question for you is, how do you do good apologetics and good ministry in a pluralistic setting? That's something I've been struggling with. Well, what you do is very obvious. When they don't believe what you want them to believe, then just make them do 100 push-ups. You know, just stuff like that. So you go in, I think, as a commissioned officer, right? Yes, sir. Yeah. I actually haven't talked to him in a while, an acquaintance, let's just say. He lives about 40 minutes from me, and he was a chaplain in, I think, the Air Force in Mountain Home. And he'd be somebody you could talk to and see what he said, because he was definitely a born-again Christian. So what I would do if I were you is start praying and ask God to give you the wisdom on how to do what you have to do in your job properly. Because you may be called to do things for the Mormons or the Catholics who are non-Christians. And then what do you do? So you'll have to figure out a way to work through that. And you're going to have to talk to God about that. So it's a difficult thing. It's just a difficult thing you're going to have to work with. And all I can do is say, Try and get some advice. I've thought about going into the service when I was younger. My dad was in World War II in the Navy, Korea in the Army, and Vietnam in the Air Force. So I grew up on bases, went to the PX, the commissary. All this is second nature to me, doing all that. And lived in North Dakota, Wyoming, Hawaii, Texas, on different military bases. And used to go to Southern California military bases. So anyway, this is part of my life a lot of people know about. And I thought about going into the ministry, into the service. But I realized pretty quickly that I wouldn't I could not fit, because I'm too opinionated and believe what the Word of God says. And in the chaplaincy there, you really can't do that as much. You don't have as much freedom. But it doesn't mean you can't develop ways to reach out. So you just have to figure that out as you go. And it's not an easy one. And maybe, maybe if someone has been there is listening to the radio right now, who knows you can call up and we can talk. But other than that, I'm not sure what to tell you. I wish I had some great advice for you. Well, thank you. Yeah, I know. I know Jesus has told us to be wise as doves and as innocent as serpents. And Mike, there must be some kind of apologetical tactic to kind of tackle it. So I'll keep praying. Thank you. Yeah, it's tough. And you know, if you figure things out, give me a call. Let me know what you find. Let me know some of the things and some of the issues that you have discovered are worth examining and some thoughts on it. You can help me out. Okay. Seriously. Thank you. Thank you. God bless you and your ministry. I really appreciate your time. No problem, brother. God bless. All right, well, hey folks, that's all the callers we have for right now. So there's lots of topics to get into, and I'm kind of burdened to revisit the issue of justification by faith alone. So what I think I'm gonna do is go through a little bit of scripture with you. I wanna teach you what justification is according to what the Bible says, not according to what I say. I'm gonna do this by going to Romans chapter four. And it's starting at verse one. Listen to what it says. What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, according to the flesh is found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. Verse three, for what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Now what I'll do is I'll read people these verses. I've memorized and quoted them so many times. I'll say, what does verse three say? What is it that was credited to Abraham as righteousness? And they have to say the word faith. I've had, you know, Catholics and Orthodox say, well, you know, faith plus your works. You know, that's not what the Bible says. Well, that's what it means. And so they don't even believe the word of God. But nevertheless, most of them will say, well, what it says here is Abraham believed God. It was credited to him as righteousness. I noticed the phrase crediting as righteousness. And what is his belief? Belief in him. Verse 4 says, Now to the one who works his wage is not credited as a favor, but what is due. Verse 5, But to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. That's what justification is. He justifies the ungodly. His faith is credited as righteousness. Justification's a legal standing. Righteousness is according to the law. So faith is credited to Abraham as righteousness. And notice what it says in verse three. What does the scripture say? Abraham believed God. It was credited. That's past tense. And it was credited as righteousness before the law. before the Ten Commandments. This is critical. Abraham was before Moses. Abraham believed God. It was credited to him as righteousness. And what he's doing, Paul is quoting Genesis 15.6. And so the issue here is that belief is what credits you with righteousness. Now what I'm going to do is go to another place here, Philippians 3.9. I'm going to read that. It says this, it says, and may be found in him not having a righteousness of my own. derived from the law but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith so righteousness justifications by faith that's what it is verse 5 of Romans 4 but to the one who does not work but believes I have two things here works and belief and ones removed therefore faith is alone Two things, you have two things in a bag, an apple and an orange, you remove the apple, the orange is alone. Real simple. To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies and Godly his faith, his credit, his righteousness. Verse six, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. Now, before we get to the break here, I want you to understand something. That your faith in Christ makes you right with Him. That's how you can know you have eternal life. That's how you can know if you die right now, you're going to be with Him. But if you don't know if you're going to go be with Him because you're not good enough, then you don't believe what Paul the Apostle taught. And Jesus taught the same thing, and I can go to that after the break. This is what the Bible teaches. Our salvation, our justification, our forgiveness of sins is by faith alone in Christ alone. You need to trust in Christ alone and leave those false churches, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, leave them and find churches that teach justification by faith alone and Christ alone. But you can only do that if you have the true God and then you have the true Christ and then you have the true gospel. We'll be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, and welcome back to the show. Let's get on with this person from North Carolina. Can't pronounce the name. Welcome. You're on the air. Hello. Yes. You're on the air. How you doing, sir? My name is Gokhan. I just happened to walk in and heard the radio. You were speaking about finding a good church. I think you told me before, you know, you go on the website and look up a couple of churches and stuff. But anyway, my question was about Halloween. Should churches be celebrating trunk or treat? Well, when you say should, is there a moral obligation that they should? And so then we'd have to go to the scriptures and say something like, thou shalt celebrate trunk retreat. And so we can't find anything like that. What can we do? Well, we have freedom in Christ. Now, in 1 Corinthians 10, The Apostle Paul said that you can eat meat sacrificed to idols. It's not going to hurt you. So can we take this principle and understand that on October 31st, which is All Hallows Eve, which is the most prominent day of the occult, But it's also the day of the Reformation when Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door in Germany and started the Reformation. So what could we be celebrating? We could be celebrating that day. We could be celebrating what the start of the Reformation is and call it Reformation Day. And then it's okay. And you can have candy in a trunk, not a big deal. Is it wrong for a child to dress up as a zebra? Which I just love. Oh, I love Halloween. I love when the little kids come to the door, and they're dressed, and they're delightful. And I enjoy that. And I love handing out candy to them. So for me, it's a lot of fun. So they're not participating in occult stuff. And so we are not encouraging them to practice occult stuff. We're just practicing, hey, let's have fun. Wear a costume. Go door to door and get candy. And that's all that's going on. So in that sense, yeah, they can celebrate it. But they can't celebrate it with anything that's wicked and dressing up in things that are inappropriate and ungodly. So not no witches or warlocks or something scary and demonic. Right, I would say that's off-limits for a Christian. Right, that's off-limits. Okay. Okay, okay. And you say that it is okay for churches to celebrate it? Yeah, I don't see any wrong problem with it. Okay. Because I did a little research on it, and I've seen a lot of witches and warlocks, like real witches and warlocks, stating that this is a day that the devil, like it's the devil's holiday. his day, so why would Christians be okay to celebrate it, you know? Think of this. They have that stupid thing when the LGBTQ, you know, Pride Month, which is just ludicrous to me. Well, what if someone's birthday is during that month? Can they celebrate that day? Because that's also in the Pride Month. So don't be... You're making a lot of noise in the background, man. So don't be restricted by, don't restrict your freedom by the pagans. But don't celebrate the paganism, but celebrate what you want. I have no problem with trunk-or-treat things at churches. It's fine. But it's a paganist holiday, right? Halloween is a paganist holiday, correct? It's originated from that, yeah. Okay, we're not supposed to celebrate paganist holidays, correct? If that's what you don't want to do, then don't. Don't celebrate it as a pagan holiday. Celebrate it as the Reformation Day. We happen to give things away and have fun. And the kids, it's not affecting the kids. What does Reformation mean? I'm not clear on that. The Protestant Reformation started when Martin Luther, October 31st, I forgot what year, he nailed 95 theses. They were reforms for the Catholic Church. He put it on the Wittenberg door, which was the equivalent of the internet today, the printing press and things like that. And it started the Reformation. He didn't want to destroy the Catholic Church or leave the Catholic Church. He wanted the Catholic Church to go back to Scripture in certain areas. He thought, this is what the word of God says. And then he was persecuted. So we call that October 31st. We also call it Reformation Day. All right. OK, OK. So this is a 50 50 thing. Either you do it or you don't. It's not nothing in the Bible says besides don't celebrate pagan holidays, which it does say that, you know, there are lots of holidays. And just because of something original at Christmas on December 25th was this winter solstice. And that was celebrated by unbelievers as the day of winter when the day started getting longer. It was halfway through the winter, December 25th. So the Catholic Church, with its many problems, but tried to just make it a holy day by celebrating Christ's birthday on that to change it away from paganism. I approve of that attempt, what they were trying to do. And so December 25th became the birthday of Christ, even though it's not his real birthday. It's not, yeah. Yeah, I don't celebrate Christmas evening or Easter with no bunny and none of that. I celebrate Jesus, and that's it. If it ain't about Jesus, to me it's a waste of time. Okay. I just wanted to get clarification on that. Thank you. All right. God bless. All right. Now let's get to David from North Carolina. David, welcome. You're on the air. Hey, Matt. Thanks for taking my call. I hear some pastors who say they don't want to engage in legalism, and sometimes I think they use that as cover not to teach biblical morality. If you see people having sex before marriage, before and in the congregation, or if you see people engaging in things that Jesus commands us not to do, as a pastor, you're called to say, don't do this. This is the word of God. Follow Jesus' commandments. What do you think about that? Yes, they are obligated to teach morality and politics from the pulpit. Absolutely. And so politics deals with morality and the issue of LGBTQ, homosexuality, abortion, and things like that. And from the pulpit, the pastor should not avoid those things that might be a little controversial. He needs to step right into them. and deal with the issues. And moralism is simply teaching, do these right things because doing the right things is good. That's moralism. We do the right things because Christ has bought us with his blood. And it's because of the cross. We're no longer our own and we want to honor God. If we love him, we're going to serve him and obey him. That doesn't keep us saved, doesn't get us saved. And so a pastor needs to do that, needs to teach that, and do it with wisdom at the same time. Do you think pastors sometimes get too concerned about about losing losing congregation losing numbers of course i think that they don't hit on that and and and i think a lot of time to test the case you know as cover they'll say they don't want to be legalistic would you agree with that some pastors i'm sure they are guilty of that some are and i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i Yeah, there's a time for both of those. But as you teach through the scriptures, you're going to be finding things that are philosophical, and you're going to find things that are simple, and some that are more complicated. And the pastor's job is to go through those and teach them according to the scriptures. And so he should not avoid things like politics. He should not avoid things like moral obligations. He should address these issues. Like I said on the radio, yesterday I think it was, if you're living in sin and fornicating, you need to repent, you need to stop. And that's it, they need to stop. And so I was teaching other things today, too. So the idea of justification, so people know what the truth is, this is what pastors are supposed to be doing. Teaching sound doctrine. The Bible actually says so in Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3. And I've heard you kind of say this, that you visited churches and you wouldn't have any idea that you were in a church unless you were told based on what was coming from the pulpit. You've had that frustration, right? Yes. I went to a local church a few weeks ago and the sermon was pure moralism. It was not Christocentric, not cross-centered. It was moralism. And there were three services and the place was packed and overflow. And I just felt bad because they don't even know what they're getting. They don't know. And they're becoming good people in the sense of following what's right and wrong, but I have a high standard for the pulpit. And when the preacher gets into the pulpit, he better be afraid. He better be afraid when he gets into that pulpit to preach God's word to God's people. Every time I get in the pulpit to preach, I'm afraid. I ask God before I get in the pulpit, I say, Forgive me for the foolishness I may speak. Let my words fall on deaf ears. May your words fall down into the hearts and the minds and the souls of the people and change them. And I approach that pulpit with fear and trembling because it's the preaching of the word of God to God's people. I take it very seriously. And then I speak with authority. Go ahead. Pastorship is just a major undertaking. It's central to the faith. It is. It is. All right. That was a question I have. I appreciate your answers and your thoughts. I listen to you all the time and I enjoy your ministry. Amen. Thanks a lot. And praise God. Appreciate it. All right. Thank you. Have a good weekend. Thank you. You too, brother. Thanks. Hey, I just want to take a seg. We have nobody waiting right now. I've only got like three minutes left on the show. The issue of being in the pulpit. You know, I used to be a pastor, and occasionally I still am allowed to preach in the pulpit. And I miss preaching. I love to preach. And there's no exception. Every time I get there, and I'm ready, I'm anxious to get there. I want to preach. I want to be up there preaching God's Word at the same time. You know, I'm afraid that I might not represent my Lord properly, that I might say something that's not correct. And I ask for guidance, I ask for clarity of thought, and I ask God to teach me where I make a mistake, to reveal it to me, that I might teach His Word properly, according to what He has stated. And then I get up with a pulpit and I do my very best. And then I review my sermon, because sometimes when you preach, you don't say exactly what you intended to say. Things can be spontaneous sometimes. And so I take the pulpit very seriously. And when I know I'm going to preach in a day or two or three or five or whatever it is, even a week or two in advance, it has an effect on me previously. in that I want to be, I should always be nicer to my wife, but I want to be even nicer to my wife. I want to be even more sanctified. I want to be even more in tune with Him. I take the preaching of the Word of God so seriously, you know, and I miss it. I do. Because it feels so good, so right, so comfortable to be up in that pulpit preaching and teaching God's Word. I long for it. But hey, how many churches are going to trust a radio guy named Slick to get in their pulpit? Particularly someone who has strong opinions like I do. And so it doesn't happen very often, and that's okay. That's okay, because I'm doing this. I get five hours a week on radio, and then another five hours probably a week on the internet. And then there's times writing articles. So praise God. And I'm thankful for the pastors who are out there on a regular day, a regular week, excuse me, going through what they have to go through. dealing with the things they've got to deal with, with the sick person late at night, they have to go to the hospital, dealing with the elders, dealing with the congregation members who need counseling and help, dealing with preparation for so many other things. A lot of times people just don't realize what a pastor goes through. And it's not always easy. And here's one thing that's true. A lot of times pastors, they have to endure pains and sufferings because to defend themselves might injure someone else. And they won't even do that. A lot of pastors are like that. And a lot of good men out there who are preachers and teachers who want to honor God faithfully. And I'm thankful for them. And God's called a lot of people like that out there. And praise God for them. Praise God. Pray for your pastors. Pray that they be bold and hear the Spirit of God and speak the Word of God, the truth. Pray for them. They need it. Hey, folks, there you go. I am out of here. May the Lord bless you. By His grace, back on the air on Monday, we'll talk to you then. So have a good one, everybody. God bless. Another program powered by the Truth Network.