1, 2, 3.
Speaker AWelcome to the Rap Report with your.
Speaker BHost, Andrew Rapaport, where we provide biblical interpretation and application.
Speaker BThis is a ministry of striving for eternity in the Christian podcast community.
Speaker BFor more content or to request a.
Speaker ASpeaker for your church, go to strivingforeeternity.org.
Speaker CWelcome to another edition of the Rappaport.
Speaker CI'm your host Andrew Rapaport, the executive director of Striving for Eternity and the Christian podcast community of which this podcast is a proud member.
Speaker CWith over 50 podcasts, I'm sure you're going to find something worth listening to over there.
Speaker CThis would be one that's, well, maybe worth listening to.
Speaker CAnd if you're not following it, wouldn't you mind doing that now?
Speaker CFollow it, maybe share it with friends so others will Today's topic is Defining Primary and Secondary Issues of Faith.
Speaker CThis is a podcast where I was the guest on the Providence Perspective podcast with the Reformed Rican.
Speaker CIt was a good lively discussion.
Speaker CI think this will be helpful to many in defining what issues we need to fight over.
Speaker CWhich ones can we let past?
Speaker CWhere is it when we have something that happens that we have to say, okay, this is something I die for versus I feel strongly about, versus, say it's just a preference, let it go.
Speaker CThis is something where what we often see within Christianity, many people major on the minors and minor on the majors, and that's a big problem.
Speaker CA lot of social media is fighting over things that really shouldn't be fought over.
Speaker CAnd so I hope that this episode is very helpful for you and others to learn where to draw those lines and how to know what things really need to be addressed, whether it be within your church, online, your family, your work.
Speaker CWhat issues need to be addressed and which don't.
Speaker CWhat do you have to say things when do you maybe don't need to.
Speaker CI hope this is very helpful.
Speaker CI hope this lively discussion educates you and if it does, would you do us a favor and share it with others?
Speaker CMaybe just grab your phone out and text it to five friends.
Speaker CIf you find a good quote that you like in it, just quote it out and then reference the podcast.
Speaker AWe would appreciate it.
Speaker CAnd now for the Providence Perspective with the Reformed Rican.
Speaker BWhat's going on everybody?
Speaker BWelcome to Proverbs Perspective on Dave.
Speaker BThank you very much for joining me today or this evening or whatever time it is, wherever you are right now watching.
Speaker BGuys, we're going to talk about something that is very, very important, something that I've discussed in the past briefly, but I've never really Gone in depth too much on and that is the essentials of the faith versus secondary issues.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BHow do we determine these things?
Speaker BWhen does something matter?
Speaker BDoes it matter at all?
Speaker BThose kinds of things.
Speaker BAnd so I'm not going to try to figure this out myself.
Speaker BI do have a guest with me.
Speaker BPlease welcome Pastor Andrew Rapaport.
Speaker BHow are you doing today?
Speaker AGood, Jay.
Speaker AHow are you doing?
Speaker BGood, good.
Speaker BHow are you?
Speaker BI'm doing well.
Speaker BAnd so why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, what you do, that kind of thing.
Speaker ASure.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AI long long ago I was born no, we don't go that far back.
Speaker ABut what a lot of people do find interesting about me is that I was raised in a Jewish home bar mitzvah at well technically 12 just before 13.
Speaker AMy parents when they found out did exactly what I expected them to do.
Speaker AThey went casket shopping looking to we call sit shiva.
Speaker AThey were gonna I'd be dead.
Speaker AThey chose not to do that which I was glad for.
Speaker ABut later as they you know that kind of I actually had to living in their house.
Speaker AI was saved at 16 and let lived a secret Christian life for two years.
Speaker AThey no one knew as a Christian until 18 they discovered that and by then I was kind of halfway out the house anyway.
Speaker ASo I later on went to seminary, got became a pastor, was left the pastorate in 2010 and have been traveling around the world preaching well literally preaching the gospel.
Speaker ABut most people know me from my evangelism but started a ministry called Striving Fraternity which is a discipling ministry.
Speaker ASo we go into churches, do weekend seminars basically for smaller churches.
Speaker AWe try to give that big conference feel at a small church.
Speaker AAnd so that's what we do.
Speaker AWe have four speakers.
Speaker AWe have online classes people could take at our striving academy.
Speaker AWe have have a Christian podcast community very similar to the the network that you have with truth and Truth and love.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AAlways get mixed up.
Speaker AI think it's truth and love and so you know similar thing just getting guy you know I shouldn't say guys but getting Christians working together in the podcasting realm.
Speaker ASo I my podcasts are the rap and I should say the full name so you get the the pun.
Speaker ABut it's Andrew Rappaport's rap report.
Speaker AAnd then Apologetics Live is a live stream we do every Thursday night where we answer anyone's questions, any difficult questions.
Speaker AThe I I like this.
Speaker AOkay Jay, I know you're gonna think I'm nuts, but I love it when someone comes in and they're ready for a debate.
Speaker AAnd I don't know, I'm debating that night.
Speaker AYou know, they come in to apologize live because anyone can come in and I get Catholics and Church of Christ and Mormons and they want to debate something.
Speaker AAnd I'm like, oh, we're doing a debate tonight.
Speaker AOkay, that, it makes for a lot of fun for, for the audience.
Speaker ABut we, we answer any questions people have.
Speaker ASo people want to join.
Speaker AThey could go to apologexlive.com.
Speaker Aso that's, that's what I do.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker BAnd great.
Speaker BThank you so much for that.
Speaker BAnd guys, by the way, I will be putting more of Pastor Rapaport's information in the description below, so be sure to check that out, especially if you enjoy the video.
Speaker BIf you don't enjoy the video, don't go be mean or anything like that.
Speaker BJust, just move on.
Speaker AOkay.
Speaker AWhy not?
Speaker BWell, actually, you know what?
Speaker BHe did say he likes the baits, in fairness.
Speaker BSo.
Speaker AYeah, I mean, we, we just had recently an apologetics Live.
Speaker AWe had.
Speaker AWas it five full preterists that, wow, told me that full preterism is undeniable.
Speaker AThere's, it's irrefutable.
Speaker AAnd none of them came on to discuss it.
Speaker AI guess it was, you know, it's unrefutable in an echo chamber.
Speaker BThat would have been very fun to watch.
Speaker BSo sad that they missed it.
Speaker ABut, but see, that is some of what we're going to talk about tonight, right, is the fact that for some people, okay, for a large group of people that are on social media, they do not know how to have discussions without feeling that if you disagree with them, you're, you're calling them unsaved or nowadays the thing to say is if you disagree with someone, you're saying they don't exist.
Speaker AWhich is really strange because if I'm talking to you, obviously I think you exist.
Speaker ABut that's, I mean, that's the culture we're in now that everyone must agree.
Speaker AAnd that's just not reasonable, logical, or realistic.
Speaker AAnd so when people do that, it's like, what are you really trying to get out of this?
Speaker AAnd so this is the thing that we end up seeing is that for many people, they get too tied up in what they believe and cannot separate primary doctrines, secondary doctrines, tertiary doctrines.
Speaker AI'm sure we'll get into what those mean throughout the show.
Speaker BYeah, absolutely.
Speaker BActually, that's a great segue because I wanted to ask you the first question that I wanted to discuss with you.
Speaker BWhat are primary versus secondary or even Tertiary issues.
Speaker BYou brought that up as well.
Speaker BLike what do we mean by those terms?
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker ASo when we talk doctrines, theology, there are certain things that we're going to hold in at different levels, especially as we communicate with people.
Speaker ASo primary, I mean, I think people can figure out primary first, secondary second, tertiary third.
Speaker AI like to explain it this way.
Speaker APrimary issues are beliefs.
Speaker AThey're things I'm going to die for.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ASomeone puts a gun to my head and says, denied Jesus is God.
Speaker AThat's a primary thing.
Speaker AThat's a belief.
Speaker AAnd that's something if we're going to do ministry together, we must agree with.
Speaker AThen you have a secondary issues, convictions.
Speaker AI feel really strongly about some things, but it's not a salvation thing.
Speaker ASo I, I'll give some examples.
Speaker AI feel I'm a cessationist.
Speaker AI believe that some of the gifts, those miraculous gifts, have ceased after the completion of the canon.
Speaker ANow am I going to break fellowship with that?
Speaker BNo.
Speaker A1 of 1 of my very good friends, we've debated the issue of gifts probably a half dozen times formally.
Speaker ASo do we have.
Speaker ADoes that affect our friendship?
Speaker ANo.
Speaker ACan we do ministry together?
Speaker AYes.
Speaker ABut do we have strong convictions against each other's view?
Speaker AYes, we do.
Speaker AThen that would be secondary.
Speaker ATertiary are what I would call preferences.
Speaker AThings that I prefer this, but it's not a big deal if we disagree.
Speaker AAnd that, that's going to.
Speaker AThere's going to be a wide range in, in there.
Speaker ABut let's do some, some extremes.
Speaker AI mean, there's things that people will, you know.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ANowadays there are folks who are in reformed camp that it's big to show yourself having a cigar with, with alcohol and posting pictures.
Speaker AOkay.
Speaker AIs.
Speaker ADoes the Bible condemn that?
Speaker AWell, it condemns drunkenness.
Speaker ANow that's not what I would present.
Speaker AI wouldn't do that.
Speaker ABut that's a preference.
Speaker AI can't sit there and say this is something.
Speaker AThe first is I'll die for.
Speaker AThe second is I'll fight for.
Speaker AAnd the third is, okay, we can, we could just forego these things.
Speaker AYeah, we can, we can just for, for, you know, just deal with one another and say that's not a big deal.
Speaker AMusic is another one.
Speaker AAlthough some churches put music to the level of, you know, well, belief of primary.
Speaker AI mean, there's some churches that music is the main issue that they're going to fight over and, and divide over.
Speaker AMusic shouldn't be.
Speaker ANow, now, to one, to some extent, if you're singing unbiblical lyrics, if, you know, if you're singing like, boy, I may get myself in trouble with you in your audience, Jay.
Speaker AI'll try not to, but send the hate mail to me, not Jay.
Speaker AI'm saying this.
Speaker AHe has no.
Speaker ABut I won't sing, I won't sing in my church songs from Bethel or Hillsong.
Speaker AWhy?
Speaker ABecause.
Speaker AWell, when you start to dig into Bethel and Hillsong and their theology, it's, it's cultic.
Speaker AThe, the problem is, is that they use their music as the hook, as the evangelism to get professing Christians to get into their belief system.
Speaker AAnd that's why, where I have the issue with it is because they openly admit their music is the hook to bring people into.
Speaker ASo I wouldn't do that any more than I would have the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing in my church.
Speaker AYeah, because it's a known heretical group that's using it to bring people to their, their false teaching.
Speaker BYeah, yeah.
Speaker BNo, by the way, I, I think if anybody's been following my show for a while, they would know that.
Speaker BYeah, they can, they can go ahead and send me hate mail as well, because that's my position and I've spoken about it at length, at least, I don't know, two or three times.
Speaker BI don't remember how many videos I've done on that.
Speaker BAnd you know, the funny thing is I've had good, solid brothers who don't necessarily agree with that, and that's that.
Speaker BI guess that kind of leads to a follow up question that I want to ask because it can get muddy from, from the way I see it, it can get muddy sometimes, you know, when it, when we're talking about like tertiary issues versus, like secondary issues or even, even sometimes, and we'll probably talk about this a little bit more a little bit later, but even, you know, secondary issues and how they affect what is essential.
Speaker BSo how do you, how do you work your way through this stuff?
Speaker ACarefully.
Speaker BFair enough.
Speaker ASo when we look at the primary issues, they're going to be things where we look in Scripture and it says, you are outside of the faith.
Speaker AIf you don't hold to this, such as Jesus being God, that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
Speaker BAmen.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AThose are things Scripture is clear, that we cannot be saved by works that's explicit in scripture.
Speaker AAnd when it's explicit, then I'm going to take that in a primary way.
Speaker ABut there's a lot of things where it comes to how you're interpreting.
Speaker AAnd even if someone disagrees with me, I can look at, I can look at how they're coming about their conclusions from the way they interpret and say, okay, I disagree with your conclusion, but at least you're being consistent within your system of interpretation.
Speaker AAnd I'm going to have a little bit more grace there and say, okay, that's going to be a belief.
Speaker AYou know, I, I personally, I'm Baptist, so I'm not going to believe in infant baptism.
Speaker ABut if I'm talking with a Presbyterian, in fact, I was preaching in a Presbyterian church and first time visitor came up and because he saw me at the pulpit, he walks up to me and he literally says to me, I'm a, I was raised Baptist, but my first time in this church, how would this church differ from my church, like with baptism?
Speaker ASo I said, well, I'm a Baptist, what did I do?
Speaker AI immediately identified that I'm not in agreement with Presbyterian baptism.
Speaker ABut then I went on to explain Presbyterian baptism.
Speaker AWhy, I mean, shouldn't I fight to say like, no, you must believe the Baptist baptism?
Speaker ANo, I'm, I am at that moment an ambassador for that church.
Speaker AI am representing that church.
Speaker ASo I'm going to explain their view of baptism.
Speaker AIn fact, when the pastor took me to lunch afterwards, he actually said, andrew, I wish people in my church understood Presbyterian baptism as well as your Baptists do.
Speaker AAnd we got to be able to be fair with each other's sides to do that, to rightly define what they believe.
Speaker AAnd so it's a matter of, I would say that baptism is a sign after salvation, but when you're viewing it through a covenant lens and you're looking at baptism replacing circumcision, therefore you're going to see why you would baptize children as a covenant sign.
Speaker ARight?
Speaker ASo we're going to approach that differently.
Speaker ABut people can be consistent with their system and that becomes a belief thing.
Speaker ASo I'm not going to fight them over it in that sense.
Speaker AAnd so by the way, for any Presbyterians listening, sometimes Baptists will make the claim that Presbyterians don't believe in believers baptism.
Speaker ABecause Baptists think they're the only ones that believe in believers baptism, to which I will always ask the Baptist that says that, what do you think Presbyterians do with adults that get saved?
Speaker AAnd they go, well, they baptize them.
Speaker AWhat's that called?
Speaker AInfant baptism?
Speaker AThey're like, no, it's for adults.
Speaker ASo when you get baptized as an adult, what do you, what do you call it?
Speaker AThey go, believers baptism, what do you think they call it?
Speaker AOh, you know, the Point being is a lot of times what we're doing in discussions like that is we're looking how to attack someone's view rather than how to understand someone's view.
Speaker AIf we're looking to attack it, we think we have great arguments and they're straw man arguments that get burned down very quickly, but we don't accept that they got burned down because we think they're good, but we didn't take the time to try to understand them.
Speaker AAnd you know, part of being raised Jewish, it does affect it because just a Jewish way of raising your kids, you raise them to debate you.
Speaker AYou do.
Speaker AThat's why I think so many Jewish people become lawyers.
Speaker AWhat other profession do you get paid to debate?
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ASo I think that's why so many Jewish people become lawyers.
Speaker ABut the purpose of it is for sharpening your thinking and being able to understand someone else's perspective.
Speaker AI mean, a Jewish father will sit down and say, okay, older son, you're going to debate this, you're for it.
Speaker AYounger son, you're against it.
Speaker AGo ahead.
Speaker AAnd you may not have been prepared.
Speaker AYou're just, okay, what are some good arguments?
Speaker AAnd what you're doing is working off one another to sharpen your thinking, even in something you would disagree with.
Speaker AI think that a lot more Christians need to do that, be a lot more open minded, be more willing to have their own thoughts challenged.
Speaker ABecause if you think your theology is perfect, let me, let me reassure you, you're wrong.
Speaker BWell, I don't know about that.
Speaker BI know my theology is perfect.
Speaker BWell, I'm just being great.
Speaker BNo, I'm just kidding.
Speaker AWell, no, it's, it's.
Speaker ASo I was, I was invited to be a keynote speaker on an apologetics cruise with a friend of mine, Matt Slick.
Speaker AWe were debating, we did a whole bunch of talks.
Speaker AI, I think I did nine talks, he did 10.
Speaker AAnd we, one of those was we did a debate against each other on covenant theology versus dispensational theology.
Speaker AVery interesting comment from one of the people in the audience was that this woman had said, you know, I notice that, Andrew, you keep defending bad arguments that your side makes against Matt's side, and Matt, you keep arguing for bad arguments your side makes against Andrew's side.
Speaker AWhy do you do that?
Speaker ANow, I'm going to give you my answer first because Matt's was far better.
Speaker ASo even though Matt answered her correctly, and after he did, I was like, yeah, I got nothing to say after that.
Speaker ABut, but my, my response was because I, I do it because someone from my side will hear it better when they're making bad arguments, when it's coming from someone that agrees with their position.
Speaker AMatt's argument was even better.
Speaker AHis answer, he just said, because Andrew and I both know we're wrong in our theology.
Speaker AWe do not know where, because if we did, we would change.
Speaker ABut when we sit at the feet of Christ, both of us know that we will be corrected in areas of our theology.
Speaker BAmen.
Speaker AAnd really, what he's saying there is that neither one of us holds so tightly to our theological systems that we can't be convinced otherwise and that we can't be.
Speaker AThat we don't recognize that we could be wrong in some areas.
Speaker AWe don't think we are.
Speaker AI mean, you don't think you're wrong, otherwise you would change, right?
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker BYeah, exactly.
Speaker AAnd.
Speaker ABut if you do disagree with me, you are wrong.
Speaker ANo.
Speaker BWe will find out soon enough.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AI will say this.
Speaker AI will say this.
Speaker ARC Sproul will agree with me when.
Speaker BI get to heaven on everything.
Speaker AOn everything.
Speaker AAnd both of us will be corrected.
Speaker BCorrect?
Speaker BCorrect.
Speaker BBecause he's.
Speaker BHe's.
Speaker BHe's already got it right.
Speaker AHis.
Speaker AHis theology is solid today.
Speaker BCorrect.
Speaker AI argue he's a Baptist today.
Speaker BHe is a Baptist.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BI'm a Baptist.
Speaker ASo, yeah, my podcast, I'll.
Speaker ASometimes when I do a live stream, I get Presbyterian, and they're.
Speaker AThey really want to push for Presbyterian.
Speaker AI'll just say, you know, that R.C.
Speaker Asproul is a Baptist today now.
Speaker AHe was not a bat.
Speaker AAnd then they realized.
Speaker AI said, today.
Speaker AThey get what I'm saying.
Speaker BThat's awesome.
Speaker BYou know, so, okay, I'm thinking through this and so just kind of going back to the whole essential versus secondary thing.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker BWe can work with our differences, obviously, but sometimes.
Speaker BAnd this.
Speaker BI think this is.
Speaker BThis is one of the bigger, biggest problems that we have with.
Speaker BWith this whole thing is who or what, I guess you could say who or what gets to determine what is a primary, secondary, or tertiary issue.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker BBecause I'm thinking of, for example, some churches, they saying, well, well, we got to sing psalms only.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker BAnd that's.
Speaker BThat's very important.
Speaker BOr.
Speaker BOr not have instruments or, you know, we wear head coverings or we don't wear head coverings or, you know, who gets to say how important these things really are?
Speaker BBecause I can.
Speaker BI can almost see, like, if.
Speaker BIf we had a Roman Catholic or an Eastern Orthodox or something like that listening in, they would say, well, that's the problem with you guys is that you guys don't have a centralized authority.
Speaker BSo how would you respond?
Speaker AWell, we need a Pope and ah, there it is.
Speaker AWe, we need some fallible man who could speak ex cathedra who they claim never did it because any of the things that they used to say was ex cathedral they didn't have to screw.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ASo I think the way it really comes down to is, like I said earlier, those things that are absolutes in scripture, those things that the scripture is clearly explicit on that are required for regeneration or required, in other words, when scripture makes it explicit that homosexuality is a sin and someone wants to say no, God never meant that.
Speaker AHe just meant the abuse of homosexuality, that's the sin, it's pretty explicit.
Speaker AAnd now you're re trying to twist and rewrite scripture to fit what you wish it said.
Speaker AWell, when it's explicit and you're in denial, then you got a problem.
Speaker ASo let me give an example of this.
Speaker ADo you need, let me ask you this, Jay.
Speaker AI'll ask it and see.
Speaker ADo you need to believe in the Trinity to be saved?
Speaker BI mean, I, I would, I would say so if you don't know who the Father, the Son and the Spirit are, their nature, who, I mean, the centrality of who they are, I mean, or, or even God's attributes, if we want to add that in there as well, I would say you don't know God because if you, you know, you say you come from a Jewish background, for example, Right.
Speaker BWell, Jews say that they believe in the God of the Bible, but Jesus is the God of the Bible.
Speaker BAnd so if they deny Jesus, I, I don't, there's no salvation in anyone else.
Speaker BSo I would say, yeah, you kind of have to, you would have to affirm the Trinity.
Speaker AOkay, so now here's where I'll.
Speaker ANow let me twist it for you and see whether you're going to change your view quickly because I think you will.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker ABeing Jewish, I never heard the word Trinity nor understood anything about the Trinity.
Speaker AI was told Jesus is God.
Speaker AThat was enough.
Speaker ADid I understand there's separation between the Father, the Son and the Spirit?
Speaker ANo.
Speaker AAnd people will say, well, how did you, how did you believe Jesus was God and he was on the cross and still controlling things because he's God, I can't understand him.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AI knew enough to know Jesus was God.
Speaker AI didn't understand all the in depth things of the Trinity.
Speaker AIn fact, the Trinity wasn't defined for quite a while after a few hundred years after Christ died.
Speaker ASo we have all the Old Testament Saints, plus many of those first couple century saints that never had the Trinity defined and laid out.
Speaker AIt, it needed to be it.
Speaker AIt came about when someone denied that Jesus was God, that it was defined.
Speaker ASo the difference being is I believe, yes, you can be saved, but you have to believe Jesus is God.
Speaker ABut.
Speaker ABecause that's explicit.
Speaker ABut the Trinity, though taught in scripture, doesn't say you have to explicitly teach that or understand that to be saved.
Speaker ABut I would say that in a case like where I was out of ignorance, I could be saved not knowing the Trinity.
Speaker AHowever, if I understand the biblical teaching of the Trinity and then deny it, believe in modalism or something else, now I can't be right.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker ABecause it's open denial of the truth versus ignorance of the truth.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BOkay, so now you're getting into what I was thinking because you, you, I believe your initial question, maybe I'm wrong on this was that do you have to believe in the Trinity in order to be saved?
Speaker AOkay, so not to believe in a triune God or believe in.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AThe idea is the, the, there are people who, and I, I, the reason I use this as an example is because when we think about it, there's so many who, who think when.
Speaker AThat everyone has some orthodox doctrine.
Speaker ASo when we hear Trinity, well, you must believe in, in the Trinity because that's what the, the Bible teaches.
Speaker AThat's what the church has taught.
Speaker AAnd yet it doesn't explicitly teach that.
Speaker AIt implicitly teaches that.
Speaker AIt explicitly teaches that Jesus is God.
Speaker AAnd so now what we end up looking at is which, what are we actually seeing?
Speaker AWell, we're seeing that we have to believe that Jesus is God.
Speaker ABut the Trinity is a solution to a problem.
Speaker AYou have three persons that are separate from one another and they're all called God.
Speaker ARight?
Speaker ASo you're right when you said, hey, the, the, the view of, of Rabbinic, the God of Rabbinic Judaism today would not be the God of the Bible.
Speaker AWhy?
Speaker ABecause they, they deny the triune nature of God.
Speaker AThey believe in a God that will not come as a, as a suffering servant.
Speaker AIsaiah 53.
Speaker AThey believe in a God who will not make a sacrifice for them.
Speaker AYou know, Psalm 22.
Speaker ASo they're holding to a different God.
Speaker AThat's, that's different.
Speaker AKnowing the truth and denying it is different than just being ignorant of the truth.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AIf they're just denying, well that, you know, that doesn't, don't know anything about it.
Speaker AThere's a difference I think there.
Speaker AAnd we have to treat that differently too with One another, right?
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BIt's funny because providentially we'll say.
Speaker ABecause it is, because this is the Providence perspective.
Speaker ASo.
Speaker BExactly, exactly, exactly.
Speaker BSo, so I was speaking to a.
Speaker AFriend and as a Baptist, you have, you know, you have, you don't have, you know, you have pot providences, right.
Speaker AAt your church.
Speaker BWe, we are reformed Baptists, so we, we kind of try to be like the Presbyterian Presbyterians.
Speaker BSometimes we're just posing as Presbyterians, but then when it comes to baptism, then we, we get weird about it.
Speaker BSo, but, but, so, yeah, so I was talking to a friend of mine, providentially, like I said today, about my conversion, and it was about how, just like that, just like what you were saying, I did not understand the Trinity.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BLike, I, I kind of heard about it.
Speaker BI, I was like, yeah, I believe Jesus is God.
Speaker BAnd I've had heard it.
Speaker BThe, the, the, I had heard the explanation.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BWell, the Trinity is like a tree, right?
Speaker BAnd then there's the roots and then there's the trunk and there's the branches.
Speaker BAnd so those are.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BWhich of course, I didn't realize that was modalism.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker BOr actually partialism, I should say.
Speaker BBut, but I, I believed that Jesus was God.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BBut it's like you're saying, because that, that's what we were talking about.
Speaker BIf you come to an understanding of the truth, somebody teaches you, walks you through it, shows you in Scripture, and you're like, no, no, it's, you know, that's not true.
Speaker BAt that point, I'm wondering, do they even know the God of the Bible?
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BBecause they're not, they're no longer following.
Speaker BNot just, not just what church teaches.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BBut, but ultimately what the Scriptures teach.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd that's where, if they're being ignorant of it, I'm going to treat it differently.
Speaker AIf someone's like, I never heard this before.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AOkay.
Speaker ABut if they know it and they're debating it and arguing and they're telling you how wrong you are, that then we're in a different, we're at a different level.
Speaker ASo you, you're talking to, let's say you're talking to a, a Mormon.
Speaker AAre they, they going to have the same view that we would have of the Trinity?
Speaker ANo, very different.
Speaker AI mean, they're going to think that, that Jesus, that, that Heavenly Father was a man on another planet who, who lived as a good Mormon and became God of this world.
Speaker AHe.
Speaker AAnd, and they'd even argue he sinned in that other world.
Speaker AVery different view.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ABut if they're arguing it, because that's the only thing they ever heard, okay, I'm going to give a little bit more grace with that and try to work with them.
Speaker ABut if they understand that the Bible teaches that the God of this world was from everlasting to everlasting, and they still deny that and say, no, no, no, it's that Jesus was, you know, or the heavenly Father was a God of another planet, I'm gonna go, okay, we're now, can't.
Speaker AThis can't be reconciled.
Speaker ARight, right.
Speaker AAnd so, you know, when do we have grace with one another?
Speaker AI think it's going to come down to the fact of what we're looking for is how, how much they understand first.
Speaker AWe don't want to take our, our theology like a sledgehammer to people because I, I don't know about you, Jay.
Speaker ATypically when people come at me with a sledgehammer, I, I don't sit there and say, yeah, hit me over the head.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AI, I don't appreciate it.
Speaker AI don't want to hear from them.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AThat becomes the difference.
Speaker ASo if you, if now, I, I.
Speaker AOn Apologetics Live, we get different people that come in.
Speaker AAnd my audience was very surprised when I had a Jewish rabbi came in.
Speaker AAnd I'm.
Speaker AThe people will always tell me what patience I have with different people that come in.
Speaker ABut with the rabbi, they saw that I took a very aggressive stance and people were confused with it.
Speaker BAnd so, you know, that he knows.
Speaker ABecause I know that he knows what we're saying.
Speaker AHe knows he's making an argument out of Hebrew that he knows is not valid, but he wants to keep making it, but he's doing it aggressively.
Speaker AAnd so I returned in kind to, you know, and, and I explained to people that, you know, there's, there's two factors there.
Speaker AOne, knowing the person you're talking to.
Speaker AAnd this is why on my show, I can explain to audience why I do what I do.
Speaker AThat's what we do in apologetics live is, is things like that.
Speaker ABut when you have certain, there are certain people or groups, for example, Nabil Koresh, people didn't understand how he would speak to American Muslims and be very calm, but if he spoke to a Middle Eastern Muslim, he would get very emotional and raise his voice and be very adamant, and people couldn't understand why.
Speaker AWell, I, I understand why very well.
Speaker AAnd he, he's explained it when, when he was alive.
Speaker ABut because the, in the Middle east, if, if you don't show emotion, it's as if you don't really believe what you're saying.
Speaker AYou don't truly believe it.
Speaker AYou're just saying it.
Speaker ASo he has to show that emotion to this, the person he's speaking with to show that he believes this firmly.
Speaker ANow that's a cultural understanding.
Speaker BIt's kind of like Paul's becoming all things to all people.
Speaker AWould you, would you say that's exactly what it is.
Speaker AAnd that's the passage that I used when, with explaining with the Jewish rabbi.
Speaker AThis Jewish rabbi knows what he's saying is not valid.
Speaker AHe understands the Hebrew better than me.
Speaker ABut he also knows that if he gives an inch, he lost his argument.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd his pride is such that he didn't, he didn't want to even give an inch.
Speaker BRight, right.
Speaker AAnd so this is the thing that sometimes you, you deal with.
Speaker AAnd so I'm going to deal with everybody as an individual.
Speaker ASomeone comes to me and disagrees, even if they degree disagree adamantly.
Speaker AI'm looking to see a.
Speaker AAre they consistent when they're within their hermeneutic?
Speaker AThey're, they're the harmony says, the art and science of interpretation.
Speaker AAnd so a Presbyterian covenantal hermeneutic would be different than a dispensational one.
Speaker AThere's just going to be differences in the way we approach things.
Speaker AA Presbyterian Reformed hermeneutic is going to be different than a Reformed Baptist 1689 Hermeneutic because the Presbyterians believe that you should be Reformed and stop reforming and the Reformed Baptists believe you should be Reformed and keep reforming because that's actually what it is.
Speaker AMeans they just stopped, see, you know, had the Westminster that kept reforming it and you got the 1689.
Speaker ASo the, the Baptist just kept reforming.
Speaker AThat's all.
Speaker BThat's exactly what it is.
Speaker AThat's, that's what it is.
Speaker AExactly.
Speaker ABut are they consistent within that hermeneutic?
Speaker AAnd, and if they are, I can say, okay, I disagree with it.
Speaker AI, I was out speaking in the United Kingdom and met, you know, got there late at night and a bunch of the, the guys wanted to go out, grab something to eat.
Speaker AAnd one of the guys just, it was me and this other guy and we were talking about some differences we have between Covenant theology and dispensational theology.
Speaker AAnd as we're having that discussion, this other guy who's just listening in, what we were walking to the hotel after we eat and he says, you know, I gotta tell you two something.
Speaker AI have never seen two guys who feel so strongly about their own position discuss opposing views so civilly.
Speaker AAnd what struck them is because at one point, as I'm listening to this.
Speaker AThis brother explain his view, and I'm asking him, well, how do you interpret this?
Speaker AHow do you interpret it?
Speaker AHow do you.
Speaker AAnd I said, well, at least I see that you're consistent in your system of.
Speaker AOf harmeneutic.
Speaker AYou're being consistent.
Speaker AI disagree with your conclusion, but you're consistent.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AAnd he appreciated that and said, well, I can see how you are too.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AThis is the hardest thing, Jay and social media, man.
Speaker AIt's like people put something out there on social media, and it's as if, no, I can never take it back.
Speaker AI always have to prove them right.
Speaker BI don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker AOh, you're not.
Speaker BNever seen that.
Speaker BI've seen people be cordial with one another and never, never hurl insults at each other.
Speaker AOkay.
Speaker AMuch less for the audience.
Speaker AI encourage you to go back a few episodes to when Jay was talking on several episodes about, you know, Joel Webbin, and we will see whether he thinks that he's never seen this before.
Speaker BNo, I'm sorry.
Speaker AThe Internet's out there, Jay.
Speaker AWe have the rep.
Speaker BListen, I don't know what you saw in those episodes, but.
Speaker BBut it's a lie.
Speaker AYou think it's what you think you saw, Andrew.
Speaker AIt wasn't what really happened.
Speaker AJoel.
Speaker AJoel and Tobias were getting along just fine.
Speaker AThere was no disagreement at all.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker BThere was no problems at all.
Speaker BListen, so, okay, we.
Speaker BWe can.
Speaker BWe can disagree and still have fellowship and still have friendship and be respectful.
Speaker BBut you mentioned earlier that there are things that you would fight for.
Speaker BMaybe you wouldn't necessarily die for them, but you would fight for them.
Speaker BRight, so you were referring to secondary issues.
Speaker BSo what.
Speaker BWhy.
Speaker BWhy fight for them?
Speaker BWhy do they still matter even though they're not essential?
Speaker AOkay, so.
Speaker ABecause I think that when we get to the secondary issues, there are ones that we feel are very important.
Speaker AThey're implicit in scripture.
Speaker AAnd because they're implicit, we can't be absolutely dogmatic on it, but we.
Speaker AWe're inferring it.
Speaker ASo let me use the example that I used earlier.
Speaker AThe.
Speaker AThe.
Speaker AThe gifts certain get.
Speaker AThe miraculous gifts.
Speaker ASome people would say they continue for today.
Speaker AI would believe that they had ceased after the completion of the canon.
Speaker ANow, why would I fight over that?
Speaker AWell, it's.
Speaker AIt's because it becomes a serious issue if you believe that God is still speaking and providing prophecy today.
Speaker ABecause that would say that the scripture he gave Us is not sufficient if we have to look for something more.
Speaker AAnd so what at the heart of the issue is the sufficiency of Scripture and the sufficiency of Christ.
Speaker AAnd because of that, I'm going to approach that to say, okay, is your salvation on the line?
Speaker ANo, not, not unless.
Speaker AAnd there are some who I, I then put it to a belief system.
Speaker AThere are some charismatics I've spoken to that would say you must speak in tongues to be saved.
Speaker AYeah, well, First Corinthians 12 would definitely not say that.
Speaker BRight, Right.
Speaker ANow, are they consistent with their view?
Speaker AWell, yes, because their starting point is that speaking in tongues is proof that you're baptized in the Spirit.
Speaker ASo if you remember that that's their starting point, then they come to a pastor that says, we're all of one baptism, the baptism of Spirit.
Speaker ASo they then conclude, you must speak in tongues to have that baptism.
Speaker ASo you must, you must speak in tongues to be saved.
Speaker ANow, there's a consistency there.
Speaker AWhen we deal with logic, and I teach a class on logic and debate, you can see that, okay, there's a, the issue there is the premise is wrong.
Speaker ABecause 1st Corinthians 12 makes it really clear that not everyone's going to have the same gift.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker ASo we can't expect that everyone will speak in tongues.
Speaker ABut if their starting point is that everyone must, then you're gonna, you might be consistent in your interpretation, just consistently wrong.
Speaker AAnd so what we have to do is in that case recognize that why will I fight over it?
Speaker ABecause it can mislead people to distract them.
Speaker ARather than looking to Scripture alone, they look to experience with scripture.
Speaker AAnd there's so many people I know who have had that.
Speaker AI've said this for four decades now.
Speaker ASorry, three decades.
Speaker ABecause I was charismatic for, for a while, but over three decades, I, I have said that I have yet to find a Charismatic who will not eventually fall back to their experience.
Speaker AWhen we start discussing spiritual gifts right now, I'm looking forward to a discussion I'm going to be having with Michael Brown on this.
Speaker AWe're going to have.
Speaker AOriginally we were playing a formal debate.
Speaker AWe, we both agreed to do a long form discussion so we can go longer, three, four hours and get more into details.
Speaker AAnd, and so the issue is, he says, we are going to argue just from Scripture.
Speaker AAnd I told him, I would love to see you do that.
Speaker AI've never seen it done before because even, even though they start from Scripture, they, they eventually fall back to experience.
Speaker AAnd now we get into a question.
Speaker AWhat becomes our ultimate authority, scripture or our experience.
Speaker ABecause for so many charismatics, and there may be charismatics listening and they, they're disagreeing with what I'm saying.
Speaker AAnd yet when it ultimately comes down to it, how do you know the gifts continue for today?
Speaker ASo many of them will say because I, I speak in tongues.
Speaker AI healed someone, I, I, I, I.
Speaker AAnd they go back to the experience.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AAnd that's.
Speaker ASo I think there's a danger in the areas where I'm on secondary issues, but I can't be, I can't be dogmatic on it because I'm taking it implicitly and not explicitly so explicit.
Speaker AIt's a clear command.
Speaker AImplicit.
Speaker AI'm implying it.
Speaker AI'm taking some things that I'm seeing, I'm seeing that in 2nd 1st Corinthians 13, 8 and following he's saying that there's things like tongues, prophecy, wisdom, they are, they're partial.
Speaker ABut the prophecy and wisdom is in part.
Speaker ABut when the telios comes, they, these won't be needed.
Speaker AIt's complete.
Speaker ASo, so whatever that thing is, it's got to complete the prophecy and wisdom.
Speaker ANotice which one's missing there.
Speaker AThe, the gift of languages.
Speaker AThat's, that one's different than those other two.
Speaker ABut, but those other two give us the indicator for what the teleas is.
Speaker AThose other two are revelatory gifts.
Speaker AThey have to do with revelation and they would stop once the canon is complete because if God is no longer speaking that way when the canon's complete, he doesn't need those gifts anymore.
Speaker AAnd so, so I, I mean this, this is just an example of it and there's many others that we could look at.
Speaker ABut, and, and let me take the side of the charismatic now, okay.
Speaker AAnd this is something folks we have to be able to do when we do apologetics if we're going to do.
Speaker AOr polemics.
Speaker APolemics is we're defending the faith with, within the Christianity.
Speaker ASo if you're, if I'm discuss debating it with a Presbyterian, it's, it's an in house debate.
Speaker AWe're both saved.
Speaker AOkay, that's polemics.
Speaker ABut where I'm defending the faith apologetics to unbelievers, that would be the apologetics.
Speaker ASo in, when we are doing polemics, we're doing an in house debate.
Speaker AWe need to be able to understand the other side.
Speaker AWe should be able to do it for, with either one.
Speaker AOkay, you, you want to make sure you know that you're opposing the opposing view.
Speaker ASo from, from a, a charismatic view and now, so all the charismatics who are just angry at me in your audience now, now they're going to see whether I actually understand their view, but they're going to have an issue with someone like me because quite frankly, they look at me and say, well, you're denying the Holy Spirit what he does.
Speaker AYou're grieving the Spirit.
Speaker AIf the Spirit gives these gifts, you're, you're trying to suppress the work of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker AAnd that's a serious issue for them.
Speaker AAnd they want to fight for that because to them, I present a danger in what I teach because it's suppressing or an attempt to suppress the work of the Holy Spirit, which in their mind would be a danger.
Speaker AAnd it would be a danger if we were doing that.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AAnd so I can recognize where each side is, is, is arguing that is a very, very, very helpful thing to do when you have these kind of discussions.
Speaker AAnd if you can't do that, then, then take the time to understand the view you're arguing against.
Speaker ADon't just counter it, but, you know, don't just look for, for holes to poke in it, but look to understand it.
Speaker ASo you could debate their argument.
Speaker BYeah, you know, I've.
Speaker BOne thing I have found is if you do not try to understand the other side, they're going to expose you for that anyway.
Speaker BSo you might as well get on board and try to figure it out from their end.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BBecause ultimately, if you do not understand it, it will show that you do not understand it.
Speaker BAnd if it shows that you do not understand it, even if ultimately maybe you are correct, you've lost your credibility.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BAnd so know it's important to try to, to understand.
Speaker BAnd I, I say that just on top of everything that you're saying, just because if anybody out there says, well, you know, I, you know, I don't care.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BI don't want to understand it, they're heretics or whatever else.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BBut even, even if you're right, even if you're right, you still, if nothing else, want to show that you actually know what you're talking about.
Speaker BAnd if you maybe you're correct, but it's not going to seem that way.
Speaker BSo let me, let me ask you.
Speaker AThis, actually, and let me, let me give you an example.
Speaker AI'll give you a quick example that I'm in the streets of New York City, Union Square, this is probably about seven years ago, a Muslim family.
Speaker AAnd when I say family, it's adult children.
Speaker ASo it was a father, mother, their two sons and the son's wives.
Speaker AOkay?
Speaker AThe father was a PhD professor at a university.
Speaker AAnd he, we start talking.
Speaker AA friend of mine was doing Open Air and I was over there when they came up and were challenging him on, on his, what he was saying about Jesus.
Speaker AHe just directed them to me.
Speaker ASo they came over this group of, of six people and, and they, this professor tells me he understands Christianity.
Speaker AAnd I'm like, okay, I start to address the.
Speaker ADoes the Quran teach that we believe in three gods?
Speaker AYes.
Speaker ADoes the Quran teach that we believe that the, the Trinity is the Father, the Mother and the Son?
Speaker AYes.
Speaker AIs that what we believe?
Speaker AHe goes, yes.
Speaker AI said, but you said you understand Christianity.
Speaker AAnd I literally was picking one after another in the, in the crowd of the evangelists that we had out there because we had 25 of us.
Speaker AAnd I'm describing them like, Bobby, come here, define the Trinity, you know, Paul, come here, define the Trinity, you know, and one after another, three persons, one God.
Speaker AAnd I'd go, how many gods?
Speaker AOne God.
Speaker ANot three gods, no one God.
Speaker AOkay?
Speaker AAfter about seven people, the guy goes, I get it, I get it.
Speaker AI get what you're saying.
Speaker ARight at the end of the conversation, I, I literally said to him, I said, let me ask you this.
Speaker AAt any point during our, it was like two hour conversation, I said, at any point in our conversation, did I misrepresent anything that you believe when I spoke about Islam?
Speaker AHe says, no, no, you had a really good understanding of Islam.
Speaker AI said, okay.
Speaker AIn any point during this conversation, did I correct you on what you said, Christians believe?
Speaker AAnd at first he said no.
Speaker AAnd then I started laying out four or five different things I corrected him on.
Speaker AHe ended up going, yeah, yeah, I guess you're right.
Speaker AI said, so your view of Christianity that you, you and I both agree you got from the Quran is false to what Christians actually believe?
Speaker AI said, so this is why I don't believe you when you say that I'm wrong because you misrepresented what I believe secondarily.
Speaker AHe said to him, it means that the author of the Quran did not know Christianity, which means he could not be God.
Speaker AHe did not like that at all, right?
Speaker AAnd I hope to see him in heaven one day because of that comment.
Speaker BYou never know.
Speaker BYou plant the seed.
Speaker BYou know that.
Speaker BI'll say this, guys, I was talking to some people from, from church this past Sunday and we were talking about how often you share the gospel with somebody and you will never see the results.
Speaker BBut it's not up to you, right?
Speaker BNot, not that it has anything to do with this conversation, but I just want to encourage you if you're afraid of sharing the gospel or you have, you haven't.
Speaker BYou've shared the gospel in the past.
Speaker BYou've been kind of discouraged because you're like, yeah, nobody believes it.
Speaker BYou don't know that.
Speaker BYou don't know when God's gonna work.
Speaker BSo plant water.
Speaker BBut God will make it grow in its own time.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AI mean, two decades of going to New York City, Union Square, I have had 12 people that I know got saved.
Speaker BWow.
Speaker AAnd you'd go after two decades, wow.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AThat's the people who knew who I was to be able to look me up on social media or I happened to be there when they happen to be there and they saw me.
Speaker ABut here's the thing.
Speaker AThose 12 people that I know of were people that heckled me so hard that when they got saved, several of them said, I needed to tell you because I gave you such a hard time.
Speaker AHow many others were just passing by?
Speaker AI have no idea.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker ASo when people go, oh, how's.
Speaker AHow successful is it?
Speaker AI go 100.
Speaker AAs long as I was faithful, that's nothing to do with the number of people that are saved.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AIt has to do with, was I being obedient to Christ.
Speaker AAnd if the answer to that is yes, then I was 100 successful.
Speaker BAmen.
Speaker AEven if no one comes to Christ because that was God's will as long as I was faithful to him.
Speaker BAmen.
Speaker AThat takes all the pressure off.
Speaker BAnd God's words never, never returns back void.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BSo that's right.
Speaker BYou're, you're.
Speaker BYou just gotta trust and do your part and let, Let God do what he does.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AYou, you.
Speaker BWell, I'm a Calvinist first and foremost.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker BSo maybe somebody who's not a Calvinist would disagree with what I'm about to say.
Speaker AThat makes.
Speaker AThat makes it easier as well, again, because now the results aren't from you.
Speaker BExactly, exactly.
Speaker BSo, you know, if you're watching, you're not a Calvinist.
Speaker BMaybe you disagree with this, but really it is just in God's hands to open the heart of somebody and believe.
Speaker BSo pressure's off, man.
Speaker BJust.
Speaker AI had a friend in church many, many years ago.
Speaker AHe says to me, my kids were young.
Speaker AHe didn't have kids at that point.
Speaker AHe says to me, you know, he's arguing against Calvinism.
Speaker AHe goes, well, you're with your Calvinism.
Speaker AHe says, you know, what would you.
Speaker AWhat would happen if your kids didn't believe.
Speaker ALike, if your kids weren't saved, I mean, you'd just be like, oh, God hates my kids.
Speaker AI said, well, I would.
Speaker AI wouldn't.
Speaker AI'd say, God knows better than me.
Speaker AI said, but if I wasn't.
Speaker AIf I was in your shoes and my kids aren't saved, I'd be beating myself up because I'd be like, why didn't I try harder?
Speaker AWhat did I say wrong?
Speaker AI must have.
Speaker AI didn't do something right.
Speaker BExactly.
Speaker ABecause it must be on me.
Speaker AI said, I'm more happy.
Speaker AI'm happier to say God knows what he's doing better than me because.
Speaker AYeah, he knows way better than I do.
Speaker BExactly.
Speaker B100%.
Speaker BYep.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker BSo there was something.
Speaker BOh, okay.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker BSo I have this question, but I have to ask a question before the question.
Speaker ASo.
Speaker BWould you agree that women should not be pastors?
Speaker AI.
Speaker AI would say that that is explicit in Scripture.
Speaker BOkay, so.
Speaker BOkay, so that kind of answers my second question, which is, would you say that that is an essential issue?
Speaker AYeah, that's an essential issue, because it's very clear in First Timothy that women should not be having authority, a forceful authority, or give general instruction.
Speaker AThat's what the Greek means there, that a woman should not give a general instruction or have a forceful authority over men in the church.
Speaker AAnd so what you have there is the fact that that is tied not to some cultural thing, as people try to say in the first century.
Speaker AThe.
Speaker AThe purpose clause is following it, and it's rooted in the creation order and the sin order.
Speaker ASo it's rooted in Adam being created first, Eve having sinned first.
Speaker AI don't have to like it, Jay.
Speaker AI.
Speaker AThat.
Speaker AThat's the reality.
Speaker AI don't have to like what Scripture says.
Speaker ABut he explicitly teaches this.
Speaker AAre there women who can teach and preach better than me?
Speaker AYeah, lots of them.
Speaker AShould they do that in the church with men there?
Speaker BNo.
Speaker AWhy?
Speaker ABecause I don't like women?
Speaker ANo, because God said so.
Speaker BRight, right.
Speaker AGod gets to make the rules of how he wants us to function within his body.
Speaker AWe don't get the right to change it because the.
Speaker AThe culture feels different.
Speaker AAnd so, yeah, I.
Speaker AI have.
Speaker AThat is a primary issue because it's explicit in Scripture.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker BI.
Speaker BI'm asking that because there are Christians.
Speaker BI know of Christians who hold to the essentials.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker BBut when it comes to, for example, this issue, they would say, well, it's a really, really important issue, you know, And I don't believe that women should be pastors, but I'm not willing to say that it's an essential issue.
Speaker BSo when you, when you're dealing with brethren who, who do take that position, brothers who, who you know are solid, you know, maybe you disagree on some things, but, but otherwise, you know, you, you would work with them.
Speaker BHow do you handle these kind of situations when you don't necessarily agree on something that one would say it's secondary, the other says is essential.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AFirst off, let me first start by saying there's an important thing that you express there because you're saying brothers, people who are saved.
Speaker AI want to say that the way I'm defining primary, secondary, tertiary is different than others.
Speaker ASome will say primary is specific to salvation.
Speaker ASo in other words, do you have to believe that women can't preach or teach in the church to men to be saved?
Speaker AI would say no, you don't have, that's not a salvific thing.
Speaker ABut if your view is that a primary issue is anything dealing with salvation, you're going to have a problem with that.
Speaker AWith what I just said.
Speaker ABecause you're saying, well, that, you're saying that if I, if, if there's a woman pastor, she's not saved.
Speaker AI'm not saying that my way of defining the difference between primary and secondary are explicitly taught versus implicitly taught.
Speaker AAnd that's the difference.
Speaker ASo I just want to explain that, that lay that groundwork so people don't say that.
Speaker AI'm saying female pastors aren't saved.
Speaker AMany of them aren't.
Speaker ABut you know, let me put it this way.
Speaker AI was in the Philippines preaching and we actually had a woman who had heard.
Speaker AI don't know if it was Justin Peter's message or my message, but one of our messages where we mentioned it and that night she resigned from her church.
Speaker AThat night it was.
Speaker AAnd she made it effective immediately.
Speaker AWe that one of the pastors contacted us and said this woman contacted him to say, can you find someone to fill in the pulpit this week and for the next couple weeks?
Speaker ABecause I am resigned immediately because I am not.
Speaker AI do not belong in a position of pastor of the church.
Speaker ASo there's someone who heard the teaching.
Speaker AThe Holy Spirit convicted her.
Speaker AShe saved.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ABut she's just hadn't hurt.
Speaker AThat's the ignorance again.
Speaker ABut once she heard the true teaching, what happened, she immediately took action and repented.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker ASo I'm not saying that some, you know, just so we clarify, so how do we know where, like where do we draw these lines?
Speaker AI think that.
Speaker ASo let me go back to the, the gifts issue.
Speaker AHad a fun discussion with Michael Brown on this is I said to Michael that I think that part of the issue is, you know, cessationists like me tend to be a little bit quicker to, to judge and call people out and, and whatnot and say, okay, you know, and be more.
Speaker AHaving too much discernment to where we lack grace, where a guy like Michael Brown has so much grace, I say I think he lacks some discernment.
Speaker AAnd he actually said, you know, that's a fair point, right?
Speaker AWe, we both can do that.
Speaker ASo what are we doing?
Speaker ALike, you take a, you take someone like Michael Brown and myself who very much disagree on these areas, but we can have really good, enjoyable conversations because we want to learn how each other's point of view is.
Speaker AWe try not to misrepresent one another.
Speaker AAnd, you know, he and I have said hard things to one another and we both receive it well.
Speaker AAnd so we have to.
Speaker AFirst off, in the, the area that I would struggle more with than, Than he would be is to have a little bit more grace than discernment.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AAnd I would challenge him to have a little bit more discernment than grace.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AAnd that's the thing is what we need to do is have grace in these areas.
Speaker AWe have to, we have to recognize as we work with one another that we're not going to be perfect.
Speaker AWe're not going to be flawless in our theology or in our approach.
Speaker AAnd so we're going to have to come to Scripture, look at what the, the Word of God says, see if it's explicit or implicit.
Speaker AAnd we got to recognize when we are saying it's explicit, when it really is implicit.
Speaker AThe, the, the teaching of the Trinity is implicit in Scripture.
Speaker AIs it really strong?
Speaker AYes.
Speaker AIs it really clear?
Speaker AI would say yes, but it is implicit.
Speaker AWe are referring from different passages and inferring things from that.
Speaker AAnd so I think what we have to do is first, and this is what I teach when I teach hermeneutics how to interpret the Bible.
Speaker AOne of the first things we have to do is question our own presuppositions.
Speaker AWe all come to the Bible with presuppositions.
Speaker AWe have to be willing to question those, to say, is this explicit?
Speaker AIs it implicit?
Speaker AIs it really a matter I should put as a primary, or am I making too much of it?
Speaker AAnd, and that becomes a starting point of how we're gonna, how the rest of the conversation is going to go with someone.
Speaker AThe biggest thing we need is grace.
Speaker BAmen.
Speaker BAbsolutely, absolutely.
Speaker BI don't know if you might have any last comments for anybody that might be listening, you know, in terms of how they would, I guess, work through these different things.
Speaker BMaybe, maybe there's a new Christian, right, who's listening in.
Speaker BI know, I know that once in a while I've gotten messages from brand new Christians and asking me questions about the things that they just watch on my channel or even, even the seasoned Christian, right, that has never really thought about these things before.
Speaker BIs there anything that you would want to leave them with?
Speaker AAsking a pastor if he has any last words.
Speaker AYou do realize you're, you know, you got two minutes later, you finish a.
Speaker BSermon, you know, you got a hard two minutes.
Speaker BTake, take your time, take your time.
Speaker ANo, but I think if someone's newer listening, you know, I think of the passage in scripture and there's two that I'm thinking where you kind of see the depiction of the Christian life, right, as the young man, you know, first, you know, the, the young child that just wants to follow the Father wherever the Father leads, just, just wants to learn.
Speaker AThen you get the young man who wants to fight Satan, right?
Speaker AAnd then you get the old man who just wants the wisdom, just sit back and you know, and, and so there, there really is dep.
Speaker ADepicting a lot of our Christian walks.
Speaker AYou know, we get saved and it's just like we just grab the Bible and all.
Speaker AWe just want to keep studying, studying, studying, studying.
Speaker AAnd there becomes a point where as we're studying and we start seeing differing views, then we want to fight over it because everything's Satan, right?
Speaker AWe, we in Calvinism we call that the stage cage, right?
Speaker AWe just stick it in the cage until they're past that point of wanting to fight everyone over everything, right?
Speaker BI think I'm still there sometimes.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AAnd so as you get older, encouragement, brother.
Speaker AWe get to the, hopefully we all get to that final point where we're, you know, I, I think I'm, I've, I'm there in my walk is where I'm a lot more forgiving with the differences with other people.
Speaker AI can forbear it a lot more than I used to.
Speaker AI mean I used to, you know, I, I literally remember fighting against parts of Calvinism for the longest time.
Speaker AAnd I remember, you know, with guys, you know, well known Calvinist guys that I'd go to conferences with and they would just every year at the conference, these speakers, their, their mission was convert me to Calvinism.
Speaker AAnd we talk about it for hours and hours and hours.
Speaker AI disagree.
Speaker AAnd we'd make our arguments.
Speaker AAnd then I'm preaching through Philippians 1, and I get to 29.
Speaker AJust as it has been granted to you to believe, so it's been granted to suffer.
Speaker AWait, wait, my belief was granted to me?
Speaker AOh, yeah.
Speaker ASo I had to call some, some friends and go, hey, Fred, you know, I gotta tell you, I was preparing my sermon on First Philippians 1:29.
Speaker AWhy didn't you years ago, bring that passage instead of Ephesians 2?
Speaker A89.
Speaker AIt's like, that one's clear that that's explicit and, you know, but we have to submit to Scripture and, and a lot of times, whether we like it or not, we tend to submit to our theological system unknowingly more than we do Scripture.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AAnd that's why I say there's two ways to interpret Scripture.
Speaker ABy rules or person.
Speaker APersonal experience, personal theology, whatever you want to put there.
Speaker AIt's either I believe the Bible teaches this because I had this experience, or this is what my systematic theology teaches.
Speaker ASo therefore, no, your.
Speaker AThe Scriptures should inform your theology, not your theology.
Speaker AInform the Scripture.
Speaker AAnd so we really need to.
Speaker AI, I know it feels like we're doing the right thing when we're constantly fighting everyone and, and saying we're doing it because we got the truth.
Speaker ABut as you mature in your walk, you eventually get to the point, as Paul was, where you don't have to fight everyone all the time.
Speaker AYou can forbear and you can realize others are grown too.
Speaker AI'll illustrate that with a, with an event that happened.
Speaker AAnd I'm just talked against experience, and I'm giving you an experience, right?
Speaker ASo I'm recognizing what I did, what I'm doing.
Speaker ABut I remember in my first church, there was this guy, Danny.
Speaker AHe's been gone to, to be with the Lord now, but he was safe for like 30 years when I met him.
Speaker AAnd, you know, saved from a rough background.
Speaker AAnd there was a time where there was a guy, he had just came in the church, he had been saved, I think a few days, if not weeks, and we're in church.
Speaker AThose two happen to be sitting in front of me next to each other, and this guy didn't know his way around the Bible.
Speaker AI remember that.
Speaker AI, I remember when I was looking in a table of contents, especially for New Testament, but even Old Testament, because the Jewish, the, the way the Jewish Bible is laid out is, Is different than the way Christians lay out in the New.
Speaker AIn the Old Testament.
Speaker ASo I remember going to the table of contents and flipping around and flipping around.
Speaker AAnd I felt bad for the guy because, you know, it takes extra time and he's.
Speaker AHe's trying to keep up.
Speaker ABut Danny was so frustrated, he literally grabs that guy's Bible and like, flips to the page and shoves it back in.
Speaker ARight?
Speaker AAnd I talked to Danny after church, and I said, you know, Danny, you were really frustrated with that guy.
Speaker AWhy?
Speaker AHe goes, he's just flipping pages.
Speaker AWhy doesn't he just open to the book?
Speaker AHe should know his Bible.
Speaker AI said, danny, do you remember when you first got saved?
Speaker ADid.
Speaker ADid you know your way around the Bible?
Speaker AHe's like, no.
Speaker AWhy do you expect him to know what it took you years?
Speaker ASo you expect him to have the theology you have of 30 years of studying, and he's been saved only a few days.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker ANeedless to say, we never saw that guy come back to church.
Speaker ARight?
Speaker AAnd so the next week, when he didn't come back, it was a different discussion with Danny.
Speaker ANow he was a lot more humble and realized, you know what?
Speaker AI.
Speaker AI should have been more patient with him.
Speaker AI say that to say that was something early in my Christian walk to help me realize I, too, need to learn to be more humble with others and not think I'm always right.
Speaker AI think I'm right.
Speaker AYou think you're right.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AWe always do.
Speaker ABut we have to not always think that we're always right, because we may not be.
Speaker AYou know, it's a hard thing to do, especially on social media, you know, where no one's ever wrong.
Speaker AYou know, look, and folks who follow me on social media, you'll see me on X or Facebook, and.
Speaker AAnd you'll see, I'll blow it.
Speaker AI'll get into a discussion, I'll say something wrong, or I'll do it on Apologetics Live.
Speaker AI'll.
Speaker AI just did this recently where I said something wrong in Apologetics Live, and it was pointed out to me after the show.
Speaker AAnd the next week, the first thing I'm doing, correcting it, you know, you'll see me apologize to people on social media when I say something wrong and I blow it.
Speaker AI.
Speaker AIf I sinned in public, I need to ask forgiveness in public.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker AAnd.
Speaker AAnd I had one guy who I publicly, you know, I privately apologized to him, and I told him I'm going to be doing this publicly.
Speaker AAnd he's like, you don't need to, brother.
Speaker AI said, no, I do need to, because I called you out and I was wrong, and I did that publicly.
Speaker AAnd everyone needs to See that not only was I wrong, but that I repented of it.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker AAnd.
Speaker AAnd when I did do that, he.
Speaker AHe actually posted and said, I told him he didn't need to do this, but I have way more respect for him that he did.
Speaker AYeah, I think we.
Speaker AWe.
Speaker AAnd I'm saying that, but it doesn't mean I've always been perfect at doing things.
Speaker AI don't want to make it look like I always do things.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AIf you.
Speaker AIf you want to talk to my bride, plenty of stories for you.
Speaker ABut let's try to show more grace with one another.
Speaker ALook, folks, if we're believers in Christ, we are going to be spending eternity together.
Speaker BYep.
Speaker ACould we get along now?
Speaker AI mean, we differ now.
Speaker AWe won't differ then, but how much sweeter will it be in heaven when we.
Speaker AIf we differ now and can get along and then we don't differ and we can get along.
Speaker BExactly.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BYeah, absolutely.
Speaker BPastor Rapper Boy, I appreciate your time.
Speaker BStick around for just one moment.
Speaker BI'm sorry, you want to say one more thing?
Speaker BGo ahead.
Speaker ANo, I mean, all I was going to say is I really appreciate you having me on.
Speaker AI.
Speaker AI appreciate, you know, you and I.
Speaker AYou were going to have me on originally.
Speaker ATalk dispensationalism.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker AWhich would have been a lot of fun, but.
Speaker ABut, you know, I appreciate the fact that you were like, hey, we couldn't talk on that, but let's talk about the fact of how we do have differences and it is an important thing for us to do.
Speaker ASo I really appreciate you having me on and.
Speaker AAnd give me a chance to be part of, you know, with your audience and being able to.
Speaker ATo be part of your podcast.
Speaker BYeah, no, absolutely.
Speaker BAnd actually, since you touched on it, I just want to let you guys watching know I do have a dispensationalist debate coming up.
Speaker BI'm gonna give more details as we go forward.
Speaker BI was about to say Dr.
Speaker BRap Report.
Speaker BPastor Rap Report.
Speaker BI can't help doing it, man.
Speaker APastor Rapport.
Speaker AI wouldn't make a good doctor.
Speaker AI don't have any patience.
Speaker BThat is a dad joke.
Speaker BAnd while.
Speaker BWhile some people watching may not appreciate it, I certainly will appreciate it.
Speaker BAnd if I get a chance to, I'm going to use it with my wife so that she can lower her face and wonder why she ever married me.
Speaker ASo I can tell you why my bride married me.
Speaker ARewards in heaven, crowns upon crowns upon crowns for her.
Speaker BI think my wife can say the same.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BSo, guys, so I'm gonna be doing.
Speaker BI'M gonna be hosting.
Speaker BAll right, all right.
Speaker BI can do this.
Speaker BI can do this.
Speaker BI'm going to be hosting a dispensationalist dispensationalism debate.
Speaker BI will be giving out more details.
Speaker BPastor Rapaport had actually reached out to me because he heard that I was looking for somebody to join in debate, and unfortunately, I had already set it up with two guys already.
Speaker BBut, yeah, I was.
Speaker BI'm very glad that he was able to be here with us.
Speaker BAnd so if you have not watched this channel before, or maybe this is your first time joining and you like the content of what you're seeing, please go ahead and subscribe.
Speaker BIf you like the video, give it a like.
Speaker BIf you didn't like it, just move on.
Speaker BJust move on.
Speaker BDon't want you touching anything.
Speaker BThank you guys very much for watching.
Speaker BUntil next time.
Speaker AGod bless.