The Christian Faith Podcast

Shall They All Be Damned Who Never Heard?

Does the Bible really say that all those who never heard of Jesus, and who therefore had no opportunity to believe in the gospel, will go to hell for eternity? This is what many prominent Bible teachers have affirmed for centuries—and in this episode, we hear how one such teacher recently reaffirmed this teaching when asked this very question. Sadly, so many are turned away from the God of the Bible because of this teaching, feeling they could never believe in Him if He is so unfair as that.Yet, if we are willing to search the Scriptures for ourselves, we will find that this is absolutely not what the Bible teaches. Rather, the cases of the tax collector praying at the temple (Luke 18:9-14), and of the sheep and goat judgment when the Lord returns (Matthew 25:31-46), show us that God will have a different standard for judging those who never heard the gospel, than He will for those who did have the opportunity to believe in Christ.That standard is what the Bible calls “the eternal gospel,” which is presented in the book of Revelation (Rev. 14:6-7). Only when we understand this gospel can we have a proper, Biblical view of how God will deal with those who never heard the name of Jesus.
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee  Episode #123: “Shall They All Be Damned Who Never Heard?”
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 13 February 2025.

Slaves of Christ Jesus, Defeated by Him

The Lord needs followers today who have the same spirit as the writers of the New Testament, who considered themselves as nothing more than His slaves; if He can gain such ones, then He will have a way to carry out what He truly desires to accomplish in our time. But how can we become those who, in terms of our daily living, are slaves of Christ Jesus? Only by allowing ourselves to be fully defeated and captured by Christ.Length: 27 minutes
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee  Episode #122: “Slaves of Christ Jesus”
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Books
Witness Lee: An Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit
W.J. Conybeare & J. S. Howson, Life and Epistles of Saint Paul
Previous EpisodesEpisode #119: “Peter, Paul, & Hebrews”Previous Notes:• “Slaves of Christ Jesus”•  “Peter, Paul, & Hebrews” (1)•  “Peter, Paul, & Hebrews” (2)• “As Commander of the Army of the Lord I Have Now Come”
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Monday, 3 February 2025.

The Central Thing (2): God’s Good Pleasure, Will, & Purpose

As believers in Christ, we tend to consider spiritual matters from the standpoint of our need, such as our need for the forgiveness of sins. And while there is nothing wrong with that, as we grow in Christ we should eventually realize there is also something God needs, in the sense it is something He truly desires, and thus begin to seek the Lord for how we can cooperate with Him to fulfill His desire. When we do this, our Christian life will come to an entirely different level.
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Bible Verses for this Episode
See  Episode #121: “The Central Thing (2): God’s Good Pleasure, Will, & Purpose”
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RESOURCES
OnlineGodsEternalPurpose.orgDownload the PamphletWatch the Videos
Books
Mary McDonough: “God's Plan of Redemption”
Previous EpisodesEpisode #121: “The Central Thing (1): What God Is Really After”
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Recorded…
in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 30 January 2025.

The Central Thing (1): What God Is Really After

The Bible covers so many different topics, and one of the main ones, of course, is the gospel of our salvation. So, we begin this episode with a reminder, courtesy of a story about Billy Graham, of how we need to be in prayer for the gospel to once again go forth in this country in 2025; Amen, Lord, have Your way!Yet, among all the matters dealt with in the Bible, the thing it shows us in particular as God’s ultimate desire, the central thing in the entire Bible, is this: God’s desire to bring us into relation with Himself by giving us His divine life. Until we see this, we will never truly understand what the Bible is all about. So, in this episode we deal with this central matter in the entire Bible.Much of this is based on a pamphlet we’ve recently made some videos about; you can find both the pamphlet itself and the videos on GodsEternalPurpose.org.
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee  Episode #120: “The Central Thing (1): What God Is Really After”
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RESOURCES
OnlineGodsEternalPurpose.orgDownload the PamphletWatch the Videos
Books
Mary McDonough: “God's Plan of Redemption”BTP: “The Concise Bible Dictionary”
Previous EpisodesPodcast Series: “Spirit and Soul and Body”Episode #116: “Our Relationship with God”
Previous NotesGenesis 2:7: “God Set Man in Relation with Himself”Andrew Murray: The First Thought of Man===========
Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday, 21 January 2025.

Peter, Paul, & Hebrews

For centuries there has been a dispute among Bible teachers over who wrote the book of Hebrews, since the book itself does not identify its author. Early on in church history it was widely accepted that it had been written by the apostle Paul. Later, however, some began to doubt his authorship, and today most Bible scholars say that no, it was not Paul; rather, someone else must have written it.What so many of those who have considered this matter seem to have missed, however, is that New Testament does in fact give us the answer to the question of who wrote Hebrews. While we do not find the answer in Hebrews itself, we do, under the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit, find it in the writings of the apostle Peter, who leaves no doubt that the letter to the Hebrews was indeed written by the apostle Paul.And that is what we consider in this episode of our podcast.
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Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee  Episode #119: “Peter, Paul, and Hebrews”
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RESOURCES
Previous EpisodesEpisode #118: “Coming to the Bible in 2025”
Previous Notes“Peter, Paul, and Hebrews” (1)“Peter, Paul, and Hebrews” (2)
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Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 8 January 2025.

Coming to the Bible in 2025

As this new year begins it is good to be reminded of how important it is for us as the believers in Christ to come to the Bible in a regular, consistent way! So in this episode, which is mostly a re-broadcast of an earlier one, we talk with Mike Samulak for some practical tips to help us be in the word as we should, sometimes even by beginning in a very small way.For example, we can make a resolution to read just one Bible verse a day this coming year; that may not seem like much, but it will help us get in the habit of at least opening up our Bible each day. Or, if we aren’t familiar with the Bible at all, then reading a good Bible storybook for children can be a good way to get an introduction to what is actually in the Bible.We also listen to some brief clips of Mark Jordan sharing different experiences he has had throughout his life of coming to the word.In His great high-priestly prayer, Jesus asks the Father to keep His believers from the Evil One; He also tells Him that, even though they are still in the world, they are nonetheless not of the world (John 17:14-16). Then, just after this, He makes it clear that for this to be real in our experience, we must be sanctified in the truth, the word of God (v. 17). And because today that word comes to us through the Bible, our prayer as we begin this new year is that all of God’s children will turn to the Bible again to read it and allow it to speak to them in a fresh way.Lord, make it so! Amen.===========
Guests: Mike Samulak and Mark Jordan
===========OUR WEBSITETheChristianFaith.org
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===========Bible Verses for this EpisodeSee  Episode #118: “Coming to the Bible” ===========
RESOURCES
Listen to the BibleThe Bible in 40 Readings
A Children’s BookA Is for Africa
Website: A Bible Reading Schedule90Readings.org
A Note: “The Bible in 90 Readings”A Note: “The City of the Book”
===========Recorded…in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 31 December 2024 & 29 October 2022

“Spirit and Soul and Body” (7): “Heart and Soul and Mind and Strength”

If we are indeed three part beings, “spirit and soul and body” (1 Thess. 5:23), then what is the Bible referring to when it speaks of our “heart”?A primary example of this is when a scribe asked Jesus, “Which is the first commandment of all?” (Mark 12:28). He answered by quoting the Old Testament:The first is,Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord!And you shall love the Lord your GodFrom all your heartAnd from all your soulAnd from all your mindAnd from all your strength.— Mark 12:29-30; cf. Matthew 22:37, Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12, 30:6When we look at this verse carefully, we will realize it is not simply an “accumulation of terms,” as one prominent theologian has said. Rather, it is telling us in a very specific way that our love for God must involve every part of our being, spirit and soul and body, as expressed through our heart, which is the totality of our inward being.
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Bible Verses for this Episode
See  Episode #117: “Spirit and Soul and Body” (7): “Heart and Soul and Mind and Strength”
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RESOURCES
Previous Episodes
Episode #116: “Spirit and Soul and Body” (6): Our Relationship with God Episode #109: “En” Love and “Ek” Love
A Note“En” Love and “Ek” Love
A Hymn by John Newton“How sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds”
WebsiteGodsEternalPurpose.org
A Book By Witness LeePaperback Edition: “The Parts of Man”
A Book By Mary E. McDonoughPaperback Edition:  God's Plan of Redemption
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Recorded…
in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 19 December 2024.

“Spirit and Soul and Body” (6): Our Relationship with God

If we desire to know Christ and follow Him today, we must be clear about the kind of relationship He desires to have with us, as revealed in the Scripture. And what the Scriptures show us, especially in the New Testament, is this: God wants to be one with mankind. That’s why He became a man in the person of Jesus Christ through the Incarnation; and now He desires to incarnate Himself again in the followers of Christ by imparting Himself as the divine life and nature into our human spirit to make us the genuine Children of God (John 1:12-13, 2 Pet. 1:4), so that in and through us Christ can live His life on the earth once again (Gal. 2:20).This is the relationship God desires to have with us today.This reality of God wanting to impart Himself into us is pictured all through the Bible in God presenting Himself to us as our food (e.g., Gen. 2:9, 16; Rev. 22:2, 14, Exo. 12:1-13, Lev. 1-7). And the Lord Himself tells us in the New Testament, in plain words,As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.— John 6:57Only when we see God’s desire to make Himself one with us by imparting His divine life and nature into our being can we really see the importance of our human spirit, because it is our spirit, as God’s dwelling place today (2 Tim. 4:22, 1 Cor. 6:19), that enables us to contact God and receive His divine life and thus enter into a proper, New Testament relationship with God, where we and God become fully one in Christ.
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SUMMARY
We should seek to know God, not in the Old Testament way of being governed by Him, but in the New Testament way of becoming one with Him
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Bible Verses for this Episode
See  Episode #116: “Spirit and Soul and Body” (6): Our Relationship with God
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RESOURCES
WebsiteGodsEternalPurpose.org
A Book By Witness LeePaperback Edition: Our Human Spirit A Book By Mary E. McDonoughPaperback Edition:  God's Plan of Redemption
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Recorded…
in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 12 December 2024.

George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

In this special Thanksgiving edition of our podcast we consider how the first national day of thanksgiving ever held in the United States of America came to be. We also read the full proclamation made by President Washington, which he issued in response to a request from the first congress—the same congress that approved the first amendment—that he appoint “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God”….Washington’s proclamation states, in part,Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor….Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be….Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.Go: Washington
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RESOURCES
Note: George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation
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Recorded…
in Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday, 26 November 2024.

“Spirit and Soul and Body” (5): A Response to John Murray’s Essay, “Trichotomy”

One of the hallmarks of Reformed theology is its strong teaching that man is a two-part being. Rejecting the plain and direct word of Scripture that man is actually a three-part being, “spirit and soul and body” (1 Thess. 5:23; cf. Heb. 4:12), it insists our spirit and our soul are the same thing, thus denying we have a human spirit which enables us to receive God’s divine life. In doing so it turns the Christian life into a mental exercise and thus prevents those who receive this teaching from ever really understanding the New Testament concept of salvation.In this episode we examine one of the classic statements of Reformed theology on this matter, the essay by John Murray (1898-1975) entitled “Trichotomy,” by considering some of the verses he uses to support his position to see what they actually say. In doing so we see how we can often, by examining teachings that are not Biblical in the light of Scripture, gain a fuller assurance regarding what we believe, and also, receive a fuller insight into the truth itself.
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Bible Verses for this Episode
See  Episode #114: “Spirit and Soul and Body” (5)
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RESOURCES
WebsiteGodsEternalPurpose.org
A Book By Witness LeePaperback Edition: Our Human Spirit A Book By Watchman NeePaperback Edition:  The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit A Book By Mary E. McDonoughPaperback Edition:  God's Plan of Redemption
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Recorded…
in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, 21 November 2024.