The Christian Faith Podcast

The Central Thing: God’s Purpose & Our Transformation

If we want to understand what salvation is, we must see the central matter in the entire Bible, what it shows us from the very beginning to the very end: that God’s ultimate desire is to be one with man, and to make man one with Him.So, He created us in such a way that we could receive His divine life. And today, when we believe in Christ, this life begins to work in us, through regeneration in our human spirit (John 3:6) and transformation in our soul (Rom. 12:2). In this way He brings us into His divine glory, so that we can dwell in God and He can dwell in us.Praise the Lord for His marvelous purpose for mankind!
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RESOURCES REFERRED TO IN THIS EPISODE
Podcast 67: The Heaven Drug; or, Why I’m Not Going to HeavenPodcast 70: The Salvation of the Soul & Running the Christian RaceVideo (3 minutes): “The Parable of the Four Bottles”A Bible Chart of God’s Full SalvationAndrew Murray on Genesis 1:26: “The First Thought of Man”The CBD on Genesis 2:7: “God Set Man in Relation to Himself”
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BIBLE VERSES REFERENCEDIN THIS EPISODE
For a list of Bible verses referenced in this episode of the podcast, please visit its page on our website:
Podcast 71: “The Central Thing: God’s Purpose and Our Transformation”
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This edition of the program was recorded in Chicago, Illinois on Monday, 13 November 2023.

The Salvation of the Soul & Running the Christian Race

To understand what salvation is in the New Testament, we need to be clear about what the Apostle Peter calls “the salvation of the soul” (1 Peter 1:9).
Our Christian life begins with the new birth, which takes place in our spirit the very moment believe in Christ (John 3:6); it will end with the transfiguration of our bodies at the Lord’s return; this will also take place in a moment, “in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52).
In contrast, the salvation of our soul does not take place in an instant. Rather, our soul must be saved through an ongoing, life-long process the New Testament speaks of as “transformation” (Rom. 12:2, 2 Cor. 3:18, Matt. 16:24-27).
So, to receive the salvation of our soul we must run the Christian race for our entire life, as the Apostle Paul did (1 Cor. 9:24-27, Phil. 3:13-14). In this way we will be prepared to see the Lord when He returns, and thus receive the prize of reigning with Him for the 1,000 years of His kingdom on the earth (2 Tim. 4:7-8, 18).
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RESOURCES REFERRED TO IN THIS EPISODE
Podcast 63: Could We Be Disciplined When We See the Lord? (1)Podcast 68: Could We Be Disciplined When We See the Lord? (2)
Books:Watchman Nee: The Salvation of the SoulD.M. Panton: The Judgment Seat of Christ
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BIBLE VERSES REFERENCEDIN THIS EPISODE
For a list of Bible verses referenced in this episode of the podcast, please visit its page on our website:
Podcast 70: “The Salvation of the Soul & Running the Christian Race”
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This edition of the program was recorded in Chicago, Illinois on Monday, 6 November 2023.

The Assurance of Overcoming

As Christians we often speak of “the assurance of salvation.” And it is truly wonderful to know that our sins are forgiven because Christ shed His blood for us on the cross; Hallelujah!But we can, and should, have a much greater assurance even than that: we should have the assurance of overcoming (Rev. 21:7). That is, one day, whether in the Millennium or in eternity, we will not merely be forgiven; we will be fully conformed to the image of Christ in glory (Rom. 8:29-30); praise the Lord even more for that!And with that assurance, we should seek to experience the divine glory working within us even today (2 Cor. 3:18, Heb. 2:10).LENGTH: 9 minutes
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RESOURCES REFERRED TO IN THIS EPISODE
Podcast 63: “Could We Be Disciplined When We See the Lord?” (1)
Podcast 68: “Could We Be Disciplined When We See the Lord?” (2)BIBLE VERSES REFERENCEDIN THIS EPISODE
For a list of Bible verses referenced in this episode of the podcast, please visit its page on our website:
Podcast 69: “The Assurance of Overcoming”
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This edition of the program was recorded in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 2 November 2023

Could We Be Disciplined When We See the Lord? (2)

As the believers in Christ, we can and should have the assurance that, because our sins are forgiven, we will be with the Lord for eternity; praise the Lord! (John 5:24).
Nonetheless, we cannot have the assurance of where we will spend the Millennium, the 1,000 year reign of Christ upon this present earth. As the New Testament makes clear, that will be based, not upon the blood of Christ, but upon how we live our Christian life. Thus, that will not be determined until we stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10; cf. Rom. 14:10).
A proper understanding of this aspect of the truth will, on the one hand, strengthen our assurance of salvation, and on the other, save us from becoming loose and careless in our following of Christ.
In a previous episode we looked at the clear verses in the New Testament regarding this matter. So, in this episode we go on to consider the type of the Children of Israel “running the race” from the land of Egypt to the Good Land (1 Cor 9:24-10:12); as the Apostle Paul says, their history is an example of our need to run the Christian race today (1 Cor. 10:6).
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SUMMARYThere is a matter related to our salvation that has not yet been settled, namely, the question of where we will spend the Millennium.
===================RESOURCES REFERRED TO IN THIS EPISODE
Podcast 63: Could We Be Disciplined When We See the Lord? (1)
Books:D.M. Panton: The Judgment Seat of ChristWatchman Nee: The Salvation of the Soul
===================BIBLE VERSES REFERENCEDIN THIS EPISODE
For a list of Bible verses referenced in this episode of the podcast, please visit its page on our website:Podcast 68: “Could We Be Disciplined When We See the Lord?” (2)
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This edition of the program was recorded in Chicago, Illinois starting on Friday, 27 October 2023

Could We Be Disciplined When We See the Lord? (1)

How many Christians today have a proper view of salvation? Most, it seems, think that once we believe in Christ and our sins are forgiven, God’s work in us is basically over; now we are just waiting to go to heaven.
That was not the view of the Apostle Paul. He knew that, even though his eternal destiny was secure, he still had a race to run to win the prize of reigning with Christ during His 1,000 year kingdom on the earth (1 Cor. 9:24-27.)
So, we need to see that forgiveness is not the end of God’s work in our lives, but only the beginning. In this episode of the podcast, therefore, we consider how, if we are not faithful to run the race in this age, we may face a very serious discipline when we see the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10); we may even be excluded from the kingdom of God on the earth (Eph. 5:5), though we will still be with the Lord in His eternal kingdom.
May the Lord make us those who are faithful to run the race and win the prize of reigning with Him for the 1,000 years!
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RESOURCES REFERRED TO IN THIS EPISODE
Podcasts:#60: “The Reward of the Overcomers”#61: “Three Strikes Against the Amil’s”#62: “A Proper Mindset for Coming to the Scriptures”Books:D.M. Panton: The Judgment Seat of ChristWatchman Nee: Changed Into His LikenessWatchman Nee: The Salvation of the Soul
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BIBLE VERSES REFERENCEDIN THIS EPISODE
For a list of Bible verses referenced in this episode of the podcast, please visit its page on our website:Podcast 63: “The Reward & Discipline of the Believers When We See the Lord”
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OUR WEBSITEhttps://TheChristianFaith.org/
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This edition of the program was recorded starting on Thursday, 28 September 2023 in Chicago, Illinois

The Heaven Drug; or, Why I’m Not Going to Heaven

After Jesus ascended into heaven, two angels appeared and asked the apostles, “Why do you stand gazing up into heaven?” (Acts 1:11). So many Christians are like this today, “standing around, gazing into heaven.” This is because they’ve taken the “heaven drug,” the profoundly false teaching that, as the believers in Christ, our destiny is to go to heaven.
What the Bible actually shows us is that our eternal dwelling place will be with the Lord on the earth, in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1-2). So, our calling as Christians today is not to wait to go to heaven, but to stand with the Lord for His purpose to defeat Satan and bring the Kingdom of the Heavens to the earth. Only when we see this can we understand the real meaning of our Christian life.
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RESOURCES REFERRED TO IN THIS EPISODE
Podcast 62: A Proper Mindset for Coming to the Scriptures
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BIBLE VERSES REFERENCEDIN THIS EPISODE
For a list of Bible verses referenced in this episode of the podcast, please visit its page on our website:
Podcast 67: “The Heaven Drug; or, Why I’m Not Going to Heaven”
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OUR WEBSITEhttps://TheChristianFaith.org/
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This edition of the program was recorded starting on Tuesday, 19 October 2023 in Chicago, Illinois

Jesus, the Once & Future King

The unspeakably evil attack on Israel this past weekend should cause us as Christians to wake up to the real situation of the world today.First of all, it shows us there is no moral equivalence between the religion of Islam and the Christian faith. The former has from its inception used violence as a means to spread itself; the latter was founded through the sacrifice of its founder, and, in the same way, has often been spread through the suffering of Christians.In a larger sense, this attack should remind us that today, Christ does not rule over the world directly. He does rule over the world in a general way, but He has not yet taken His place on His own throne; rather, He is seated on His Father’s throne (Rev. 3:21).So, the direct ruler of the world today is Satan (John 12:31, 2 Cor. 4:4). Jesus, in order to give people time to repent, is patiently waiting to take His place on His throne before He establishes universal righteousness during His 1,000 year reign on the earth.If we are clear about this, it will very much strengthen us to not love the world. Instead, we will forsake all to follow Christ and serve Him until He comes to take His place as the rightful king over all the earth (Luke 1:31-32, Matt. 25:31).
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RESOURCES REFERRED TO IN THIS EPISODE
The 1917 “Old” Scofield Study Bible on Christian Book.com
The 1917 “Old” Scofield Study Bible on Amazon.com
BIBLE VERSES REFERENCEDIN THIS EPISODE
For a list of Bible verses referenced in this episode of the podcast, please visit its page on our website:
Podcast 66: “Jesus, the Once & Future King”
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This edition of the program was recorded on Thursday, 12 October 2023 in Chicago, Illinois

“Adopted” Sons? Really?

The most basic, foundational truth of the New Testament, and of the Bible as a whole, is that God desires to be one with man; that is why He became a man in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14). In doing so, He necessarily took on the human nature.Now, to complete the process of making us one with Himself, He is working to uplift our human nature with His divine nature. He does this by giving us His divine life with its divine nature through our new birth in Christ (John 1:12-13, 3:3), so that, as the Apostle Peter says, we are made “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4).Unfortunately, so many Christians today fail to understand this truth, in large part because their Bibles wrongly tell them that we have merely been “adopted” by God (e.g., Eph. 1:5, Gal. 4:5), so that that we do not actually share in His life.The problem has to do with how to correctly translate the Greek word huiothesia (Strong’s #5206). So, in this shortcast we consider the crucial question of what our relationship with God actually is, and also, what is a better way to understand and translate this Greek word.
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RESOURCES REFERRED TO IN THIS EPISODEPodcasts:#64: “John 1:14: The ‘Only-Begotten Son’?”Notes:The Boards, the Bars, & the Oneness (1)The Boards, the Bars, & the Oneness (2)The Boards, the Bars, & the Oneness (3)The Boards, the Bars, & the Oneness (4)Articles on Other Websites:On GotQuestions.org: “What does it mean that Jesus is God’s only begotten son?”
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BIBLE VERSES REFERENCEDIN THIS EPISODE
For a list of Bible verses referenced in this episode of the podcast, please visit its page on our website:Podcast 65: “‘Adopted’ Sons? Really?”
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This edition of the program was recorded starting on Tuesday, 3 October 2023 in Chicago, Illinois

John 1:14: The “Only-Begotten Son”?

The fact that the Bible speaks of “the only begotten” Son of God (John 1:14, 18, etc.), has troubled some Christians. This is because such a statement could be taken to mean that the Son was begotten at a certain point, rather than being the eternal God who has always existed. However, when we look at this statement in the context of John 1, the meaning is clear: He never needed to come into existence by being begotten, for He always has existed as the only-begotten Son of God.Length: 10 Minutes
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BIBLE VERSES REFERENCEDIN THIS EPISODE
For a list of Bible verses referenced in this episode of the podcast, please visit its page on our website:
Podcast 64: “The Only Begotten Son?”
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This edition of the program was recorded starting on Monday, 2 October 2023 in Chicago, Illinois

A Proper Mindset for Coming to the Scriptures

To study the Scriptures in a profitable way we need to come to them with a proper mindset. This is especially true when it comes to the matter of the reward and discipline of the believers in the coming age, the Millennium, because it is so easy for us to be biased in this regard for one reason or another.
So, in the first segment of this episode, we begin by considering why it’s so important to see the truth of the premillennial return of the Lord, and then go on to consider, as a continuation of the previous episode, two points concerning the false teaching of amillennialism. Then in the second segment we consider some basic issues that may hinder us from coming to the Scriptures with a proper mindset.
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RESOURCES REFERRED TO IN THIS EPISODE
Podcasts:Podcast 60: “The Reward of the Overcomers”Podcast 61: “Three Strikes Against the Amil’s”Podcast 41: “The Vision of the Great Image in Daniel 2”Podcast 42: “Man’s Government versus God’s Government”
Books:Book, by D.M. Panton: The Judgment Seat of ChristBook for Purchase, by Titus Chu: Born Again: Our New Life in ChristBook for Download, by Titus Chu: Born Again: Our New Life in Christ
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BIBLE VERSES REFERENCEDIN THIS EPISODE
For a list of Bible verses referenced in this episode of the podcast, please visit its page on our website:
Podcast 62: “The Right Mindset for Coming to the Bible”
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https://TheChristianFaith.org/
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https://thechristianfaith.org/subscribe/
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RECORDING
This edition of the program was recorded on Friday, 22 September 2023 in Chicago, Illinois