Key Life Network

Narrator: Will I get what I deserve? The answer to that and other questions on Key Life.

This is Key Life, dedicated to the message that the only people who get any better are those who know that if they don't get any better, God will still love them anyway. That teaching raises a lot of questions. So here's author and seminary professor Steve Brown, along with Pete Alwinson from Forge Truth with answers from the Bible that will make you free.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. I bet.

Pete Alwinson: Hey, Steve, how are you doing? It's Friday.

Steve Brown: Yeah. And then we're doing this again.

Pete Alwinson: I know.

Steve Brown: You know, I think we've answered every question that anybody in the universe could ever ask. I mean, we've been doing it 30 years.

Pete Alwinson: Steve, we're not that old. I mean, we're not that old.

Steve Brown: You're not, I am.

Pete Alwinson: We're not. No.

Steve Brown: Listen, that's Pete Alwinson. Go to forgetruth.com for some really good stuff. Pete's ministry is absolutely exploding. Lives are being changed, radically changed by God's grace and by the truth.

If you want to find out about it, check it out. We are going to talk about either this Friday or next Friday, the subject of awakening and revival in answer to a question that was asked by a listener. But Pete is on the cutting edge of that. I mean, he's seeing it happen with young men in ways, and it's happening all over America.

So, you want to find out about some of that, great podcast, go to forgetruth.com. As you know, Pete comes in every Friday, and we answer your questions. I care about it, but I really love your questions. I take them seriously, and we both take you seriously.

You can ask a question anytime you want. Just call 1-800-KEYLIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433. Follow the instructions, ask your question, and sometimes we put your voice on the air. Or you can send your question to Key Life Network, Post Office Box 5000, Maitland, Florida 32794. Key Life Canada, Post Office Box 28060, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 6J8.

You can email your questions to steve@keylife.org. If you can help us financially, I promise that God will bless you with a new car and a new house and health and wisdom and a happy family life.

You can't see Pete, but he's blushing and shaking his head. I was being facetious. I will not promise that. But I'll promise you one thing, we'll use every dime to glorify God. So if you can help us, please do. Those addresses and network links are places where you could do that. Pete, lead us in prayer and then we'll get to these questions.

Pete Alwinson: You got it. Let's pray together. What a what a great joy, Father, to come into your presence and to be able to call the God of the universe our Father. We thank you that you created us, that you provide for us. Then you redeemed us, Lord Jesus, that you're the savior of the world, you're our savior.

Holy Spirit, you bring us the comfort, the very work of Christ into our hearts. Encourage us, teach us, and hold on to us. So as your people, we praise you. We are we are so thankful for who you are, for the changes that you've made in our life. Lord, this is not a perfect world, we know. We need your perfect power. Lord, give us grace and mercy in our marriages.

Would you heal our marriages? Would you heal our families, Lord, and bring the gospel of grace into them? May you raise up men to lead their families and and and wives that want leadership. May you may you bring just the the godly love of Christ into our homes. Raise up great children who outlast us in bringing your name to the world.

Lord, we do pray for our churches and our pastors and and and staffs and elders and deacons. Lord, we thank you for them. We ask that you'd be with them in a powerful way this weekend. Lord, fill them with your grace. We, your church, as we gather together, we could enjoy the gospel of truth and find the joy of giving praise and honor to your name. We've got we've got so many needs. You know them, and we bring them to you now. And be with us in this Q&A time now. We pray in Jesus' strong name. Amen.

Steve Brown: Amen. All right, let's first go to our phone lines.

Guest (Male): Hey Steve and Pete. I found another Bible verse that keeps me up at night. Second Corinthians 5:10. I'm reading from the NIV, the nearly inspired version. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. That sounds terrible. Can you please explain this one for me? Thank you much.

Steve Brown: Well, you have the wrong translation. If you have the right one, you're in serious trouble.

Pete Alwinson: Huh.

Steve Brown: Actually, that is a troubling, that's a troubling passage.

Pete Alwinson: Yep.

Steve Brown: A lot of people have questions, and I struggle with it. You've got to start, though, at the bottom line. What is the story of salvation that runs from Genesis to Revelation?

Pete Alwinson: Mhm.

Steve Brown: It's God's mercy and his grace. Before our sin. The heart is deceitful above all things. It's desperately corrupt. If anybody says he doesn't sin, he's a liar. It just goes on and on.

Pete Alwinson: Right.

Steve Brown: And then you read Galatians and Romans, and you begin to see what this thing is about. Martin Luther said, we're great sinners, we have a great savior.

Pete Alwinson: Mhm.

Steve Brown: Now that, you got to have, put that in your pipe and smoke it, and then we can talk about this passage.

Pete Alwinson: That's the that's the basis, right?

Steve Brown: Okay.

Pete Alwinson: Yeah, it is.

Steve Brown: That's the whole basis. Start there. You let and you let the entirety of the Bible, this is a hermeneutical principle. Let the entirety of the Bible inform, give testimony, and define whatever passage you read.

Pete Alwinson: That's right.

Steve Brown: Okay.

Pete Alwinson: So so the analogy of faith, scripture interprets scripture. And so we know we know that that as Revelation says there's Heaven is a place where no tears, no no no crying, none of that.

Steve Brown: That's right.

Pete Alwinson: So you're right. That's the starting point. I I think sometimes, and you check me on heresy on this, Steve. I I think sometimes in some of Paul's letters, when he's dealing with difficult people and and and difficult circumstances, even like Hebrews, we we're not sure if Hebrews was Paul or not, but but

Steve Brown: It's similar in terms of the way it teaches.

Pete Alwinson: That's right. That's right. Because they he's warning, whoever wrote Hebrews is warning them not to go back to Judaism. And Paul is dealing with a with a difficult church.

Steve Brown: Oh, yeah.

Pete Alwinson: And so there are a lot of times there are warnings that he puts into this. And I think he's trying to hold them back from some of the bad behavior that we see in first first Corinthians. So, you know, is there going to be this big screen where all of our sins are put up there like the movie showed and and and I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't think that's that's not consistent with the work of Christ.

Steve Brown: Because it sounds like condemnation.

Pete Alwinson: It does.

Steve Brown: But it that doesn't bother me. I I know your sins are worse than mine. So when we stand there, you're going to have to you're going to be blushing more than I am. They won't even notice me.

Pete Alwinson: Right. I think you're right. You know?

Steve Brown: Seriously. I really think that what we make a big deal out of here is not a big deal there.

Pete Alwinson: Right, I think.

Steve Brown: In fact, it is the stuff of praise and worship and adoration for what's been done on our behalf.

Pete Alwinson: That's right. That's right. And he says in the verse before, because of all the work of Christ, we have as our ambition whether at home or absent to be pleasing to him. We do. Grace makes you want to be good.

Steve Brown: Yeah.

Pete Alwinson: It does make us good. It does make us better and better and better. Um and and and so just this whole idea that there really is justice, a judgment seat of God.

Steve Brown: Yeah.

Pete Alwinson: Um but but it's not one we have to worry about. But it but there it's cautionary that you know, for those that want to say, I'll go ahead and sin, you can confess it. No big deal. Yeah, it is a big deal to think that way as a Christian. We don't think that way.

Steve Brown: In fact, when a person thinks that way, I doubt salvation.

Pete Alwinson: Yeah.

Steve Brown: Because I don't believe that comes from God's spirit.

Pete Alwinson: No. No.

Steve Brown: So it's a troubling passage. Yes. What Pete said is very true. Yes. So, go back to sleep.

Pete Alwinson: We don't have to worry.

Steve Brown: You don't worry about it.

Pete Alwinson: That's right. And it was keeping him up at night. So brother, thank you for bringing it up, but I think.

Steve Brown: You're fortunate to know us that we fix it. We're better. We're better than sleeping pills.

Steve Brown: Okay, this is an email. If the Jews didn't have the death penalty in order to put Jesus to death, what about what they did to Stephen?

Pete Alwinson: Yeah.

Steve Brown: And for that matter, Paul and Barnabas.

Pete Alwinson: That that's a really good biblical, theological, but historical question too.

Steve Brown: Yeah.

Pete Alwinson: Because they did have the death penalty, but under the Romans, they did not have the the freedom to utilize it.

Steve Brown: That's right.

Pete Alwinson: So how I see it, um clear this up, but the way I see it is I think that that with Jesus, it it he was too big a figure to do that. He they couldn't do it with Jesus. Even though they wanted to. Stephen, it was kind of in the moment and Stephen was not a big fish. So when they killed him, they got away with it.

Steve Brown: And and maybe there was a clandestine kind of thing, you know, under under the radar. And and Rome decided pretty much to leave the Jews alone. You know, they're they can be a mean bunch, and they uh they struggled with Jerusalem and with the Jews. And so they knew that some of these things went on, but they were not necessarily going to spend a lot of time.

Steve Brown: And I loved what you said like Jesus was a big deal.

Pete Alwinson: I think you're right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, with Jesus was just too big. The movement was too big with Jesus.

Steve Brown: Yeah.

Pete Alwinson: They couldn't do it and get away with it.

Steve Brown: So that's I think that that's a great answer to that. Could you please No, we don't. I've got a great question, but it'll take eight books to even touch it. So I'm going to put it off. You want to sing for us?

Pete Alwinson: No. No, that that would be terrible. We we love our listeners too much.

Steve Brown: For that. You could pray a little bit longer prayer, and we could work this out.

Pete Alwinson: Don't we have great listeners? I and I never get to say it, but thank you. Thank you for being a part of what you do and keeping Key Life.

Steve Brown: Oh, we do. We appreciate you put up with us. And I know we're offensive sometimes, but you know our hearts. And in our hearts, we more than anything, as Pete said earlier, more than anything in this world, we want to please Jesus. Sometimes we're not good at it. Other times, not half bad. Hey, Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.