 Welcome to Hard Questions, where we gather pastors together to take on your tough questions and answer them right from the Bible. I'm Tom Hollis, the moderator, and today our panelists include Dr. William Marglaise, Bethany Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Ray Hypo Providence Presbyterian Church in Robinson Township, Pete Jacoloni, South Hills Assembly Guide Church, Bethel Park, PA, Anthony Gilbert, pastor of another level in the North Hills area. Well, pastors, I always appreciate you coming and being with us today. And we're going to take on your questions from the hotline. We love the hotline questions, so let's dive right in with our first one. My question is, and it refers to Hebrews chapter 6, is it possible to lose your salvation? If you could please answer that question. Can you willingly relinquish your salvation through some act? Okay, and we'll need to read Hebrews chapter 6 here, but let's start with Jay. You want me to read it here? Yeah. It says in verse 4, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put them to an open shame. Okay. All right. So, you know, for me, I know we're going to have some, we're going to be split down the aisle on this one here. On this aisle. I love each other. I love each other. I love each other. It's all good. You know, there's so many examples of, using this scripture, people that have tasted the word of God, you know, at the time of this recording, I'm sure you guys probably have seen in the news with Bishop Carlton Pearson and how he's on his deathbed at this very moment and how he had come on and given a platform to so many different men of God, preached in a seat, soul-saved, lives touched, I mean, believed, grew up in church from the time, I think at five years old he preached his first sermon and then in the, what was it, early 2000s, changed his whole doctrine and started preaching that there's no hell and that basically everybody is going to be saved. And this was a guy clearly loved the Lord but had fallen away. I mean, there's so many people that have had that. So when you look at the questions, it says if they do it. Well, obviously, if there's an if, there's an if there. If they fall away. Well, if they fall away, they can fall away. You know, you take a look at people that were chosen, like whether it was Judas that was in Jesus' inner circle. I mean, you take a look at Saul who was chosen by God. But then by the time he was done and died, and the Bible says God gave Saul another heart. But then after that, he ends up worshiping witches. You know, so, I mean, you take a look at so many areas where the Bible warns where we have to be careful. Now, I do not believe if you commit one sin, you're going to go down. I believe it's a series of things that you will do that can sear your conscience and cause you to turn away and eventually become even a reprobate after you have been saved. So that is my stance on it. I know we don't have a whole lot of time. If we have time, I'll come back with some more. We've got lots of time. We've got eternity. We've got eternity here. I'm going to let Pete answer. Well, you know, and again, I want to say before this really gets going, I respect everybody at this table. We love y'all. But I am dogmatic on this. You know, Jesus taught that no man that puts his hands to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. Peter talks about as a dog returns to its vomit. And then like Jay said, there's many, many more scriptures. Hebrews chapter three, it's a warning to the believers of today if the Old Testament believers turned away because of unbelief. Not the way this game was played in the glass. Right. So I really believe how does that take place? When does that take place? I'm sure all of us here at this table have seen mighty men and mighty women of God that proclaim God, live for God, had great wonders take place in their life of God. Tom, you talked about it many times. A dear friend of yours was in it, but then came to a place in their life that they just for some reason turned back on God. Good point. Okay, right? Yeah, I agree that that happens, that people who seem to be converted see him underline that word and can live outwardly. I think, you know, you guys mentioned Judas. Jesus said Judas was a devil from the beginning when he chose him. He was a devil. He knew that, you know, and so you can outwardly do a lot of things. And even here in Hebrews six, and I do think Hebrews six is the strongest place where it looks like maybe you could lose your salvation. I don't think there's another Hebrews 10. Sometimes there's some other places, but Hebrews six, I think makes the best case. But why doesn't it ever just say those who are saved, you know, he who was saved, he who believed in Jesus, he who was given a new heart. It doesn't say that it says enlightened, which many people are enlightened by the word. It tasted the heavenly gift. Probably in that context referred to they were going to communion become partakers of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit does pour out gifts. Judas healed people. We know that when they all came back, we can, you know, even the demons are subject. They didn't say, except for you Judas, you couldn't do anything. They all could. The gifts are different from the fruit. The fruit comes only from converted people, you know, all this stuff and then tasted the good word of the God to come the powers of the age to be able to see miracles and all that if they fall away. Now it does say it's impossible, right? So if this is someone losing their salvation, let's get rid of the idea of recommitting to Christ. This says it's impossible. So if you lose your salvation, you can never get it back according to this text. But this text isn't talking about losing your salvation because if you go down a little further to verse 9, he says, but beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you. Yes, the things that accompany salvation. So all these other things don't accompany salvation because the author of Hebrews was confident of better things. So even to the people he was writing about, warning them things that accompany salvation are yours. Therefore, you're not going to do this. But I think these warnings are used by God to keep us. You know, when I'm warned by God, that's how his word works in me. And if I'm a new creation, he who began a good work will be faithful to complete it. And I think that's our confidence. If it wasn't for that, if I was free to fall away, I guarantee you I would have fallen away a long time ago. God has kept my heart so that I don't fall away. It's his strength that keeps me, not my choice. But why warn, then, if it can't be done? I wouldn't give my kids a warning of something that's not going to happen. I guess from your standpoint, why would you need a warning? I think that's the means that God uses. The word of God is the means. And so the warning is effectual to the elect. To the non-elect, none of it is effectual. I think where the struggle is, is like Pete said, we've all known saved, Godly, walking with Jesus' people that I'm sure you've known those people. I'm convinced either they were never saved or they're backsliding and in the last moments they will come back to Christ. But, you know, remember what Jesus says when he separates them from the sheep from the goats? He says to those on the left, you know, because they say, didn't we do this? Didn't we cast out demons? Didn't we live for you? Didn't we do all this? What does Jesus say? I never knew you. He doesn't say, I knew you for 30 years and you fell away. I knew you for 15 minutes. And I never knew any one of you that are cast into hell. You were never really mine. Okay, very, very good points. Pascales. Well, the passage in Hebrews, first of all, you got to ask the question, who was the book of Hebrews written to? It was written to Jewish people. Now, eventually it gets to every believer. But first and foremost, it was written to Hebrew people. So I believe that it's talking to individuals who were Jewish people who had been convicted. They had heard the word. They participated in all the feasts and the festivals. All these things point to Christ. Man, they had tasted the heavenly gifts. They had, the Holy Spirit had convicted their hearts. The Holy Spirit had worked on them. They had everything that they need. They just needed to come that one more step and give their heart to Christ. And they didn't do it. I mean, as you read through the book of Hebrews, it becomes evident that these individuals were trying to go back to Judaism. They were trying to incorporate the law. And he says that they had tasted the gift. They had been partakers of the Spirit. And they fell away. That's the key for me. They fell away. From what they had. From all that they had went through, they fell away from that. Hebrews would call it falling away if it was just that they had showed up at a couple of meetings. Yeah, where'd they fall from? They fell from the place that they had received all these riches, these spiritual riches. And they didn't step over the line to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. You know, they didn't embrace Christ. So you get to renew them again to repentance. So that meant for it to be again, that meant that they had to be repentive. We got to stop. Okay. Because I got to take a break. But it's a good... I'm glad you're wrestling with this. It's a good question. And let me say this. I always say this when this question comes up. Don't go anywhere near to losing your salvation. Seek God, stay with God at all times. We can all agree on that. We're coming back in 60 seconds when we ask, did God create hell? We'll be right back. Welcome back to Hard Questions. We are taking your calls from the Hard Question Hotline. If you would like to leave us your question, we would really appreciate that. We encourage you to call 412-349-4326. We'd love to answer your question on the air. Let's go to the next one. Did God create hell? And if so, why? All right. Well, Pete, that's an interesting question. Colossians 1.16 says this. For by him, all things were created. So everything that is, it was created. And it goes on to say, all things that were created there in heaven, that are on earth, visible and invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through him and for him. And then over in Matthew chapter 25 and 41, now we go right for the bullseye. Then he will say to those on the left hand, depart from me, you curse, in the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. So the only one who could prepare that would be God. Yeah, yeah, good point. Pastor Glaze. You know, I would ask the question, at what point did God prepare it? You know, did he prepare it before the foundation of the world? Or did he prepare it once Satan fell? You know, that to me is, I mean, there's no question as to the fact that God did create it. But when did he create it? You know, was it something that, I mean, God is omniscient. He knows everything. So in his original creation, did he create that place? Or did he create it after Satan fell? And to go along with that, in Ephesians doesn't say that Christ was slain before the foundations of the earth. So if we just run a little parallel there, maybe hell was already created before. Yeah. You know, probably the timeline thing doesn't really matter in eternity. But you know, inheriting the question, I don't know if this was the callers, you know, if he was asking this, but I think somewhat inherent in this question is usually why is God sent anybody to hell anyway? I mean, why did God do that? Why does God create the Passover? I mean, hell is really the wrath of God. I mean, that's what we're talking about. God is holy. God absolutely hates sin. And because he is perfectly good, he is infinitely angry and furious with sinners. Many scriptures that talk about God's anger and God's wrath. And in fact, that's what we are saved from by Jesus Christ. I mean, there's several verses that say, he actually saves us from the wrath of God. We don't think about that. We always say like sort of shorthand, he saves us from our sins and he does, but our sins wouldn't do anything with us or for us or against us, except that God is holy and will punish sin. So if God would just let sin go, and I wouldn't have to worry about my sins. If he would just say, ah, you know, I'm a big God. I'm love. So go ahead and sin. I'll forgive you. If he had no holiness and wrath, we wouldn't have to worry about sin. So that's why there is a hell. And I think there are several verses that say that. Now, he himself, Revelation 149, he himself shall also drink before this. It says, if anyone worships the beast as him as receives his mark, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone. That's hell. Hell is the wrath of God. Now, whether or not there is literal fire and brimstone, I can tell you this, whatever the wrath of God is, if it wasn't literally fire and brimstone, you would actually want literal fire instead of the wrath of God because literal fire would be so much less than the wrath of God. God is holy and that's what we're talking about. He's going to punish sin. So, you know, it's not a bad thing. I mean, sometimes people think, oh, hell is like this bad place. God creates hell to punish the wicked, to punish Satan. And who does he want to send there? Only Satan in the fallen angels. It was never created for that. That's who it was prepared for. The Bible says he desires that none would perish. You know, when you look at hell too, I was reading in Revelation 20, it actually calls it the lake of fire. I think one of the unique things that says that death and Hades are actually cast into the lake of fire after the great white throne judgment in Revelation chapter 20. So, I also think too, a lot of people call it hell, which it is called hell, but also in Revelation, it calls it the lake of fire and that isn't unique. That death itself is actually put in there as well, along with Hades, which is the holding place now. So, I just... It's been a bit defeated, right? Yeah, so it's something else when you really look at all of that there, but God just answered a point though, God is definitely the one that created it. Yeah, yeah, good point. And God does not want you to go there or any of your loved ones. He wants them to be saved. So, all right. Let's go on to our next question. I was wondering if one of you gentlemen would answer or interpret Proverbs 12, 21, no harm befalls the righteous. Thank you. Thank you for the question and just to read the entire verse, no harm overtakes the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble. Ray? Yes. And I think her question would be, it sounds like nothing bad can ever happen to a Christian, we would say, the righteous. There's a couple of things I want to say about this verse. First of all, the new King James, no grave trouble will be fall or will overtake the righteous. ESV, no ill. King James, no evil. New American standard or NIV, no harm as she read. It's the word of, then in Hebrew, it can mean all of those things. It can mean disaster, falsehood, sin. So, it's a pretty broad word. But the second half that you read, Tom, I think really helps us understand. So, what does God say? He's saying if you're a Christian, nothing bad's ever going to happen to you. In a sense, yes. In a sense, that is what he's saying. Now, let me explain it. No grave trouble will overtake the righteous, New King James, but the wicked will be filled with evil. All right? Overtake can mean happen, befall. You know, I think the best word there would be afflict, because it's literally that those consonants for the word afflict in Hebrew. So, I would translate it. No harm, no ill, no grave trouble will afflict the righteous, but the wicked will be filled with evil. We have those two phrases paralleling each other. The wicked will be filled with evil. No grave trouble, no harm will afflict the righteous. Ultimately, I'm going to go to Romans 828 on this. God will cause all things to work for your good. At the end of the day, whether I get cancer, whether I get fired, whether somebody beats me up, murders me on the street, God's going to work that for my good if I'm a child of God, if I'm a believer. Literally, ultimately, every bad thing that happens to me in this world, there will be rewards. God will make it up. So, it is true. No harm will eternally, ultimately befall you. God will turn everything, even evil things in your life for your ultimate good. Good, good word, Pete. Well, how can you dispute that? I mean, I agree with what you said. Again, it says many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. Because, again, there's teachings out there saying that because I come to know Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, I won't have hardships. I won't battle sickness. I won't battle disease. And that's just not true. I mean, look at one of the greatest prophets that ever lived. We have Elijah, and we have Elisha doing double the miracles. And Elisha dies, the Bible says, of a sickness known of man. So, that would refute this philosophy that the believer, nothing bad will happen to believers. Well, believers are martyred. I think that's what the person is asking. It's interesting. Proverbs 13-6 is one of my favorites. Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, but wickedness subverts the sinner. It's kind of along the same lines. Dr. Glaze. Well, and I would go to 1 Peter, where Peter talks about if you suffer, you know, don't suffer as an evil doer, you know? And I think that, you know, when you look at that verse that we suffer, you know, let's be honest, as Christians, we suffer. I know I've had suffering in my life. And I know right now, you know, my wife, she had a stroke and, you know, she's coming back now. So, you know, I know what the suffering is. And so, you know, what I believe is being addressed there is don't suffer as an evil doer that the righteous won't be, like if you're an evil doer, you're going to be punished and the punishment will be deserved. But as a Christian, you know, if you're suffering, it's not because God is punishing you because you're an evil doer. You know, that, you know, God has put His grace around us to protect us and keep us safe, so that even if we do punish or are punished, that we are in the grace of God. Yeah, you know, I think that the caller is looking at this and saying, wait a minute, this seems like no harm will overtake me. Can I trust in that, that no harm will overtake me because life's not like that? Also, I think real quickly too, it's saying the trouble will overtake, but then it's saying the wicked will be filled. So, I think it's also important to look at those two things too. There's outward and inward things, too. So, when righteous, there won't be outward things that'll take you out, but with evil people, their inward will destroy themselves just because it's coming from within them. Yeah, yeah, real good. But we're up against a break here. When we come back in 60 seconds, we ask, how do you comfort someone who is dying? Well, let's go right to our next audio question. Hello, my name is Dave and I'm a hospice chaplain and my question is, when I am ministering to a person who has memory issues or communication issues, how can I minister to them without knowing whether they are believers or not? Thank you. Well, first of all, Dave, thank you for the work you do. Thank you so much for your heart and the kindness and the work that you do. Pastor Pete. You know, years ago, a medical doctor came to me. I was visiting a man that was in a coma and I'll never forget it. I was just right out of Bible college and he said to me, he said, you talk to that person as if you know that you know they're hearing you and every after that doctor pulled me aside no matter who I saw in a coma. And I remember on one particular occasion when the person came out of the coma, they said the only thing I remember was your voice and the only thing I remember was what you were telling me about Jesus. So I would encourage this individual whether you have physical signs or no physical signs, share the word, speak it out loud and just believe that they've received it. I can't think of anything more that you can do. I think that's a good counsel. You know, I would also say that because, you know, in the question he asked, you know, not knowing whether they were a believer or not, I would say, assume that they're not, you know, right? And speak to, I mean, if you know the person and you know that they love the Lord and, you know, that's one thing. But if you don't know whether I just visited a person in the hospital a couple of weeks ago who was in the coma and I didn't know whether the person knew the Lord or not. And so I just went through the plan of salvation and I prayed with him. And that's, you know, that's where it was at. And then, you know, the lady went home to be with the Lord and come to find out afterwards that she did know the Lord. But, you know, I just made the assumption that she didn't because, you know, you don't want to go into that situation thinking that a person is right with God and they're not. Yeah. Wow. Any points over here? I think I don't know if it's going a little bit too, if I'm understanding the question exactly, but if someone has communication, maybe they can't verbalize, but if they can blink, squeeze my hand, I think that I've done that before. We're like, hey, if you want to accept Christ blink twice for yes, you know, and I've had it where they'll just look at you. Yeah. And, but they'll blink on other things. So, you know, so it gives you that opportunity there. So it's just finding creative ways to be able to see if they can communicate and then never underestimate, like Pastor Pete said, what somebody may know, they may be hearing you, give them the opportunity. You may get to heaven and say, you didn't know what's happening there, but I accepted Christ right then and there in my mind. So just go with it and leave the results up to Lord because He's the judge of all the earth and He'll do right. Yes. The only thing I would add is to pray for them. You know, they don't have to hear you and they don't have to be able to talk to you for you to pray for them and God can answer those prayers. So, I mean, I always pray, I assume like Dr. Glace said that they're not a believer. I pray for salvation. I pray for them to really believe in Christ, to really know Him, even how much time they have left to really repent. And I think, you know, on that level, you don't need to worry even if they can understand because God can change their heart by answering your prayers. And so I would encourage you, always pray even silently if there are other people around. Be silently praying for this person that God would save them. You know, what's interesting is that one of the last areas for people to lose cognitively is whatever responds to music. People respond to music really, really well, even in a coma situation, sometimes where they're hearing it. So, Dave, again, thank you so much for what you do and God is blessed by what you are blessing others with. Just continue to trust in Him that that Word of God is getting through. Well, we like to end the program with the scripture and today we go to Psalms and Pastor Glace, I'm going to get you a quick take on this, okay? May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. That is Psalm 33-22. Amen. That Word of Hope, you know, I know a lot of times it's the Word of Hesed, which is God's steadfast love. And you know, God holds on to us and we hold on to God. But sometimes we let go and it's good to know that God keeps on holding on to us. That's why our hope is that when we can't hold on, that He holds on to us. I love that word steadfast, right? I mean, I know unfailing is another word. Anybody else, any thoughts? The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. Yes, His mercies are new every morning. Well, we hope you enjoyed today's program. We want to hear from you. You can email us your questions to hardquestions at ctvn.org or call into our hotline 412-349-4326. Look, 99% of these questions all come from you guys. In fact, all these questions come from you guys. So please send them to us. Let us know what's on your heart, the portions of the Bible you don't understand. God is good and He is going to bring you into all truth as you seek and read that word of God and trust in Him.