Program 103: Creationist? Or Evolutionist?
Which are you?

Salvation is a free gift that is instantaneously available the very moment you accept it by faith.

Welcome to WLC Radio, a subsidiary of World’s Last Chance Ministries, an online ministry dedicated to learning how to live in constant readiness for the Savior's return.

For two thousand years, believers of every generation have longed to be the last generation. Contrary to popular belief, though, Christ did not give believers “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, he repeatedly warned that his coming would take even the faithful by surprise. Yahushua urgently warned believers to be ready because, he said, “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” [Matthew 24:44]

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

* * *Part 1: (Miles & Dave)

Miles Robey: Hello and a very warm welcome to another program on World’s Last Chance Radio. I’m your host, Miles Robey.

Dave Wright: And I’m Dave Wright. Thank you for making us a part of your day!

Miles: One of the greatest privileges a Christian has is to call upon the name of the Lord. We don’t have to sacrifice a chicken; we don’t have to self-mutilate, or go on long pilgrimages in order to commend ourselves to our Maker. We can come to him, just as we are, call on Him, and He will always hear our prayer.

Dave: It’s a tremendous privilege, isn’t it?

Miles: It is, and one thing that makes it even more meaningful is to be honored with the knowledge of what the Lord’s name actually is, since “lord” is simply a generic title. Our heavenly Father’s personal name is Yahuwah, or Yah. It comes from the Hebrew verb of being, hayah.

Dave: I never tire of hearing about the divine name. The fact that it is a verb of being has such depths of meaning. He is the self-existent source of all “being.” It fits that His name would be a, or really, all, the verbs of being: am, is, are, was, were—they all apply to Him.

Miles: It’s beautiful; faith inspiring, really. Especially when you do the word study and discover that hayah was used in the Creation of the world.

I looked this up in an Interlinear Bible the other day. In English, we’ve got tenses: future, past, and present. So, for example, in Genesis one, we read, “Let there be light. There was light.” But in the Hebrew, it was much more direct: “Light, hayah. Light, hayah.”

Dave: They used the same word twice?

Miles: Yeah! You know, we would say, “Light be; light was.” But in Hebrew it’s “Light, hayah. Light, hayah.” It’s powerful because hayah is the root word of the Creator’s own name.

Dave: That’s why believers are urged to call on His name! You combine a verb of being with your need, and it becomes transformed into a powerful promise you can claim!

Miles: I just love that.

The Saviour’s name incorporates the Father’s name. It’s Yahushua, which is a statement of who he is. He is “Yahuwah’s salvation.” That’s what Yahushua means.

Dave: You mentioned Creation week and that’s sort of what I wanted to talk about today. Creation versus evolution.

So. Tell me, Miles, are you a creationist? Or an evolutionist?

Miles: Well … creationist, of course! I’m a Christian. I’m a creationist.

Dave: There’s actually no “of course” about it. A lot of people who claim to be Christians also believe in evolution. In fact, there was a Belgian mathematician and astronomer who came up with what he called the “hypothesis of the primeval atom.”

Miles: The “hypothesis of the primeval atom”?

Dave: Better known as the Big Bang theory. Besides being a professor of physics, he was also … wait for it … a Roman Catholic priest. So, yeah. There are Christians who believe in evolution. Do you?

Miles: No. Well, why don’t you define what you mean by “creationist” versus “evolutionist”? Do I believe we came from primordial pond sludge? No. Do I believe that some species have changed and adapted over the millennia? Sure!

How are you defining the terms?

Dave: A creationist is someone who believes the universe and everything in it was created by the power and spoken word of Yah. An evolutionist would be someone who believes life on earth came into being through a progressive development that took billions of years.

Miles: Well then, I’m a creationist. Unquestionably. Scripture is very clear on just how the world was made. Psalm 33 says:

By the word of Yahuwah the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast. [See Psalm 33:6 and 9.]

That’s what the Bible teaches, and that’s what I believe. Are you going to tell me you have monkeys in your family tree?

Dave: Well, as a matter of fact …

Miles: Every family tree has a few “coconuts” on it. Why not a few monkeys, too?

Dave: Right! Well, just so you know, I’m a creationist as well, and for the very reason you gave. But I want to use this as an illustration of an important point many people stumble over. They may claim to be creationists in the strictest sense of the word, they may even believe it, but when it comes to their spiritual lives, they’ll revert to being an evolutionist.

Miles: Okay, you’ve lost me. What do you mean? I’m not seeing how this applies.

Dave: All right. Let’s back up. Turn to the first chapter of Romans. Here Paul is explaining that when the world was made, Yahuwah deliberately designed His creation in such a way as to contain deep spiritual truths.

You have it? Okay. Read verse 20. Romans 1:20.

Miles: It says, quote: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead; so that they are without excuse.” Unquote.

Really quickly before you go on, what do you do with this use of the word, “godhead”? For those of you who’ve tuned in before, you know that at World’s Last Chance, we don’t believe Scripture teaches a three-in-one godhead. Soooo … what do you do with this verse?

Dave: It has to do with the version you’re reading from. Most other versions, even in other languages, use the word “deity” or “divinity.” Don’t stumble over one word selected by one group of translators.

All right. What this is saying, again, is that the things of Nature are designed specifically to teach us deep spiritual lessons. What the story of Creation teaches, is the magnificence of righteousness by faith.

Miles: How do you make that connection?

Dave: Genesis 1, verses 1 and 2. What does it say?

Miles: Uhhh … In the beginning, Elohim created the heaven and the earth.

Dave: Verse 2?

Miles: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

Dave: This is the perfect illustration of the mind and soul of the sinner. Jeremiah 17, verse 9 says: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”

Our minds, our souls are dark. But then Yahuwah brought forth His son, Yahushua.

Miles: The light that “shines in the darkness.” [John 1:5]

Dave: Exactly! Yahushua is the “Word of God.” The word of Yah spoken at Creation, shone light on the world. That same Word, received by faith, shines light into the human heart.

Miles: And that’s how we’re recreated into the divine image. The Creator is the RE-creator.

Dave: Yes. Now let me ask you something important. It’s not a trick question, but it is important: during Creation week when Yahuwah said, “Let there be light,” light hayah, when did light appear?

Miles: Right then!

Dave: Not 12 hours later? You know, there are people that believe the Biblical day started at sunset.

Miles: Yeah. Scripture actually reveals the day started at dawn.

Dave: Okay, so when Yahuwah said, “Let there be light,” did the light appear five minutes later? A minute later? When?

Miles: I never really thought about it, but I guess I’d have to say it appeared right when He said the word.

Dave: Yes! Because if you say that the light appeared even a minute later, you are an evolutionist! You believe that the world was created through a lengthy process, rather than by the word of Yah.

Miles: Huh. Again, I’ve never really thought of it that way, but I can see your point.

Dave: Now let’s apply that to our spiritual life. Evolution strikes right at the heart of one of the most powerful, faith-inspiring truths in Scripture, and that is: whatever Yah says is so. Instantly.

Turn over to Matthew 8. This is the story of one of Yahushua’s miracles and it perfectly illustrates this point. Remember, Yahushua came to reveal the Father. The Father worked through Yahushua, so what Yahushua did and said is what the Father would do and say if He were human.

You have it? Go ahead and read verses 1 to 3 of Matthew 8.

Miles:

When he had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Then Yahushua put out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Dave: When was his leprosy cleansed?

Miles: Immediately.

You know, I once heard a sermon on this. The preacher went into some … quite disgusting detail, describing the Saviour’s fingers sinking deep into the rotting flesh. It was gross.

Anyway, that’s not what happened, is it? Verse two says Yahushua “touched him, saying.” That means he touched the leper while saying “be cleansed.” I can see him stepping forward and reaching out while saying, “I am willing,” and then as he says, “be cleansed” Yahushua touches him, but he didn’t touch a leper, did he? His word, the word of power he had received from Yah, cleansed the leper instantly.

Dave: You’re right. And here’s another point: it was against the law of Moses to touch a leper. If Yahushua had touched leprous skin, he would himself have been declared unclean. He would have had to go through laborious cleansing rituals, and been inspected by the priests. And you know they would have leaped at the opportunity to get rid of Christ by simply declaring him unclean. It would have been a very simple way to banish him from society and destroy his influence with the people. But he didn’t touch a leper. He touched a man that had been healed instantly by the word of Yah.

Now—

Miles: Hold on just a second. I don’t want to rush past this point too quickly. My mind’s starting to leap and make connections and applications here to my spiritual life that are really exciting. But I want to spend just a moment on the word of Yah having power.

We’ve discussed it before, but I think it’s appropriate to go over again for anyone joining us for the first time.

Dave: Absolutely. Uh, yeah, go ahead and turn over to Isaiah 55. Miles is right, folks. The word of Yah spoke the universe into existence. One of the ways we refer to Yahuwah is to call Him the Almighty. And He is! His very breath is so powerful, so filled with life-giving energy, that when He says a word, that word contains the power to do the thing spoken.

That’s what it says in Isaiah 55. You have that?

Miles: Yes. Isaiah 55, verses 10 and 11. Here, Yahuwah is using an analogy. He’s saying that His word will go out and accomplish whatever He says. Just like rain is the active agent that causes the earth to produce, His word works the same way. It’s a really powerful passage and one of my favorites.

It says:

For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It [My word] shall not return to Me void,
But it [My word] shall accomplish what I please,
And it [My word] shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Dave: This “breath” is translated into our modern Bibles as “spirit.” If you have access to a concordance and you look up the word “spirit” in the Bible, what you get is “breath.” From Genesis 1, where the “spirit of God moved over the surfaces of the waters” to John 3 where Yahushua is explaining justification to Nicodemus.

Why don’t you turn there? Nicodemus was a leader in Israel. I read somewhere that he was a member of the Sanhedrin. He understood deep spiritual concepts, so Yahushua was able to share with him thoughts he couldn’t with the masses.

Miles: I’ve got John 3.

Dave: All right, read verses 5 to 7.

Miles:

Yahushua answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of Yah. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Dave: The word translated “spirit” comes from the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word that is also translated spirit in the Old Testament and it means, again, breath. It is Yahuwah’s breath that gives power to His word. It’s what He breathed out over the surface of the waters at Creation when He said, “Let there be light.”

Miles: How about after his resurrection? When he first appeared to the disciples the evening after his resurrection, John 20:22 says: “He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

Dave: Same word. Yep. What Yahuwah is trying to do is to inspire our faith to trust in the power of His word.

Miles: Okay. We’re going to take a quick break and when we return, let’s talk about that some more. We’ll be right back.

* * *

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* * *Part 2: (Miles & Dave)

Dave: Okay. Back to what we were saying. Again, in all of this, Yahuwah is trying to inspire our faith to grasp that what He can do in the physical world, He can also do in the spiritual world.

This is huge, because this is how justification by faith works. Let’s take another look at Isaiah 55. I’d like you to read it again, but this time let’s start up at verse 6. Notice, the purpose of Yah explaining His word contains power is to inspire faith in the sinner.

Go ahead.

Miles:

Seek Yahuwah while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to Yahuwah,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon. [Verses 6 & 7]

Dave: This is the context in which we are told Yah’s word has the power to do what it says. As the True Witness declares in Revelation 3, we are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. But the creative force contained in the word of Yah has the power to change all of that and re-create us.

Read the next two verses.

Miles:

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says Yahuwah.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts. [Verses 8 & 9]

Dave: Yahuwah isn’t a vengeful god, out to punish and destroy. The desire of His heart is to save us! And how does He do that?

Miles:

For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. [Verses 10 & 11]

Dave: This is why Paul and Silas could tell the Philippian jailer, “Believe on the Lord Yahushua, the Christ, and you shall be saved.”

The very moment your mind assents to believe that Yahuwah has provided salvation through Yahushua, and you say, “Yes, I believe and I accept the merits of Christ’s blood, shed on my behalf,” that very moment you are justified.

Yahuwah takes the merits of Christ’s blood and credits them to your account. It covers all your past sins and you are forgiven.

Miles: But that’s not all, is it? I think most Christians are clear on this point. Yahushua died in our place. But there’s more.

Dave: There is! And this is what I want to inspire our listeners with: when you accept the gift of salvation, it’s not just the merits of Yahushua’s death that are credited to your account.

The merits of Yahushua’s sinless life are also credited to your account. Not only do you stand before Yah justified and blameless as though you had never sinned, but you stand before Him righteous, as though your whole life had been spent in perfect obedience to the divine will, just as Christ’s was.

This is justification by faith.

Miles: It’s so hope-inspiring. We don’t have to make ourselves better.

Dave: Which is good, because we can’t!

Miles: I know because I’ve tried. It doesn’t work.

It’s got to be a gift. And it is!

Give me just a second here to read Romans 5, verses one and two. This is describing our state before Yah, once we are justified. It says: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with Yahuwah through our Lord Yahushua Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of Yah.” Unquote.

Isn’t that beautiful? We have peace with Yah because of the gift of justification by faith.

Dave: Amen. The thing I want everyone to understand is how this impacts your daily life now. It’s not just for sins past. It’s for your current reality, this very moment.

You know, WLC Radio broadcasts around the world in, what is it now? Seven? Eight languages?

Miles: Nine, I think.

Dave: Well, obviously, we run into some issues between languages. In English, we have two words: justification and righteousness. This can cause confusion: two words; two different meanings, right?

Wrong. They both mean the same thing.

Miles: Yeah. They’re actually the same word in Greek; and Arabic, too, I heard.

Dave: “Righteousness” means, quite literally, right doing. And here is where we learn about sanctification.

When we accept Christ’s death on our behalf, we are justified. Just that fast. That very moment we stand before Yah as though we had never sinned. But something else happens, and that is sanctification.

A lot of people don’t understand what sanctification is.

Miles: I’ve got my favorite dictionary here. I just looked it up. The definition of sanctification is: “The act of making holy. In an evangelical sense, the act of God’s grace by which the affections of men are purified or alienated from sin and the world, and exalted to a supreme love to God.”

Dave: That’s what it says in the dictionary?

Miles: Yeah. Well, in my old 1828 edition, that’s what it says.

Dave: In other words, it’s a process.

Miles: Yeah. Yeah, that’s what it is.

Dave: Using that same dictionary, look up the word sanctify. What does it say?

Miles: Uhhh … “In a general sense, to cleanse, purify, or make holy.”

Dave: Okay. Great. Again, it’s a process, but it is a process that is still a gift. It’s not something we earn. Let’s take a quick look at Ezekiel 36. This is probably the clearest explanation in Scripture of how this process works.

When you’ve got it, read verses 25 to 27, would you please?

Miles: It says:

I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Dave: This is what Yahuwah does for us when He sanctifies us. Justification does not mean that we are suddenly inherently pure and sinless. Justification means that He declares us righteous. He accepts us as though we are righteous, and then He begins the process to purify and re-create us. That’s sanctification.

Miles: That’s the real beauty of justification. We don’t have to wait until we are sinless and holy to be declared righteous!

Dave: No! That’s Yah’s gift to us! But this is where people get confused. It’s so easy to slip into a salvation-by-works mentality without even realizing it. So let me ask you: when are you declared righteous? When you finally quit smoking?

Miles: No.

Dave: When you quit watching porn?

Miles: No.

Dave: When you quit losing your temper?

Miles: No. We’re declared righteous the moment we accept Yahushua’s sacrifice on our behalf. That’s justification by faith; it’s righteousness by faith.

Dave: I agree with you. But where Satan discourages a lot of people is with this idea that you’re not, in actuality, justified until you stop sinning, or until you start doing this, that, or the other.

Remember what we were saying about Yah’s word having the power to do what it says?

Miles: Yeah. Praise Yah! It’s a gift or we’d all be lost.

Dave: All right, let’s apply that to our Christian walk. This is how Satan lures people back into salvation by works, and they lose their faith.

See, if you believe that justification by faith starts you out on the Christian walk, but then it’s up to you to finish the job through daily devotions, that’s salvation by works, not faith.

Miles: Well, certainly we’re supposed to cooperate with Him, right?

Dave: Of course! Yah will never force our wills. We are to cooperate with Him. That is in the exercise of our will, though. Not by doing “works of righteousness.”

For example, take a mother who has a sick child. She’s been up and down all night long with a kid that’s throwing up all over the place and she still has to go to work the next day. She isn’t any less justified because she slept through her early alarm and didn’t have time for personal morning devotions.

Miles: True. I’ve noticed Yah’s much more understanding of our weaknesses than we are.

Dave: Another way Satan attacks a person’s faith is by giving him the impression that it is up to him to maintain that state of justification by resisting temptation.

Miles: Oh, I’ve fallen in that trap before. We all have our weaknesses where the devil has led us into sin over, and over, and over again. It’s easy to think that I need to somehow “prove” my repentance and my right to be justified by resisting temptation.

The problem with that mindset is, when I’m thinking that way, I try to resist in my own power. And sure, I may resist once or twice. Even a dozen times. But sooner or later the devil comes along and when I am at my weakest—maybe tired, or stressed about work, or whatever—I’ll eventually always fall if I’m resisting temptation in my own strength.

Dave: I hear you. And then, of course, Satan’s got us right where he wants us, and we start to question whether we’ve truly been justified or not. Our faith slips and it becomes that much easier for him to get us to sin again.

Miles: Speaking from my own experience, I think this is where justification by works comes in. We may not consciously think it, but it’s easy to slip into this mindset where, in an attempt to cooperate with Yah and purify our lives, we come up with this really long list of do’s and don’ts. And if we don’t adhere to that list, then we think we’re not justified, or at least, not justified any longer.

Dave: Using our earlier illustration, that is making justification a process of evolution, rather than an act of creative power. When Yahuwah declares us righteous, it is the same breath, the same source of creative power, that spoke the universe into existence!

You are justified and stand before Yah as though you had never sinned the instant you accept the gift of salvation by faith. Our faith needs to grasp this reality.

Miles: Remember the story of the centurion? He had a sick servant and asked Yahushua to heal him. The story is told in Matthew 8.

When the centurion asked Christ to heal the servant, Yahushua—gracious as ever—said, Sure! I’ll come heal him.

The centurion’s response is so inspiring. He said, Nah, you don’t need to do that. Just say it. Speak the word only and he’ll get well.

Dave: And Yahushua’s very next words were: That’s faith, and I haven’t found it anywhere else quite like this.

Thanks for bringing that up. You’re right. He had faith that the word of Yah was sufficient to heal his servant, and that is what Yahuwah wants us to understand, too.

When He declares you righteous, you are righteous. Sure, we’ll still make mistakes. We’ll still stumble and even fall, but through the process of sanctification that starts at the moment of justification, sin will become hateful to us.

Miles: That’s Yah writing His law on our hearts. Another story I like that demonstrates this is found in Matthew 9. It’s when they brought a paralytic to Yahushua. I just love the Saviour’s kind words. He said: “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven.”

That’s present tense! Your sins—ARE—forgiven. Not “They will be once you successfully resist temptation.” But ARE.

Dave: That’s the same with the woman who was caught in adultery. Yahushua told her: “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” [John 8:11] And the power to obey was contained within that very command!

Miles: I love that! Because, like you just said, once we’re justified, sin will become hateful to us. We won’t want to participate in anything that would bring dishonor to Yah.

Dave: And the power in Yah’s command is what gives us the strength to do that.

Well, we’re almost out of time, but let’s take a quick look at John 1. Would you read verses 12 and 13, please?

Miles: “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of Yah, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of Yah.”

Dave: We are not justified or sanctified by our own diligent efforts. Yes, we must exercise our freewill to choose salvation because Yah will never force our will. But salvation, first, and last, and always is a gift. Our transformation, which will be completed at glorification when Yahushua returns, is Yah’s gift as well, as He writes His law on our hearts.

I know we’re out of time, but turn very quickly to Ephesians 2. This is a very clear explanation of the process of sanctification, begun the moment of justification.

Ephesians 2, one to ten.

Miles:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

But Yah, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Yahushua, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Yahushua. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of Yah, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Yahushua for good works, which Yah prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Dave: Are you an evolutionist? Do you believe that you’ll be justified once you have proven how sorry you are by abstaining from sin a specific number of times?

Or are you a creationist, ready and willing to accept Yah’s gift of justification and sanctification right now?

Miles: May we all be creationists, willing to accept Yah’s gift.

* * *

You are listening to World's Last Chance Radio.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

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* * *Daily Mailbag (Miles & Dave)

Miles: Time for a question from our Daily Mailbag. This one is from Mexico! Have we had a question from Mexico before?

Dave: Uh … I can’t remember.

Miles: Did you know the largest pyramid in the world is found in Mexico?

Dave: It’s not the great pyramid of Giza?

Miles: Nope! It’s the Great Pyramid of Cholula in Mexico. I can’t pronounce its name in the native tongue, but it means “artificial mountain” and it’s gigantic. Giza may be taller, but Cholula is more massive. Its base is four times the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Ancient legends say it was built by giants.

Dave: Whew! It would have to be! So what question do we have from Mexico?

Miles: Well, Santino Losa of Durango says: “The Bible teaches that there is no consciousness after death and I accept that. However, recently my daughter read 1 Peter 3 where it talks about Yahushua preaching to the dead. How do we reconcile this with no consciousness after death?”

Dave: I love this question! There are a number of verses like this in the Bible that can be very confusing and this is one of them. I really enjoy having the chance to clarify what’s being meant and show that it does not, in fact, contradict what the Bible reveals about the state of mankind after death.

Miles: Let me break in here for just a moment, just so we’re clear. At WLC, we do not believe that humans have immortal souls. Paul states very clearly in 1 Timothy 6, verse 16, that only Yahuwah has immortality. Immortality is a gift that will be given the redeemed.

In the meantime, those who die, sleep in the grave.

Dave: Thanks, Miles. Do you have Ecclesiastes 9 there? Could you read verses 5 and 6?

Miles: Sure! It says: “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.”

Dave: Great. Thanks. So this is the dichotomy we’re dealing with here. On the one hand, Scripture is clear: “The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing.”

At the same time, Peter appears to claim that Yahushua went and preached to the dead. How do you reconcile these two apparently contradictory passages of Scripture?

Miles: I’m interested in hearing what you have to say, as well. Because I know that truth is not, in actuality, contradictory.

Dave: Let’s take a moment to read the precise passage Santino is talking about. Would you read it for us, please? It’s found in 1 Peter, chapter 3, verses 18 and 19.

Miles: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to Yah, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison.”

Dave: All right. This is the passage that some people use to “prove” the immortality of the soul, despite Paul’s clear statement that only Yah hath immortality. So, the first thing to do is understand that however this is to be interpreted, it’s not applying to the dead.

In Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, Solomon is explaining what happens when a person dies. He says, quote: “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to Yah who gave it.”

So, if Peter were actually speaking about the dead, well, he simply couldn’t be. Because if our “spirits”—that “breath of life” that makes us living souls—returns at death to Yah who gave it, how can anyone say that these “spirits” are in prison? They’re with the Father! How can that be in prison?

Miles: Well, that’s true. Not only that, but here’s another point. If Peter were trying to say that Yahushua went and preached to the dead, obviously the only reason the Saviour would preach would be to try and draw souls to repentance, right? But Ecclesiastes makes it clear that the “dead know not anything.” Even their memory is forgotten.

So, yeah. I think it’s pretty clear Peter could not be speaking of the dead in this passage. How do you interpret it, then? What is he speaking of?

Dave: Peter is talking about sinners! We’re all prisoners to sin. Get your Bible ready. We’re going to look at a number of verses. And if any of our listeners want to grab a paper and pen, you can jot down these texts as well.

Again, sin enslaves us. It enslaves our will. Peter understood this. Turn to 2 Peter chapter 2 and read verse 19.

Miles: Okay … uh, “"For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage."

Dave: Now turn to Romans 7 and read verse 14. Paul said the same thing: sin enslaves us.

Miles: Romans 7:14. It says: “For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin.”

Dave: The prison in which all people are bound is sin. Sin is addictive. In speaking of His divine mission to save the world, Yahushua used the same analogy. Read it for us, would you? It’s in Luke 4, verse 18.

Miles: "The Spirit of Yahuwah is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised."

Dave: Preaching deliverance to the captives was the Messiah’s mission! That’s what He came to do!

Miles: So, Peter’s talking about when the Saviour was on earth?

Dave: It can certainly have a secondary application to that, but if you go back and read it in context, you’ll see that what Peter is actually talking about were the antediluvians, those who lived before the flood.

The verses Santino is asking about, and the verses you read before, actually stopped in the middle of a sentence. Let’s go back and read 1 Peter 3:18 and 19, but this time, let’s read through verse 22 as well. Let’s read it in context.

Miles:

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to Yah, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward Yahuwah), through the resurrection of Yahushua Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of Yah, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

Dave: Yahushua’s “preaching,” his drawing of the soul, is always intended to lead to repentance. Genesis 6, verse 3, tells us of Yahuwah’s drawing of the antediluvians. It says: “And Yahuwah said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years."

The spirit of Yahuwah strove with the sinful antediluvians, drawing them to repentance. It moved Noah to build the ark so he and his family were saved. Later, Yahushua was born “in the flesh” as John puts it, and while in the flesh, he suffered death.

The Children of Israel through the wilderness [that same spirit of Yahuwah was working on hearts. It was Yah’s spirit, in the “Angel of Yahuwah” that led the Children of Israel through the wilderness.]

Miles: Do you have a text for that? I know this is going to be a new concept for some people.

Dave: Yes. Read 1 Corinthians 10, verses 1 to 4, would you? Let’s see what Paul says.

Miles:

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them Yahuwah was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Dave: Yah’s representative, stayed with the Children of Israel during their wilderness wanderings. Also gave power to Noah’s warnings, trying to draw the hearts of the antediluvians to repentance. This is what Peter was talking about.

That’s all. It’s not talking about preaching to the dead or that Christ had a pre-incarnate existence. The spirit that actuated both Christ and Noah was the spirit of Yah, preaching to those in bondage.

Miles: You know, when you let Scripture interpret itself, you never find contradictions. It’s beautiful: truth is harmonious and it never contradicts itself! Thanks for this explanation. I found it interesting, too.

If any of you have questions or comments, know that we’d love to hear from you as well. It’s fast and easy. Just go to our website at WorldsLastChance.com and click on Contact us. We enjoy hearing from our listeners around the world. You’ve always got great questions.

* * *Daily Promise

This is Elise O’Brien with your daily promise from Yah’s word.

Joyce Frey and her husband had a rental house they were trying to sell. They had spent thousands of dollars fixing the house up, and every week, they went by the house to maintain and water the gardens. It was a lovely house. The only drawback was that it was located on a very busy corner.

Most homes in North America are not surrounded by privacy walls, so this was a problem. For three months, Joyce and her husband prayed for a buyer, but no one wanted to live on such a busy intersection.

One day, while she was out running errands, Joyce was impressed to stop by the bank and ask what the interest rates were for a certificate of deposit, commonly known as a CD. At the bank, Joyce explained what information she was needing. The bank teller ushered her into the office of the bank manager, who turned out to be a friendly young man.

When the bank manager asked why she was interested in a CD, Joyce explained that she and her husband were trying to sell a house and that as soon as it sold, they would like to place some of the funds in a CD savings plan.

The man asked: “Where is your house?”

After Joyce told him, he exclaimed, “Oh, my wife and I love that area! May I take a look at your house?”

The next day, Joyce showed him the house. He didn’t seem fazed at all by the busy street and set up a time he could return with his wife. “If she likes it, we’ll buy it!” He said.

Joyce and her husband were, of course, thrilled, but tried not to get their hopes up. The wife might not want to purchase a home on such a busy street. So, Joyce and her husband turned it all over to Yahuwah and asked that He work out what was best for both couples.

The very next day, they got a phone call from the bank manager: “My wife likes your house! We want to buy it.”

The listing with the realtor expired the very week the bank manager and his wife bought the house, so Joyce and her husband didn’t even have to pay a realtor’s fee. While they ended up not investing in a CD, Joyce realized that the gentle nudge to go to the bank and inquire about interest rates was from Yah. He knew their need to sell the property, and the other couple’s desire to buy a home. He worked it out so both needs could be met.

Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and 7 says: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to Yah; and the peace of Yahuwah, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Yahushua.”

We have been given great and precious promises. Go, and start claiming!

* * *Part 3: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: The more I study the subject of justification by faith, the more I am in awe at Yah’s great love. And, the more I see in my own life, how so much of my spiritual walk has been based on a form of salvation by works. I wasn’t aware of it! I didn’t mean for it to be. But it was.

Dave: I’m the same way. But this … this message of justification by faith, this is the very heart of the gospel message! This is the “good news” that kept martyrs faithful.

It’s this realization that sparked the Protestant Reformation! You remember Martin Luther, on his trip to Rome. He’s crawling up Pilate’s staircase on his knees as penance for his sins, and like a bolt out of the blue, he hears Romans 1:17: “The just shall live by faith.”

Not by works. Not by abstinence from sin from your strength of will. It’s by faith.

Miles: It’s a good thing! You know, when I first started out on my Christian walk, I had my whole life before me. I was sure by the time I reached this age, I’d be a whole lot more Christlike, but … I’m still me. I still have inherited and cultivated tendencies to sin.

Dave: We still have our fallen natures.

Miles: Exactly. And there’s nothing I can do about that.

Dave: Nothing but choose to accept the gift of salvation. Let Yahuwah declare you righteous and credit the merits of Yahushua’s death and life to your account. It’s what he’s longing to do for every one of us.

I want to close with 1 John 3:1-2. It says:

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of Yah …

Beloved, now are we the sons of Yah, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Miles: Praise Yah! Listen, folks, there’s nothing any of us can do to earn justification and forgiveness, any more than we can make ourselves holy. But it’s available as a gift!

You don’t have to wait and make yourself better, before you’re declared righteous and given the power to become a child of Yah. He’s willing to do that for you right now. Accept it by faith and you are righteous because His word says so.

Join us again tomorrow, and until then, remember: Yahuwah loves you . . . and He is safe to trust!

* * *

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This program and past episodes of WLC Radio are available for downloading on our website. They're great for sharing with friends and for use in Bible studies! They're also an excellent resource for those worshipping Yahuwah alone at home. To listen to previously aired programs, visit our website at WorldsLastChance.com. Click on the WLC Radio icon displayed on our homepage.

In his teachings and parables, the Savior gave no “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, the thrust of his message was constant … vigilance. Join us again tomorrow for another truth-filled message as we explore various topics focused on the Savior's return and how to live in constant readiness to welcome him warmly when he comes.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.