Genesis Apologetics has created a series of videos discussing and debunking seven myths you often hear about the Bible, Genesis, and Noah’s flood. Watch the next part of this series below, and come back to the Hope Radio blog every Thursday for the next 3 weeks as we learn more about these myths and the truth of God’s Word!
How does God decide if we’ve been good enough to get into Heaven?
If you are trying to get into Heaven by being good enough, you will not succeed.
In my opinion, this is the most important question you could ever ask. God gave us the Bible in order to teach us about Him and how He works in the world, which includes telling us what He expects from us in order for Him to let us have a relationship with him and get into Heaven. The answer to this question is all over the place in the Bible; and most of the stories in the Bible are meant to point you towards this answer. So, the more you read and study the Bible, the more you will understand the answer to this question.
I am going to answer this question by starting out with saying something you may find crazy: if you are trying to get into Heaven by being good enough, you will not succeed. God says you cannot be good enough to get into Heaven. But, don’t get too worried, because you can still get into Heaven.
Now, it’s time for me to prove this to you by showing you what the Bible says.
The first verse we will look at is Isaiah 64:6
Isaiah 64:6 (NIV) All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
This verse is saying that even the good things we do are considered unclean, or bad, to God.
Now you may be wondering, “If that’s the case, then why did God give us the law and ten commandments? If following them still leaves us unclean, then why do we have them?”
God answers that question in Romans 3:19-20
Romans 3:19-20 (NLT) Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
So, The Bible says that God gave us the law so that he could prove to us that we are not good enough to be successful at keeping the law. He also says the following in James 2:10
James 2:10 (NLT) For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.
In other words if you have ever broken any of God’s laws you have already messed up badly enough to never be able to be good enough to get into Heaven. So what now? Is it hopeless? No, you can still get into Heaven, Let’s look at Romans 3:21-28 to see God’s instructions on how to get into Heaven.
Romans 3:21-28 (NLT) But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
Even more so, Galatians 2:16-21 tell us this:
Galatians 2:16-21 (NIV) Know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners; doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
So, let me review what we learned. The question was, “How does God decide if we’ve been good enough to get into Heaven?” The answer is: God knows we cannot be good enough to get to Heaven. So, He gave us the law in order to prove to us that we cannot be good enough and to let us know that we need help, specifically, help from God, Himself. This is why Jesus came down to earth, lived a sinless life, and died on the cross in order to buy us all tickets into Heaven.
Now you have a choice. You can choose to try to be good enough and then pay God for your sins yourself. But this will mean you cannot make it into Heaven. Or you can choose to admit that you cannot be good enough to get into Heaven on your own and accept Jesus’ free gift of entry into Heaven.
If you want to accept Jesus as your Savior and receive your free “ticket” into Heaven, all you have to do is believe in those truths. God knows what is in your heart even if you don’t know what to say. However, if you would like to pray to God, it’s as easy as thinking and talking. I will give you an example of what you can say to Him right now:
Dear God, I am so sorry that I have messed up and sinned. I know I deserve punishment and that Jesus took that punishment for me. I know that I need your forgiveness and your help. I am putting my faith in Jesus and in His payment for my sins. Thank you for forgiving me and for wanting a relationship with me.
In Jesus name, Amen
If you accept Jesus’ payment for your sins, you are adopted as a son/daughter of God and are on your way to Heaven no matter what, because we can know for sure that if God says something will happen, it will happen. God is not a liar and He always keeps His promises.
This series of blog posts titled, “Holding on to Reason”, is named after Amanda’s favorite C.S. Lewis quote: “Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”
New Music - North Point InsideOut, Cochren and Co. & more bring new worship music to Hope Radio
new to our rotation
“Hallelujah, there will be healing
From this heartbreak we've been feeling
We'll sing in the darkest night
'cause we know that the light will come
And there will be healing, hallelujah”
“On the other side of everything I'm afraid of
You are standing with Your arms wide open, wide open
Even in my deepest doubts and wonder
You are standing with your arms wide open, wide open”
“I run to the Father
I fall into grace
I'm done with the hiding
No reason to wait
My heart needs a surgeon
My soul needs a friend
So I'll run to the Father
Again and again”
“Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is life
Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom
Like a river running wild
Like a never-ending fight
Where the spirit of the Lord is”
the 180remix countdown
“I ain’t with none of that
I ain’t with none of that extra
Where I be getting my treasure
Right from that store up in heaven
I shop in that store up in heaven
First thing I get is some blessings
Then I go back for some seconds
But I ain’t with none of that extra”
the stronghold
“Even through the darkest night
Your light will shine in all our hearts
No matter what life throws our way
We’ll shout Your name
We are the unashamed”
Were Adam and Eve Real People? - Debunking Seven Myths about the Bible, Genesis, and Noah's Flood
Genesis Apologetics has created a series of videos discussing and debunking seven myths you often hear about the Bible, Genesis, and Noah’s flood. Watch the next part of this series below, and come back to the Hope Radio blog every Thursday for the next 4 weeks as we learn more about these myths and the truth of God’s Word!
What is “a man after God’s own heart”?
“After removing Saul, God made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do’.”
David was a man who committed adultery, who had one of his closest friends murdered, and he had so much blood on his hands that God said David could not be the man to rebuild His temple in Jerusalem.
1 Chronicles 28:3 (NKJV) But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.’
David made many mistakes and committed lots of sins in his life, so why does God call him a man after God’s own heart?
The answer to this question requires an understanding of the character of David, which can only truly be seen by studying his entire life. So, if you want a deeper understanding of this answer, I would suggest you study the entirety of David’s interactions with God in the Bible during his life. However, for the purpose of this post I will highlight a few significant characteristics of David that show he was a man who understood God’s heart.
Let’s take a look at Psalms chapter 51. While we read this, think about what this shows us about David’s relationship with God and how David viewed God.
David wrote this Psalm right after he had stolen another man’s wife (Bathsheba) and then had that man killed to cover up the thievery. This is obviously a very bad thing to do and definitely made God upset. God then sent his prophet Nathan to confront David about this sin and Psalms chapter 51 (NIV) is David’s response.
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
According to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
David shows us in these verses what part of being a man after God’s own heart means. These verses show us that David did not deny his mistakes; he didn’t try to lie to God or make up excuses. Instead he understood three things.
1) That he was a sinner before God.
2) That he needed God to forgive Him.
3) That God is loving, so He would forgive Him.
Now, what does this mean for us today?
It shows us that in order to be men and women after God’s own heart, we have to understand God’s heart. This means we have to understand what God wants from us and how he feels about us; and have faith that God does not change.
So, what does God want from us and how does He feel about us?
We know that it makes God sad when we sin.
We also know that God loves us, which is why Jesus died on the cross. God knows we can’t pay for our sins ourselves. He paid for our sins for us, so we don’t have to. That way we can be in Heaven with Him some day. So, with this knowledge we should be able to be confident enough to interact with God like David did.
If we make mistakes, understand that God already knows about them, so it makes no sense to try to lie about them or make excuses about them. Instead we should do what David did and talk about the truth with God. People who have accepted Jesus’ payment for them on the cross as their own do not have to be afraid to talk to God.
As Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV) says “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
If we can live our lives with the kind of faith in God’s love and sacrifice that allows us to interact freely with Him. Then our relationship with God can grow. And, as we better understand God, we will better understand His heart, which can help us become men and women after God’s own heart.
This series of blog posts titled, “Holding on to Reason”, is named after Amanda’s favorite C.S. Lewis quote: “Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”
New Music Monday - New Artists, New Skillet and New Rock Debut on Saturday Night
We’ve got just one new song being added to our rotation this week, but the Saturday night countdowns have a been a little more lively with new music from Skillet, Relentless Flood and new artist Run51. Take a listen to what all we’ve added this past week on 97.1FM Hope Radio!
new to our rotation
“Nothing can satisfy or heal our souls
Only your sacrifice can make us whole
Even in trials and sickness and pain
We cry out in Jesus’ name”
The 180remix Countdown
“You are my anchor
So steady me, steady me now
You are my anchor
You're keeping my feet on the ground
In angry oceans, You've never broken through
Every wave of the storm
You are my anchor
So steady me, steady me now”
“I love the way You pursue me and
I can’t explain this crazy freedom that
I can’t escape no matter what
You won’t let go”
The stronghold
“There’s a funeral for the pain that I left behind
For the past that has died
I’ll say the final words
Let it go and ignite the fire
I will live today in your wake”
Differing Accounts in Genesis? - Debunking Seven Myths about the Bible, Genesis, and Noah's Flood
Genesis Apologetics has created a series of videos discussing and debunking seven myths you often hear about the Bible, Genesis, and Noah’s flood. Watch the next part of this series below, and come back to the Hope Radio blog every Thursday for the next 5 weeks as we learn more about these myths and the truth of God’s Word!
Does the Bible have prophecies which have actually come true?
A prophecy is when someone tells us what will happen in the future. In the Bible it means, at the time the verse was written, God was telling people what would happen in their future.
The Bible has around 1,817 prophecies.
Prophecies are a very important thing to pay attention to because if someone claims to know the future but ends up being wrong, then they are liars and should not be trusted. So, if we want to know if we can trust the God of the Bible we have to know if His prophecies came true or not.
In other words, prophecies are important because when they come true, they give us proof that God is who He says He is. And it also proves that the Bible is the Word of God.
What’s interesting about the prophecies in the Bible is that they have all either come true already, just as God said they would, or the time has not yet come for them to happen. But I want you to look into this for yourself as well; you shouldn’t just take my word for it, because when you study the prophecies for yourself it will help your own personal faith in God to grow.
So, to help you get started with this, we are going to look at the book of Isaiah, which was written between 739 and 681 B.C., and read one of the most famous passages of prophecy in the Bible: Isaiah 53.
As you read Isaiah 53, think about these two questions:
Number 1: What is this chapter saying will happen?
Number 2: Did this prophecy come true already?
Isaiah 53 (NIV)
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Now let’s answer our questions
Question #1: What is this chapter saying will happen?
This chapter is saying that God will send someone who has never done anything wrong and that this person would be punished and killed in order to pay for all of the things we have done wrong.
Question #2: Did this prophecy come true already?
Well, it’s pretty obvious that every single verse in this chapter is very specifically describing Jesus. So, yes it has come true already.
The thing that makes this chapter a prophecy is that Jesus was born around the year 4 BC but the book of Isaiah was written between 739 and 681 BC. So, this means that more than 600 years before Jesus was born, God told Isaiah that Jesus would be born. Also, the majority of the book of Isaiah in written on one of the 7 original Dead Sea Scrolls which were discovered in a cave in Qumran. This scroll is dated to be from the year 125 BC which means there is a physical copy of this prophecy in existence today which was written 121 years before Jesus was born.
In other words, Isaiah chapter 53 is a prophecy which tells us that Jesus will be born and will pay for all of our sins. And, as we know, this prophecy definitely came true.
This series of blog posts titled, “Holding on to Reason”, is named after Amanda’s favorite C.S. Lewis quote: “Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”
New Music Monday - Countdowns Add Austin French and a For King and Country Remix
This past week, each of our Saturday night countdowns saw new music debuting on their respective charts. Austin French returned to the Top 25 Contemporary Christian Countdown with his new single Why God, For King and Country returned to The 180remix Countdown with the new remix of Burn the Ships, and new rock band The Birdsongs debuted on The Stronghold with their new song called Reality. Check out all of our new music below, and don’t forget you can listen to it now by clicking on the album artwork or song titles!
new to our rotation
“Why God, I need You
It's, why God, I run to Your arms
Over and over again
It's, why God, I cling to Your love
And hold on for dear life
And I find, You are right by my side”
“When You speak to me I’ll listen
Cause you are my Father and I
I am Your child
I run to You
I’m safe in Your arms
Cause You never leave”
the 180remix countdown
“Step into a new day
We can rise up from the dust and walk away
We can dance upon the heartache, yeah
So light a match, leave the past, burn the ships
And don't you look back”
THe stronghold
“Sometimes I don’t think you understand
This is my reality
And what’s the point of taking a stand
When you won’t even stand with me
I need someone to lend me a hand
Why would I lie
This is my life”
The Six Days of Creation - Debunking Seven Myths about the Bible, Genesis, and Noah's Flood
Genesis Apologetics has created a series of videos discussing and debunking seven myths you often hear about the Bible, Genesis, and Noah’s flood. Watch the next part of this series below, and come back to the Hope Radio blog every Thursday for the next 6 weeks as we learn more about these myths and the truth of God’s Word!