Q&A: A Second Chance for Salvation, the Special Sabbath, and Jesus’ Divinity

On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast (12/04/25), Hank answers the following questions:

My friend raises sheep and wants to know: Should he sell his sheep to a Muslim for Ramadan? Nancy - Albuquerque, NM (0:59)
What happens to unbelievers when they die? Sheryl - Jefferson City, MO (3:54)
Is there a second chance for salvation after the return of Jesus? Michelle - St. Louis, MO (7:58)
What is the “special” Sabbath referred to in John 19:31? Tom - Vancouver, BC (15:14)
Are the souls under the altar in Revelation 6:9-10 literal people? Doyle - GA (17:36)
My Sunday school teacher said that Jesus wasn’t God until the Spirit descended during his baptism; what should I say? Jeff - Fall River, KS (20:04)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're just in time for the Bible Answer Man broadcast
with Hank Canagraph, the radio outreach of the Christian Research Institute.
Our purpose here at CRII is to equip Christians to
provide Biblical answers to life's most important questions, to read
the Bible for all it's worth, and counter the teachings
of cults and world religions that deviate from the plumb

(00:30):
line of God's word, because life and truth matter. For
more information, to order resources or donate, call eight eight
eight seven thousand CROI, or go online to equip dot org.
That's equip dot org. The following program was pre recorded.

(00:50):
Now here's the president of the Christian Research Institute, Hank Canagraph.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Thank you very much. Randy is always good to be
in studio as we answer your questions. St up today
Nancy listening in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Hi Nancy, Hello, mister Hannahgraf.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
My question is actually for a Christian friend who raises sheep.
He called my husband and I asking about selling sheep
to Muslims that would be using them to celebrate Ramadan.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, well I think yes, go ahead and sell them
the sheep and along with selling them the sheep, give
them the Gospel.

Speaker 4 (01:27):
Well that was our thinking that out of respect to
his question, that's why I was calling you. He actually
prayed for Jewish believers that would come to purchase his sheep,
so that he could witness to them. And I said, well,
God has of humor, doesn't he?

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Absolutely?

Speaker 4 (01:46):
From customers.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
Absolutely, I mean, this is what we ought to do.
I mean, if you own a clothing store and a
Muslim comes in, what better way than to reach not repel.
And that's precisely what we do by engaging people and
communicating with people, and ultimately, when the heart changes, everything
else changes. Just in general. Though. Ramadan is the ninth

(02:10):
month of the Islamic calendar, and in the exercise of
the Islamic faith, it's a month of fasting during daylight
hours and abstaining from food and drink including water and
sexual relations during daylight hours. And the purpose of the
fast for Muslims is to instill patience and humility and

(02:30):
ultimately submission to God or Allah. So the idea behind
it is supposedly a time of increased prayer, reading through
the Koran, alms to the poor and all these kinds
of things, and then the sheep or the mutton are
used for the feasts that follow the daily fast. So
you have the daily fast, and after the daily fast,
you have a feast, and that's when you eat the mutton.

(02:51):
So yeah, I mean, I think it becomes an opportunity
to understand what it is that they're doing and using
the deviations from a biblical worldview as opportunities to share
the truth and life and grace that only Jesus Christ
can bring to the human heart. Because ultimately the problem
is that the Muslim does not believe that Jesus Christ
is God. In fact, to believe that Jesus Christ is

(03:13):
God is for them the unforgivable sin of sure, they
don't believe that Jesus Christ was crucified, and therefore they
don't believe Jesus Christ was resurrected. So these are things
that we can use the opportunity of communication interaction with
the Muslim. We can use this opportunity as a springboard
to communicate the truth and life and love that only

(03:35):
that Jesus Christ of the Biblical worldview can bring to
the human heart. Whether you're a Muslim, a Jew, a
garden variety, pagan, or something else.

Speaker 4 (03:44):
Well, Thank you very much for validating what we thought
was correct, and we appreciate your ministry. Thank you very much.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
You got to thank you so much for your call.
Want to get back to the phone lines now and
we'll talk to Cheryl. Cheryl's listening in Jefferson City.

Speaker 5 (04:00):
Hi Cheryl, Hi Hank.

Speaker 6 (04:02):
I am so glad I got through to you. I
have a very weird question. I know that as a
born again believer, or at least, I believe that the
second I die, I will be in heaven with my Lord.
I believe that. I think the Bible teaches that what
happens to the people who are not believers, and I'm

(04:24):
not trying to go where I don't believe that they
can gain salvation after death. But I also feel like
there's some spirit influence in the world today. Are those
all non believing people? That's kind of like, does the
Bible have any answers to that question?

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah, for certain it does. In fact, you're right in
the first part of the proposition and perhaps wrong in
the second part of the proposition. So you're absolutely right
to say that absent from the body present with the Lord,
and Jesus actually describes this with a beggar named Lazarus
and a parable in Luke chapter six, he dies and
he's in Abraham's bosom or paradise, which is a way

(05:03):
of saying that he's in the presence of God. There's
a rich man who dies as well, and he ends
up in torment. Now the text also tells us that
he cannot come back to this world. In fact, in
the story, he wants to go back and warn his
five brothers that they do not come to a place
like this. And the response is, they have Moses and

(05:25):
the prophets. If they don't believe that, they wouldn't believe
even if someone rose again from the dead. So we
have all the evidence we need. And Jesus of course
is vicariously pointing to his own resurrection, which is yet future,
which is going to be the ultimate proof, and that
has all the evidence associated with it. And if you
can't believe that, you can't believe if someone rematerialized after dies.

(05:50):
But also implicit in this is that you can't come back,
that you can't once again inhabit this world. So your
soul is either in torment apart from the presence or
out of relationship with God, or it is a Neighborhom's
bosomwork paradise in relationship with God. So there's no way
in which you can say that they're coming back as

(06:11):
spirits or Poultergeist or something like that, noisy spirits that
are tormenting the living.

Speaker 6 (06:18):
So are you telling me that there are no spirits out.

Speaker 7 (06:21):
Here that.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
I'm saying there are no human spirits. I'm not saying
there aren't spirits, because remember, Satan is a spirit. Fallen
angels are spirits. Angels are non physical beings, so we
can talk about non physical tormentors such as demons that
do as or sit on our shoulder and whisper into

(06:44):
our ear. Now, they're non physical, so they can't really
sit on your shoulder, but they can conduct in mind
to mind communication with human beings. And that's why we're
told by Paul in Ephesian six to put on the
full armor of God.

Speaker 6 (06:59):
Okay, that's a guy I work with has started they
go they search for these things, and I'm kind of
intrigued by it, but a little bit afraid of that.
Do I just need to not even talk with him
about that.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
I think what you're doing is really good. You're asking
questions you're getting information. Now, you ought to check out
that information, make sure it's good information. So how do
you check what I say? You check it out and
you see does this correspond to what the Bible says?
So one of the things you do is go to
Luke chapter sixteen. Start there, read that parable, and use
that as a basis or a framework by which you

(07:35):
can test the information I've just given to you. But yeah,
I think it's really good that you get this kind
of information. Then you can use it to be a witness.
That's why you're here. You've been left to be salt
and light in the world.

Speaker 6 (07:48):
I appreciate that. That's a very good point. All right, well,
thank you for your time.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
You're welcome. Thank you so much for calling Cheryl.

Speaker 6 (07:56):
All right, bye, bye bye.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
Back to the phone lines. Let's talk to mishe else.
She's listening on Saint Louis, Missouri.

Speaker 3 (08:02):
Hi, Michelle, Yes, Hi, Yes, I had a question. It
might have related a little bit to the previous car,
but I couldn't quite catch the whole thing. But my
daughters were asking questions about the return of Jesus, and
they specifically asked me one that I didn't really know
where to go and scripture with it. But it was

(08:25):
mom When an unbelieved, say, when Jesus returns in an
unbeliever then knows that he truly is who he says.

Speaker 8 (08:35):
He is, then.

Speaker 3 (08:38):
Do you have a second chance? Can you repent and
turn to him? Or what does that look like?

Speaker 6 (08:45):
Er?

Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yeah, Well start with this premise that it's always helpful
to say that God is not looking for ways to
keep people out. He wants to reconcile the world to himself,
but he doesn't want to do it at gun point,
as it were. In other words, through force, He's given
us all the evidence necessary to know that he is,

(09:08):
in fact, the one who spoke in the universe, left
into existence, and the one who knit us together in
our mother's womb. So he's given us the light of creation.
He's given us the light of conscience, and if we
respond to that light, we could have more light. So
Jesus said to Nicodemus, the problem is not that there's
not enough light. But people love darkness rather than light

(09:29):
because their deeds are evil. So anyone can have enough
information in this life to be able to respond to
Jesus Christ as their leader and their forgiver. Their friend
and their savior. That's an opportunity we have. We also
have the opportunity to reject the light that He has

(09:49):
given to us. So again, when Jesus Christ comes back,
all of that will be ratified. For those who are
yet alive. For those who have died, all of that
is all ready he ratified. They've decided they don't want
in a relationship with God in this life, and God
is not going to force himself on them in the
life to come. Otherwise heaven wouldn't be heaven. Heaven would

(10:11):
be hell. The righteous would inherit a counterfeit heaven, and
the unrighteous would be incarcerated in heaven against their will,
which is a dormant worse than hell. So I think
we can safely say what Jesus said, do not be
amazed at this. The time is coming when all who
in the grace will come out. Some will rise to live,
and some will rise to be condemned. So when Jesus
returns again, there is no second chance after death. There

(10:35):
is no second chance after the coming of Jesus Christ.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
And what was that scripture you just used.

Speaker 2 (10:43):
The scripture is found in John chapter five.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
Great, okay, thank you Hank.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
That help you got it. Thank you so much for
your call. You're right back on the other side of
the break with more of your questions right here on
the Bible answer Man Broadcast, So please don't touch that dog.

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(15:07):
to the Bible answer Man Broadcast and your host and Canagraph.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
Thank you very much for Randy, and let's go right
back to our phone callers. Next up is Tom Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada.

Speaker 5 (15:18):
Hi Tomah, Hello Hank. My question has to do with
John nineteen, verse thirty one and when the Pharisees one
of Jesus taken off the cross before the Sabbath day,
because that sabbath was a special of Sabbath. I wonder
why was it special.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
Well, if you look at John chapter nineteen, you have
the day of preparation of Passover week, so it refers
to Friday of Passover week, and that became an idiomatic
expression by the first century to mean the Friday of
Passover a week. So if you go down to thirty one,

(15:58):
which I think you're reading, it was the day of
preparation and the next day was to be a special Sabbath.
The special Sabbath was simply the Sabbath that occurred during
Passover time. So again in the chronology, you have a
Passover meal that's on Thursday evening, and then you have
the day of preparation that's Friday, and the Sabbath Saturday.

Speaker 5 (16:19):
Yeah. There, reason I asked is because and the Queen's
of mine joined the Legalistic Church, and they insist that
Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday, and that Thursday was
the annual Sabbath and that was the special Sabbath. Yeah,
I mean make an issue out of things like that.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, and I think they're just wrong. I mean they've
created a bigger problem by saying Jesus died on a
Wednesday and rose on a Saturday. That's not what the
gospels say. They said that he died and he was
buried the day before the Sabbath or Friday, and rose
in the day after the Sabbath or Sunday. You have
that in the Synoptic Gospels and John. The answer to

(16:58):
the problem is that in the Jewel wish mind, part
of a day counted as an entire day. Yeah, so
Jesus rose on the third day, he didn't rise after
three days, he rose on the third day, and he
died on Passover Day Friday to fulfill the conditions of
being a passover land. So you know, I think it's
important to again look at the context and read scripture

(17:23):
and light a scripture, and then I don't think you're
going to create more problems than you're solving by starting
on Wednesday or Thursday.

Speaker 5 (17:30):
Yeah, yeah, I appreciate that. Thanks for your time, Hank,
you got it.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
Thank you so much for your call back to the
phone lines. We'll talk next to Doyle listening in Georgia.

Speaker 8 (17:39):
Hi, Doyle, Wait, my friend, I'm in chapter six versus
nine to ten. Were the soldier underneath the altar crying
out too on to God saying what don would you
avenge the people who down and on earth? Who did
this to us? And God tells them to just wrest
a little while longer and give the white robes to
where vier people are they to altar? And the role

(18:03):
begins to where do they have bodies to put the
roles on?

Speaker 2 (18:07):
No, they don't, but there are people, they're martyrs who
have died, and so it is the souls. And remember
a soul is non physical. A human being is a
body soul unity a death, the soul departs the body
and so it doesn't have physicality. So to say it's

(18:27):
under the altar of God. Or to say that a
soul is in Abraham's bosom or paradise is to use
a metaphor. The metaphor is sharp teeth. It points to
a graphic reality. But it is not a locational term,
because souls do not have extension in space. So I
can say with Paul absent from the body, present with
the Lord. That's not a locational quality. That's a relational quality. Now,

(18:52):
when Jesus Christ comes a second time, or appears the
second time, as the writer of Hebrews puts it, then
the soul returns to the body, and then you have
locational qualities again.

Speaker 8 (19:03):
Okay, okay, thank, I have one more small one right now.
Unbelievers opposed to believers when they die, are they in torment?

Speaker 5 (19:12):
Now?

Speaker 8 (19:13):
Opposed to the believers are in paradise?

Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yes. In fact, the best place to read about this
is in Luke chapter sixteen in the Words of Our
Lord Himself, where explains what happens to an unbeliever and
a believer. They both die, the believer as a beggar
and the unbeliever is a very wealthy man. Roles are reversed.
The believer Lazarus is an Abraham's bosom or paradise, which

(19:39):
is to say, in the presence of God, the unbeliever
is in torment. And why is he in torment? Because
he is apart from the presence of God.

Speaker 7 (19:49):
Woh.

Speaker 8 (19:49):
Okay, hey, I listen to your show every day, my friend,
and I must say, your fruits will follow you up.
You pass all, my friend, and you keep doing the
Lord's will.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
Okay, my friend, thank you so much. Appreciate your commendation
and your kind encouragement. Back to the phone lines, we'll
talk next to Jeff listening in Full River, Kansas. Say Jeff, Hello,
how you doing? Heh good?

Speaker 7 (20:11):
Hey, I appreciate you taking my call. In Sunday school,
we've been going through Matthew and then we got to
the baptism of Jesus and our Sunday school teacher said
something that just about turned me inside out. He was saying,
and I know this isn't true, and I took him
the scripture to show him it wasn't true. I'm not

(20:33):
getting anywhere with him, and we'll see what you have
to say about it. He was saying that Jesus wasn't
God until the spirit came on when he was baptized. Right.
And then he also carried it a bit further by
saying he ceased to be God when he died on
the cross. And of course, you know, I took him

(20:53):
to John one one through fourteen. I took him to
Philippians chapter two. I took him to Hebrews and several
other trying to show him that Jesus has always been God.
And I just wonder how you would go about.

Speaker 2 (21:08):
Answering in Well, I think you're doing a good job.
I think that you're absolutely right. Jesus has always been
God and will always be God. In cultic constructs like
Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus is an angel, then he becomes a
mere human, and then becomes an angel again. In Christian worldview,
Jesus Christ is the one who spoke and the universe

(21:31):
left in existence. You can see that in passages. An
easy way to remember it is by ones. You can
see it in John one. You can see it in
Colautions one. You can see it in Hebrews one. You
can see it in Revelation chapter one. Jesus is God,
and in the incarnation he didn't divest himself of a

(21:52):
single attribute of deity. He took on the limitations of humanity.
So orthodox Christianity is always taught that in the nation,
Jesus Christ is one person with two natures, one hundred
percent human and one hundred percent divine. Now, Jesus voluntarily
limited his prerogatives while in his earthly ministry, but he

(22:16):
is every bid God. In fact, he is God because
the Bible tells us that he had the power to
lay down his life and the power to take it
up again, thus demonstrating that he is God. So yeah,
there's absolutely no question in Christian orthodoxy that Jesus Christ
in the incarnation is theanthropist, the god Man. Again, one

(22:36):
person with two natures, one hundred percent human, one hundred
percent divine.

Speaker 7 (22:40):
Now, this is a heresy in heretical teaching.

Speaker 2 (22:43):
It is a heretical teaching. Well, it has morphed and
come in all kinds of garbs. But you know who knows.
I mean, I gave you one example with respect to
the Jehovah's witnesses. Yeah, and I mean, look at this
what is man? You one say? I mean, this is
the most familiar of texts, and it might be a
text you take him to. All this took place to

(23:06):
fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet, the
Virgin will be with child Manuel, and exactly what give
birth to a son, and they will call him a Manuel,
which means what.

Speaker 7 (23:19):
God with us. Yes, yeah, I took him there too,
And you know, we talked about that the first week.
In the second week, I wasn't glad. I'm just gonna
drop it right. Well, he came right at me in
almost an attack form. Who I actually said, he attacked you?
But he he started in on it again, and he

(23:45):
was saying, can God be a baby? I saw, well, yeah,
he you know, we said yeah. Everybody in the class
said sure. He came as in human form as a baby,
and then went from there to can God die? Well,
he gave love your spirit, but he.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Died, yes, exactly. And what did Jesus say to the
Father Father into thy presence? I commend my spirits?

Speaker 7 (24:11):
Okay, yeah, I was going to ask you that too
now And okay, he said, So where did he go?

Speaker 2 (24:18):
Well, he went, Father, into thy hands. I commend my spirit,
he said to the thief on the cross. To further
elucidate this this day, you'll be with me in paradise.

Speaker 7 (24:28):
Okay, that's right. He went to paradise here.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
And paradise is that?

Speaker 5 (24:34):
Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 7 (24:35):
I forgot. I forgot to throw that one up there. Okay, well,
you know we're pretty new to the church there. We
just changed churches, and I just I wanted to call
you and talk to you about it, because before I
talk about it for more, make sure I'm in lying
and I believe I am.

Speaker 2 (24:54):
So.

Speaker 7 (24:54):
I appreciate your answers and I like your program.

Speaker 2 (24:57):
Thank you very much, and continue contending for the faith.
Do it with gentleness and with respect. This, of course,
isn't essential of the historic Christian faith. The mother of
all questions, ultimately is the question that Jesus himself asked,
who do you say that I am? The cults come
up with an answer to that question that is altogether

(25:19):
different from the answer we come up with as Christians.
We say, you are God, and in the incarnation God
in human flesh, In fact, God forever in human flesh.
We will encounter God forever in human flesh, in the
person of Jesus Christ in eternity. We will be able
to commune with him, have fellowship with him, and touch

(25:42):
Him in eternity, for we too will be real physical
beings living in a real, physical universe. The Christian faith
is not pletonic, it's physical, with a real, resurrected physical Christ.
Thanks for tuning in for this edition of the Bible
ance Man Broadcast. Look forward to seeing her right back
here next time with more of the show.

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(27:10):
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await us in the world to come. But our Lord
warned that while the gate to Hell is wide, the
road to it broad, and those who enter through it
are many, the gate is narrow and the way is
hard that leads to life, and those who find it
are few. Your generous support, let's Hank hanograph and see

(27:31):
Uri speak out against the lies that lead to hell.
In appreciation for your gift, today, we'll rush you Hank's
book After Life What you need to Know about Heaven,
the Hereafter, and near death experiences filled with answers to
your questions about life after death. Call eight eight eight
seven thousand CROI or visit equip dot org. Now again,

(27:54):
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