Should Christians Avoid Theology and Stick to the Bible?

Should Christians avoid theology and just stick to the Bible? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Well, hi, I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

We pray that you had a wonderful Independence Day. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. And you can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE. Our phone lines will be open for the next 25 minutes or so, so feel free to call right now at 1-833-843-2673. Of course, you can also post your question on one of our social media sites, and you're always welcome to email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to a voicemail from one of our listeners named Patty. Listening to you from the Sacramento area, and you've really blessed my life, especially over the last year.

Thank you so much. My question is this. When they say, you shall not use the Lord's name in vain, what does that really mean? I've heard a couple of different takes on that.

Is it the language that you use? Is it the way you refer to him respectfully or disrespectfully? I would really love some clarification on that, and thank you for your time.

Thank you for your question, Patty. So, this gets us right into the Ten Commandments, Exodus chapter 20. We're talking about the third commandment, verse 7. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. If you think of a name as the way in which one communicates who they are, reveals themselves, I think we can broaden this out some to realize that this commandment specifically has to do with God has revealed himself to his people. So, taking God's name in vain is the irreverent use of, or thought of even, any of the means through which God has made himself known to his people. We can think of, you know, how he makes himself known through the word, through the ordinances that Jesus gave to the church, baptism in the Lord's Supper.

So, minimizing of those things, of those places where God has revealed himself to his people. So, I mean, that can also include, I think, the way in which we speak, and in particular, how we use God's name. But I think oftentimes when people think of the third commandment, they limit it to just that, not taking the Lord's name in vain in that way.

But I think it's got a broader application. The other text of scripture that I would go to is Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, where he talks about oath that we take. And he says in verse 33, Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

Let what you say be simply yes or no. Anything more than that comes from evil. And so here you see this idea of the way in which we use our words, in particular, the way in which we talk about God taking oath specifically. And so there's this reverence that we as the people of God should have for the Lord, for how he's revealed himself to us. And we want to be careful as we think about this, because the text there in Exodus 20 verse 7 is very clear. God will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. And so we want to honor the Lord by having a high view of all of those ways that God reveals himself to his people.

And again, I would just say some of those are the preaching of the word, the ordinances that Jesus gave, and always in our speech communicating in ways that bring glory to the Lord. Thank you for your question, Paddy. Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open right now.

We're taking your calls for the next 20 minutes or so. Maybe you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life. Maybe you have some doubts about Christianity.

Or maybe you even belong to a different religious faith and you're wondering about the claims that Jesus made and the truth of Christianity. We'd love to hear from you as well. We're always open to calls from atheists and agnostics here at Core Christianity or anyone who's having any kind of doubts. Our number is 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. And you can, of course, email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. I want to tell you about a really cool new Bible study that we are making available to you. It's from a book on a book in the Old Testament that teaches us some incredible lessons. Yeah, it's a 10-week study on the book of Ruth, a book in the Old Testament that I think is oftentimes overlooked. And one of the things we're trying to emphasize is the important place that Ruth plays in the history of redemption. And without Ruth, without the book of Ruth, there would be no line of David.

There would be no gospel, really. I mean, you think of where she fits in the genealogy of our Lord. And so this Bible study is going to help you understand the book of Ruth as a larger part of the unfolding of the history of redemption, pointing us to Jesus and the gospel. A great resource for you to go through on your own if you're interested in studying the book of Ruth by yourself or getting together with a group of people in your church. You can get a hold of this resource for a donation of $20 or more. By the way, all of our Bible studies are set up to work well for personal use, but also in a group format. They're available in bulk quantities, so they'd really be great to consider as you plan maybe for a Sunday school class this fall or for a Bible study in your small group. You can receive a copy of our Ruth Bible study for a donation of $20 or more by going to corechristianity.com forward slash studies.

Again, that's corechristianity.com forward slash studies. Of course, you can always call us for any of our resources at 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to a voicemail from one of our listeners in Dallas, Texas. Hi, Pastor Adrian.

My name is Nate. First off, I just wanted to say that I love your podcast, man. It's been such a blessing to me since I became a new believer about a year ago. It's helped me through so much. I'm grateful for how knowledgeable you are in the Word, how you back every single question with Scripture.

It's just been amazing to listen to. I just pray God just continues to bless you in this venture. As a new believer, what is the danger in trying to ingest too much from too many resources too soon? I started studying the book of John not too long after I got saved, and I'll find a different resource, like different types of books and everything, try to read between that, go back to my study, and then want to jump to another study of another book.

So I'm just wondering, what is the danger in that, if any? Thank you. Well, Nate, thank you for your encouragement.

I'm so delighted to hear that you've been walking with the Lord now for, it sounds like, just over a year, and so may God continue to bless you and sanctify you as you grow in Christ. I don't think that the problem is, you know, studying too many things. I think it's just making sure that you're getting a hold of the right resources. There is so much information out there, you know, and oftentimes, you know, people are just going through the internet finding resources on theology and the Bible, and not all of those resources are very helpful, same with books. And so I think it's just important that you have the right resources. But if you have the right resources, and ultimately, the main thing that you're going to want to, I think, as a newer believer, be immersed in is just the scriptures, reading the Word of God, meditating upon it. But as you do that, I just think you can't do it enough. The passage that comes to mind is Paul's encouragement to the Christians who were living in Colossae, in Colossians chapter one, in verse nine.

Listen to what he says there. He says, So from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

And that's what I want for you as well. You know what Paul is bringing together there is growing daily, increasing in the knowledge of Christ, but with that increasing in fruitfulness. It's not just information that we're taking in. The Word of God, as it's settling in our minds and hearts, should be producing the fruit of the Spirit as the Word of Christ dwells in us richly. We're filled with the Spirit, exhibiting that fruit that the Apostle Paul talks about in Colossians 5, love, joy, peace, patience, patience, so that we might walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him. And so I would just say, as the Lord gives you time in this season, and if you have the time, yeah, immerse yourself in the Word of God, in solid Christian resources.

Of course, we have a lot of resources that we offer here. If you haven't gotten ahold of the book Core Christianity, it's one of the books that we think new believers should read because it introduces you to a lot of those important core Christian doctrines, like the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of the Word of God, the Incarnation, stuff that I think is so key for you at this stage to grow in. And as I said, as you have time, just continue to dig in, and as you do, man, may the Lord bless you. Thank you, Nate, for your question. Nate, we'd love to send you a complimentary copy of the book Core Christianity, and we've got your contact information, so we'll send that off to you in the mail. Thank you so much for being a listener. We appreciate your kind words.

Let's go back to the phones. We have Jacob on the line from Kansas City, Missouri. What's your question for Pastor Adriel, Jacob? Oh, sounds like Jacob all of a sudden was in a street race.

I think some engine noise. Let's try again. Jacob, do you read us?

Are you there, brother? I'm so sorry. I work landscaping, so I was listening to you. I always listen to you on the mower, so I was mowing when you just said my question.

Oh, nice. How are you doing? Good, how are you doing? I thought you were in a drag race or something like that on the freeway, and I was thinking, boy, this is not the time to call, my friend. I'm so sorry for all the listeners and stuff like that. Well, I listen to you guys all the time, and I love every single word that you guys have to say about God. I was just calling in with a question and hoping to talk to you guys for a little bit. Yeah, what's your question?

I guess I'm huge. I'm a huge Christian, and I go to church every week, and I guess one of the big things I always ask God is, what can we do in society right now to gather our attention on God all the time, and as a community, all of that, I guess, I look for things to do. So I guess that's my question is, how do I or it's not necessarily how do I or how do we start gathering, like making a bigger community? Yeah, I love your question, Jacob. I mean, like, how can we as Christians have an impact on the world? And I think it's easy for us to think, man, you know, we want to change the world for Jesus. I think that's a noble desire.

That's a good thing. Well, where do we begin? Well, I think it starts with being a part of a solid Christian community where we're serving each other within the body of Christ. The apostle Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 that you and I are members of this larger body, and we're connected in local churches, and each of us are gifted in unique ways. Jacob, God has gifted you in specific ways that he hasn't gifted me or other people in your church. And so you're an asset there in the local church. God has gifted you for the edification, for the building up of the body, and for the encouragement of the saints. And so I think that that's fundamental.

I think that's key. And as we're growing together within the church, serving each other under the ministry of the word faithfully preached, we're called as Christians to extend the love of Christ to the people around us, to love not just ourselves and not just the people within the church, but even the people outside of the walls of the church. And that's where I think it's important for believers to come together and to think, you know, how can we do that faithfully in honoring the Lord, in extending his grace and hospitality to the people who are around us? And that's just a part of, I think, living the Christian life, is growing in the word, in your understanding of who God is. And as the word, as you know, talking to the previous caller, is settling in your heart, it's bearing fruit.

Going back to that passage in Colossians chapter one, I read beginning in verse nine with the previous caller, but I want you to just hear earlier what Paul says in Colossians chapter one in verse three. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you as indeed in the whole world, it is bearing fruit and increasing as it also does among you since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. How do we grow as a community? Well, it's through the gospel, and that message of the gospel, the forgiveness of sins for people who turn to Christ, continues to grow and bear fruit in us and in the world so that other people are drawn to Jesus too.

So I would say focus on those things, brother, and continue to grow in those things and appreciate your encouragement to us. Love hearing that you're a regular listener to the core, and I just hope that we continue to encourage you in your walk with the Lord. And I want to send Jacob a core Christianity copy as well, so let's do that. All of our listeners who are really excited about learning about God's word and learning more about his truth, that is such a wonderful book. We'd highly recommend that to you.

You can find core Christianity by going to our website, which is corechristianity.com. And we have a call from Betty in St. Louis who has this question for you, Adriel. She says, I hear people saying, oh my God, what can I say to them to let them know that it's not right and it's hurtful to me? Yeah, I mean this happens, right? In the workplace or when you're out and about and you hear people taking the Lord's name in vain, and it can really bother us.

I mean, it should, right? Because when we think about who the Lord is, his greatness, his goodness, his mercy, we don't want to treat the Lord's name lightly. I mean, this is the first question that we got related to the third commandment. What does it mean to not take the Lord's name in vain? And so when you hear people misusing God's name, what's the best approach?

I think it could be an open door. I mean, depending on who it is and the circumstances, it could be an open door for you to talk about why you value God's name, why you treasure it. I mean, so often I think the people in the world who do that, it's just become a habit. They don't know the Lord. They don't know his goodness.

They don't know his grace. And so you might be able to say, if you knew who Jesus was and the depth of God's love for people and what he's done in my life, maybe, as you have this conversation, I don't think that you would treat God's name so lightly. But of course, you're going to have to pray for wisdom and guidance that the Lord would give you those opportunities and ultimately that it wouldn't just turn into an argument, but that individuals would see and realize, wow, yeah, I hadn't thought about it that way. You're looking for gospel opportunities, Betty. And so I would say pray. And if there's an open door for you to be able to talk about why the name of God should be treasured ultimately because of his great love for us in Christ and in the gospel, then I would say go for it. And hopefully you shed some light on why the name of the Lord should be exalted by us and not trampled in the mud. And so thank you for your question, sister. God bless you.

Some good counsel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. A reminder, we have that brand new Bible study on the book of Ruth available. Such a cool story, and it really helps us understand the larger story of scripture as we study the Old Testament and that special love story between Ruth and Boaz and what it teaches us about God and how he can redeem terrible situations. So feel free to look for that Bible study by going to corechristianity.com forward slash studies.

Again, corechristianity.com forward slash studies. Let's go back to the phones. Lori is on the line from Nashville, Tennessee. Lori, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

OK. Hi, Bill. Hi, Pastor Adriel. My question has to do with Matthew six versus fourteen and fifteen. And fourteen talks about if you forgive men who sin against you, God will forgive you. Fifteen says if you do not forgive men their sins, your father will not forgive you your sin. My question is, does that mean that if God does not forgive your sins, that that is, in essence, a judgment that will keep that person from spending eternal life with God?

Lori, thank you for that question. So this comes right after Jesus gave the Lord's Prayer in the context of the Sermon on the Mount. Let me just read Jesus' words. Verse fourteen of Matthew six, for if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. There was a study that was recently done, I think it might have been the Barna group, but they took a poll of Christians on forgiveness. And I think it was something like one in four or two in four believers, Christians, say that there's somebody in their life who they just can't forgive. They're not willing to forgive.

And so, you know, it highlights just the challenge here and the fact that for many people, I think it was C.S. Lewis who said, you know, forgiveness is a great thing until you have somebody to forgive, and then it becomes something that's so difficult for us. But one of the things we see over and over again in the Gospels, Lori, is that our forgiveness of others should flow from the forgiveness that we have received from Jesus.

And so if we're not forgiving, if we're hard-hearted and unwilling to extend mercy, in one sense it's a sign of the fact that there's something about the Gospel that's not computing in our minds. You think of the parable that's given in Matthew chapter eighteen, the parable of the unforgiving servant. The text starts off in verse 21, Peter came up to Jesus and said to him, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him?

As many as seven times? And Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. In other words, you just keep on forgiving. And then he tells a parable which highlights the reality of the fact that God has forgiven us this immense debt of sin. When we go to God asking for forgiveness and he washes away all of our sins, and then a brother or sister sins against us, it could be a very grievous sin, but still in comparison to our offenses toward a holy God, we've been forgiven, therefore we should be a people who forgive. And so the way I understand that text in Matthew chapter six is not to say that you're forgiven, you're saved, and then if you don't forgive somebody, you're not saved anymore. I know that forgiveness is a struggle that many of us have, but what it's highlighting is the fact that the person who doesn't forgive, who isn't ultimately forgiven, doesn't understand the very basics of the gospel, because if we did, if we grasped the mercy of God to us in his son Jesus, and if we meditated upon that and knew it, then we would be a people willing to extend that mercy and grace, that forgiveness to others. Now again, this opens the door for a more complex, I think, conversation related to forgiveness, reconciliation, because there's a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. Laurie, as Christians, we always are called to forgive from the heart based on the forgiveness that we've received, but we can't reconcile with the people who have sinned against us unless they recognize that they've sinned, unless there's repentance, and then even beyond that there's this step of restoration, restoring the relationship, which isn't always even possible, but for our part we are always called, I believe, to forgive.

And so if that's something that you're struggling with, and I know as I'm saying this that there are many listening right now who, I mean, there's someone maybe that they're thinking about right now, and they just think like, man, I have such a hard time with that person. I would just say, instead of focusing on that person, on the offense, meditate upon the love of Jesus for sinners, the love of Jesus for you, and how he has forgiven you, and pray and say, Lord, help me to extend that same grace that you have shown to me to those who have sinned against me. Forgive me my debts as I forgive my debtors as well. And in one sense it's this beautiful reminder of, look, if we sinful human beings can extend mercy and grace to each other, how much more can we be sure of the fact that the God who is abundant in mercy and steadfast love is going to extend his forgiveness to us, we who forgive those who have sinned against us. You can rest assured in that because God is more gracious than we can ever be. He's slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and so may the Lord fill your heart with the knowledge of that love and forgiveness so that you might show it to others as well. This is Core Christianity.

We have time for one quick email question before we go, and one of our listeners wants to know this, Adriel. Is it sinful to buy or sell on Sunday? This gets into the application of the Sabbath. Certainly in the Old Testament you weren't supposed to engage in commerce on the Sabbath day.

It was a day of rest for you, for your household, for the land, and so it was a real issue there. I mean, the question of application under the new covenant, we have to remember that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. And the ultimate reality that we're supposed to experience in the Sabbath is the rest that we have in Jesus Christ. He is our Sabbath rest. And so worship and resting in Jesus is the key. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar, or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-The-Core. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.