Should Christians Flee from Progressive States?

Should Christians get out of liberal states and cities? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. We'd love to hear from you. Here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

2673. Now, you can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts. You can watch Adriel live on our YouTube channel right now in the studio, and you can message us that way. And you can always email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, here's a voicemail from one of our callers named Adam.

Hello. I have a question about forgiveness. We're always told that forgiveness doesn't always mean reconciliation.

What does that mean? That's my question. Thank you for answering it.

Bye-bye. Yeah, thank you for that question. Sometimes on this broadcast, I've distinguished between forgiveness, which we're always called to as Christians. We're called to forgive those who sin against us, whether or not they repent. Jesus says we need to forgive from the heart, and really from the forgiveness that we've received from the Lord. But we don't always have the opportunity to reconcile. Now, we should pursue reconciliation, but whereas forgiveness is something we can just do. We can forgive another person, even if they haven't asked for forgiveness. From our heart, we can forgive. Reconciliation requires the other person to recognize that they've sinned, to seek to bring peace again to the relationship.

It can't be one-sided. And so because it requires two parties actively engaged in resolving the conflict, it's not always possible to reconcile. You might want to reconcile with someone who has sinned against you, or maybe you've done something wrong. But if the other person is unwilling, well, you have to extend forgiveness and grace and mercy. But maybe there isn't that opportunity for reconciliation. But that is something that we should seek, especially within the Church and within the body of Christ.

Think of what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5. He says, If you're offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

If you know somebody has something against you, you've done something to hurt them, to harm them, go to them. Be reconciled. Pursue that peace that we have in Jesus Christ.

Be a forgiving person, extending that forgiveness as well. So yeah, thank you for that question. Hopefully that helps you to understand the distinction that we draw there, and really important just in terms of the practical life of the Church and our relationships with one another. So God bless you. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

We'd love to hear from you. If you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, Christian doctrine or theology, or even how your faith intersects with today's culture, here's a voicemail we received from one of our listeners named Saul. Hey Bill and Pastor Adriel.

I really appreciate your show. I've been blessed by listening on my way to work, on my way back from work every day, so thanks for your ministry to the Church. I have a question. Living in California, we've been hearing a lot, especially last year, of pastors telling their members or telling people that they should leave California to let the state or let the people here in California leave them to the judgment of God, and that the Church are the ones that are preserving California from total judgment. My question is, how do you feel about that? How do you feel about that, living in California? I just wanted to get your thoughts, because I've been really bothered by some of these statements, and these guys are really great brothers in the Lord.

Thank you. Hey Saul, I appreciate your question, especially as someone who's also bothered by these statements that I've heard from people who maybe at one time were in California preaching the gospel and then left, and now are trying to get other people to leave this state, and maybe other states as well, where the politics don't line up with what they believe, sometimes even binding people's conscience and saying, look, if you're a Christian, this is really what you need to do. The argument, as I've heard it, is basically we need a retreat, a strategic tactical retreat out of more progressive states where Christianity doesn't have the influence that we would like it to have politically, culturally, and go to places where it's a little bit safer for us, maybe where there's a little bit more acceptance of Christian values, and build something there strong, and then fight from a better position, if you will.

There are all sorts of problems with this idea. Now look, I'm not saying if you're a Christian living in California and you're thinking, hey, I can just afford more somewhere else, I feel like God is calling me somewhere else, totally fine. We're free. You're free in Christ to do that. I'd say go somewhere where you know there's a solid Bible-teaching, gospel-proclaiming church, but you're responsible for your family.

You have freedom, but are we obligated to leave states where maybe we don't agree with the politics as much? Certainly not. Frankly, I just think that there's a lot of issues with this. One, I think that there's a fundamental misunderstanding of the way in which the kingdom of God advances. There's too much of a linking together the advancement of God's kingdom, the strength of God's kingdom in a particular area, and cultural influence. Go to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapters 2 and 3, you have Jesus' exhortations to these various churches in Asia Minor. What's so interesting is some of these churches are located in these terrible places. Think of his address to the Ephesians in Revelation chapter 2, verses 1-7. Ephesus was this place of great idolatry, the temple of Artemis there where people would come from around the world to see this great pagan monument. He was just rife with all sorts of wickedness, and yet Jesus never says to the Ephesians, hey, you guys need to find a better place to go, somewhere where your Christian values are going to be accepted a little bit more, and where you can be more engaging for the gospel.

That's not it at all. Actually, his rebuke to the Ephesian church in Revelation chapter 2 is you guys have lost your first love. You actually aren't evangelizing like you once were. I think also of the church of Pergamum in Revelation chapter 2, verses 12 and following. In verse 13, Jesus said to them, I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is.

Did it get any worse than that? Here's the city where you guys live. That's basically where Satan has set up his kingdom, and his throne is right there. You're right next door to Satan's throne. But does Jesus say to the church at Pergamum, you guys need to go somewhere else. You guys should find a better place to do ministry where your Christian values are going to be accepted a little bit more. No, because the strength of the church, the advancement of the gospel is not tied to our cultural influence, to the power that we have.

In fact, the two churches that don't receive any negative critique from Jesus in Revelation 2 and 3, the church in Smyrna and then the church in Philadelphia, they're described as poor, persecuted, and powerless, and yet they were the churches that were faithful as they continued to proclaim the gospel where God had them. So look, wherever you are, one, love the people there in your city. You don't have to love everything about the city. We can lament the evil things around us, and that's going to be a reality whether we're in a progressive or conservative state. Let's not assume that just because we live in a more quote-unquote conservative state that the values are Christian, that the kingdom of God there is stronger.

That's a lie. There's this false understanding here. One of the other things that really bothers me about this whole thing is I think that it minimizes this idea that we need to flee from progressive states where it seems like Christianity has lost and go other places where we're going to be more accepted. It minimizes the power of God's word and spirit. It's the word of God through the proclamation of the gospel that transforms lives, that causes the dead to live.

You think of Ezekiel chapter 37. That's what we have. We should have great confidence wherever we are that God is able to work and that He is working through His word and spirit. The culture around us might be falling apart in different ways.

Again, that's everywhere, frankly. But what we have is the word of God and the spirit of God. A number of things, as I said, really frustrate me about this idea. We're free as Christians to come and go as we please. We should make decisions wisely, biblical wisdom. But to bind people's consciences and say, look, this place is just so messed up we should get out of there just seems the opposite of anything that you see in Scripture. Certainly, Jesus didn't tell the church in Pergamum to find a new location, the Ephesian church to go somewhere else. No, we're called to proclaim the gospel wherever we are. We can do that with confidence, knowing that the word of God is able to do amazing things, to transform the hearts of people, and to bless society.

That's my take. I appreciate your question there, brother. Glad to hear that you're serving the Lord and walking with Jesus in California. I love California.

I love my neighbors here. I want to see the gospel continue to advance in this community. God bless. Great counsel, and thanks for that, Adriel. In case you're not aware, Adriel actually leads a church, is a pastor of a church in San Diego, California. So he's very familiar with what's going on in that state right now, and I appreciate that so much. This is Core Christianity, and if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, our phone lines are open right now, 833-843-2673. That's 833-THE-CORE. And speaking of living the Christian life and doing it effectively, we actually have a brand new Bible study on the book of Philippians.

Yeah. I mean, a wonderful New Testament epistle. I had the privilege of working with another guy on this Bible study, and I think it'll really bless you. Philippians was actually the first book of the Bible that I preached through as a minister of the gospel. I love the exhortations throughout the book of Philippians, and I love the fact that it really gets to the heart of the Christian life and what God calls us to as his people. So if you want to go through the book of Philippians on your own or maybe with a group of people in your church, I think this is a wonderful resource.

I'd love for you to get your hands on it, and it's yours for a donation of $20 or more. This is such an excellent study, and it really helps us to rejoice in all the blessings that we have in Christ. To pick up your copy of our new Philippians Bible study, just head over to corechristianity.com forward slash new study. That's corechristianity.com forward slash new study.

You can also call us for that or any one of our resources at 833-843-2673. Well, let's go back to the phones. Roland's on the line from St. Louis, Missouri. Roland, what's your question for Pastor Adrian? Yes, sir.

Thank you for taking my call. My question is, I was speaking with a couple of my church members last week, and both of those guys, they've been members of the church for years and years. I've only been there three years. And they told me that there's evil spirits in the church. One said they've actually seen them.

The other said they hadn't seen them, but they've heard them. And so my question to you is, do you believe that that's true, that there are evil spirits in the church? And then he also, one of them gave me a scripture of Hebrews 12 and 1 to refer to, and I read that scripture, and I don't see where that has anything to do with spirits. So if you can help me with that, I'd appreciate it, Pastor. Roland, God bless you, brother. I mean, it sounds like the question is, can there be evil spirits, demonic influence within churches?

And the simple answer to that question is yes. In fact, it's really interesting, when Jesus was on the scene right before his death, if you recall, he goes to Jerusalem and he drives people out of the temple. He's flipping over tables and he's casting out the money changers. It's interesting because in the Gospels, that word that's used for his casting out the money changers and the hypocrites there in the temple is the same word that's used in other parts of the gospel to describe when Jesus would perform an exorcism. It's as if he's performing an exorcism on the temple, if you will.

Why? Because it was filled with religious hypocrisy, corruption, greed. There was demonic influence there. And the one who cleanses the church, who reforms the church from that kind of influence is Jesus by his life, death, resurrection from the dead. But the reality is, even today, churches that depart from the pure preaching of the word of God, the gospel, churches that embrace false teaching are under the influence of the spirit of the antichrist. John talked about this in 1 John 4. Now the good news is, if you belong to Jesus, if you are in Christ by faith, well, you've overcome the evil one.

1 John 4, verse 4 says, Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. So I think the further we go, Roland, from the word of God, from being faithful to what the scriptures teach us, the more susceptible we are to the deceptions of Satan. The apostle Paul told Timothy that in the latter days, many would depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and the doctrines of demons. So the key is, know the word of God and worship God according to his word and follow Christ and what he says. And if that's what's happening, if you're going to a faithful church that does that, then I can't tell you.

I don't know what these individuals are seeing or whatnot. Obviously, when you get into people saying, I think I saw an evil spirit at the church, that's their personal experience. What I do know is, Satan is at work everywhere where the word of God is not faithfully taught. And where the word of God is faithfully taught, he's driven out. And so be in a place where God's word is faithfully taught, my friend. God bless. Amen. Hey, Roland, thanks so much for your call and for listening to Core Christianity.

We appreciate having you as one of our listeners. Let's go to Russell, who's in Kansas City, Missouri. Russell, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Russell, are you there? Can you hear me? Hey, I can hear you now. All right.

I appreciate your show. I have a friend that is a leader of a children's church and his church, and he has a member of the congregation that is practicing same sex relationship. And she wants to take over the children's church. And he's having a really difficult time with convincing the congregation and the pastor that this is a wrong thing to do, if you can believe that.

Can you kind of help me help him? Hey, Russell, thank you for that question. I mean, it sounds to me just going to be totally frank with you, like it's probably time for your friend to find a new church. If one let me let's just let's just be clear with regard to what the Bible says about practicing homosexuality.

I mean, it's a sin. Paul talks about this in Romans chapter one. We read about this, you know, First Corinthians chapter six. Paul says the Corinthians such were some of you prior to your conversion to Christ. You used to be these things in any includes in that list.

You know, homosexuals, people who are in homosexual relationships, gay and lesbian relationships. But but you were washed. You were sanctified.

You were you were cleansed. You're no longer that you're a child of the true and the living guys. This is just the sort of fundamental basics, if you will, of what the gospel does. And so if you're in a church that really has set that aside, that doesn't believe that, that says, oh, you know what? This is not a big deal. People can do whatever they want, live however they want and be, you know, leading ministries of the church.

Well, there there's a huge problem. Obviously, there's there's a fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel and its implications, what God calls us to when it comes to following Jesus. So I would say if that's where your friend's church is at, your friend needs to find a church that is going to be faithful to the word of God and and get plugged in there. And I think that's that's that's a simple this.

Now, the challenge, obviously, maybe your friend has all sorts of relationships there and has been there for many, many years. But at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves the question, is the word of God being faithfully taught here? And am I going to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ?

Or is this something else? Is this an affinity group, you know, a cultural community that that's rallying around whether it's, you know, conservative ideology or progressive ideology, whatever it is, right? If it's not focused on the gospel and what the gospel does, there's a problem. And we need to find a church that is focused on the gospel and following Christ. And so, Russell, pray for your friend and encourage your friend to find a solid church and maybe help them to find a solid church in his area. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a note, we are going to continue taking your calls today and we're going to be recording a second episode of Core Christianity.

So if you have a question for Pastor Adriel about the Bible, the Christian life doctrine or theology, by all means, jump on the phone in the next half hour or so and let us know. Here's the number one eight three three eight four three twenty six seventy three. That's eight three three.

The core. Let's go to an email that came in from one of our listeners. This is from Gary. He says, Is Jesus the only one with a resurrection body in heaven? That's a great question, Gary.

Now, I think I'm going to say yes. I mean, a glorified body. So Christ rose again and Paul in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, calls him the first fruits of the resurrection. There's a really a wonderful image there that he gives us. We are going to follow the resurrection harvest, if you will, because we have faith in Jesus Christ because we're united to him. We're a part of the one resurrection harvest, if you will. But Jesus is the first fruits, the first one, if you will, to be resurrected. And because he rose again from the dead, this is part of Paul's train of thought in First Corinthians 15. We too can have the confidence that we are going to rise bodily. It just goes to show you how central the resurrection is to the Christian faith. Too many people think the promise that God gives to us is we accept Jesus into our heart, and then we get to go to heaven when we die and float around on clouds playing harps in this eternal heavenly kingdom, if you will.

But it's not bodily, physical. Well, look, prior to the second coming, prior to the final resurrection of all people and the restoration of all things, we are going to be in heaven with the Lord in the Spirit. But at the resurrection, because Christ rose, we're going to rise too, and this world is going to be renewed, restored, and we're going to be on a new heavens, on a new earth and a new heavens, and it's going to be awesome.

It's going to be wonderful. That's the hope that we have as Christians, and Christ is the one who brought that hope to us, and we look to him as the firstfruits of the resurrection. Thanks for the question. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We have time for one more call. Let's go to Debbie, who is—I'm sorry, we'll go to Daniel, who's in San Diego. Daniel, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Yeah, thanks, guys. I have a question, specifically in the larger catechism of the Westminster standards on the difference between justification and sanctification. It uses the language of infused grace. Now, my understanding is that certainly righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. We're only counted righteous for the righteousness of Christ. And my understanding of sanctification is that while we are enabled by the Spirit to crucify the flesh— Paul talks about this in his letter to the Romans, Galatians chapter 5, he talks about this, living to the Spirit, crucifying what is earthly in you or fleshly in you. 2 Corinthians 5, 17 talks about the old is gone, the new has come. It's all throughout scripture, but help me understand what the standards mean by this and how this connects to our understanding of justification and sanctification, because my understanding is that Christ is the one who sanctifies us. Hey, Daniel, thank you for that question.

And just for many of our listeners who may not be familiar with what it is that you're talking about. So we're talking about the doctrine of justification. We're counted righteous in Christ solely because of what Christ has done for us, the forgiveness of sins, the imputation of his righteousness, and then also sanctification, that process of renewal, of growth in holiness that happens throughout the Christian life. And now when it comes to justification, we're not justified on the basis of something infused into us, these moral qualities, this righteousness that's inherent in us. Paul says in Romans chapter 4 that God justifies the ungodly, the sinner. So there's nothing in us that causes God to justify us. It's purely something we receive by faith in Jesus Christ. The language of infusion, which we would never want to use when talking about justification, we use the language of imputation. It's this gift of righteousness.

The language of infusion, though, some people have said, you know, that's helpful, I don't know, or some people have thought that that's not very helpful. But when we're talking about the sanctification in particular, I think what's being emphasized here, Daniel, is this process of inward renewal. And that inward renewal, it's a work of God still that's taking place over time that's happening by the grace of the Holy Spirit in our lives through using the means of grace that God has given to us. It's something that we're called to, and ultimately it's something that God is going to accomplish in us through His Son Jesus and by the grace of the Spirit. God's word together.