How Do I Know if My Faith is Genuine?

How do I know if my faith is genuine? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day.

We would love to hear from you. Our phone lines will be open for the next 25 minutes or so. Here's the number to call. 1-833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Of course, you can always post your question on one of our social media sites. You can watch Adriel right now live in the studio on our YouTube channel, and you can send us a message that way. And of course, you can always email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

First up today, here's a voicemail we received from one of our callers earlier this week. Yeah, I have a question about the second coming of Christ. Jesus says that only the Father knows, the angels know, don't know when he's coming back. But Jesus says, God, why did he not know when he would return?

Thanks. Yeah, thank you for that question. And actually, that verse you bring up is one that has been used by those throughout the history of the Church who have wanted to deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, who've taught that, you know, Jesus was not God, reject the doctrine of the Trinity. Today, people like the Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, in the ancient church, there was a group of people known as the Arians, followers of an individual named Arius, whose teaching was that there was a time when the word Jesus was not, that he was a created being.

They would say he was the first created being, but that he was still a creature, not in the category of creator. And one of the texts that they would go to was Matthew chapter 24, verse 36, where Jesus said, but concerning that day and hour, no one knows. He's talking about the coming of the Lord. No one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Now, first, I just want to make a brief comment about that text. Jesus is basically saying, don't speculate about the win of my coming and how many people have done that. I mean, there have been books written about, you know, here's why Jesus is going to come in 1988 or here's why Jesus is going to come after next March or whatever. But Jesus is saying, don't do that.

Not even the angels, no, not even the Son. I mean, they're in the context of this discourse that he's giving. And so how do we make sense of this? And especially how do we make sense of this if, as we teach, Jesus is God, the Lord?

Well, what most people through the history of the church have done, and I'm with them on this, is they've gone to the doctrine of the incarnation, right? The divine person, one divine person who assumed humanity to himself so that he has two natures now, divine and human. So it's the idea of Jesus in his coming to earth, in his humiliation, in his office, as the Christ is saying.

Not even the Son knows. And there are some commentators who even said, you know, in his resurrection, at that point he did know. But this is not something that would, I think, call into question the doctrine of Christ's divinity, the doctrine of the Trinity, the fact that Jesus is the second person of the Godhead. I think we have to read this and understand it in the light of his coming to earth, his humiliation, his assumption of humanity. And insofar as he really did those things, he can say what he says here in this passage.

And so I trust that that clears it up for you and appreciate this question. God bless. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd love to hear from you if you've got a question about the Bible, the Christian life, doctrine or theology, or maybe about your day to day Christian walk.

And how do you live out your faith in today's world? Here's the number to call. It's 833-THECORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. By the way, we want to offer you a great resource today. It's a wonderful book that will help you focus on what Jesus has done for us. Yeah, today we're offering the book Captivated, Beholding the Mystery of Jesus's Death and Resurrection by Thabiti Anyabwile. In our culture, we are taught and formed to be like Martha, you know, Martha and the Gospels. We busy ourselves with doing lots of spiritual things. We worry about the culture's impact on the church.

Everything is screaming for our attention as we scroll through social media. And in his book Captivated, Pastor Thabiti helps us to stop and ask how would our friendship with Jesus and our familiarity with his ways be deepened if we looked long at his nail-scarred hands and his pierced brow. If we really asked and contemplated with Paul, oh death, where is your sting? With Easter behind us now, there's no better time to stop ourselves from being swept up in the commotion and panic of the world and reframe our lives around the hope that we have because of the resurrection. So join us in doing this by getting this book Captivated for a donation of any amount at corechristianity.com. We'd like to get this book in your hands that will really help you celebrate Easter all year long. And you can find that by going to corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Well, let's go to a voicemail we received from one of our listeners.

This is from Michelle. I'm calling from Ohio and my question is this, how do you know if you really want Jesus and it's not just because you're going through the emotions and because you're brought up in church? And what do you do if you have bad thoughts about God? Like I'm dealing with thoughts to say I don't want Jesus. I don't want to repent.

I don't want to follow him. Is that really my heart or is that Satan or my flesh? So how can I examine whether it's me being a sinner and lost or just dealing with the world? I don't see any fruit in my life. I feel unstable in my so-called walk with Jesus and I believe I have a lot of head knowledge and I don't know what to do. Thank you.

Bye. Michelle, thank you for your question, especially the first part of that question there. How do I know that I really want Jesus? How do I know I'm not just deceiving myself? I just want you to know that you're not alone in asking that question, that many people have asked that question, genuine believers wrestling through. That I really belong to the Lord. Am I just deceiving myself? Is it all head knowledge? And just that cry of God, sometimes I feel like I don't even want you.

Like I actually want the opposite. It sounds to me in some ways like the tension that the apostle Paul writes about in Romans chapter 7. He talks about the battle that I believe the believer faces as you long to do, you want to do the right things, but you still find yourself doing things that ultimately are not good for you, still sinning.

Who will deliver me from this body of death? Paul says thanks be to God through Jesus Christ. Jesus is our hope. The fact of the matter is, sister, we are never going to want Jesus as much as we should. Everything that we do this side of heaven, every good work that we do, every good desire and longing even that we have is still imperfect and tainted by sin. And so don't focus on the degree of your desire and just sort of go around in a circle thinking, do I really want Jesus enough? The fact of the matter is none of us do. And what we do with that, I think, is we just are honest about it.

We confess it. You can go to God, Michelle, and say, God, forgive me because I don't even desire you. I don't want you, I believe.

In fact, I want sin. And there are other things that I'm drawn away toward that are not good and true and beautiful and not honoring to you. Just be honest with the Lord about that.

And I think that's something we all have to do. And so you can come to God like the man in Mark chapter 9 who says, God, I believe, but help my unbelief. Help my unbelief, God. And so I would say, taking all of those things, even your quote unquote feelings, and saying, Lord, help me. I want to long for you. I want to love you more than I do.

And sometimes I look in and I feel like I don't love you at all. And what you fix your eyes on is not your love for God, but meditate upon what the scriptures say pertaining to God's love for you as a sinner. In Romans chapter 5, God demonstrated his love for us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He's the one who loved us and washed our sins away by his blood. And I think that's where you need to focus, not so much on how much you want and desire Jesus, but how much God in his mercy loved us and pursued us and pursued you in sending Jesus into the world for the forgiveness of our sins. That's where you need to focus. And frankly, I think it's as we fix our eyes on God's mercy toward us that that love that we hope for, that we long for to be produced in us is actually produced in us. And as John says in 1 John, we love because he first loved us. We shall set your eyes, your hope, on the love of God for you in Jesus Christ, not on your feelings and desires. Set your eyes on Christ crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and rest in that, meditate in and on that reality.

And that's what I would encourage everyone, as they struggle with these questions and thoughts, to say, man, go to the gospel, fix your eyes on what God has said and promised in his word. Thanks for calling. Amen. Michelle, the book we're offering today would be great for you because it really does focus on just the things that Adriel was talking about, what Jesus has done for you.

It's called Captivated, and you can find that by going to corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Well, let's get back to the phones. We have Fred on the line from McAllen, Texas. Fred, thanks for calling in.

What's your question for Adriel? Yes, I was inquiring about John 1, 1 John, regarding the word, not necessarily being God, but being a God. What say you?

Yeah. Fred, I'm assuming, so this is something that I often hear Jehovah's Witnesses say in John 1, verse 1. Now, the Bible that I'm using says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. If you look at the New World Translation of the Bible, which is the translation that Jehovah's Witnesses use, they insert a word there. The word was a God, they say.

It's changing the text in some ways. I'm assuming you're referring to that translation. Is that the translation that you use, Fred?

Yes, I have it in front of me. It reads, in the beginning, the word was, and the word was with God, and the word was a God, with a small g. Again, that's a little confusing to the layperson. What say you? Yeah, what I say is it's a bad translation. The sad reality is, the New World Translation as a whole, not just that text that they mistranslate, but as a whole, there are so many passages in the New Testament that they mistranslate. For example, in Colossians 1, where it says, by him, that is, by Jesus, all things were created. They insert a word there, too, that's not even in the Greek text. They say, by him, all, and then in brackets, they'll put the word, other things were created, as if to suggest that Jesus himself is a created being.

The problem with that translation is it doesn't even make sense on its own. How many gods do they believe in, or Jehovah's Witnesses believe in? We're not talking about a God, or a lesser God, or a lesser divine being. Jesus is God or not.

There's only one God, right? The doctrine of the Trinity, what's beautiful about it, I think, is it helps us to make sense of everything that we see in the Bible about how God has revealed himself to us. Here, it's very clear that the Word, the eternal Son of the Father, is God. He's always there from the very beginning, that he's not a creature, but that he's in the category of creator, and that that eternal Word of the Father, who was with God and was God, verse 14, became flesh and dwelt among us.

We have seen his glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. I would just say to you, friend, recommendation, get a new Bible. Try the ESV, the New King James, the NIV. Don't use the New World Translation of the Bible, because it's a poor translation of the Scriptures, and really, it's a biased translation.

They don't want people to see the clear teachings of the Scriptures. When Scripture has these texts, it's obvious that Jesus is God. They twist those passages, and oftentimes with no basis in the Greek text at all. I think that's what's happening here in John 1, verse 1, with the New World Translation, but also in other places, as I mentioned already, in Colossians 1. And so I say, get a new Bible and embrace what Christians have embraced for 2,000 years, which is the clear testimony of Scripture, and that is that Jesus is the eternal Word of the Father, God of God, as we say in the creed that he himself is God. It's what's taught in the Old Testament and the New Testament alike, and John 1 is just one of many places where we see that clearly taught. Let me ask you as a follow-up question, Adriel. If a Jehovah's Witness comes to your door, is it beneficial for you to bring out an accurate translation of the Bible and show them how their New World Translation is a distortion?

That's a great question, Bill. Yeah, I mean, I do think we want to open the Scriptures together. So you just need to know this, because a lot of times they might show up with this translation of the Bible and people don't know, and so they're reading from a translation that really has problems. So I think it's good for Christians to know this, for people to know this, and to be able to bring this up as well. Most of the Jehovah's Witnesses that I know have never studied Greek or Hebrew. Sometimes they'll have an interlinear Bible with them and just kind of show that off.

But the reality is that they don't actually know, and this is true of, I think, most people. There's nothing wrong with that, but when we're looking at translations of the Bible, we want to make sure that we're using a translation that's faithful to the original text. Knowing that the New World Translation is not, I think, is important, and then being able to open up the Scriptures and go places that clearly teach what we believe, that Christ is God, is important and good. This is, again, why it's so important for us to know what it is that we believe.

Good advice. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Here's the number. It's 1-833-843-2673.

That's 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to Allison in Nashville, Tennessee. Allison, what's your question for Adriel?

Hi, good afternoon. My question is, I have had an urging, maybe, I guess that's the only word I can think of, to possibly relocate due to financial situation, and the job is not exactly what I love. I'm a new Christian, and I've spoken to my sister as a Christian, and she's always saying, you know, talk to God about it. And me, out of habit, I just start looking around, almost making plans to leave without, it's not a habit for me to stop and say, God, what do you think? And so I started praying about it, but I guess I'm waiting for an answer sooner than later. So I kind of wanted to ask you, what does that look like when you speak to God, since you are a Christian for many years, and ask Him for guidance in your life? Well, one, just praise God. Love that you're walking with the Lord and wanting to honor Him with the decisions that you make.

And so what does it look like? You know, something like this, where maybe you have a sense of, boy, I don't feel like I can be here any longer. Maybe, you know, housing is too much, or, I mean, whatever reason, you know, things are coming up. Well, you pray, I think, one, and just say, God, guide me. Help me first and foremost to be shaped by what your word says in terms of how I should live and the things that I should pursue. And as I'm shaped by those realities, you know, what it is that you call me to, God, how it is that you call me to live, to end that, I mean, I think there's freedom there, right? If you have a sense of, you know, I feel like God is calling me elsewhere for whatever reason, or I just can't afford it here anymore, that's okay. I think the freedom as a believer to make those decisions, and then if you're expecting God to kind of, you know, all of a sudden just speak to you audibly or give you a sign in the clouds, that kind of a thing, ordinarily, I know we'd all like that, but that's not typically what happens.

Usually, I think, Alison, the way that the Lord answers our prayers is just in His providence, you know, opening a door or giving us clarity, maybe a sense of peace as we're praying about a particular issue, and all of a sudden we realize, oh, man, this great opportunity opened up here. And lo and behold, there's a wonderful church in this new area that I want to go to and I can be a part of and continue to grow in my faith. Let me just say that as you think about this, especially as a newer Christian, right, having a solid local church where you're growing in your faith is so important, especially, I think, at this stage in your walk with the Lord right now, you know, as you're first starting to grow in the things of the Word and in the things of the Lord. And so I would say if you have a really good church that you're a part of right now that's been encouraging and helping you to grow, that's huge.

That is huge. I think that in and of itself is a good reason to stay in an area, but that doesn't mean that you can. Maybe it's not a wise decision for you to stay and there are other reasons you should go somewhere else. I would just say wherever you go, make sure that you're going somewhere where you're going to be able to continue to grow in your faith and you're going to have other believers around you that are going to encourage you in your walk with the Lord. What I would hate to see is you have that now and you're going somewhere else and you go somewhere else and that's just gone. That's just not there anymore.

Maybe it's a cheaper place to live and you can have a bigger home or whatever, but you want to also think about the spiritual component. And so just to follow up and ask you, do you have a good church community right now where you're at? I do. Yes, I do. Uh-huh.

Okay. Well, and maybe if you have an idea of where it is that potentially you'd want to go, maybe they can help you find something nearby there that's going to continue to encourage you. But I would just say praying for wisdom, sometimes I like to make a list.

What are the pros and cons? But as you're making that pros and cons list and you're thinking about finances and schools and whatever else you have on that list, add the church piece there too. In fact, put that pretty high on the list in terms of what needs to be there, a component of wherever it is that you're going. And look at that and pray through it and get wisdom from the people around you, other believers in your life, and just ask God to give you clarity. And like I said, oftentimes what will happen is a door will open or a door will close.

An opportunity might present itself. And there's freedom there in Christ to make that decision for you so long as it's going to be good for you and ultimately going to contribute more to your spiritual well-being as well. And so I appreciate your question. Why don't we just pray right now for Alison that God would give her wisdom in this decision. Gracious Father, thank You for my sister. Thank You, Lord, that You've brought her to Yourself through Your Son, Jesus. Thank You for the forgiveness of sins that we have in Christ and, Lord, that You don't just call us to Yourself and save us, Lord, but that You call us to walk with You in Your truth, in Your word, and that continually, Lord, Your Spirit is at work in our lives helping us to grow in the Christian life. And I pray that You would be with Alison, Lord, and that You would be helping her in this season by giving her wisdom, by giving her clarity, that You would speak, Lord, providentially to her, guiding her to wherever it is that You want her to be, Lord, whether that's staying where she's at or going somewhere else, Lord. But in whatever she does, Lord, I pray that the decision she makes would ultimately result in her continuing to grow in a deeper love for You and in a closer walk with Your Son, Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen. Amen. And Alison, as a new believer, we would love to send you a complimentary copy of the book, Core Christianity.

It's the book that actually got this radio show started by our founder, Dr. Michael Horton. So if you just give us your address, we'll send that off to you at no charge. So thank you so much for your call.

Well, we have time for one more quick call on the line. Monica from Texas. Monica, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yes, I was reading through Ezekiel, and when he starts his prophecies, he says, you know, the Lord said, like, called him the Son of Man. I thought the Son of Man was one of the names for Jesus. What's the correlation or the reasoning behind that? Yeah.

Hey, Monica, thank you for that question. It's actually, you know, a title that appears in the prophets on various occasions. Ezekiel, for example, throughout the Book of Ezekiel, is referred to as Son of Man. In Daniel chapter 7, Daniel has a vision of this Son of Man who's given a kingdom, essentially, and Jesus, he assumes this title. I mean, when he's being questioned by the religious leader, he says, you're going to see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven. And this Son of Man figure in Daniel, for example, actually, the emphasis there is, you know, divine power, authority. He's worshiped, he's praised by the nations. And so in Ezekiel, I think, and in the New Testament as well, I think there's a sense of the humanity that's being emphasized of this prophetic figure. But there's also the reality, and we get this from Daniel chapter 7, of the Son of Man being this divine figure, ultimately fulfilled in Christ.

And that's, I think, how we should understand it. 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.