Reaching the Prodigal

I know the Bible talks about Scripture being God-breathed, but who was the first person that started writing the Bible, and how has everything been compiled into one book? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. 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. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

And you can email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, if you're a pet owner and you want to take a more creative approach to your COVID-19 face mask, listen up. You can now wear a face mask adorned with your pet's mouth. Yes, a company called Dogs and Dorks will print a mask with a snout of your beloved dog or cat on it. The personalized face masks have been selling like hotcakes. Danielle Schull, who owns the company, said she was inspired by her dog Ragley's crooked teeth, so she made a mask out of it. And it's not just cute pups and sweet kittens being printed onto masks. One snake owner even asked for a mask printed with the fangs of his pet reptile. Oh, can you imagine getting on an airplane with that, Adriel, the snake mask? No, I mean, I feel like I need to step my mask game up. I still typically just use those disposable ones, but now you walk into the store and they have these really nice ones that they're selling, like designer masks, you know. I mean, I'm hoping that we're not wearing masks for the rest of our lives, but these things are coming out now and I'm pretty simple, Bill. How about you? Yeah, I do the disposable thing too. Nothing, nothing fancy here.

Yeah. So, well, let's get to our first question of the day. This one comes from Bobby and Bobby says, sometimes I feel like the most inspirational verses in the Bible actually leave me feeling hopeless. Like first Thessalonians chapter five, rejoice, always pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God. I'm not always happy. I don't always pray and I often forget to be thankful. If this is God's will for me, why do I have such a hard time living it out? Yeah, Bobby, I think that we've all felt the way that you feel as we're reading the scripture and we're coming across these exhortations, these imperatives, just that passage you mentioned, you know, like pray without ceasing.

What does that even mean? I mean, you know, I start my prayer at the beginning of the day and I don't say amen until I lay down for sleep. I'm like, how can we pray without ceasing or rejoice always? One thing that is clear about that passage in first Thessalonians five is that our joy, our thankfulness, our prayers aren't supposed to be dependent upon our circumstances first and foremost so that we can still as believers have joy or rejoicing, thankfulness even when things don't go our way. That passage doesn't mean that we're just going to be happy all the time.

But really to your question, how do we handle these texts, especially when they make us feel like we don't measure up? I think one distinction that might be helpful for you, Bobby, is the distinction between imperatives and indicative. So when you read a text like this filled with imperative commands, right? Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. This is God's will for you. You have to understand that those commands, those exhortations come in the context of indicative truth. It's not that Paul is saying, hey, you need to do these things so that God will love you or so that you'll measure up as a Christian and you can prove your Christianity to everybody else. No, he's saying you do these things as the beloved children of God in light of your new identity in Jesus Christ.

It's one of the things that's highlighted at the beginning of this book. In 1 Thessalonians 1, verses 2 and following, Paul said, we give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers, loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. Who are we as the people of God? We are those who are loved and chosen by God, redeemed. Our sins are washed away through the blood of Jesus Christ.

That's the indicative truth. You're loved by God, Bob. You're chosen by God in Christ, and it's in light of that indicative, in light of your new identity, that you can be called to and that you are called to rejoice always.

Why? Not because the circumstances of life are always wonderful and lead to our rejoicing, but we can rejoice in Christ that our sins are forgiven. We pray without ceasing. That is, we're always offering up our hearts to the Lord. Sometimes it's a prayer of thanksgiving, of praise. Sometimes it's a cry of lament. It's saying, God, I'm having a hard time praying right now.

I'm having a hard time following you. I think honestly, I said this the other day, Bob, someone I was talking to. I think sometimes the most sincere prayer that we can offer as Christians is, Lord, I don't want to pray, and I don't even feel like doing the right thing right now. Help me.

Help me. I think that those kinds of sincere prayers are way better than pretending like everything is okay, pious prayers where we're just sort of going through the motions. No, God wants us to be honest with him.

And so I would say, understand these exhortations in light of the indicative truth that they're rooted in. We're called to rejoice, to give thanks, to pray without ceasing as the beloved and chosen children of God. And at the end of the day, we're never going to do this perfectly. Nobody obeys God's law perfectly. We don't love God perfectly.

We don't love each other perfectly. And that's why there's the gospel. We rest in God's mercy and in what he's done for us in those indicative truths of our salvation in Jesus Christ. And it's those truths that inspire us to press in and to grow in our walk with the Lord and to pray and to give thanks and to rejoice. Some great encouraging words, Adriel.

Thank you so much. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And if you have a question for us, you can call us at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Hey, Elias. Thank you for that question. It sounds to me like the pastor you were listening to is maybe a little bit confused about what it means to be a respecter of persons in the context of scripture. When in the Bible it talks about God not being a respecter of persons, what's being highlighted there is that God does not show partiality. We use that word respect kind of in a different way, or at least it sounds like that pastor was thinking of it in a different way.

Like, I respect my superiors or my children show me respect as their father. Here, the focus is on the fact that God doesn't show partiality to certain people, to particular ethnicities or people in a certain socioeconomic bracket, that kind of a thing. I mean, Peter, when he was witnessing the Gentiles, non-Jews coming into the church under the new covenant as he was preaching, he said that he realized this is Acts 10, verse 34, that God was not a respecter of persons. Let me just read that passage to you, actually. Acts chapter 10, verse 34.

I think you could go there. It helps to define what's being talked about or what it means when we talk about God not being a respecter of persons. Verse 34, Peter opened his mouth and said, truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You see this idea also throughout the Old Testament that God is not a respecter of persons.

He doesn't show partiality. He judges justly. Deuteronomy 10, verse 17 and 2 Chronicles 19, verse 7 are a couple of the verses you can go to to see that. Again, the focus here is God doesn't treat people unjustly. He doesn't favor the rich and neglect the poor.

He doesn't show preference on the basis of race or ethnicity. God is no respecter of persons. Not long ago, I preached through a text of scripture in Mark chapter 5 that I think really highlights this point. It's in Mark chapter 5, verses 21 and following.

We're told in that passage, I'm not going to read it, but I'll just give you kind of a summary. We're told in that passage that there was this ruler of the synagogue that came to Jesus desperate and looking for help. His daughter was very sick.

His name was Jairus. This guy is probably a guy who's well-to-do, respected, wealthy. I mean, he's a ruler in the synagogue.

He's the kind of guy that people go to for advice, for wisdom, and yet he's desperate because his daughter is very sick. Jesus goes to heal his daughter, but as Jesus is going to heal his daughter, another woman comes to Jesus, and she too is desperate. She's the woman with the flow of blood. Now, what's interesting is in that passage, Jairus is named.

He's mentioned by name, but this woman is not named. She would have been in that society considered unclean. She would have been somewhat of a pariah. Now, the synagogue official, he would have been a pillar in that society. So you have these two people set side by side, this sort of pillar in society and this pariah, and yet Jesus in his love and in his mercy tends to both.

He doesn't cast aside the woman with the flow of blood and say, I don't have time for you. I'm busy tending to this rich synagogue official. No, we all, rich and poor, the pillars of society and the pariahs of society, we all need the grace of Jesus. And that's why it's such good news that God is not a respecter of persons, Elias. So that means is no matter who you are, rich or poor, whatever your cultural background is, your ethnicity, God is not a respecter of persons.

When you turn to him, when you look to Jesus by faith, he receives you. And that's great news. In Israel, I'm also thinking about that section in Samuel where we learn that with David, we need to make sure as human beings that we don't start looking at the externals and say, boy, this person is rich or special or handsome or whatever, because God looks at the heart and that's what's most important to him. That's right.

Yeah. And I think that just reiterates the point that we see all throughout the scriptures of God not being a respecter of persons. People, we tend to look at the outside and focus on that and give people more attention maybe because of that or less attention because of that. Well, that's not how God operates. God is so good.

God is gracious. And he looks at the heart, as you say, Bill, thanks for bringing that passage in. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And, you know, here at this program, our goal is to help you understand the core truths of the Christian faith. Every time we answer a caller's question, every article we run on the website, every resource we produce is really seeking to help you gain a clear understanding of the gospel, the core message of Christianity. But we need your support to do it.

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That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's get to another question, Adriel. This is from Zach, who posted on our Instagram account. Zach says, I know the Bible talks about Scripture being God-breathed, but who was the first person that started writing the Bible, and how has everything been compiled into one book?

Yeah, that's a really good question, Zach. I mean, we talk about the importance of Scripture, but how did we get the Bible that we have today? Well, the first thing to say is you mentioned the Scriptures being God-breathed, and I just want to read that passage of Scripture for those who are not familiar with that text. It's 2 Timothy chapter three, beginning in verse 16. We read, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for proof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Paul goes on to tell Timothy in chapter four, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

You have a kind of a warning there. You have this promise that the word of God is breathed out. Scripture is breathed out by God, and because it's God's word to us, it's profitable to build us up in the faith, to exhort us, to reprove us, to strengthen us in our walk with the Lord, and that's why we have to be committed to teaching the Scriptures. And there are people that don't want to hear God's word, and so it's important for us to understand that they're God-breathed.

Now, how was it that this whole thing happened? Well, Peter tells us in 2 Peter chapter two, verse 21, No prophecy was ever produced by the will of men, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Here's what happened throughout the history of redemption. What God was doing was He was, by the power of the Holy Spirit, inspiring men, people just like us, carrying them along, inspiring their writing, so that we might have God's word for us inscripturated.

Now, you have various offers. The first five books of the Old Testament are typically attributed to Moses. Some of the books of the Bible, we're not 100 percent sure who wrote them. I think of the New Testament book of Hebrews, for example.

You know, there's a lot of speculation. Some people think Paul wrote it. Some people think Barnabas wrote it. There are all sorts of ideas about who's behind the book of Hebrews.

We don't know who wrote every book of the Bible, but here's what we do know. The same God who carried people along to write the scriptures, inspiring them, is able to preserve His word and has preserved His word for us, so that we can trust God's word, so that we can be confident. Now, how was it that the word of God was preserved throughout the history of redemption, throughout the history of the church?

Well, it was primarily preserved by the people of God, the church. Under the Old Testament, you think of the people of Israel receiving the word of God, preserving the word of God. Even in the New Testament, you have the scriptures that had been received by the Old Testament saints. You have the New Testament as it's being written, even being received at that time as the word of God. I mean, Peter refers to Paul's writings as scripture.

It's pretty remarkable. Then the church essentially embraced the New Testament writings as the word of God on the basis of the fact that they were associated with or written by the apostles in some way. They were ancient. These writings that were received by the church, they were universally embraced by believers as the word of God. They're in the first centuries of the church. God in His providence, Zach, inspired the word of God, but also preserved it. He used men and women, the church, to preserve it so that we, today, might receive it as scripture so that, as Paul says in 2 Timothy 3 verse 16, we might submit to the teaching of the word of God, and that's the most important thing. We have the scriptures, and do we listen to them? Do we receive the one that they placard before us, Jesus? Do we know Him and follow Him? We have God's word.

Let's hear it with open ears. Amen. Some great words there. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Adriel, here's an email question that came in from Spencer. Spencer says, how can I reach out on a spiritual level to a friend and fellow Christian who has fallen away to drugs and alcohol and has seemingly lost his love for the Lord?

Spencer, man, what a heartbreaking situation, and I think that many of us have experienced something similar, where we have a friend who was maybe in church with us, walking with the Lord, singing the songs. You know, they were baptized, perhaps, and then over time they begin to drift. Sometimes they drift and they're devastated. You know, there's this pain there.

They don't want to talk about it. Other times, people just completely jump ship and they're even hostile toward the Christian faith and want to argue with you. And I don't know what the situation is here specifically with your friend, but your question reminds me of what James says in James 5, verse 19 and 20.

It's the very end of his letter. My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. You see, this kind of thing was even happening in the days of the apostles, in the days of the early church. We've had to wrestle with this for all of Christian history, and I think that the answer is going to be dependent upon the particular situation that you're in, but I would say one thing.

Make sure your friend knows how you feel. One concern I have is that when this kind of thing happens, often we in the church won't really address the issue. You know, this person might have walked away and they're not going to church anymore and we'll still hang out with them like everything is okay.

Well, that's not okay. In fact, Paul says in 1 Corinthians that, you know, when there's a so-called brother who's engaging in open sin, you rebuke them. And actually, in the process of discipline, what you do, church discipline, what you do is you at some point you say, I'm not going to put up with this anymore. I can't just hang out with you like everything is fine because your soul is in danger. And I care more about your soul and your eternal destiny than just sort of everything being hunky-dory and pretending like everything is fine.

No, this is a serious thing. And that's why James said what he said there in chapter 5, verses 19 and 20. Now, that doesn't mean that you have a bad attitude toward this person or that you just sort of give them the cold shoulder. No, I think in love, Spencer, you reach out to them in love.

You talk about how important it is to follow Jesus, the grace of Jesus, all that God has done for us. You plead with this person. I mean, obviously, I'm falling away to drugs and alcohol. This is destroying this person probably physically, right?

I mean, you think about the addictions that people battle with. And so you warn them in love, you warn them in love, and you're honest about the truth of the gospel. You don't brush this under the rug or pretend like it's not a big deal.

And it sounds to me like you are concerned. And so I would say, reach out to this person. Talk to them about the pain that it's caused you as their brother in Christ, and how you long to see them restored. Restored in their body, but restored ultimately to God because they're walking in a way that's not pleasing to Him. They're turning away from Him, from God, who is the source of life, and they're headed down a path of destruction.

And so you need to be honest with this person. And maybe, Bill, just really quickly, we can pray for Spencer's friend, Father. Our hearts break as we think about this individual and the decisions that he's making. And we know probably, Lord, that there are even people listening right now who are wandering from you, who maybe spent time in the church. There was a period of their lives where they were excited about the faith. And now, Lord, they're drifting. They don't go to church anymore.

They're doing things that they know are displeasing to you. Oh, God, would you draw Spencer's friend and all those who are hearing right now who that describes them, would you draw them back to you by the grace of your Holy Spirit and through the love of your Son, Jesus? Would they know the sweetness of your gospel, the goodness of your mercy? And would your kindness, Lord, lead them to repentance? Be with Spencer, giving him wisdom as he has discussions with his friend. Lord, may he communicate in love his concern for the path that his friend is taking right now.

Bring this friend back. We ask, oh, God, in Jesus' name, amen. You know, Adriel, I'm so glad you mentioned that verse about God's kindness leading us to repentance. And I think as believers, that's the key. And therefore, it's our kindness extended to them, our love. Now, of course, there's truth in love as well.

But it has to start with our love and concern for that person. 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 podcast. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.