If Demons Believe in God, Does Believing in God Really Save You?

Jesus calls us to believe and have faith in him, but the Bible says even the demons believe in God.

Does this mean there's more than belief in order for us to be saved? Start right now with your question at 833-The-Core. That's 1-833-843-2673.

You can also email us with your question at questions at corechristianity.com. While a former Amazon engineer is working to answer a question almost all cat owners have, what is my cat trying to tell me? Javier Sanchez, who worked on Amazon's Alexa, is developing an app called MeowTalk. It's a creation that promises to translate a cat's meows into something humans can understand. Mr. Sanchez and his team have found that cats often have one of nine different intents they're trying to relay when they meow at you, and each message has its own type of meow. Using his Alexa experience and his research, Sanchez is working to decode meows into the phrases that cats are trying to convey, like, I'm hungry, or I'm in pain, or when I thought about Adriel is, I'm the queen of the world and you must bow down to me. Wow, that sounds like a pretty amazing invention. It would be nice to know, you know, what your cat was thinking.

I'll share a story, Bill. I remember years ago, back when I was in high school, I was praying and had my eyes closed. And the cat that we had at the time, Kodiak was her name, jumped up and scratched me in the face while I was praying. I remember thinking, she's not very happy with me right now. I thought it was maybe spiritual warfare, like, is my cat possessed? So I didn't try to perform an exorcism or anything like that. But if I could know what the cat was thinking, it could have been helpful. Well, let's get to our first question of the day.

This one is a Facebook post that came in from Tanya. She says, What do you say to people who claim that Christian doctrines like the Trinity and the miracles in the Bible are merely myths and fairy tales? I believe and trust in Jesus. But when I start to describe the things Christians believe, it does honestly sound strange sometimes. I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

Yeah, the resurrection from the dead. I've heard people mock, you know, Christians and say, Oh, you guys believe in zombies talking about everybody's going to be raised from the dead and that kind of a thing. And I think sometimes Tanya, people can really, they're really not interested in having a discussion about beliefs and about Christianity or worldviews. They just want to mock. And so I think we have to be discerning. You know, there are some conversations that I think we do engage in and we say, look, let's really have a conversation and I'd love to listen to you and I'd love for you to listen to me as well.

Then I think there are also instances and I've been in many conversations like this where you have to discern and say, okay, this is no longer fruitful and this person really could care less about what it is that I'm saying. They just want to mock. They want to make fun of Christianity and they think they know everything. The reality is that so many people today have this sort of presupposition against the supernatural. With the rise of secularism, you had the rejection of the supernatural. Some people have said, you know, whereas we used to live in what people might call an enchanted world, you know, with ghouls and goblins and belief in fairies and that kind of thing.

Now it's been disenchanted. You know, we're the modern man and we know better and we can look at how things work scientifically and that kind of a thing. But the reality is we really don't know everything.

We like to think that we know everything, but we don't. And so one of the things I think that we can do is sort of challenge that presupposition against the supernatural, against miracles, against the fact that there is a creator God. And I think there's a lot of reason actually to believe that this world was created and that Jesus really did rise from the dead. It really wasn't a fairy tale. I love the way Peter puts it here in 2 Peter 1, verse 16. For we were with him on the holy mountain.

And then Peter continues, he says, And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. You see, the claim of the apostles was not, listen to this fanciful story, you know, this great myth or this sort of fairy tale. No, they said we witnessed with our own eyes the resurrection of the dead. We saw Jesus crucified, buried, and then raised again from the dead.

And you know what, Tanya? Those same men who made that claim were willing to go to the grave themselves for what they believed. Now, I think that gives a level of weight to what it is that they're saying. You see, if they were just saying this in order to get rich and to get popular and they were selling all sorts of books because of this new teaching that they had come up with, that would be one thing. But they didn't stand to gain anything for preaching and teaching the resurrection of the dead except for the guillotine, except for being rejected by men. They followed in the footsteps of Jesus and preached these truths that we embrace by faith because they knew that they really happened. And the resurrection of the dead might sound wild, but it actually makes perfect sense because we all know, Tanya, that death is a problem, a problem that needs to be solved. And you don't have to be a Christian to recognize that.

I read a book some years ago by a atheist historian, Yuval Noah Harari. The book is called Homo Deus. And the whole book is talking about how death is this great big problem for humanity, and we're trying to solve it through science and through medicine. And it's kind of an optimistic view about our abilities as humans. He says maybe one day through medicine and through technology we'll be able to keep ourselves from dying, even though potentially you could still die in an accident or something like that.

But he's hoping in the future and in science to solve the problem of death, but what if the solution wasn't in the future? But looking back to the past in Jesus and what he's done in the resurrection, Christianity gives hope to the whole world because it answers our greatest problem, the problem of sin and death. And it isn't just a fairy tale, it's reality, and that's what makes it such good news and so wonderful for everyone. And that's why when we have these conversations with people, I think we encourage them by saying, look, no, it isn't a fairy tale.

This is the truth, and it means something for you as well. Adriel, do you think it's helpful for us when we're talking to a skeptic who says, well, the Bible is just a fairy tale and it's not really history, to even point to some of the extra biblical sources that confirm the things that we know in the Bible? I think so, and there are a lot of different things that we can point to. You could point to the historical evidence, the archaeological evidence, the prophetic evidence. I mean, Isaiah 46, God said, I'm God and there is no other, I'm God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things not yet done. In other words, God says, here's like, you can know that I'm God because I'm going to tell you what's going to happen before it actually happens, and no one else can do that. And actually, Peter, in that passage I read in 2 Peter, he sort of picks up on that, right? We have the prophetic testimony, the sure testimony of God. So these are all reasons to believe, but at the end of the day, what it requires is the work of the Holy Spirit in a person's heart, opening their eyes to the truth of God's word. And so I think that we do encourage people with all of these reasons, with these evidences, if you will, but we also recognize that, look, we need the Holy Spirit to work in this individual's life.

And so pray for them as well and share the gospel with them, knowing that the gospel ultimately is where the power is at. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adrian Sanchez, and here's an email question that came in from Steve. He says, what's the difference between Bibles? The one I use is a Roman Catholic Bible, which contains additional books not found in other Bibles. Even so, isn't the word of God going to be mirrored in each and every Bible? Therefore, whether I read my Bible or the Gideon Bible in a hotel room, won't the same message get across?

Yeah, Steve, thanks for that question. And the major difference between, say, the Catholic Bible or the Bible that Catholics use, Roman Catholics, and what a lot of Protestant Christians will use, is that in the Roman Catholic Bibles, you have what are called the Apocrypha. These are sort of Jewish books written after Malachi, the prophet, leading up to the time of the New Testament.

And there's some valuable history in there, get some insight into some of the Jewish beliefs more specifically. But those books in particular, the Apocryphal books, weren't considered a genuine part of the biblical canon, even by many of the church fathers. And that's why they're not in Protestant Bibles. Many Protestant Christians said, look, that's not a part of inspired scripture, and ultimately, we want to read God's Word. And while in the Apocryphal books, you might get some good history, we don't view those books as inspired by the Holy Spirit in the same way that we view the books of the Bible to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. Now, that is fairly significant, Steve, because there are certain doctrines that the Roman Catholic Church holds to that they support with these Apocryphal books. Now, if the Apocryphal books aren't inspired of the Holy Spirit, then we probably really shouldn't be building our doctrines off of those books.

And that's the major difference. Now, of course, Catholic Bibles also have the other 66 books of the Bible that we do believe are inspired. And in terms of the translation, there are differences of translation, even among Protestant Christians. We have all these different translations of the Bible, and for the most part, there is going to be a lot of similarity, so long as it's a translation of the Greek and Hebrew texts, you do kind of have these sort of paraphrases that are coming out now that some people find helpful. But I think it's important to have a good translation of the Bible. I use the ESV, the English Standard Version, but the New King James Version is great.

The NIV, a lot of people like the NIV. The NASB, the New American Standard Bible, there are all sorts of different translations to choose from, and each of them have their own strength. But the key is, we want to understand God's Word. We want to know what God has said to us, and so that's why I think it's unhelpful to have those apocryphal books added to the Roman Catholic Bible or included in the Roman Catholic Bibles, because I don't believe that those ones were inspired by the Holy Spirit in the same way that the books of the Bible were. As Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, all scripture is God-breathed. That's what I want to read. I want to read the God-breathed inspired scripture and build my theology off of that, and I think it's important for each of us to do that as well.

So that's the main difference, Steve, and I appreciate you reaching out to us via email. Adriel, we should also caution that there are some cults that have their own version of the Bible where they actually rewrite scripture to fit their own doctrine. Yep, you've probably all had a Jehovah's Witness come to your door and knock, and maybe you opened up or maybe you pretended like you weren't home, but they typically show up and they have a translation of the Bible called the New World Translation, and sadly, what that translation does is it takes a lot of the passages of scripture that really demonstrate the divinity, the deity of Jesus Christ, and it changes those passages.

And so we do have to be on guard for that. There are translations of the Bible that are out there that really are just bad translations of the Greek and Hebrew text, and they have this theological bent where they're trying to twist essentially what the scriptures actually teach in order to support their own views. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and we know it can be difficult to begin reading the Bible for the first time, and many Bible reading plans can be somewhat complex and daunting, so we have a resource that will help your Bible study become more meaningful. Yeah, Bill, for the reasons you just mentioned, at Core Christianity we wanted to create a Bible reading plan that would do two things.

One, it would help someone new to the Bible cultivate a joy for reading the Bible, and two, it would help someone who may have lost that joy to find it again. The Core Christianity Bible Reading Plan is a free resource when you sign up for our weekly newsletter, and it will take you about 10 minutes per day to complete and last for the entire year. Through this Bible reading plan, you will be introduced to the big narrative, the grand themes of the Bible. It's a plan that won't take you through the entire Bible in a year, but it will help you develop a sustainable habit of reading the Bible for one whole year. After all, it's better to read a little bit every day than to read a lot only occasionally. This plan is designed to help you develop a habit of reading without requiring a large time commitment. Our prayer is that this new habit will carry on through the years to come so that over time you'll grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus. If you'd like to download the Core Christianity Bible Reading Plan, just head over to corechristianity.com forward slash reading plan.

That's corechristianity.com forward slash reading plan. Yes, my name is Elijah. I was wondering, I have people who are asking me or telling me, all you have to do is believe on the Lord. Now, isn't believing a work? And isn't all things predestined by God, even the demons believe? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Thank you. Elijah, thank you one for that question. Now, I have no problem saying that what you have to do if you want to be saved is believe. I think of the discussion that the Apostle Paul had with the Philippian jailer in Acts chapter 16. If you remember the scene, Paul is in prison with a number of other people, and there's this great earthquake, and the Lord releases him from the prison, and the jailer there at Philippi, he was about to kill himself. Because in that day, if you let your prisoners go, you were accountable for them, so he thinks, I'm better off dead. And he's about to kill himself, and Paul cries out and says, No, don't hurt yourself. Don't do anything to yourself. And he's brought before Paul and the rest of them in Silas, and he says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

Gosh, what an important question for each of us to know the answer to. What do I have to do to be saved? And Paul's response is, verse 31 of Acts 16, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. He says, Believe. He doesn't say, Go and start performing good works.

He doesn't say, Make sure that you jump through these loopholes. And he says, No, you trust in Jesus Christ. Believe in the Lord Jesus. But the question is, and you raise it, well, what about those passages of scripture that say even the demons believe and tremble? This is what James was getting at in James chapter 2, where he said in verse 14, What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and be filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one.

Good job. You do well, James said. Even the demons believe and shudder. So is James contradicting Paul?

No, Elijah, not at all. You see, James is talking about this kind of faith, what I would call a false faith, that claims to believe and maybe understands some things propositionally about Jesus, but doesn't truly trust in Jesus for salvation. Because when we trust in Jesus for salvation, Christ changes us. James is talking about a false faith here. In fact, back in verse 14, he says, What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? In other words, he's talking about a different kind of faith here. That faith, he uses, in the Greek language, the definite article. He's talking about a specific kind of faith, and it's the kind of faith that says, Oh, yeah, I believe, but there's no real transformation.

Now, where does that transformation come from? Well, ultimately, it comes from the Holy Spirit, and there are three elements to faith, Elijah, that I think it's important for us to understand. Faith includes knowledge, and we have to know about what it is that we're believing in. An ascent, we embrace it, but also, and this is the key part, the principal part of faith, trust. With faith, we're personally trusting in Jesus. We're looking away from ourselves, and we're clinging to him for the forgiveness of our sins. When we do that, we're saved, and that's what Paul says in Acts chapter 16 to the Philippian jailer, Believe on the Lord Jesus.

Now, I think there are a lot of people who have a knowledge about God who might say, Oh, yeah, I believe. Yeah, I know Jesus. I know about Jesus. I even accepted Jesus into my heart.

You know, there was this ascent. But the question is, are you personally trusting in him? It's more than just, I know cognitively about Jesus, and I recognize that I'm a sinner, and I'm not trusting in myself to justify myself, my good works.

I'm trusting in Jesus' once for all sacrifice for my sins. And the demons can't do that. They don't do that. They don't trust in Jesus in that sense. They know that God exists. They know that God is one, and they're terrified of him. And there are people out there like that too, who have this sense of God, who are afraid of God's judgment, but who don't trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins personally. And so you don't have any contradiction here between James and Paul.

Not at all. True faith, genuine faith, is accompanied by love. It's not to be confused with love or with good works, but the true and saving faith works.

It pursues the Lord. It loves God and neighbor imperfectly, and God, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, after we've been justified by faith, counted righteous in God's sight through Jesus Christ, begins to sanctify us day by day. Now that's a process, but we're not saved, Elijah, because of how sanctified we are. We're saved because of what Jesus has done for us.

Now, there's a last thing that I want to touch on. You said, well, isn't believing a work? Well, no, that's not how we would look at it. Not in the sense of a work like a meritorious work, like I'm earning salvation by how much I believe. The fact of the matter is, even a very small and weak faith saves us because it clings to Jesus. Jesus is the one who saves. It's not how strong my faith is. It's not how many good works I have. It's Jesus himself.

He's the one that saves. And I lay hold of Jesus for salvation by faith. Think of faith like this, an empty hand that receives a gift, a gift from God, grace, ultimately Jesus.

So it's not something we do. It's receiving and resting in what Jesus has done for us. Such a great promise that all of us need to remember every day. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Here's a question that came in through our website at corechristianity.com. John says, my son is five years old and recently acted out against his siblings and hurt them. While he reconciled with them and everyone in the family forgave him, he is still struggling with guilt. At such a young age, how should we encourage our kids, especially when they fail? Yeah, John, we've had this experience too with our little kids. I have an eight-year-old, a six-year-old, a four-year-old, and a one-year-old who's almost going to be two.

And we've seen the same thing. You know, when you get in these sort of sibling conflicts and one hurts the other. Sometimes it's just, I don't even want to say, I'm sorry, you know, it's that thing.

But sometimes there is that sense of guilt and, oh man, I've failed and I've disappointed mom and dad or I've hurt my brother or sister. And boy, I think in those situations, what do you do with anyone who's struggling with guilt and a sense of having failed? You point them to the grace of God. You point them to the gospel. I mean, the gospel really is for our kids. I think of what Jesus prayed at the end of Matthew chapter 11 where he says, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things.

What things? I mean, just the truth of the gospel. You've hidden these things from the wise and the prudent and you've revealed them to the babes, to the little children. When Jesus came into the temple, it was the children there in the temple who were crying out, Hosanna, save now. You think about what Jesus said to Peter when Peter confessed him as the Christ.

Jesus said, flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And it really is such a wonderful thing, John, that God, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, can comfort our children and open their eyes to his grace for them in his son, Jesus. And so, you know, when we're in a situation like that where our kids are struggling, where they're struggling with guilt, boy, we remind them of the gospel that is for them. We talk about the one Jesus who, even though he didn't deserve to be punished, was punished for our sins, for every time we hurt each other, every time we sin against our neighbor or our brother or sister. And I think it's just so important for us to go there with them, with our kids, to talk to them about what God has done, because the reality is our kids understand a lot more than we're willing to give them credit for.

And so I think, I mean, it's really simple, brother. It's talking to them. In that situation, it's talking to them about forgiveness, talking to them about God's continued love for them, and talking to them about how God has made a way to cover their sin, to remove their shame and their guilt, and that through him, through Jesus, we have peace with God and with each other. And, you know, you're going to have to say that over and over again because, you know, sibling fights and getting hurt, right? I mean, it happens a lot.

At least it does in my household. And so continually pointing them back to the grace of God and to the gospel is key. If you liked 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.