If We Worship One Lord, Why Do Christians Disagree on So Much?

If Catholics, Protestants, and other Christian traditions all believe in the same God, why is it that Christians disagree on so much? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. From you, here's the number to call 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts, or email us at questions at corechristianity.com. Well, a hardworking postman in Amsterdam received an unexpected Christmas gift from his community last week, a check for €4,000, which is almost $5,000. His name is Narula Pamik. He worked extra long hours in December to ensure that local families would get all their Christmas gifts on time. So to express their thankfulness, the neighborhood rounded up some extra Christmas cash for their beloved postman. During Christmas week, Mr. Pamik was surprised at one of the housing complexes he delivers to, with dozens of people standing on their balconies applauding him. A resident then handed him a giant check along with a Christmas package containing chocolate and cookies. You know, it's so encouraging to hear about people who go out of their way to express their gratitude to somebody for a job well done, isn't it?

Absolutely. And I think that that's the place where you want to be a postman. Where did you say that was, Bill? You're thinking of changing jobs. Yeah, I have a postman everywhere listening and thinking, I'm requesting a transfer.

That's Amsterdam. Good luck on that one. By the way, we're going to post a photo of a Mr. Pamik being surprised by his neighbors on our show notes for today's program, if you want to check that out.

He's got a great expression on his face. Well, let's get to our first question of the day. Trent left this message on our website at corechristianity.com slash radio.

Hey Adriel and Bill, I'm Trent from Townsend, Tennessee. My family and I have begun a year long plan to read through the Bible and we thought it would be encouraging and edifying to reach out to core Christianity as questions arise in our daily readings. And our first question came from Genesis chapter four, and it's twofold. In verse seven, God tells Cain that if you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. First, this sounds a lot like works righteousness. But we know that the first signs of the gospel were delivered to Adam and Eve back in chapter three. Could you help us make sense of God's statement here and how it relates to Cain and Abel's sacrifices and then God's plan for salvation? And secondly, the phrase, its desire is for you, you must rule over it, is very similar to what we read God said to Eve in Genesis 3 16 when he says, your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. Is there a connection that we should draw from these similarities?

And if so, what is that connection? Thank you for all you guys do and for your team at core Christianity and all they do every day. We love listening to the show and we thank you so much for what you do. Have a great day. Trent, thank you for your question.

Man, you could be on the radio. You got a good radio voice and I appreciate your question. And I also love the fact that you are starting 2021 off on the right foot, reading the Bible with your family.

I'm glad you're reaching out to us. Please continue to do so as more questions arise as you continue to read the scriptures. And the question related to Cain and his sacrifice that he offered to the Lord and him being rejected, that's a fairly common question. Why is it that Cain's sacrifice was rejected and Abel's was accepted? And then you look there at verse seven and God's really is sort of is an encouragement for Cain, isn't it? If you do well, will you not be accepted? Now, this is just really how the law works, right?

Do this and live. I mean, you get that earlier in Genesis as well, related to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the commandment that was given there. And that's how the law works.

If you do well, will you not be accepted? Now, I also think here in this passage in particular, this is really a call to repentance for Cain. It's clear that there was something wrong with his sacrifice. Now, different people have suggested what that might be. There are some people who think, well, Abel's sacrifice was accepted because it was a sacrificial animal and Cain's was rejected because it wasn't that, it was the fruit of the land.

Well, I don't know if that's the case necessarily. It seems to me like when we look at the New Testament, the New Testament talks about Cain in a few places, it seems to suggest that it was his own wicked heart in the way he offered his offering to the Lord that caused him to be rejected. There are two passages of scripture that I think of in particular where Cain is mentioned. In 1 John chapter 3 verse 12, this is a passage actually that I was preaching on not too long ago because I'm currently preaching through the book of 1 John, but in 1 John chapter 3 verse 12, listen to what we read. I'm going to actually start in verse 11.

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. How interesting.

We get a lot of information here. Here John tells us Cain was of the evil one. His deeds, his works were unrighteous and one of the reasons he hated his brother was because his brother was righteous. You get this sense that there's this jealousy maybe here and certainly a lack of faith, and that's precisely actually what we see when we look at another place in the New Testament that talks about Cain and Abel.

It's in the book of Hebrews in chapter 11. You know that famous hall of faith as it's sometimes referred to in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 4, it says this, by faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain through which he was commended as righteous. And so why was he commended as righteous?

It wasn't because of works righteousness, it was because of faith. And it seems like what Cain didn't do was bring his offering to the Lord in faith. And so here again you have this call to repentance, this encouragement to come in faith, and if you don't sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you. And you're right that earlier in chapter 3 of the book of Genesis you have this exact same language in chapter 3 verse 16 where God is speaking to the woman and he says your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you. This is related to the curse that's spoken after the fall. Now one thing I think we have to be careful with is the correlation that we draw here between desire and rule in chapter 3 and in chapter 4. We don't want to say anything that suggests that the woman is equated with sin. We have to be careful with some of the correlations, but the reality is that there is this, at least in chapter 4, this lust, this desire that sin has, almost like this crouching tiger looking to consume the people of God.

And our job is to put it to death. That's what the apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 8, to mortify it, to rule over it, to present our bodies to God as those who are alive from the dead by faith. And Abel had that faith, Cain did not.

And that's what distinguishes the two brothers and that's why the one is commended and the other is cursed. Thank you for your question, Trent, and I pray that the Lord continues to bless your Bible reading time with your family. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. By the way, on Monday, January 18th, we will be taking your questions live on the air. You can talk to Pastor Adriel at 1.30 Central Time, 11.30 Pacific. Look forward to receiving your calls starting January 18th. Well, here's a post that came in from Chandler on our Instagram page.

He says, Adriel and Bill, thank you for your program and the detailed answers you give to the questions. I've been confused about the end times mark of the beast. I've read that it's a vaccine or a microchip or that it's not even a literal mark, but instead a mark on the forehead is actually representative of a changed mind. Could you go into detail about what scripture says about this subject? I've had lots of nights where I've just been kept awake thinking about this and praying that I won't be deceived.

Well, thank you for this question. It's actually one that I've been hearing more and more frequently. I've heard Christians say recently, especially with the coronavirus vaccine and this idea of it being forced and whatnot, is that the mark of the beast? One of the concerns, Chandler, that a lot of people have is, am I accidentally going to take the mark of the beast? Am I going to be deceived and end up doing something that places my soul in hell for eternity, even though I don't want to do that thing?

There are a lot of people who are really concerned about this, so let me just say at the outset that I don't think that this is something that we do by accident. I don't think that people, sincere Christians, can accidentally take the mark of the beast. Like, oh, I didn't know it was this vaccine, or I didn't know it was this microchip, and now I'm condemned forever, that kind of a thing. I'm of the opinion, and you mentioned this, that what we have, and we're thinking about the mark of the beast, we're thinking of Revelation chapter 13 in particular, but that what we have here is this symbol of identification with the evil one.

Now, it's interesting. In Revelation chapter 13, verse 16, we read, Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark. That is, the name of the beast, or the number of its name.

This calls for wisdom. Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666. Now, oftentimes in the book of Revelation, numbers are used symbolically, and that's precisely what's happening here, the number of a man, the number six.

Man was made on the sixth day of creation. Other places where numbers are used symbolically in the book of Revelation, think of earlier in the book of Revelation where it talks about the seven spirits of God, and so we have to understand, as we're looking at the book of Revelation, that we're reading apocalyptic literature, and that oftentimes in this kind of apocalyptic prophecy, apocalyptic literature, you have these symbols that are given to us. That's one thing that should guide us in interpreting this, but also throughout the book of Revelation, it's really interesting, God's elect, God's chosen, are also marked with the name of God. You see this in Revelation chapter 7, verse 3, and chapter 9, verse 4. Even in the very next verse, in chapter 14, verse 1, John says, Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his father's name written on their foreheads. You see this mark of the Lord, if you will, again at the very end of the book of Revelation, in Revelation chapter 22, verse 4, and so it seems like there's this contrast here between those who are marked by God, have the anointing of the Holy One, the name of the Lord on them, if you will. Their lives, their minds, their hearts have been transformed by the grace of God and those who are marked by the beast, the antichrist, if you will, the number of man. And so I think what we have here is the children of God and the children of the devil. Now, that doesn't mean that this isn't something specific, but I think we have to be careful at trying to say, I think that this is a microchip or this is a vaccine that people could accidentally take.

That's not the case at all. This is referring to those who identify themselves not with the Lord Jesus Christ, but with the evil one. And so Chandler, if you have faith in Jesus, if you've received Jesus Christ by faith, if you are in him, united to him, then I can tell you, brother, you don't have to worry about accidentally taking the mark of the beast because you are sealed. You have an anointing from the Holy One.

That's what John says elsewhere in another book of the New Testament that he wrote, the book of 1 John, and the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. So may the Lord bless you, and hopefully that gives you a little bit of insight into how we can understand the mark of the beast better. You know, Adriel Chandler's question reminds me, there's a lot of bad information out there right now, and even some conspiracy theories that a lot of Christians are buying into. And I guess my question for you as a Christian leader is, do we have a responsibility to confront some of those conspiracy theories?

I think we do, and I think sometimes they can be really harmful, and people can really go down the rabbit hole. You know, you just sort of go deeper and deeper into some of these things, and one of my concerns is that we can focus, individuals, individual Christians can focus so much on those things that they're not being grounded in the scriptures. And so they get lost on YouTube or on Twitter, you know, going deeper and deeper into the whole of conspiracies, instead of just studying the scripture and trying to understand. If you want truth, go to God's Word, and let that be the primary thing that's shaping your mind and your heart. That's not to say that there isn't terrible evil things that happen in the broader world, that there isn't corruption and whatnot, and things that, if we knew about them, they wouldn't just absolutely shock us.

I mean, I think that that kind of stuff is out there. We live in a fallen world, and John tells us the whole world lies under the sway of the evil one, and so what else would we expect? Our job is not to go deeper and deeper into that rabbit hole. Our job is to fix our eyes on Jesus, to study God's Word, to pray, to love each other.

I mean, I think about, Bill, not to go on and on, but Peter's encouragement in 1 Peter 4, where he talks about the fact that the end of all things is at hand. 1 Peter 4, he says, let us be sober-minded and self-controlled for the sake of our prayers. Let's be hospitable to one another, loving one another. That's what we're called to. Sober-mindedness, humility, hospitality. Let's devote ourselves to that, and if we do that, I think we'll be just fine.

Great advice. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and we are a listener-supported program. That means we count on people just like you to keep us on the air. Here at Core Christianity, we are striving to help you understand the core truths of the Christian faith, and we want to help as many people gain a clear understanding of the gospel as possible through the articles on our website, the resources we produce, and all of the questions that are answered on the program. But you know, we can't do it without your support.

That's right. We are a listener-supported program, and we depend upon your gifts. And especially as we think about going live here on January 18th, which we're really excited about, we want to ask for your support. And for a gift of $25 or more right now, we'll send you, as a thank you, our new resource, How to Read the Bible. This is a really excellent resource that will get you into the Scriptures, and not just get you into the Scriptures, but help you to better understand them. One of the things that I really appreciate about this resource in particular is how it takes the different genres of Scripture and unpacks them. We were just talking right now about the book of Revelation, the genre of apocalyptic literature, and how it's so important that we read it in the way that it was meant to be read.

If we don't do that, we're going to take it out of context, and it's going to end up not being helpful or edifying. It's so important for us that when we read the Bible, we're reading it the right way in its context. That's why we've created this resource, How to Read the Bible. Thank you for your support and for your gifts, and we look forward to continuing to serve you with this resource and many other resources. To make a donation and receive this new study, just head over to corechristianity.com forward slash Bible. That's corechristianity.com forward slash Bible.

On behalf of the entire team here at CORE Radio, we thank you so much for your support. Here's a question that came in via email from Jason, and it's kind of a specific question that deals with Christian doctrine. Jason says, what are the five solas?

Thanks for that question, Jason. Solas, or the solas, referring to those five Latin phrases, if you will, that are really core tenets, if you will, of Reformation theology. That is, in the medieval church, there was a lot of corruption, a lot of traditions that sort of drowned out the gospel. God raised people up who wanted to go back to the Scriptures, back to the pure preaching of the Word of God, and back to Jesus Christ alone and his grace alone. The five solas refer to those alones, if you will, of the Reformation. The sola gratia, by grace alone, sola fide, by faith alone, solus Christus, through Christ alone, soli deo gloria, for the glory of God alone, sola scriptura, by Scripture alone. The focus here with these phrases is on the fact that God himself is the one who redeems us, and that he uses his holy word, and that it happens through his holy and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ alone, and we're saved by faith alone. So these five tenets, I think, that help us to see with clarity, with this sort of laser focus, the fact that God accomplishes salvation from beginning to end for his glory and for our good, and by his grace. I mean, these are really wonderful truths, and it's sort of a bummer that I don't have more time to unpack each of these just because of the nature of this program, but it's the focus on the gospel, it's the focus on Jesus, it's the focus on salvation by faith alone, on the sufficiency of God's word alone. I mean, all these things that are really important for us here at Core Christianity because we know that at the end of the day, God gets all the glory when we focus on him and on his gospel, and so that's really the tip of the iceberg with the five solas. Jason, thanks so much for your question. We'd encourage you to do some more study on that because we know it will enrich and deepen your faith, learning more about those five solas. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

If you have a question for us, we'd love to hear from you. Here's the phone number to call. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. I'm thankful that we, as Christians, we will basically believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father but by him, but that sometimes I get a little upset when I hear there's so many denominations and we have one Holy Spirit. Why can't we agree on all the teachings?

Thank you. You know, sister, I too have been grieved by this very thing, and I think it's right that we are grieved by this because the fact of the matter is one of the things that's so heartbreaking about the Church of Jesus Christ today are the divisions that we see. And it's certainly something that in the New Testament the apostles were really concerned about, about schism, about divisions, about believers not agreeing with each other.

And you even see it on various occasions in the time of the New Testament. I mean, there were schisms and divisions related to all sorts of different things. And so it wasn't like at the very beginning of the Church everything was perfect and everyone got along.

No, even there you had these very serious problems and they've only continued to get worse throughout the history of the Church. And the problem is not first and foremost with God, as if God had done something or has done something wrong. The problem is with us, with our own hearts, with our own lack of humility. I mean, really the root, I think, of schism and division is pride.

It's individuals wanting to go off and do their own thing. What we need to recognize is this isn't God's fault, if you will. This is the fault of humans, our own sinful, blind hearts that keep us from seeing the clear teaching of God's Word and agreeing.

That's one of the first things I would say. You know, it's sort of interesting, like the author to the Hebrews, when he talks about the Old Covenant, he talks about how God found fault with it, but not with it, but with the people because they had sinned. One of the reasons why the Old Covenant eventually was set aside was because ultimately nobody can be saved by the Old Covenant because we don't keep the Old Covenant. The problem is not with the Old Covenant or with God's law.

God's law is good. The problem is with me and with you, with all of us, we who fail to obey the Lord. And so similarly, I think in this situation, when we think about all the divisions that we see in the church today, the problem again is not with God. The problem is with me, with our failure to yield to the Scriptures and humility, to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Now, you're right. For all of the divisions, there are cardinal core truths that we cling to as believers in Jesus Christ. In John 14, 6, which you mentioned, Jesus saying, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father but by Me. And while we might have differences on a number of doctrines, maybe secondary issues, we can agree on the core truths. I mean, that's one of the things that we like to focus on in this program in particular is what are those core truths of the Christian faith that every Christian must believe, that define what it means to be a Christian?

You think of things like the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. These are the core truths that we all cling to. Now, we might have differences on a number of other things, but at the end of the day, there's also so much unity and we can celebrate that. And what we should do, I think, is continue to pray that the Lord would unite us more and more. I think of what Jesus said in John chapter 17 when He prayed to the Father for the unity of the church. I have hope because I know ultimately that there is one church through faith in Jesus Christ and that Christ is building that church by the power of the Holy Spirit. And that one day the divisions that we see right now, those secondary divisions are going to be cleared up by the Lord Himself and we're going to be together around the throne of God, worshipping Him forever and ever. That's a hope that we look forward to. And in the meantime, we seek to love each other. 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.