What Does It Mean to Hand Others Over to Satan?

The New Testament says that certain people will be handed over to Satan.

What does that mean? 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. You can also post your question on our Facebook or Instagram or Twitter accounts. You can watch us on YouTube, and you can email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

Hey Bill, I was thinking about yesterday's broadcast and sort of how we ended. We had that excellent question on discipleship, and in particular one-to-one discipleship. I've mentioned this on the program before, but I think a lot of believers sort of have this idea that discipleship looks like I meet with one other person at a Starbucks or something like that, and we're going through a book together, and I'm discipling someone and someone is discipling me, whereas we really need to recover the sort of holistic understanding of discipleship that we see in the New Testament. I had a friend who really struggled with this idea of discipleship because he felt like he couldn't meet one-on-one with another person and teach him something. He just thought, that wasn't my gift, and I've said it before, he had the gift of barbecue, in particular, carne asada, which is my favorite kind of food to eat. In his home, there was so much fellowship, so much hospitality that took place that people were being discipled. Now, he wasn't doing all the teaching. He was just using his gift, the gifts that the Lord had given to him, for the good of the body of Christ. I just want to encourage everyone to use the gifts that God has given to them for the building up of the body.

That is how discipleship takes place. You know, if your buddy wants to come over to my house and exercise his gift of carne asada. Yeah, I'll let him know, yeah.

Okay, thanks. Well, let's get to one of our calls. This is Daniel from Kansas City, Kansas. Daniel, welcome to Core Christianity. I love it. You guys are awesome, and Kansas City, baby, you can't get better barbecue than that.

Oh, you need to come on down. Basically, I've always had a question about this, because I used to listen to Hank Hanegraaff, who's a Bible Answer Man, and he always had a problem with cremation. I don't think, I've never had a problem with it, because I thought it was limiting God when we raise up from the dead, but I really want to hear your thoughts on cremation. I don't, maybe out of my ignorance, I had a problem. Maybe it is a problem. I'm just asking the question, and I'll be quiet and let you answer.

Thank you very much. Hey, Daniel, thank you so much for that question. No, I don't have a problem with cremation. I don't think that the Bible speaks to this specifically. At the end of the day, right, the hope that we have in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come is not the manner of our burial. It's the fact that Jesus himself was raised again from the grave.

That's what we cling to, 1 Corinthians 15. Because Christ was raised from the dead, we too are also going to be raised from the dead, not because of how we were buried, but because of who we are united to by faith. I think for some people, it might be a matter of personal conscience where they really struggle with this idea, and for them they just say, I don't want to be cremated, but this isn't a sin issue, I'm saying. It's not an issue of it's right or wrong, or you shouldn't do it because it's inappropriate. No, Christians believe that the body is a good thing, and I think for many of us who might be concerned with this idea of, am I desecrating the body or that kind of thing, but we realize, no, I'm not desecrating the body.

Frankly, for my family, maybe I'm trying to make it a little bit easier because burial is so expensive as we know, but at the end of the day, the Bible does not say there's anything wrong with cremation. Our hope is in the fact that we're united to Jesus by faith. Amen.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Here's the number to call if you have a question. It's 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to Duncan calling in from Ottawa, Canada. Duncan, are you listening online or to a local radio station there? You know, I'm listening via Alexa. I'm on a speakerphone, gentlemen. Good afternoon. Pastor Sanchez, I have a question relating to Earth Day coming up in April, I believe.

Okay. How should we, as Bible-believing Christians, respond to this? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for being wise stewards of God's creation. At the same time, I feel special interest groups are trying to ram their agendas down our throats. As for climate change, the climate has been changing since the flood.

As the earth continues to tilt on its axis, temperatures naturally warm up by several degrees. So Duncan, I think I know where you're going with this, and it's a good question, because there are all sorts of people that are trying to shove their ideas down our throats, and we need to make sure that we're first sticking to what the scripture teaches. One, I mentioned it a little bit ago with the previous question related to the body, Christians are people who have always had a high view of creation. We want to be good stewards of this world that God has given to us. I think sometimes believers can have this idea that everything is going bad, and one day it's all going to burn, and so, you know, what's the big deal?

Who cares about the earth? But the fact of the matter is God calls us, as you said, to be good stewards of this world, and that looks like taking care of the world. Now, there is a way in which we can abuse this, and one of the big problems, you see this in Romans chapter one, is that our temptation as human beings is not to receive God's good gifts and give him thanks for them, it's actually to worship the creature rather than the creator. That is, what we do is we turn to this world and we essentially bow down to it, we worship it, and that is a problem, that's a huge problem, and so I think that there are people all around us today who that's exactly what they're doing when they think about the world and they think about how we should treat the world. I think that there can be abuses here, but that's not to say that we as Christians aren't called to take care of it, and so when you think of something like Earth Day, you know, if it's an opportunity for you and your family to give thanks to God for his good creation, to look to the one who made all things for his glory and for our good, wonderful, but don't let it become what it might be for so many people, which is just an opportunity to bow down to and serve the creature rather than the creator.

We don't view this world as ultimate, we don't put our hope in this world, we put our hope in the God of heaven and earth who has overcome the world, Jesus says in John chapter 16, and through whom we can enjoy the world that he's given. God bless you, Duncan. Great counsel there, Adriel. This is This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. By the way, we should tell you that some of the radio stations that air our program aired on a tape delay basis, so if you have a question for Pastor Adriel and you'd like to talk to him live, here are the times to call. You want to call us at 11 30 a.m. Pacific, 12 30 p.m. Mountain, 1 30 Central, or 2 30 Eastern Time. That's enabled to talk to Pastor Adriel live. Let's go to a voicemail that came in on our line. Actually, this person called in yesterday, and this is Paul.

Hey guys, I love your show. I wanted to know, in 1 Timothy 1 20, Paul is talking to Timothy, and he says that he has handed over Hymenaeus and Alexander to Satan for a blaspheming. What does that mean? If he loved them, why would he hand over anybody to Satan, and did he do that knowing full well that he would get them back? I'm really confused about this verse.

Thank you. Yeah, yeah, Paul, and there's a lot that's not said there. I mean, obviously, you have this idea of these two people who are engaged in grievous sin. I mean, Paul mentions their blasphemy, they're dishonoring the holy name and worship of God, and so he says, I've delivered them over to Satan.

It could sound like, well, that's not a very nice thing to tell me. Well, Paul, what are you doing here? Well, I think if you go to another passage in the New Testament where Paul also uses this language, it helps to clarify things. I would say, if you have a Bible, turn to 1 Corinthians 5. This is another issue or instance of church discipline, that is dealing with sin in the worshiping community.

1 Corinthians 5, Paul said, it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not even tolerated among the pagans. For a man has his father's wife, and you are arrogant, ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For, though absent in body, I am present in spirit, and if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus, and my spirit is present with the power of the Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan.

Now, here's the purpose behind this, and it's so important that you see this. 1 Corinthians 5, verse 5, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the sake of your life, for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Now, he's talking here again about the context of church discipline. The church is assembled together, when you're gathered together in the name of the Lord Jesus, to deal with sin in the community. Jesus talked about this in Matthew chapter 18, and the goal here is restorative. He's delivering him over to Satan. That is, hey, look, if he's continuing in this pattern of unrepentant sin, just say, okay, hands off.

Do your own thing. You're essentially putting yourself in the hands of Satan for the destruction of the flesh. That is, they're going to begin to reap what they sow, and as they reap what they sow, as they experience what Paul describes here as the destruction of the flesh, the hope, the goal, is that they would be brought to repentance, would be humbled, so that they might be restored to the community of the church.

It's so important that we realize this. Church discipline is never about punishing someone. Sometimes abusive churches can use church discipline in this way.

It's punitive. Church discipline is actually always with the goal of restoration, of restoring an individual who's turning away from the Lord, who's engaging in unrepentant sin, turning them back to Jesus, restoring them to the fellowship of the church. That's the point there, is he's saying, look, deliver this one or these ones over to Satan, ultimately, so that they might see the error of their way, so that they might begin to taste the bitter fruit of their sin, and be reminded of the sweet fellowship that exists within the body of Christ, so that they might be restored, so that, as he said in verse five, his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Paul, thank you for that question, and I appreciate you listening to the program. Lord bless you. Paul, thanks so much. By the way, if you'd like to leave us a voicemail, you can leave it on our phone line 24 hours a day, 1-833-843-2673.

That's 833-THE-CORE. You can also go to our website at corechristianity.com, look for the microphone icon, click right there, and you can record your message for Pastor Adriel. Let's go to Mike from Kansas City, Missouri. Mike, welcome to CORE Christianity. Thank you, I enjoy the show very much, and just become a recent listener, and really appreciate the way you guys answer each of your questions with a lot of grace and patience.

Thank you, Mike. What's your question, brother? Well, I wanted to ask, in listening to the show, it appears that you guys believe in the, well, there's a cliche called, once saved, always saved, and I know that that's really a cliche full of a lot of, really doesn't answer the question, but I wanted to ask specifically about warnings in the book of Hebrews about specifically falling away from the living God, yeah, which kind of, to me, it presupposes that the person is in Christ, but then falls away.

Yes. And of course, you know, I've studied both sides of the issue, and... Yeah, well, I really appreciate that you've asked this question, because oftentimes, as you noted, we'll get calls, you know, can a person lose their salvation? We say no, and like, yesterday, we got a call about this, and I went to John chapter 10, and the promise that Jesus gave, that he gives his sheep eternal life, no one can snatch the sheep out of his hand, and so I'll go to passages like that, but then I know that there are others who are listening like yourself, who, you know, you think about these passages in the book of Hebrews or elsewhere in the New Testament that seem to indicate that a believer can fall away, and what does that mean?

Can they lose their salvation? Now, here's how I parse out the warnings in the book of Hebrews. You see some really strong ones, both in Hebrews chapter 6, and then also in Hebrews chapter 10. Now, I take them to refer to individuals who are in the church, who are experiencing the ministry of the word, you know, they've tasted of the heavenly gift, the powers of the age to come. That's what the author of the Hebrews says there in chapter 6, verse 5. They're really a part of the worshiping community in a real tangible way, and yet they haven't mixed the word that they're hearing day in and day out with faith, and that's the problem. It is a lack of faith, and that's why earlier in Hebrews chapter 3, the author of the Hebrews says, take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God, but exhort one another day by day, as it is called today, that none of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end, as it is said today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. And then he goes on to say in verse 18, to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient, so we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

See, that's the problem. We can hear the truth of the gospel day in and day out, but if we don't mix that word of the gospel with faith, well, we're in trouble. We're lost. We are missing the gospel, if you will, because it can be all around us, and we can be in the proximity of it through the preached word, through the ordinances that Jesus gave, and yet harden our hearts to it. And that's the problem with the people in the book of Hebrews is, yes, they're a part of this visible worshiping community, but some of them were departing altogether. They were essentially saying, you know what, Jesus and his work is not sufficient to save me.

In Hebrews chapter 10, the author of the Hebrews is going to say they trampled the Son of God underfoot, counting the blood of the covenant, a common thing. They're treating Jesus's work as if it was an unholy thing, as if it didn't really and couldn't really save them, and that's the problem. They're abandoning the faith. They're unbelieving.

Now, note what the author of the Hebrews says just a little bit later in verse 9 of chapter 6. He says, though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things, things that belong to salvation. And so while they're hearing the gospel, and while some of them, I think, had not mixed that word with faith, they're there, but they're now beginning to abandon the faith altogether.

He's saying, look, I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful for the things that accompany salvation. I'm hopeful that you are going to cling to this and embrace it so that you might be truly born again, if you will. And I think the warning here for each and every one of us, those of you who go to church every single week, look, it's one thing to be in church and to sit in a pew.

It's another thing to lay hold of the gospel for yourself. Do you believe in the sacrifice of Jesus for you? Do you cling to him by faith?

Is that your confidence? Or are you just there hearing and hardening your heart? That's what was happening for some of the people there in Hebrews chapter 6, and that's what we have to watch out for. And so I don't think that Hebrews 6 or Hebrews 10 teach that we can lose our salvation. I think they teach, actually, that we ought to cling to the gospel for our salvation.

That's our only hope, and that's what's reiterated over and over again in this book. And so thank you so much for your question, brother. Thanks, Mike.

We appreciate you being one of our regular listeners. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and, you know, many Christians today aren't particularly comfortable defending the faith when talking to unbelievers. And today we are offering an excellent book that will equip you to do just that.

Yeah, it's this wonderful book by Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter. And look, we want to equip you with the Word of God, brothers and sisters. We've said it time and time again. The core doctrines of the Christian faith have really been forgotten by a lot of people who go to church week in and week out. We need to understand them all over again. We need to understand how to defend the faith. And that's why we're offering this resource to you. Just so many helpful chapters on questions that people ask, criticisms that others have of the Christian faith.

How do you respond? Well, get a hold of this book, More Than a Carpenter. It really has been used by the Lord in a mighty way. Believe it or not, over 15 million copies in print. I mean, really, really just amazing to see how God has used this book, and I know he'll use it in your life, too. Such a great book and so helpful for all of us to really get those core doctrines really firmly in our minds so that we can have those discussions with unbelievers, with maybe even people who are antagonistic to the faith.

You can get a copy of More Than a Carpenter today for a donation of any amount. Just go to corechristianity.com forward slash offers to find that book. That's corechristianity.com forward slash offers, or call us at 833-843-2673. Let's go to Patty, who's listening to us in Fresno, California. Patty, welcome to Core Christianity. Thank you.

Thank you so much. I am so glad that you guys are doing this program because it really is helping us so much to learn about the Word of God. Yeah, my question is, who wrote the Bible and from where the Bible comes from?

I'm asking this because my daughter, she's asking me questions about it. She says, do you know where the Bible comes from? And I have an idea, but I want to make sure that I know the Bible describes, you know, the describers, you know, the ones who wrote, but I don't know their names, but I thought to ask you. Wonderful.

Well, Patty, one, I'm so grateful that you've been encouraged by this broadcast and that you're having conversations with your daughter about this. I mean, who wrote the Word of God? Now, obviously, we would say that the Bible was written over a long period of time, 66 different books, we would say, you know, around 40 different authors. And the beautiful thing about the Bible is despite the fact that you have this diversity over time and authorship, really, you know who's behind the whole thing?

The Holy Spirit of God. And that's what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 3 verse 16, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. In other words, all scripture, first and foremost, originates from the Lord himself, from the Holy Spirit as he inspired different people to write down these things for our benefit. And another passage of scripture that you might want to look at is the words of Peter in 2 Peter chapter 1. He says this in verse 20, knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. In other words, the Spirit of God inspired these individuals, carried them along to give to us his inspired word so that, again, we could benefit, we could be encouraged and challenged and grow in our own faith. And so many different authors, inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that we might know the will of God for us, and so that we might know Jesus himself. Jesus said it. He said it to the religious leaders in John chapter 5, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of me.

And that's another beautiful thing about the inspired scriptures of God is they point us to Jesus. Patty, may the Lord bless you. Amen. Thank you, Patty. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Albert in Kansas City, Missouri. Albert, what's your question? Hello. I was calling just to ask a question of social justice. You know, like, I just hear a lot from, you know, different sources, but I haven't really heard much from Christian sources in the sense of, you know, what is God's heart on that, and how as a Christian believer, how do we act upon that?

Hey, Albert, thank you. This is a discussion that's been happening in the church quite a bit lately, and I like to think about it in the context of God's law, in particular the second part of the Ten Commandments. You know, how we relate to each other. We are called as Christians to love our neighbors, and who are our neighbors? I mean, Jesus makes it absolutely clear. It's not just the people who look and think like we do. It's even the people who disagree with us on all sorts of things, even our enemies. I mean, Jesus called us to love our enemies, and so what does it look like to do good to and love even our enemies? And, you know, there are ways in which people have defined social justice that we might agree or disagree with, but I would boil it down, and at least if we're thinking about this biblically, to what does it mean for me to love the people around me, to do good for them to pursue their best interests? Now, you think about this with regard to things like abortion, for example. What does it mean for us to love our neighbors who are in the womb, to stand up for and speak out about these great injustices, or what about others who are suffering and marginalized? I mean, I think as Christians, we're called, as I said, to love everyone. It's just a matter of God's law. Now, our loving others does not save them. It's an implication of the fact that God has loved us immensely, and we love each other and others because God has loved us, but that's not the gospel. The gospel is what God has done for us in Christ, and because God has reached down to sinners and been merciful to us, we are called to reach out to others, even to our enemies, extending love to them, and ultimately, the gospel as well. As we explore the truth of God's word together.