How Should Christians Date in the Church?

How should single Christians pursue dating in the church? 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 for the next 25 minutes with your question at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts. You can watch us on YouTube live or by delay, and you can email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. Well, first up today, we received a question from a listener named Bruce. Bruce was unable to ask his question over the air because he struggles with Parkinson's disease, but his wife passed along his question.

He wants to know this. In 1 Peter 3, the Bible says that Jesus proclaimed the gospel to the spirits in prison. And, Adriel, he wants to know, what is your interpretation on who those spirits are? Hey, why don't we open up the broadcast today with just saying a prayer for Bruce and that the Lord would just grant him comfort and healing. Father, thank you for this question that comes to us from Bruce. We ask, Lord, for your spirit to fill him, to strengthen his body as he battles with Parkinson's. Lord, I pray that you would strengthen him, that you would bring healing, and most of all, Lord, strengthen his faith that he would cling to you in this time and know you, Lord. So please be with him, and we ask this in Christ's name. Amen.

Amen. A question that we've received before, and really a passage of scripture that's quite controversial. There are all sorts of interpretations about 1 Peter 3. I'm going to begin reading in verse 18, where Peter said, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.

That makes sense to us. It is being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Who were the spirits in prison that were being preached to? Now, there have been a number of interpretations throughout the history of the church. There are some who believe that the reference here is that Christ was preaching through Noah in the Old Testament, that is, to those who he was warning about the flood.

Now, there's some evidence for this. If you look back in 1 Peter 1, verse 11, Peter said, inquiring what person, speaking of the prophets who were prophesying, it says that they were inquiring, I'll go back to actually verse 10, concerning the salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. So one interpretation is that Noah had the spirit of Christ in him as he was preaching and warning the people in his day.

So some people understand this text in that way. Others have said this preaching that Jesus engages in, in between his death and resurrection, during those three days that his body was in the tomb. Some people think that there's an idea of a second offer of salvation that's given here or something like that, but I think that's ruled out based on the clear teaching of scripture elsewhere. Once we die, we don't have another opportunity to hear the gospel and be saved. My position, Bruce, is that what's being referred to here is that this preaching of Jesus after his death and in his resurrection is really proclaiming his victory over the evil forces of the world.

In particular, we're being told about the spirits in prison here. And I take those to be angelic beings who sinned during the time of Noah. Remember back in Genesis chapter 6, you have just the humanity engaging in this sinful behavior.

It talks about the sons of God and the daughters of women. There's just this real sinister stuff going on, and the evil there in that day was demonic, essentially, is what we're getting. Later in 2 Peter, actually, I think that this is referred to in 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 4, it says, If God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness, a picture essentially of being imprisoned there again, to be kept until the judgment. And if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.

So it seems like this preaching is not Christ preaching the gospel to people so that they might be saved after they had died. It's Christ proclaiming his victory over the evil spirits of the world, essentially, in particular those who sinned in the time of Genesis chapter 6. And so really what's being highlighted here is the fact that yet Christ suffered, but then he was glorified. He ascended victoriously and proclaimed his victory over the fallen angels and really over all creation. And so I think that's what Peter is getting at in this passage of 1 Peter chapter 3.

That's my interpretation. And Bruce, may the Lord bless you. Thank you for that question. Thank you, Bruce. And we'll continue to pray for you and your family in your difficult situation. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Here's the number to call if you have a question.

833-THE-CORE. Let's go to Ruth in Medina, Pennsylvania. Ruth, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? One question is, how does one know if one is saved?

Particularly, I'll make it personal. It's how do I know that I'm saved? So many of my friends talk about knowing Jesus' presence or a presence when they pray.

I'm not feeling any of that. And I'm further complicated by references in scripture to predestined or election. It sounds as though certain people are chosen. Ruth, thank you for that question. John says, 1 John chapter 5 verse 13, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. Right there, clear as day, if you believe in Jesus Christ, that is the true Jesus, the God-man, the Lord of heaven and earth who made atonement for our sins. If you believe in him, John says, that's the work of the Holy Spirit. That's how we know we're saved, by faith in Jesus Christ. Now, when we believe in Jesus, the Spirit of God fills us and little by little, we're being transformed more and more into the image of Christ. But let me just tell you, sister, we're not always going to feel that.

It's not always a feeling. Sometimes people have these magnificent experiences where they feel very spiritual and they might even say, man, I just really feel saved. But the children of God, Ruth, don't always have those feelings. And we're not called to base our confidence in our feelings, but in God's word. And what has God said? He said, look, to all those who believe in my son, Jesus, they have eternal life.

Now you brought up this idea of election and people being elected. Even that we have to understand is in Christ. Paul said in Ephesians chapter one, verse four, that we were predestined in him. He chose us, that is the father chose us in him, in Jesus before the foundation of the world. So the key question is, do you know Christ?

Do you look to him? And if you look to him, you can be confident because that's a sign that the Spirit of God is at work in you, has worked in you, and that you belong to the people of God, to the number of the elect, we might say. And so we rest our confidence first and foremost, not in ourselves and what we do or in how we feel, but in what God has said in his word and in the promise of the gospel that all who look to Jesus are saved.

Ruth, God bless you, sister, and thank you for your question. You know, Adriella, it does seem like many Christians get stuck on this. They hear people saying, oh, I really feel God's presence, or I have these warm fuzzies about the Holy Spirit, and if they're not experiencing that themselves, then they start to doubt their salvation. And yet what you've said so clearly is that it's simply a matter of trusting in Jesus.

It's not what you feel or how you feel on a certain day. Yeah, and it's so important that we grasp this because if we don't, it's going to be this sort of, you know, he loves me, he loves me not kind of a thing based upon how we feel when we wake up in the morning or our performance. I feel like I'm doing really good, therefore I'm saved, I must be quote unquote elect, or I'm struggling with sin.

This must mean that God doesn't really love me or that God hasn't really saved me. We've got to get away from looking into our feelings, and we need to look up to Christ, to his promise, to his word. Brothers and sisters, that's where we lay our hope. It's in the objective promise of the gospel, and if you do that, you can rest. Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriella Sanchez. Let's go to Sharon from Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Sharon, welcome to Core Christianity. Hi, it's my first time calling.

I kind of have two short questions. My grandmother had the theory, if you don't speak in tongues, you're not saved. And I don't speak in tongues. My other question is, my daughter would like to know where pastors get inspired for their sermons on Sunday. Do they follow some kind of book, or are they just inspired by the Holy Spirit? What inspires them to preach on what they preach on each Sunday? Sharon, thank you for calling, and wonderful to have another first-time caller.

Grateful that this program has been a blessing to you. Let me just say, no, it's incorrect to say that if somebody doesn't speak in tongues, they're not saved. There's all sorts of questions that this brings up, like, is the gift of tongues even for today? Setting that question aside, the Apostle Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 12 that even if the gift of tongues was around for today, like it was in the apostolic era, in that time, not everyone spoke in tongues. He asked this sort of rhetorical question at the end of 1 Corinthians 12, do all have these certain gifts? Does everybody speak in tongues?

And he expects the answer to be no. No, the ultimate sign that we're filled with the Holy Spirit is not that we speak in tongues. Actually, it's love, and Paul makes that clear in 1 Corinthians 13.

People can do all sorts of signs and wonders, miraculous things, but if you don't have love, it's just this show. Really, the work of the Spirit is producing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, and salvation is not based upon the level of fruit that we've produced. It's based upon faith in Christ, like I said at the first question.

So that gets to that first part of your question. Then in terms of inspiration, you know, where do pastors get inspiration? Hopefully, and this isn't always the case, but hopefully where they're getting inspiration is from the Holy Scriptures, because that's what we're called to preach. Think about what the apostle Paul told to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4 verse 1, where he charged him solemnly, he says, 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. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. And so the hope is that as pastors are studying the word week in and week out, that God is leading them, guiding them, helping them to understand the text of Scripture so that they can communicate it to the people. Because what we need more than anything, friends, is to know what God has to say to us today. You don't want to go to church to hear your pastor's favorite opinions about politics or society, that kind of a thing.

No. Pastors should stand in the pulpit and say, Thus saith the Lord. This is what God's word says to us.

That has to be the inspiration. And so we study the scriptures, we pray, and we prepare so that we might communicate the word of God clearly. That's where pastors should be getting their inspiration. Thank you, Sharon. Adriel, is it true that in addition to getting inspiration from God's word, you also get inspiration from really good Mexican food? Yeah, I mean, me personally, yes. That's one of the places where, yeah, if I have a good burrito, it's just all of a sudden the sermon's like 10 times better as I'm writing it.

So, yeah. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Here's the number to call if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Justin calling in from Sacramento, California. Justin, welcome to the program. Hey, Adriel and Bill, thank you guys so much for your ministry.

I too get inspired from good Mexican food. Yes. Yeah. Hey, recently a friend and I had a conversation about short-term missions, and we were really just talking about how effective they are. You know, friends that go on trips with groups like YWAM and just sending people all across the world, sometimes we just question whether they're smart or wise to go on, and so I really wanted to get your thoughts on whether you think it's wrong or ineffective to go on some of these short-term mission trips with groups like YWAM.

Yeah, I've been on a couple trips in my time, never with YWAM, but, you know, I think you can't say either way, you know, it's 100% not good or it's 100% great. I mean, I think there are times where short-term missions are really, really helpful and helpful for the people who go in terms of exposing them to another culture and then being able to serve our neighbors wherever they might be and come alongside of the church and other places to help to fortify it. I think that's a really wonderful thing, and I think if churches plan and strategize and build these relationships that they're hoping sort of exist more long-term where they can really help people that are in need, I think that that's a good thing, Justin. But then I've also seen, you know, instances where it really is mostly about us, that is, those who are going, and it's an opportunity for us to feel good about ourselves, and we're not really thinking about how to strengthen and fortify the church in another area, or at least not strategizing, I think, in effective ways, and so I think it's something that we can do and maybe even, you know, should pursue if there are opportunities, but we want to do it wisely. We want to make sure that we're helping to strengthen the church in other places and that we're serving our brothers and sisters, and certainly we benefit from that, too. I mean, the Lord Jesus himself said, it's better to give than to receive, and I think in giving there, there's something that we really benefit from as well, but hopefully the focus with short-term missions is how can we really serve our neighbors who are in need and strategizing, thinking through how to do that best, so I would say if you're planning to do something like that and you're getting together a team and you're really praying about how to serve in this community and how to meet their needs and let them tell you what their needs are, then that's a great approach, and so I would encourage that.

God bless, Justin. Thanks for giving us a call. So glad you mentioned the long-term emphasis, Adriel, because sometimes we can go in and it's kind of like a little missions vacation for people. They go to some place for two weeks and then they come like a parachute and they drop in some goodies or some help and then they're gone, but I think God does call us. If we're going to commit to that, we should commit to that group of people or that community on a longer-term basis.

Absolutely. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Easter's coming up. You might be inviting a friend or relative to go to church with you, and you might start having some conversations about the truth of the gospel and get a little bit of pushback or at least some hard questions that maybe you don't feel comfortable answering. Well, we have a book that will help you with all that.

It's called More Than a Carpenter. Yeah, we've been offering this book and encouraging you to get a hold of it. It's an apologetics book. What is apologetics? It's defending the Christian faith. Around this time of the year, we're coming up on Easter, many people challenge the claims of the resurrection. You turn on the History Channel, that kind of a thing, you get these shows that are challenging the Christian claim, the cardinal Christian claim of the faith, that Christ Jesus rose again from the dead, and we need to know how to meet those challenges faithfully and accurately.

That's what this book will do, so get a hold of More Than a Carpenter. All you have to do is go to our website corechristianity.com forward slash offers to get a copy of that book for a donation of any amount. That's corechristianity.com forward slash offers, or you can call us at 833-843-2673 for help getting that or any one of our offers. Let's go to Brendan in St. Louis, Missouri, who has a question for you. Brendan, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hi, thank you for having me. This is my favorite radio station.

I listen to More Than regular music now. My question was, I am a Christian, and I've never felt more connected to God in my life than I do now in the past couple of months. But I struggle with, it's like a war within myself, and I just wonder, am I saved although I consistently have to repent feeling genuinely guilty about my sin?

Yeah, brother, well, you're not alone. I mean, that struggle is the struggle that I think every believer in Jesus Christ experiences. Paul talked about it in Galatians 5, where he talked about how the flesh lusts against the Spirit. That is, our flesh, the sinful desires that we still have, are at war with the Spirit of God at times. Even as the justified, as those who belong to Jesus, we still struggle with sin and with ungodly desires, and we're called day by day, Brandon, to fight those desires, to mortify, that is, put to death those sins. And Paul talks about this in the book of Romans, chapter 6 through 8, and I think you could really identify with what he says there. I would encourage you to maybe open up the Word later today, start in Romans chapter 6 and read through chapter 8, and just meditate upon what he says there.

And in particular, you brought up that sort of sense of, man, day by day fighting this battle. Man, read what Paul says in Romans chapter 7, because he talks about that same battle, the battle with the flesh, with these sinful passions that even he himself experienced, Romans chapter 7. So, he says there, I'll begin in verse 14, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin, for I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good, so now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me, for I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

I do not do what I want. I do not do the good that I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now, he goes on to say, verse 24, and I think we can all identify with him here, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Verse 25, thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. That is the battle that we experience, Brandon.

You are not alone. I am just super encouraged to hear how you are growing in your faith, and we are going to have that battle for our entire lives. That does not mean that the Spirit is not at work in us, that little by little we get victory. Again, that is what I think what Paul is going to get into in chapter 8, where he talks about putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, but do not question your salvation just because you are in this struggle.

No, you are saved by grace through faith alone, justified. Now, day by day, we are walking that out. We are living out the implications of what God has done for us, and it sounds like that is exactly what you are doing, brothers, so be encouraged. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adrian Sanchez.

Let us go to a voicemail that came in yesterday. Prior to COVID, in my church and Bible study, there is a girl who attends, and we get along great. Of course, with COVID, we have not been meeting, so it has been about a year now, but we have stayed in contact regularly. With things opening up again, you know, the vaccines are out, and I have been praying about maybe asking her out on a date or whatever. I am a little nervous. I have been praying about it, and I understand having peace does not necessarily mean she will say yes, which I am fine with, but I am just concerned that if she were to say no, I might cause some damage there or maybe some uncomfortability.

Like, maybe she will not want to come anymore or something, so I am just not too sure if I should just leave this alone, and I know this is not a dated podcast, but I just wanted all you brothers to have any advice or maybe any experience with a similar situation. Thank you, brothers. God bless. I appreciate what you do. I listen every morning, and just enjoy your day. Thank you.

Hey, thank you for the question. Yeah, you probably do not want dating advice from me. You know, my wife says I do not have that much game.

That is what she would say. But what I will say to you is I think if you approach this and just say, look, first I would say there is no better place to meet someone than in the church. You want to be with someone who loves Jesus and who is committed to the body of Christ, and so I do not think there is anything wrong with seeing someone that you feel like you have a connection with and saying, hey, would you like to go grab coffee or something like that?

And I think that is okay. I appreciate the fact that you want to be sensitive to not making her feel uncomfortable, and so I think just use wisdom. Obviously, do not ask her out in the middle of Bible study, and I think that would create some discomfort.

But I think if you can, as a friend, just say, hey, I would like to hang out with you or get together with a group of people or even go grab coffee in a way that is not over the top, I think that is the best way to approach it. Let me just also say we do not choose churches because they are filled with handsome people, right? Well, we go to churches because the Word of God is faithfully taught there, because there is good theology, because we are growing in our faith. That is not to say that there is anything wrong with getting to know people and meeting your spouse or your girlfriend or your boyfriend in church, but first and foremost, we want to make sure that we are in good churches that are faithful to preaching the Word of God, and as we are in those churches, we grow too. Call us at 1-833-843-2673. That is 833-THE-CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you have been encouraged by this program, and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.