Should National Flags Be in Churches?

Should churches in the U.S. display the American flag in the sanctuary? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez as we head into a holiday weekend.

We hope you'll have a wonderful time with your friends and family. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day, and we would love to hear from you. Our phone lines are open right now for the next 25 minutes or so, and you can ask your question at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. As always, you can post your question on one of our social media accounts, and of course you can email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Amber in St. Joseph, Missouri. Amber, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hi there, so I just wanted to... so Romans 10, 6 and 7, does it have anything to do with 1 Corinthians 15, 26? Romans chapter 10, verses 6 and 7, verse 6 says, But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down. Or, Who will descend into the abyss? That is to bring Christ up from the dead.

What does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith that we proclaim, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. And you said, does that have anything to do with 1 Corinthians 15? What verse in particular again? 1 Corinthians 15 what? So 1 Corinthians, well, 15, 26 is the one I had written down, actually.

But my question is, is ascend really going down and is descend really going up? Okay, so 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 26, the last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under Jesus's feet. But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain that he is accepted, who put all things in subjection under him. So you have really two different things that are happening in these passages of scripture, Amber.

But there is some similarity as well. So first, in Romans chapter 10, you have Paul contrasting essentially the righteousness of the law with the righteousness that comes by faith. And this is something that he's done throughout the epistle of Romans. And he's focusing primarily on the fact that we are saved, justified freely by God through faith. It is the righteousness that comes from the law. And actually, that's something that he highlights a little bit earlier in verse five of chapter 10, in the book of Romans, for Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. And earlier in chapter four of the book of Romans, Paul highlighted the fact that it's not the righteous person that is justified, because all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

It's the one who believes that is justified and forgiven. And then in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the focus is on the resurrection of the dead. There were some in Corinth who were saying that the resurrection had already happened or that there was no resurrection of the dead. And so Paul is emphasizing there the fact that because we know that Jesus did bodily rise again from the dead, we have confidence as Christians, as those who believe in Jesus Christ, that one day we too will also rise from the dead. And so the language there of Christ's ascent or Christ's resurrection, that's really what it's leading us to, is confidence actually in the hope that each and every one of us who believe in Jesus Christ have. The hope of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come on the basis of what?

Not the righteousness that comes from the law, but the righteousness which comes by faith in Jesus Christ, as Paul said in Romans chapter 10. Amber, thanks for listening to the broadcast and for your question. Hope you have a great day. Thanks so much, Amber. We appreciate you.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and if you have a question, get on the phone right now and give us a call. Our phone lines open for the next 20 minutes or so. 833-THE-CORE is the number. Make a note of that for future reference.

833-THE-CORE, which translates into 833-843-2673. Here's an email we received from Joel. He says, do you have any thoughts about churches displaying the American flag or any flag in the sanctuary? I see this in a lot of churches, and I can't think of a good reason for it.

Thank you. Hey, Joel, really an excellent question. I'm the pastor of a local church. We don't have any national flags, American flags, set up in our sanctuary.

I actually think that that's important. I am not in favor of having American flags or any other kind of national flag in the sanctuary for a very simple reason. One of the attributes of the Church of Jesus Christ is called Catholicity. Now, that word Catholic, sometimes we hear it and we think Roman Catholic.

That's not what I'm talking about. It just means universal. Catholicity, Catholic means universal. One of the beautiful things about the new covenant that Jesus instituted in his own blood is that the people of God aren't identified with one particular nation, one country, or one particular place. The church consists of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation of the world. The church is a sort of United Nations. Our focus in the church should be on that kingdom inclusion of the entire world, people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. The church on earth today is a sort of embassy of grace. We are, pastors are, ambassadors of another kingdom, not the kingdoms of this world, but the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is advancing through the preaching of the gospel, through the faithful administration of the ordinances that Jesus gave to the church. I think that sometimes having these kinds of displays in the church, and I know that even this upcoming weekend, there are a number of churches that are going to make a really big deal about this, where the focus, I think, is going to be misplaced. Our focus, brothers and sisters, in Christian worship needs to be on God and on his kingdom. Now, that's not to say that we can't be grateful for the blessings that the Lord has given to us in whatever country he has us in, in this country in particular, that we can't be patriotic about that, but we have to distinguish between our heavenly citizenship, which Paul in Philippians chapter three says is the most important thing about us, and our participation and citizenship in the kingdoms of this world. I think it doesn't send the right message to people who are coming to our churches or visiting our churches when we make it seem like this is America's church, if you will know. This is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are the kingdom of Christ manifested here on earth today. I'm not in favor of having those kinds of displays in the churches. The church should be a place where Christ himself is placarded before us in his life, death, and resurrection. This is what the apostle Paul makes absolutely clear in Galatians chapter three. He says, look, through my preaching, I placarded Jesus Christ before you, and every Sunday of the year, that's what should be happening in our churches. Thanks for that question, Joel.

Thanks, Adriel. I'm glad you did point out, though, that there's nothing wrong with being patriotic, and I would say being appreciative that we live in a country where we can practice our faith freely when there are so many in this world where that's not possible, right? Yeah. Well, yeah, there are places where Christians are really experiencing intense persecution, and ultimately, we're submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ. So wherever we are, it's not the government or the state that gives us the authority and the freedom to proclaim the gospel. It's Jesus who calls us to do it and commands us to do it, and we can be thankful that here, many churches have been able to live peaceably, certainly more peaceably than in other parts of the world. That's something we can give thanks to the Lord for for sure. Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Caleb in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Caleb, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

All right, so my question is this. So, you know, when we first started reading, like, in the book of John, you know, in the gospels, we start reading that John the Baptist is sent by, you know, God, and he's a witness, right? But, you know, what I don't really understand is he started baptizing, but, you know, how did he find out, you know, he was supposed to be baptizing people and preparing them like that event? Because, you know, in the Old Testament, he never really read it. I never even seen anything about baptism until the New Testament, whenever John the Baptist, like, he was like the first one to start doing that.

Hey, Caleb, great question. Yeah, John the Baptist shows up on the scene in the gospels baptizing people unto repentance, you know, proclaiming, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. He's paving the way for Jesus as prophesied back in the book of Isaiah. And we do have these Old Testament types and pictures of baptism described in the New Testament, actually. So, for example, the flood is a type of baptism.

You know, Peter talks about this in particular. It's this picture of salvation through judgment, and that's actually what baptism is, this picture of salvation through judgment. Baptism is a picture of judgment, really, flood waters, and in particular, judgment in Christ. When we're baptized, it's this picture of our death and resurrection in Jesus Christ, our union with him.

Paul talks about this in places like the book of Romans chapter 6. Another Old Testament type or shadowy picture of baptism is the crossing of the Red Sea. You know, Paul in 1 Corinthians says that the people were baptized into Moses through the sea. And so you do have these pictures, and there were these sort of ritual washings that the Hebrew people had. And in particular, you know, a lot of people note that John the Baptist was out in the wilderness with these sort of wilderness communities, perhaps, who were looking for the coming of God's kingdom.

And in these particular places, oftentimes there were these sort of ritual washings, a kind of baptism, if you will. And so a lot of people say that's where John is getting this idea. But ultimately, I think we can just say he's a mighty prophet of the Lord. Jesus himself identified John the Baptist as a prophet. And so John is getting this information also from God, from the guidance of God, as he is out doing what the Lord has led him to do, baptizing and paving the way for the Messiah for Jesus to come.

And of course, that's precisely what he did. So Caleb, thank you for your question, for giving us a call. Thanks so much, Caleb. Appreciate you listening to Core Christianity. If you've got a question for Pastor Adriel, give us a buzz at 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to John in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. John, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hi, with this current corona situation and the vaccine, and I have friends on both sides of whether they're getting it or not, I'm just wondering if there's any reference in the Bible that would maybe contradict this, like with the genetic mutation with the mRNA, and would that contradict with our divine likeness and connection to God?

Hey, John, thank you for this question. And obviously, this is a contentious issue, right? As you said, I have friends kind of on both sides of the aisle with this too. Now, I don't think that there's any sort of change of DNA that's taking place with the COVID-19 vaccine. It is a matter of personal conscience, and people have to make a decision for themselves and exercise wisdom. One thing I'm really grateful for is what we sometimes call common grace, and that is that God can work in and through science and medicine for the good of people and for the good of his people. And obviously, this is something we've seen throughout the history of humanity as we see certain medical advancements take place and things that we're able to think through and apply, I think, biblical wisdom to the decisions that we make individually. But there is no, I would say, assault on the image of God here in particular. You know what assaults the image of God?

It's not stuff like the COVID-19 vaccine. It's sin. That's the primary thing that's against, if you will, the image of God. That's how the image of God is defaced today.

It's through sin, and we see that way back in the book of Genesis in the garden. I think a lot of times we get so concerned with all the things that are going on around us and stuff like this even, and we lose sight of really what God calls us to, and that is a life of holiness, a life of loving Christ, a life of loving our neighbors, even in the decisions that we make related to stuff pertaining to the pandemic, that kind of a thing. And so our greatest concern with regard to the image of God has to be that, has to be walking with the Lord. The image of God as it's described in the book of Genesis is about a number of things, but one of the things about it is imaging, if you will, our good creator, reflecting his goodness and his glory through our lives. And of course, because of sin, we don't do that well.

We don't do that perfectly. And one of the reasons that Jesus came to earth was to restore the image of God in humanity so that in Christ, you and I might begin to reflect our loving savior, our good God, in a way that we hadn't before, in a way that we couldn't, apart from the grace of the Holy Spirit. And so to your question, is the vaccine contradictory to the image of God?

No. Sin is. Sin is. And that should be our greatest concern as followers of Jesus. You are listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and if you have kids or grandkids, we want to tell you about a wonderful book that will help you answer some of the questions that they may have about the Christian faith. How do we know Christianity is really true? An apologetics book written for kids, young kids, ages nine to 13, into those early teenage years. And I am more and more convinced. I mean, I have little kids.

My oldest is actually nine years old. And more and more, I'm just becoming convinced that we have to do a better job as parents and also in the local church at training our children and establishing them in apologetics, in a defense of the Christian faith, because there are all sorts of other ideas out there that they're going to be exposed to. And they need to know why they believe the things that they believe and why those beliefs are good and true and make sense and ultimately have evidence to support them. And so get ahold of this resource for yourself, for your children, for your grandchildren.

Again, it's called How Do We Know Christianity is Really True? We'd love to send that to you for a donation of any amount at corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Again, that's corechristianity.com forward slash offers. This is just such an awesome book for every parent, every grandparent to get ahold of and then read and share with their children. You can also call us for that offer or any one of our offers at 833-843-2673.

That's 833 the core. Let's go to Robin in Memphis, Tennessee. Robin, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Hi, yes sir. I was calling about I have a very dear friend who is Jewish and she is dying right now of cancer. And throughout our friendship, I have always tried to witness to her and share what Jesus has done for me and just try to encourage her. I would take her to places that would be basically based where they would have music playing that was Christian music and she would talk about how she loved the music but that she didn't believe like we did. So I think my question is, I want to have reassurance that I've done all I could do to help her understand and know the plan of salvation and to have hope that I plan to save enough time that something is rooted in her heart where I'll know that I'll see her again in heaven.

Yeah. Well Robin, let me pray first for your friend right now. Gracious Father in Heaven, we lift Robin's friend up to you in the middle of this very difficult situation, Lord, as she's suffering and as she's drawing near to death, Lord. I pray that your Holy Spirit would be at work in her life. I pray that you would be with Robin, giving Robin wisdom, the words to say as she has conversations with her friend in this very difficult time. Clarity, Lord, and we know ultimately, Gracious Father, that you are the one that opens the heart. Would you open this person's heart, Lord, as you opened Lydia's heart in the book of Acts to receive the word of the gospel? Would you open her heart, Lord, as Robin speaks to her and would you be working in this situation? We ask Gracious Father in Jesus' name.

Amen. Robin, I think what you can do is continue to pray, and as I said, you know, we can't minimize the work of the Holy Spirit in conversion. It's the Spirit of God who opens hearts. And if you're praying for your friend, if you've sought to walk alongside of her and share with her the gospel of grace, I think you can have a clear conscience. Now, of course, we want to see the Lord work in this situation, and I don't know how much more time your friend has. I would encourage you in your conversations just to, you know, be able to continue to express to her the meaning that Jesus has had in your life, and the fact that more than that, more than just your own personal experience with Jesus, that Jesus is the Savior, that he really rose again from the dead so that we, in the valley of the shadow of death, as David called it in Psalm 23, might have hope, because we know that Jesus has risen from the dead and conquered death, and that that message of what God has accomplished is for your friend, can apply to her through faith in Jesus Christ.

It's so free. It's the good news of the gospel, not on the basis of anything that she's done, not on the basis of how perfectly she's lived her life, solely on the basis of Jesus and his work. And so I think, you know, as much as you have opportunity in these days, Robin, as you seek to be there for your friend, to comfort her, to encourage her, to be able to have those discussions and to clearly articulate for your friend the gospel. It's more than just, you know, listening to nice Christian music and the fact that Christians are really nice people, that kind of a thing.

It's the message of hope in the face of death, because Jesus has conquered death, and for all who turn to him, for all who look to him, there is hope. And may the Lord give you wisdom, sister, and just fill you with his spirit and boldness to be able to communicate with your friend during this time. And so thank you for giving us a call, and may the Lord bless you. Robin, we'll be praying for you with this difficult situation with your friend. We really appreciate so much your tender heart. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Let's go to Leroy in St. Louis, Missouri. Leroy, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? My question is, what do the Bible mean when it says that my spirit will not dwell with you always? Even though you know that you have the spirit of the Lord, you have a righteous man, a loving heart, and a humble spirit. What do that mean? You're not sinning, but you want to know.

I want to know. What do it mean by my spirit will not dwell with you always? Hey Leroy, great question.

I'm glad you asked it. I honestly have been preaching through the book of Genesis, so I think you're referring to a verse back in Genesis chapter 6 where God says, this is right before the flood, and the sort of context is the evil on earth. Mankind had been slowly growing more and more corrupt, and God says in Genesis chapter 6 verse 3, my spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh.

His days shall be 120 years. Now there are two ways of looking at this text in particular in the context of Genesis chapter 6. One, it could just be a reference to shortened lifespans. In other words, you read the book of Genesis, you have all these people living hundreds and hundreds of years, and God is saying, I'm going to cut that short. Now some people say, well, it seems like people still continued to live 120 years and longer even after God's said this, and so the response that people will make is, well, God is basically saying this is what's coming, shortened lifespans for humanity. Another interpretation, another way in which people look at this is they say, well, it's the approximate amount of time until the flood. In other words, God is starting a countdown. He's saying, look, this is the sinfulness of mankind on the earth.

My spirit is not always going to abide with man. You have basically about 120 years before I flood the earth and judgment comes. So almost as this sort of preparation, you think of what God did for the people of Nineveh when Jonah went preaching to them and said, look, judgment is coming.

You have X amount of time to repent. It's not referring to the fact that God is with us, and then when we sin, he leaves us. In fact, let me just say, if you're in Christ, if you belong to Jesus, Leroy, you have a relationship with him by faith, and you have trusted in him. Listen to what he says in the book of Hebrews chapter 13, beginning in verse 5. The author of the Hebrews said this, keep your life free from the love of money, be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you or forsake you.

So we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? Man, lay hold of your heart, lay hold of those words. Here's what God says to his people. Here's what God says to you if you're a Christian. I will never leave you nor forsake you.

And what's our response? The Lord is my helper. I will not fear.

What can man do to me? See friends, the love of God is not fickle. It's not here one day and gone the next. It's not like that old game that people would play, pick a daisy and pull off a leaf and say he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not, that kind of a thing. No, God is committed to his people with a steadfast love. You see that word all throughout the New Testament, God's steadfast love and faithfulness, his covenant love for his people.

And so he says to you, I will never leave you or forsake you. And we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper. Leroy, God bless you. Thanks for giving us a call. Thanks for listening to CORE Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833, the CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.