How Do I Know Which Parts of the Old Testament Are About Jesus?

How do I know which parts of the Old Testament are about Jesus, and which are not? 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. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites.

You can watch Adriel right now live on YouTube and message him that way. And of course, you can always email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to a voicemail we received from one of our listeners.

This is Teresa in Kansas. I am just curious about in the Bible where it states that we will all be risen and we will go to heaven. So the ones that have passed, are they waiting to go to heaven?

I'm confused on how that all works. So if you would just let us all know, that would be wonderful. Thank you.

Hi, Teresa. Thank you for that question. Those who have died in Christ are in the presence of the Lord right now. They're in heaven. Paul says to the Corinthians, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. In Philippians chapter 1, when he talked about departing from this world, he talked about it as departing and going to be with Christ, which is far better than anything else in this world. Jesus, when he was speaking to the thief on the cross, told him, today you're going to be with me in paradise. And so this is a period in between death and the final resurrection, and it's sometimes referred to as the intermediate state. Intermediate because it's in between death and the resurrection.

It's where believers go to be with the Lord. Their bodies are in the ground still waiting for the resurrection, which is going to happen at the last day. And Paul speaks about that as taking place at the coming of the Lord. First Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13, we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep, that is those who have died, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Those who have died in Christ right now, those who die in Christ now, they're not resurrected yet, not bodily resurrected. We'll all be resurrected together at the coming of the Lord. And so there's your answer.

Thank you for giving us a call. Some confusion about that, you know, we often get questions about what happens when we die. Is there a soul sleep? It seems like there's just some confusion about, you know, what really happens upon death. There is confusion about that. And I think sometimes, you know, one of the reasons may be that in the New Testament, there are places like that verse that I just read in First Thessalonians 4, where death is referred to as a kind of sleep. And so some people think, well, does that mean that when we die as believers, it's just as if we're sleeping until the resurrection?

But that's not what is meant by that. Really, I think what's being communicated is that death is not the end for believers. And of course, Jesus himself said, those who believe in me will never die in the sense that death for us has been transformed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Death is a coming to life, if you will, being in the presence of the Lord.

And so it is important, Bill, that we clarify this for people. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Here's our number.

It's 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to Brian in Valley Center, Kansas. Brian, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? I have a lot of people that are, thank you for taking my call, by the way, but I have a lot of people that I work with and we discuss things like election and predestination. And I'm just curious to know what your take is on that. Why would we, as Christians, if we're working on the Great Commission, spreading the gospel, sometimes people argue that it doesn't make sense. Why would we do that if we don't know or if we know that some people are not going to heaven?

Yeah, really a great question and a controversial one because this is one of those issues that Christians disagree on, that they differ on. There are some people who think, well, God chooses people for salvation, but based on the fact that they first chose him. This is sometimes referred to as election based on God's foreknowledge or foresight, and it's the idea that God foreknows the people who are going to choose him and then he calls those people his elect. And then there are others, Brian, and I would be in this group as well, that see election, God's choice, not as based on anything that we do. It's not even God foreseeing that we would choose him first, but that it's God working in us first so that we might be drawn to him.

Now, the reason that people are sometimes made uncomfortable by this is because they think, well, then what's the point? What's the point in evangelism if God is the one who chooses? Somehow, the apostle Paul is able to hold together that tension, we might say, in a very clear way. I think of what he said in Romans 9. As he's writing about non-believers, Jews had not embraced the gospel, he says, I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race according to the flesh is Christ, who is God overall, blessed forever.

Amen. And then he says in verse 6, but it is not as though the word of God has failed. He's writing about the fact that many of his kinsmen, according to the flesh, did not embrace the gospel when Jesus came, and he says, this breaks my heart. I could wish that I were accursed so that they might be saved, but here's what you also need to know.

I have this passion for them, I want to preach the gospel to them, but it's not that the word of God has failed. And then Paul begins to talk about the doctrine of election, for he says, for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all the children of Abraham, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but through Isaac shall your offspring be named. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. And then as the chapter continues, he goes on to talk about God's sovereign choice in election.

And so here you have this heart for the lost, I think that Paul is showing us in particular there, the Jews, his kinsmen, and yet this belief in the fact that God is still sovereign over salvation. And so this is, again, part of the tension that we see in scripture. There is this absolute sovereignty of God, and we also know that we are responsible, that God holds us accountable, that all people everywhere are called to repentance and faith. And so I think we have to hold those truths, those realities together.

It's not a contradiction. And of course we also know that God doesn't owe salvation to anyone, that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and that it's only God's mercy that he calls people to himself, that he draws us to himself. And so that would be my view, and as I said, Brian, there are differences of opinion here within the church, but I think we've got to go back to the scripture.

Read Romans 9, read Ephesians 1, even in the Old Testament it talks a bit about the doctrine of election, God's choice of Israel in places like Deuteronomy chapter 7. Those would be good passages to meditate on as you wrestle through this. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adrian Sanchez. We have a brand new Bible study we want to tell you about today, and it's actually one that Adrian wrote himself on the book of Galatians. Yeah, I had the privilege of preaching through the book of Galatians not too long ago, and so this resource was really something that came out of that.

I have a heart for helping people to understand the gospel first and foremost, and really how we have to be on guard for anything that would corrupt that message, that pure message of the gospel. And that's why Paul wrote the book of Galatians, is because the gospel message was under attack. It was being corrupted by people who were trying to add works' righteousness, essentially, to the doctrine of justification, and so I think that this is a really important resource. I hope that you'll get a hold of it. It's a Bible study resource, 10 lessons, and it can be yours for a donation of $20 or more. You can find that by going to corechristianity.com forward slash studies, again corechristianity.com forward slash studies, and look for the new study on the book of Galatians. You can also call us for that resource or any one of our resources. We'll tell you more. 833-843-2673 is the number.

That's 833, the core. By the way, you can also leave us a voicemail at that number 24 hours a day if you have a question for Pastor Adriel and can't call during the program. Let's go to Jonathan who called us from Washington State. Hi, Pastor Adriel. As I become more familiar with my Bible, I'm recognizing a lot of parallels, and some of the parallels are interpreted for us by Scripture, like Sarah and Hagar being an allegory of two covenants.

But there's others that I'm noticing, like Jesus cleanses the temple the first time with a whip of cords, and on his second coming, he prophesies of its destruction and dismantling brick from brick, and that parallel being to the laws for cleansing the house of leprosy and the Levitical law, where the priest would come and cleanse the house of leprosy the first time, but if it was found a second time, the house would be dismantled from brick and destroyed. So my question is, is that a healthy thing to do? Can we draw those parallels? I'd like to hear your opinion on the topic. Is it healthy and helpful? Are there dangers?

And do you have any suggestions for me as I continue my study of this subject? Thank you. Yeah, Jonathan. You know, I sometimes think of those things like the biblical Easter eggs, you know, the things that you see in one passage of Scripture, and then you see sort of this theme in other places as well. And I would say, yeah. You know, some of those are really cool discoveries, really cool insights. I mean, I like what you were bringing up there. Obviously, there is a danger in being overly allegorical. And I don't think that that's what you were referring to in the example that you gave. That wasn't allegorical. It was just sort of these themes that we see in Scripture tying two passages together that have a relationship, if you will.

What would be maybe an unhelpful example of allegory? Well, you know, there are ways I think of reading the Old Testament out of its context and sort of just trying to read into it Jesus in places where maybe it's unhelpful. We know that all of Scripture does lead us and ought to lead us to Christ in its proper context. So we have to understand the original passages in the Old Testament according to their context, where they were in redemptive history, and how where they were ultimately was leading us to Christ and to his gospel. But I would say continue reading the Bible that way. We want to pay close attention to what it is that we're reading because there are all sorts of connections that can be made like the one that you made there.

And so I would commend you, brother. And again, just reiterating, it's really what Jesus himself said when he was on the road to Emmaus with a couple of his disciples. He said, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me and the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. And he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. The whole Bible, Jesus says, is about me.

And so I think that's the controlling principle. We want to understand the Bible in its context and then see how it's leading us to Jesus. I love the fact that Jonathan is really digging into his Bible and trying to make these connections. I mean, that's really commendable for someone to take that time and go, I really want to understand this.

Yeah, absolutely. That's exactly how we need to be reading the Bible. We just want to be Berean, as the book of Acts talks about, you know, searching the Scriptures.

And when we do that, we really are rewarded, I think, with that encouragement, those insights I think that we find as students of the Word of God. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a reminder that some of the radio stations that air our program air it on a tape delayed basis. So if you want to call live into the studio, here's the time you want to do it. That's 11 30 a.m. Pacific Time or 12 30 Mountain, 1 30 Central, 2 30 Eastern. For that half hour period, we're taking your calls live in the studio.

If you call outside of that time, you can actually call any time a day or night and leave us a voicemail at 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to Steven in Springfield, Missouri. Steven, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yeah, I was talking to my daughter's boyfriend on the way home from church. He's been going to church with us and we were talking about tithing. And I told him I haven't been perfect in my whole life tithing, but in the last several years, I've been doing my best to give one tenth of what I bring home. And his understanding was that he thought that was more of an Old Testament practice and that now with Jesus, it's just whatever you can afford. And I told him that it's 10 percent of whatever you make, whether it's five dollars a year or five hundred thousand dollars a year, it's 10 percent. So that's my question.

Yeah. Hey, Steven, just encouraged by your question. I love that you are wanting to give to the local church. I'm a pastor and it's not just because I'm a pastor, but ultimately because I think that generosity and being consistent at giving to the work of the gospel, the advancement of the gospel is good for us.

Jesus said where your treasure is, that's where your heart will be also. And I don't think that just means that you give to what you're passionate about. I think it also indicates that what we give to is what we end up being more and more passionate about.

You're invested in this. And so your question, is the tithe something that's binding for new covenant believers? Well, it was certainly binding under the old covenant.

And what's interesting is when you do all the numbers, it was actually more than just 10 percent. You think of all the different things that were being tithed under the old covenant and that money was going to the temple to support the Levitical priesthood and all of the things that were going on there. Under the new covenant, I think giving a tenth, giving a tithe is good.

I think that's a wonderful baseline. I don't know that I would make the case that it's something that is binding under the new covenant. It seems like what you get, Stephen, in the New Testament is an encouragement to give generously and to give generously to the work of the gospel.

But Paul talks about that in places like 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. In particular, in 2 Corinthians 9, he says, verse 6, the point is this, Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things and at all times, you may abound in every good work as it is written, he has distributed freely, he has given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. Personally, I think a tithe is wonderful. One thing that I think is good about that is it helps us to just be consistent, to think about giving consistently to the work of the gospel.

So it's not just like, hey, I'll give whatever is in my pocket. We're planning, we're thinking about how we're going to be generous in terms of giving to the work of the gospel. I know that there are other Christians who feel like, boy, the Lord has blessed me so much, I give more than a tithe. It's really, what we're looking for is giving generously and with joy, not under compulsion, not feeling like your arm is being twisted. And all of us ought to give to the work of the gospel as those who have received the mercy of God in the gospel. God has been so generous to us. And so we respond with generosity to the needs around us. And so, brother, I would say look at those passages. There's nothing wrong with giving a tithe.

I think that's wonderful. But let the gospel shape your mind and heart and guide you as you think about giving generously. Thanks for your question.

Good counsel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Got about five minutes left or so. You can hop on the phone right now and give us a call.

The number is 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to Deborah in Wichita, Kansas. Deborah, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Well, in the scriptures I've read several times and the scriptures kind of end in the verse that says, even to this day or something like that or even unto this day. And usually referring to the destruction of a place or a people.

And I've got a couple of verses, Joshua 7 26 and Joshua 9 27. And my question is, so to our day or to this day, is this a future prophecy like to now or is this just the days when the scripture was written? Yeah, great question.

I think a real simple answer. It's not a future prophecy referring to now. It's just referring to when that was written to the original audience who would have received those words. The author is saying, hey, that monument or that gravestone, whatever it was that's being referred to is still here to this day. You can go and check it out.

And so not a future prophecy, something that would have been relevant for them specifically at that time that they could go see. Thank you for your question. Thanks, Deborah, so much for being a regular listener.

We appreciate you. This is Core Christianity. Let's go to Barry, I'm sorry, Barney in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Barney, what's your question? Hello, thanks for taking my call. I actually had called last week about Once Saved, Always Saved and actually came across another scripture after I got the phone with you that I've never seen before. The Bible is just amazing. Revelation 22, 19 says, whoever removes anything from the book of Revelation, God shall take away his part out of the book of life. And my question is, if you can take it out of the book of life, Revelation 3, 2 says, I will not block your name out of the book of life. Just keep coming back to this Once Saved, Always Saved. I've got about 30 pictures that I've written over the years and every time I think I got it settled, I'll come across another scripture, which I did in Revelation 22, 19. I'm just kind of confused here.

Yeah, great question and thanks for giving us a call back again. This idea of the book of life, it's not just at the end of the book of Revelation where it appears, it also appears throughout the book of Revelation, in Revelation chapter 3, in Revelation chapter 13, in Revelation chapter 17. Jesus said in Revelation chapter 3, verse 5, the one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my father and before his angels.

You as an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Now what's interesting is later in the book of Revelation, it says that essentially those names that are there in the book of life are there from before the foundation of the world. I think it's unhelpful to think of this as God's got this book up there and he's just sort of waiting for us to make a mistake. Oh boy, they've done this, that, or the other. I'm going to erase their name out of the book of life.

They're done. They've lost their salvation, that kind of a thing. No, because John makes it very clear that those whose names are there are written from before the foundation of the world. What Revelation is giving us here is this imagery. Remember, John is getting this prophetic vision from the Lord and oftentimes in this visionary prophecy, you have all sorts of symbols that are meant to communicate something. Here in particular, I think what's being focused on is the fact that God is the one who is sovereign over salvation, as we were talking earlier, and that God has written the names of his people in this book. Those who aren't in the book, well, they're lost. Remember when Jesus is speaking to his disciples in the gospels and they're all stoked because they're able to cast out demons, they have authority over the evil one, and Jesus says, don't rejoice about this, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

Well, how do you get your name written in heaven? Well, John says those names are there from before the foundation of the world, but by faith in Jesus Christ, we know that that's a reality for us, that we belong to the Lord, that we're a part of his people. For a part of his people, a part of his flock, he's not going to lose us. Jesus makes this absolutely clear in John chapter 10.

Barney, that's what I would say. Really understanding that terminology in the whole context of the book of Revelation I think is helpful. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and one quick question here from Zach. He put this on our Facebook page, and he says, in Luke 22 and 23, Jesus is taken before the assembly. When he is asked, are you the Son of God, he doesn't say yes. Instead, he responds with, you say that I am.

Why does he do that? Well, of course, in that scene, Jesus is approaching his death, and the group that has him there, they're not really interested in the truth. They want to condemn him, and they do condemn him. He is led like a sheep to the slaughter. Think of the prophecy that we see in Isaiah.

He goes silently, if you will. Part of it was, I think, a condemnation of those who were condemning him. They knew, in one sense, the truth. They couldn't deny it.

They knew that he was falsely accused. They asked him, are you the Son of God? Jesus says, you say that I am. You know. You know. And so really, a sobering thing is he approached the cross for sinners, and of course, he prayed, Father, forgive them on the cross, for they don't know what they're doing. God is gracious. 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.