How Do I Stay On the Straight and Narrow?

How do I continue to follow Jesus and stay on the straight and narrow path? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. 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 in the studio on our YouTube channel and send him a message that way. And of course, you can always email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, here's a question we received from one of our listeners named Carol. Ever since I was a child, I remember the communion service. And then there were years that I didn't attend church. Matter of fact, I had started practicing other religions.

But since then, I have come back to Christ several decades now. But there's one thing that I had never been able to have answered, and I was hoping you could answer, was about the church covenant. At the church that my husband and I attend, a church covenant is recited prior to partaking of the communion. And in that covenant, we talk about what we're going to do.

I promise to do this, I promise to do that. After a while, I didn't think it was right. And so I secretly started reciting the Apostles' Creed instead of reciting all of these things that I'm going to do and not this and that. And I don't know if you know anything about church covenants and why they're sad.

Thank you. Carol, it sounds like you need to start a movement at your church where you just change that church covenant out for the Apostles' Creed, and you guys can confess that every week. Well, actually, historically, it sounds to me like maybe that's what you're remembering when you were a child, being at a church where that's what was done. Because historically, in Christian worship or Christian liturgy, the creeds, like the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed, were confessed as an act of worship right before taking the Lord's Supper. It was an affirmation of faith. It was a part of saying, we as a church, we believers are coming now to the table of the Lord, and this is what we believe. And you confess as this act of worship, as this confession of faith, those core truths of the scriptures that are summarized in places like the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed.

So I think that that's great. I think if a church is going to confess something prior to taking the Lord's Supper, that's what it should be. Because that's what we as Christians hold fast to. You know, here on Core Christianity, we're often talking about the core doctrines of the Christian faith.

You're not going to find a better summary of those doctrines than in places like the Nicene Creed or like the Apostles' Creed. But going back to specifically this idea of a church covenant, that sort of makes me uncomfortable. It sounds like it makes you uncomfortable too, because I guess I would want to know specifically what is it that's being recited. The Lord's Supper really should be treated as a gift. Something first and foremost that we are receiving from God, not so much something that we're doing. So it sounds like with this covenanting that's taking place, or however your church defines that, the focus is, this is your time to pledge yourself to Jesus, to talk about all the things that you're going to do. And that kind of gives me this sense of, you know, is this like a way of declaring our worthiness to come before the Lord's Table?

Because the reality is, none of us are worthy in and of ourselves. We come to the Lord's Table as broken sinners in need of God's grace, and the Lord's Supper is this means of grace through which He extends to us, seals to us, the promises of the gospel, His love, what He accomplished for us through Jesus. And we lay hold of these gifts by faith. And so, you know, every church does things a little bit differently. I might have a conversation with the pastor.

I mean, if you're there and you have a good relationship with your pastor, maybe asking some questions and just saying, hey, what about doing something like the Apostles Creed? The fact of the matter is, we're finding more and more in evangelical churches today that Christians just don't understand the basics about what the Bible teaches, what we're called to believe as followers of Christ. And that's why we've got to recover core Christianity.

We've got to recover these truths that are summarized in the creeds. One passage of scripture, though, to just go to is Paul's discussion in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, where he talks about the Lord's Supper. He's writing to the church at Corinth, and they were struggling with how they were observing the Lord's Supper as well. He says to them in verse 23 of 1 Corinthians, I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, also, he took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. There's the covenant right there. It's not a covenant that we're inventing.

It's not one that, you know, the pastoral leadership of our church wrote down for everybody to recite. It's the new covenant described in the Old Testament fulfilled by Jesus through his sacrificial death. That's what the Lord's Supper is all about. So this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. That's the covenant we need to be focused on when we gather together for the Lord's Supper. And what is promised in that covenant? The gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the forgiveness of sins. Not so much what we're doing, but what God has done for us in Christ. God bless you. Amen. So great to point back to that free gift of, as you said, what God has done for us rather than what we're doing, what we're trying to accomplish with our own behavior. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Here we are just about a week away from Halloween. And every year around this time, we start getting calls about satanic stuff, demon possession. And a lot of people have confusion. A lot of Christians have a lot of confusion about the devil and his activity in our world. And we actually have a great free resource on this topic that will clear up some of that confusion. Yeah. If you've ever wondered, you know, are the little devils in pop culture, movies, novels, you know, the idea that we have of Satan, is it really from Scripture?

Is this just something our culture has sort of invented? When you stop to think about who the devil is, what he does, what he's trying to do, where do we get our information from? There's a lot of confusion out there in the world today. People think he's all-knowing, he's everywhere present, God's ultimate adversary, equal to him in power.

I mean, this is some weird stuff out there. And that's why we want to recommend this resource to you called Can the Devil Read My Mind? It's a 70-page booklet that gives you a thorough understanding of what the Bible says about Satan, demons, and spiritual warfare. And it's yours for free over at corechristianity.com. And Adriel, isn't it true that the book also gives some practical ideas on how we can resist the devil's influence in our lives?

Absolutely. I mean, that's one of the great things about this resource is not just theological information about Satan, it's also practical tips for what it looks like to resist the devil in your own life. And we are in a spiritual battle, brothers and sisters, so this is important stuff. Get a hold of this resource again over at corechristianity.com. You can find it at corechristianity.com forward slash offers, forward slash offers, and you can just look for that wonderful free resource, Can the Devil Read My Mind? This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Let's go to a question we received from one of our listeners named Jeanette. My question is, how do us as Christians continue to stay on the path towards Jesus and everything that He does and everything that we are supposed to do as Christians in the Bible if we stray away? I mean, if we stray away, Christ is always calling us back to Himself, sister, so if you feel like you've fallen off the path, like you haven't been walking with Jesus for a while, you've been doing things that you know are contrary to His word, you're not in fellowship with His people, here's the good news. You can go to Jesus right now, you can look to Him, you can say, Lord, forgive me, cleanse me, wash me, and He doesn't push you away, He welcomes you with open arms into the fellowship, and so that's one of the great hopes we have. We turn to Jesus in sincere repentance, He doesn't push us away, and this is just so important, you know, Jesus said Himself in John chapter 6, the one who comes to me, I will in no wise cast out.

And in that chapter in particular, it's really interesting because He talks a lot about how He's going to keep His children. That is, if you belong to Jesus by faith, He's going to raise you up on the last day, and while we may wander at times, the one who holds on to us, sister, is Jesus Himself, and so you can be comforted by that reality. Now practically speaking, for us as believers, what does it look like to stay on the straight and narrow? How can we be careful to follow the Lord, to obey the Lord?

One passage of scripture that comes to mind is actually in the Psalms, a Psalm that gave me a lot of comfort and still does in my walk with the Lord, thinking about this very question. Psalm 119, beginning in verse 9, listen to what the Psalmist said, how can a young man keep his way pure by guarding it according to your word? With my whole heart I seek you, let me not wander from your commandments. It sounds like that's your prayer, God, I don't want to wander from your commandments.

Keep me on the straight and narrow. The Psalmist continues, I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes. With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.

I will delight in your statutes, I will not forget your word. There you see the centrality of the word for the Christian life, treasuring up the word of God in our hearts so that we might not sin against him. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, you come before the Lord, you meditate upon scripture, you just are washed in the word daily, and especially when you get together with other believers. That's another key component to, I think, staying on the straight and narrow. As a Christian, if you want to faithfully follow the Lord, you need to be in a good church.

So easy for us, brothers and sisters, to drift. You think of what the author of the Hebrews said in Hebrews chapter 3, where he exhorted the Christians there. He said, encourage one another day by day while it is called today, lest you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. We need that encouragement in the body of Christ. Later, in Hebrews chapter 10, he talks about not forsaking the fellowshipping of one another, but stirring each other up to good works.

We need that. Being centered on God's word, that's a part of it, but being a part of the Christian community and resting in the fact that Jesus is the one who keeps us. When we stumble, we raise our eyes to him and we say, Lord, have mercy, and he does have mercy. God bless you. A couple of great reminders for all of us. Meditating on God's word, memorizing it, and then having that fellowship with other believers to strengthen our faith.

Wow, just some great stuff. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, theology, Christian doctrine, or even how your daily Christian walk intersects with what's going on in the world around us, we'd love to hear from you. Here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE. 833-THE-CORE.

You can also leave a voicemail at that number anytime, 24 hours a day. Let's go to Linda in Arkansas. Linda, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yes, in the Bible, Jesus says, I don't remember the whole scripture, but there's one part where he says, take up your cross and follow me. I don't know what he means by that.

Yeah, Linda, thank you for that question. This is the call to follow Jesus, the call to discipleship. You see it in the gospels, in places like Matthew chapter 16, beginning in verse 24. Then Jesus told his disciples, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? What shall a man give in return for his soul? Really powerful words there from the lips of Jesus.

This is what it looks like to follow me. Now, what was the cross a symbol of in the ancient world? It was a symbol of death, a symbol of shame also, just horrible shame. It was a tool of capital punishment, one of the most heinous tools ever used, certainly by the Roman government. When Jesus was saying, if you want to follow me, pick up your cross, it would have been like saying, take your noose up or your electric chair.

It would have been really shocking, really jarring. One of the things he's indicating is that following him, coming after him as his disciple, looks like denying self, not living for self. I'm putting myself on the altar, if you will. There's a difference between the cross that we take up and the cross that Jesus himself took up. He took up the cross for us in order to make atonement for our sins so that all of our sins might be forgiven. That's the gospel.

That's good news. He bore our punishment. Now, following him looks like following him even in suffering, taking up our own cross, denying ourselves, putting his will before our own. It's this idea of counting the cost of what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus.

Too many people today, I think, assume that following Jesus is sort of like adding a little bit of religion to your life. Yeah, you know, I do my own thing. I live for myself. I think whatever I want to think.

I believe whatever I want to believe, and I sprinkle in a little bit of Jesus, a little bit of spirituality when it helps, when I feel like I need it, that kind of a thing. That's not what Christ calls us to. He is the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, and he says, give me your life. Lay down your life.

And we can do that. You know why? Because he laid down his life for us. He bore our sins.

He covered them with his blood so that we might have communion with him so that we might follow him. And I think that's all entailed in this call to discipleship in places like Matthew 16. So Linda, thank you for that question. God bless you. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We're still taking your calls for the next five minutes or so. If you have a question for us, it's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Here's a question from Suzanne. My question is doctrine and unity. I found a church with great doctrine. However, there just isn't any fellowship there, but my old church has a lot of fellowship with different doctrines.

What do you suggest? Hey Suzanne, God bless you. Thank you for that question. Glad that you're wanting to get plugged into a church and a church that has sound doctrine. That is key.

The primary mark of the Church of Jesus Christ is faithful proclamation of the word of God, of the gospel. But what do you do when you go to a church where you feel like, man, the word is really being taught well here, but nobody says hi to me and there's no real fellowship. I can't really connect with the people. It's a tough situation.

I know a lot of people who are in the same boat as you who are struggling to figure out what to do. You look at the description of fellowship in the early church in the book of Acts. Acts chapter 2 verse 42 says this. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers and all came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles and all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need and day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes. They received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all people and the Lord added to their number day by day. Those who are being saved. Isn't that a beautiful picture of fellowship of church?

You got both things there, right? You have sound doctrine theology. They're committed to the apostles teaching.

This is not just potluck fellowship with the bunch of people who enjoy hanging out. This is a commitment to the Word of God to the teaching of Jesus as was handed down by the apostles and not just to understanding doctrine theology the Word of God, but also to prayer they were committed to the prayers. They were gathering together calling upon the name of the Lord. We certainly see this throughout the book of Acts, but it was it was even more than that. There was this vibrant fellowship.

It seems like you read that scene and this is a family. This is a family of people who are taking care of one another who are meeting the needs of those who are struggling in the community. This is what we should long for in the church and by the grace of the Holy Spirit. This is what what the gospel can produce. And the sad thing is sometimes you know, you go to church is it boy seems like they got a lot of sound doctrine, but it's as if you know, they're not applying all of the implications of the gospel to the community of faith because I think one of the implications of sound doctrine a faithful Bible teaching of a good grasp of the gospel is that vibrant fellowship is transparency among the members a willingness to confess sin a willingness to care for each other because we realize we are a blood bought family the family of God. So I would say go to a church with good doctrine if you have a you know, a difficult time connecting with people pray talk to the leadership there.

You know, I know it can be difficult. I always encourage people but put yourself out there as much as you're able, you know, make make a make it a point to have conversations with people maybe maybe that looks like inviting someone out to lunch after the service that kind of thing. But getting together to get to know the people there sometimes it just takes a little bit of a leap of faith, but certainly praying and just praying that that the implications all of the implications of a healthy gospel centered Church would would manifest themselves in the local body. No, no church is perfect. I mean we read that description there in Acts chapter 2 and the reality is you read the rest of the book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament you realize hey these churches also had a lot of struggles just like every church here on Earth today and yet together as we're committed to the Apostles teaching as we're committed to prayer as we're committed to one another the Spirit of God is at work and beautiful things happen. So I would say commit to the church with sound doctrine and pursue that fellowship within the church and trust that the Lord by his Spirit will bring that about you are listening to core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Dion in Smithfield Rhode Island Dion. What's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hi, are you there?

I'm here Dion. Okay, my question is in Hebrews. I was very sick about a year and a half ago and I thought I was going to die. It was so bad in the middle of the night and so it lasted for like about a week or so and I started to pray and I asked God what's going on? What am I going to die? And so I went to the word like I always do.

I've been reading since I was 16. I'm almost 60 and it seemed like I was led like before to many passages to Hebrews and it said if you sin willfully after you receive the knowledge of the truth there remains no more sacrifice for sin. And it goes on a fearful feeling of judgment and indignation that will devour the adversary those that trample on the blood of Jesus and do despite to the Holy Spirit will be have no more forgiveness and so it goes on to say vengeance is mine. I will judge my people and so basically it's saying that if you commit this particular sin, which I mean I've been a Christian since I was 16, trampling on the blood which I don't even have a clue what that means but it seems like the Holy Spirit was telling me that and I've been in hell ever since. Fear, torment, anxiety, nightmares every night dreaming everywhere I go I see 666 so I'm assuming that I'm doomed so basically I don't know how to answer the question I've talked to so many people and they say oh no that's for the Jews but in that passage it says he will judge his people so basically that includes anybody who tramples on the blood of Jesus and I don't even know what that means because you explain that. I can and Dion this is a passage of scripture talking about the book of Hebrews chapter 10 this is a passage of scripture that's caused a lot of fear for people because they think have I done this have I sinned in this way I've sinned willfully I know there have been times as a believer I knew I should have done this thing and I did it. What does that mean I've trampled Jesus underfoot and I'm eternally condemned the specific sin that is being addressed here in the book of Hebrews is apostasy that is turning away from the gospel and trusting not in Jesus and in his blood for the forgiveness of sins but the people here they were being tempted to go back to the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant which is why throughout the book of Hebrews the author of the Hebrews is saying Christ is better.

Better than the Levitical priesthood he's better than the sacrifices of bulls and goats he's better than the angels don't go back to those things to the Old Testament rituals of worship the reality Jesus Christ has come and if you go back to those things then you will be trampling Jesus underfoot and you'll be you'll be hopeless because if you're trusting in anything besides the blood of Jesus to save you to justify you to forgive your sins you're in trouble. If you fall into the hands of the living God with your own sacrifice with your own good work saying God I'm worthy enough I'm good enough no that's that's not going to cut it and so the hope actually here and this is a hope that you can have Dion is that when you look to Jesus and you say I got nothing I have nothing Lord I am in and of myself weak I fail every day I've been walking with you since I was 16 and I still sin every day. I'm not going to trust in myself Jesus I trust in you alone brother if you do that if you trust in Jesus you cast yourself upon him he saves you he's the one who redeems you it's his grace by faith. And so you can have hope the question is are you trusting in Jesus are you trusting in yourself and if you don't trust in yourself you trust in Christ that's what the author of the Hebrews is calling these people to do and if you've done that you can rest in him in his blood in his work for you that he's going to keep you because he loves you. 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.