After being born again, are our hearts still deceitful above all things? 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, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. We'd love to hear from you. And here's our phone number.
That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter account. You can watch Adriel live in the studio right now on our YouTube channel and send us a message that way. And of course, you can always email us your question.
Here's the email address. It's questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, an email we have from Justin, and he says, with so many well-established pastors teaching different doctrines in the Bible, how am I to discern the truth from the many different pastors and sermons I listen to on the radio? How do I know who is right? An excellent question that I know many people have and a question that I've had as well because we're exposed to so many different kinds of pastors and teaching. You can go to YouTube.
You can go to podcasts. Who do you trust? How do you know where to go in order to find the truth? You know, this is a question that has come up several times in the history of the Church. In the 5th century, there was this man, Vincent of Lorenz, and he came up with this statement, with this concept, if you will, that I think is really helpful. He said we should believe that which has been embraced or believed everywhere, always and by all. In other words, if you want to steer clear from false teaching and heresy, don't believe the stuff that's on the fringe.
Don't believe theological novelties. Embrace that which has been embraced by the whole Church throughout the world. There's this universality and antiquity over the last 2,000 years, not doctrines or systems of theology that are brand new.
If they are, there's a high probability that they're just not true. I think a part of protecting ourselves and exercising wisdom here is being familiar with the history of the Church, with the interpretation of the Bible over the last 2,000 years, and really aligning ourselves with what we might refer to as the Catholic faith, the universal faith of the Christian Church that affirms those things which were affirmed in the historic creeds of the Church. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, the death of Jesus Christ for our sins, Holy Baptism, these things that Christians have clung to and proclaimed over the last 2,000 years. You're going to want to avoid theological novelty. An encouragement for you as you're wrestling with this is be humble, prayerful as you're reading the Word, as you're studying things, be humble, be willing to be corrected, be biblical, be saturated in the Scriptures. Whatever it is that you're believing about God, you want to make sure that it's coming from the Word of God, but also be accountable, and it's that last piece that I think a lot of people are missing.
Be accountable to the Church, not just your local church. In other words, you're not interpreting the Bible in isolation all by yourself, but you're in a community of believers together under the ministry of the Word. But the whole Church, the universal Church over the last 2,000 years, listen to the voices of the past that have wrestled through the Scripture and proper Bible interpretation if you're going to avoid theological heresy and novelty. One last encouragement for you, and this is something that we see in the book of 1 John, an encouragement that John gives to his audience who were in danger of being deceived. John talks a little bit later in 1 John 4 about the spirit of the Antichrist that's in the world, the importance of testing the spirits. But in chapter 2, verse 28, he is really interesting.
He's a little children. When he appears, we want to have confidence and not shrink in shame at his coming, the importance of having confidence in his Word, in what he said. Just right before that, listen to what he says in verse 27, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you, but as his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him. In other words, John says to Christians, you have the Spirit of God living in you. Remember what Jesus said in the Gospels in John 16, that the Spirit was going to guide his followers, his disciples, into all truth.
And so be submitted to the Spirit, biblical, saturated in the Word, and accountable to the Church. That's how you exercise wisdom in this area and steer clear of novelty and of doctrines that are just out there kind of on the fringe. Thanks, Justin, for that email. God bless you.
Great advice. Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And if you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, doctrine, theology, or even what's going on in our world today and how our Christian faith intersects with that, we would love to hear from you. Our phone lines will be open for the next 15 minutes or so, and you can call us at 833-843-2673.
If you want to spell that out, it's 833, the core, 833, the core. We would love to hear from you. You know, there's a lot of uncertainty in our world today. So here at Core Christianity, we want to offer you a very helpful book that we believe has really been written for times like these.
Yeah, that's right, Bill. You know, pain, conflict, and uncertainty really dominate the headlines in news today. And the world is often filled with too much information and too little wisdom.
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It also helps us to navigate the world with confidence and joy instead of fear and cynicism. So head over to corechristianity.com and pick up All That's Good, Recovering the Lost Art of Discernment. We actually have a special URL at our website where you can find that book. Just go to corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Again, that's corechristianity.com forward slash offers and look for All That's Good, Recovering the Lost Art of Discernment.
Well, here's a voicemail that came in earlier this week. This is from one of our listeners named John. I had a question, Adriel, about Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9 and comparing that with Ezekiel 36 verse 22 through 32.
Specifically, the question is, does Jeremiah's passage apply to believers? Like, is our heart still deceitful above all things and desperately wicked? Because I know it says we have a new heart now, right? So yeah, that's it.
Thank you so much. Hey, John, thank you so much for that question. Jeremiah 17 verse 9, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it?
A couple of things here. So first we've got to understand the context of Jeremiah 17. Speaking of the sin of Judah, God rebuking his people, betraying his word, going against him, committing idolatry in the previous chapter in chapter 16 verse 12. You have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn evil will, refusing to listen to me.
And so things had gotten pretty bad in Israel. God is threatening judgment. And that's the context in which we have Jeremiah 17, just speaking about the sin of God's people there. Now sometimes we point to that verse in order to defend the doctrine of what we call total depravity.
That is all mankind, because of sin, sin entering into the world, has fallen short of God's glory. And sin affects every single part of us, our minds, our heart, our soul, our body, right? There isn't one piece of us that hasn't been touched, if you will, by sin. That's why we need the grace of the gospel, regeneration.
It doesn't mean that we're as bad as we could be, or that everyone is as bad as they could be. It just means that there isn't one part of us that hasn't been affected by sin. And I think that that's confirmed by Jeremiah 17, that the heart is deceitful above all things, desperately sick.
We're sinners, we're broken. But your question is, is that still true of us in the same way as the regenerate, as those who have been redeemed by the Lord? And of course, in Ezekiel 36, the passage that you bring up, this is the promise of the new covenant, and one of the things that's promised there is this new heart. Verse 26, I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Now, you can even do a contrast in the book of Jeremiah itself, John, because it's interesting. A little bit later, again, you have the promise of the new covenant in Jeremiah chapter 31, quoted also in the New Testament in Hebrews chapter 8. And again, God is talking about this restoration of the heart in verse 33 of Jeremiah 31. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And so, the position of the believer in Christ, in the new covenant, born again, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, is different than the position of the people there in Jeremiah 17. Now, what that doesn't mean is that we're not still sinful, that we don't still have indwelling sin, sinful desires, but we have to factor in the fact that we are also new creations in Jesus Christ, and that our heart has been transformed, and that the Spirit of God is at work in us to put to death the sinful deeds of the body so that we might obey God's word, obey God's law. Imperfectly, as we do, none of us perfectly keep the law of God. That's why we're not justified by our obedience. But now, having been justified by the free grace of God in Christ through the new covenant, the shed blood of Jesus, we have the indwelling Holy Spirit who is bringing us closer and closer to the Lord and helping us to follow the Lord. And so, I would say, you know, there is a distinction there. We wouldn't want to say that now our hearts are perfect and that we're sinless.
Certainly not. We're still going to struggle with sin, but we're in this new position as believers in the new covenant. And so, you factor in all those passages, Jeremiah 17, Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36, and I think you see that quite clearly. John, thanks for getting us into the text. Hey, John, thanks so much. Love the fact that so many of our listeners really dig into God's word. And then when they have questions, they give us a call. And Adriel is more than happy to clear up any confusion for you on those difficult passages. So thank you, John. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.
Our phone lines are open. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, here's the number. It's 833-843-2673.
That's 833, the core. Let's go to Marie in St. Louis, Missouri. Marie, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hello. Hi, Marie.
Hello. I have been saved a while ago. My question is, I feel like I make mistakes and I fall from grace every day.
And I'm not perfect. I do sin. I do ask forgiveness because I do feel guilty. How do you know you're forgiven? And when are you not forgiven? Because sometimes I feel like the enemy is attacking me and reminding me that there's no hope for me and I'm unforgiven. So when do you know you're forgiven?
Yeah. Marie, well, I know that I can certainly identify with you and I'm sure that everyone listening right now over the air, that they would say, oh yeah, I know what that's like to be walking with the Lord. I would say I'm saved, I'm a Christian, and yet I still struggle every day. It's a struggle the apostle Paul talked about in Romans chapter 7. And sometimes you struggle with the same sins and I wonder, boy, am I really forgiven?
I still struggle. How could God forgive me? Here's where we have to put our confidence, not in the fact that we have overcome completely the struggle against sin, that we've perfectly repented. If that were the requirement, then we would never know if we were forgiven because we're going to continue to struggle with indwelling sin.
And as believers, it is a fight, it is a battle. Your confidence has to be in what God has said in His word, not your feelings. There are times where you will not feel forgiven, where you'll just feel not well, crummy, because of sin. And that's where you have to look up to Jesus and to what God has said in His word.
And so one passage of scripture that I think that you can go to, it's one that I go to when I'm wrestling with this very question, is what John said, going back to the book of 1 John, in 1 John chapter 1. He says in verse 8, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
Now this gets to the second part of your question. When am I not forgiven? Well, I would say when we reject the truth and when we don't confess our sins to the Lord. Here, the opposite is that when you confess your sins, know this, you are forgiven. God is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. He says when you go to the Lord, weighed down by your sins, frustrated, Lord, I can't seem to be that I did it again.
I'm so ashamed. I feel this weight of guilt. And you say, Lord, have mercy. I confess to you that I have sinned. God says, look, it's who I am to forgive. I am faithful and just. Not forgiving the repentant sinner would go against my very nature, my very justice, if you will.
So you can rest in that. You rest in God's word. And you may not, when you cry out to the Lord in that moment, feel forgiven, but you know that you are on the basis of God's promise and what He said.
And so that's where we really have to put our confidence, our trust. It's in God's word and what He has said. And so as you continue to seek the face of the Lord, confessing your sins every single day, know on the basis of what God has said in His word, what Jesus has done for you, Marie, that you are forgiven, that you are a child of the living God, that you belong to Him. And in light of that reality, the fact that He's cleansed you, honor the Lord with your life. Walk in newness of life. I encourage you to meditate on that text in 1 John chapter 1. Also, meditate on what Paul said in Romans chapters 6 through 8, where he talks about the battle against sin and also the fact that we are new creatures in Christ, that we have this new identity through faith and baptism, and we're called, you're called, to walk in newness of life.
And so present yourself to God as one who is alive from the dead, no longer a slave to sin, but free to follow the Lord. God bless. Marie, we actually have a great core guide that we think you'll find helpful. It's called Nine Ways to Know You Are Really a Christian. It's absolutely free. You can find that at our website. Just go to corechristianity.com forward slash free downloads. That's corechristianity.com forward slash free downloads and look for that core guide that we know will be helpful to you. Let's go back to the phones. Mark is on the line from St. Louis, Missouri. Mark, what's your question for Adriel?
Yes, how you doing, buddy? I've been going to this church for about five years now, and I just sometimes I say stuff that I don't agree with. And one of them is that they talk about watching dirty stuff on TV, like naked and afraid. And when they say that to the congregation, some people are happy, oh yeah, and the preacher will say, oh, that's okay. But in my own heart, I know that's not right. So this preacher shouldn't even be saying that at all, if you want to keep those people.
Do they? Yeah, I'm here. I'm listening to you, Mark. No, no, I'm glad that you're taking the preaching of God's word seriously. We should. And we should listen to the things that are being said from the pulpit and ask ourselves, is this what God calls a minister to proclaim, to preach? There's a lot of fluff in churches out there, a lot of maybe stories and jokes and entertainment going on. What we need is the pure preaching of God's word, the law and the gospel. We need to be reminded of what Christ has done for us, for our redemption. We need to be encouraged to grow in holiness and in our love for the Lord. Paul made this absolutely clear when he was writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4, verse 1. He says to him, this is as solemn of a charge as you're going to get in the New Testament, by the way. He says to Timothy, 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, by his kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching.
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears will accumulate for themselves, teachers to suit their own passions. And they will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myth. As for you, always be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
I mean, talk about a solemn charge. He says, look, here's what you're called to do, Timothy, preach the word faithfully, rebuke, exhort. This is what God calls you to do. We're not preaching television shows. We're not preaching the news. We're not preaching politics.
We're preaching God's word, and more specifically, we're preaching Christ, his gospel, into the hearts of people. Now, if that's not happening in your church, if the word of God is not being faithfully taught, then I would say, yeah, you need to find a church where that's the priority, where they have a passion for the word of God and they take God's word seriously, where the pulpit time is not a time for entertainment and jokes and cultural analysis of your favorite TV shows, that kind of thing. Now, I don't know everything about your church and your pastor. I don't know if this was a one-off comment, but he's generally a faithful minister. One encouragement that I would have for you, Mark, is when these kinds of things happen and they concern you, call your pastor up, grab coffee, have a meeting, say, hey, I'm struggling with this because it seems to me like you're saying these things that are encouraging people to maybe engage in behavior that is not becoming of Christians, that kind of thing. So I would say have an open conversation with him, be humble, be gracious, ask questions, and prayerfully consider whether or not this is the right place for you.
And so, Mark, thank you for that question. Again, grateful to hear you, passionate about the word of God and wanting that word to be faithfully taught. And may the Lord bless you as you seek to have that conversation with your pastor. Mark, we actually have a special free resource that we think will be helpful to you if you feel like you need to find a new church. It's called How Do I Choose a Church? It's got some great biblical advice which will really help you be discerning on what church God might be calling you to. And you can find that at our website, corechristianity.com forward slash free downloads.
Just look for How Do I Choose a Church? Just a reminder, we have that great book that we are offering this week as well. It's called All That's Good, Recovering the Lost Art of Discernment.
It's just perfect for these times, and you can get that book and donation of any amount by going to corechristianity.com slash offers. Well, Adriel, here's a question that came in from one of our listeners. This is from Chris. He emailed us and said, Did the Holy Spirit dwell in Jesus as he was fully man and fully God on earth, similar to the way that he lives in all Christians today?
Yeah, but there's also some uniqueness here as well. The passage of scripture that my mind goes to when I think about this is in John's Gospel. In John chapter 3, really an interesting text. This is a description of Christ. Beginning in verse 31, He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way.
He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard. Now, a lot of people don't know this, but what John is doing there is he's identifying Jesus as the true prophet, the one who stood in the very counsel of the Lord, bearing witness to what he has seen and heard. This is what the false prophets in the Old Testament in Jeremiah 23, 16 through 18 did not do. This is what Jesus does.
Yet, John says, no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives a testimony sets a seal on this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.
The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. In other words, Jesus has the Spirit without measure and gives the Spirit as well. This is a really great question just in terms of thinking about the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus. This is one of the reasons why Jesus rebuked the religious leaders who said that he was doing works by the evil one. Jesus said, you know what you're doing? You're blaspheming the Holy Spirit because the works that he did, he did according to the Spirit of Almighty God. Jesus, who was filled with the Spirit without measure, ascended into heaven, conquering sin and death, and gives his Spirit to us.
Now we, as Christians, in him by faith, are filled with the Holy Spirit, sealed, the apostle Paul says, with the Spirit of Almighty God. 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.
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