Can Studying Theology and the Bible Ever Be Vain?

Can studying theology and the Bible ever be in vain? 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.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter account. You can watch Adriel right now on YouTube, on our YouTube channel, and send him a message and question that way. And of course, you can always email us your questions at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to a voicemail from one of our listeners.

This is from Troy. Thank you, Pastor Adriel. First, I love CORE Christianity.

I get so many questions answered. My question is, I have co-workers that I send out like daily devotionals to them all the time, some of my co-workers, and I recently had one embrace that. She's like, hey, if I get a Bible, Troy, will I understand it, read it from cover to cover? I was like, I'm sure you would understand it, but we want to make sure that we ask God to give you understanding and insight of what He needs. So my question is, for a new believer or someone who's coming into embracing Jesus as their Lord and Savior, where would you start to read in the Bible to really understand what the Lord God and salvation is all about in His love for you?

Thank you so much. Thank you, Troy. I love that question. And may the Lord bless you as you continue to have these conversations. It really is an important question because I've talked to people and they say, I'm trying to learn about God. And so they get a Bible and they open up to the book of Leviticus and they think there's nothing here for me. It's just not really understanding much.

Context is really important, and I love, Troy, what you said there also. We need the help of the Holy Spirit, what we sometimes call illumination, the Spirit of God illuminating our minds, our hearts, so that we might receive the Word of God by faith, embrace it. And so it does require the work of the Holy Spirit, but I would say what I typically recommend when I'm talking to someone who is newer to Christianity, maybe has never read the Bible before, I say go to the Gospel of John.

And there are a couple of reasons for this. One, I just think the Gospels in general would be a good place to start, to think about the life of Christ and what He did for us. I mean, that's central to what it is that we're trying to communicate. We want people to know Jesus, to understand about the cross. But the reason I picked John is because John in particular asks these probing questions to the reader with the goal of getting you, as you're reading it, to believe. You have this apologetic, if you will, this defense of Christ, what He's done, the signs that He's doing throughout His ministry to demonstrate that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. In fact, at the very end of the Gospel of John in chapter 20, verse 30, we read, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His name. It's almost like John is expecting an individual who doesn't know much about the Christian faith to pick up his book and read it, and he's saying, look, I'm writing these things.

I put these miracles in this order, in this way, so that you might believe in Jesus. And so I think there are these calls to faith throughout the Gospel of John that are probing and encouraging, and I hope that as you encourage this friend, this coworker, to dig into the Scriptures, that you'll also be there to talk throughout. I often will say, as you're reading things, if you have questions, let's talk about it. It's just a great opportunity to go deeper in the Word and to see God work in an individual's life. And so, Gospel of John, I would say, start there.

Hey, thanks so much for your question, Troy. We also have a great Bible study. It's actually a Bible reading plan that you can find at our website. If you go to corechristianity.com, just look for that beginner Bible reading plan.

That'll be really helpful to you. Well, let's go to a voicemail that we received from one of our listeners earlier this week. Hello Pastor Andrew. Thank you for all that you do.

I recently just started listening to the information and your radio broadcast is awesome. I also just purchased the study of the book of John, so I can't wait to jump into that. I'm a fairly new believer in Christ, so I feel like I'm withdrawing from some friends. Even at my job, I'm not focused on certain things that I used to be focused on, but being more focused on the Word, my faith, and my understanding of the Scripture. Like in my mind, I feel like you should be able to keep your friends and stay focused on the things at your job while you're building your relationship with Christ. But at the same time, knowing me, I have to focus on one thing.

I'm wondering if it's bad to separate yourself while you're studying in the Word to grow. Thank you for the information that you're going to share. May this program continue to be a blessing to others.

Yeah. Hey man, God bless. Love to hear that you're digging into the Scriptures. Let me just say, I became a Christian when I was in high school. Prior to that, I was kind of a knucklehead.

I was a problem child. I mean, not crazy, but I just was not a Christian. I definitely was not walking with Jesus. When I first began walking with the Lord, when the Lord first drew me to himself, there was this sort of period where I was digging into the Word of God. I mean, you're excited about the Bible, right?

And as a result of that, a lot of my friends actually just didn't want to hang out with me anymore. They would sort of joke, like, there's Bible boy. He's changed all religious and whatnot. So you might find that as you dig into the Scriptures, some people just are not interested in spending as much time with you.

There are seasons. For me, at that time as a newer Christian, I think it was the right move. My life had been radically changed by the Lord. All of a sudden, I'm excited about the things of God, going to church, reading the Bible. So because my passions sort of shifted, I just didn't spend as much time with my friends. But now, one of the things is I sort of look back on that time and think, oh man, I wish I would have done a better job engaging with them still during that process, if you will, being a better witness.

And I think if you're able to do that, good. Pray that the Lord would give you opportunities. It's so important, I think, at this stage that you get grounded in your faith, that you surround yourself with people who are going to encourage you in your walk with the Lord. But the other thing I'll say is as you're studying the Bible, it should lead you to be someone who is engaged with people, loving people. I mean, it's the second greatest commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. So the study of Scripture should never cause us to just go off in a corner and neglect the people around us.

It should give us a bigger heart of compassion for the people around us. So I would just say in this time, dig into the Word, let the Word shape you, your mind, your thoughts. And as God gives you opportunity to continue to cultivate these relationships with friends, Christians and non-Christians alike, insofar as you're able to be a godly influence in their lives, I would say pursue that. One verse or a couple of verses that I wanted to read for you are in Philippians chapter 1.

It's Paul's prayer for the Philippians in verse 9. He says, My prayer is that your love may abound more and more. This love for the Church and love for even those outside of the Church, that that love would abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. That's what you want to pursue.

Love for God, for His people, for the world that is born out of a understanding of God's Word, knowledge and discernment, so that you would have the discernment to approve what is good and righteous and honor the Lord in all that you do. And may God bless you as you pursue that. And I'm stoked to hear that you're getting that John Bible study. I pray it blesses you. Thanks for the question.

Great counsel. Thanks for that, Adriel. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you are a regular listener, we want to let you know that we don't play commercials on this program. We don't receive money from a particular church or denomination. We count on people just like you to make gifts to keep us on the air, and one of the ways you can do that is by joining our inner core. These are people that have just made the decision to support this ministry on a monthly basis, and we are so thankful for them. Yeah, we are super encouraged by the work that you guys do in supporting us and helping us in this ministry, both by your prayers and your monthly gifts. The inner core is partnering with us, really monthly donation of $25 or more that helps us continue to get the word out. And so if you have been blessed, encouraged, if you're learning about God more as a result of what we're doing here at Core Christianity, and you want to partner with us to help other people be blessed as well, would you consider joining the inner core?

It's a monthly donation, as I said, of $25 or more. We send you a number of gifts throughout the year, including this book, Core Christianity, by Dr. Michael Horton, which is a great introduction to the core doctrines of the Christian faith. And so thank you for your support, and we'd love for others of you to come alongside of us as well. If you want to learn more about joining the inner core, just go to our website corechristianity.com forward slash inner core. And as Adriel said, there are some nice benefits that go along with being a member of the inner core.

Again, corechristianity.com forward slash inner core to find out how to join that special group of people. Let's go back to the phones. Dana is on the line from Jacksonville, Texas. Dana, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Thank you so much for taking my call. It has always been a confusing point to me that we are taught that once we get to heaven, we will recognize our family members and our loved ones. And I just, I don't believe that for a split second. I believe that we have recognizable traits while we're here on earth. We have hair, our voice, our bodies, our cooking, the way we entertain people, all of that. But once we get to heaven, our core purpose will be to praise God and to maybe see everyone as a beautiful soul, but not to sit around and go, oh, Mom, I remember your lasagna. Dana, hey, thanks for that question. Yeah. How could you forget Mom's lasagna in heaven? I don't know.

Here's what I would say. One, so when we die, you know, believers, those who trust in Christ, when we die, our souls are immediately made perfect in holiness. Our bodies go down to the ground, right? I mean, you know, in the grave. But that's not their final resting place. We are waiting for, those bodies are waiting for what the Bible calls the resurrection of the dead. And so our spirits, this is what we call the intermediate state, our spirits are in the presence of God, around the throne of God, together with all the saints who have gone before us, those who have trusted in Jesus. You can read about this in places like Hebrews chapter 12. There's a great picture painted there of the worship that's happening in heaven with the saints gathered around the throne of God.

You see this also in the book of Revelation, by the way. And we're there in the presence of the Lord, conscious, worshiping God, as you say. We're not going to have our bodies. And so the question is, well, how would we recognize each other?

I'm not sure. I do think actually we're going to recognize people even there in that intermediate state. I'm not sure what that's going to be like or how we're going to have that knowledge. I think it's probably going to be something that is given to us by God. But then we are going to be resurrected. Our bodies are going to be resurrected. Our souls are going to be reunited to our bodies, glorified, if you will, in the new creation, the new heavens and the new earth. And I think some of the things we're going to do there do include things like eating and fellowshipping with each other and continuing to worship God and honor God in all that we do. You know, I think of Jesus's own words in Matthew chapter 8 verse 11. He says, I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

Here it's in the context of sort of rebuking the false religious leaders. But one of the points he makes is, you know, in the kingdom of heaven, we're going to sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which I take to mean we're going to recognize them. We're going to be in the presence of the patriarchs and the saints and the angels even. And we're going to be rejoicing in God's goodness, in his love, in his gospel. The main thing is not going to be our relationships, as you note.

It's not going to be, you know, mom's spaghetti or pasta or whatever. It's going to be the gospel and God's glory, and we're going to be together enjoying those realities and feasting, you know, around the table of the Lord, if you will. Thanks, Dana, for your question. Great explanation on what's going to take place in our glorification. So thank you for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

We welcome your questions about the Bible, the Christian life, theology, doctrine, even how to live as a Christian in today's culture and some of the things that we're interacting with on a daily basis. We'd love to hear from you. Our phone lines are open for the next nine minutes or so. You can call us. Here's the phone number. It's 1-833-843-2673.

That's 833-THE-CORE. We have a question through our YouTube channel, Adriel. This is from Eduardo, and he's referring to a passage from Galatians where he says, What does Paul mean by these words? For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. That is from the book of Galatians, chapter 2, verse 19. And, you know, at the center of the book of Galatians is the doctrine of justification. There were a group of Christians in Galatia who had embraced the gospel and, you know, the apostle Paul's preaching. And Paul left, and all of a sudden there were new teachers who came to town that were teaching something different than what the apostles, Paul, had taught to them. And it was different with regard to the doctrine of justification. And essentially what they were saying is if you want to be justified, if you really want to be a part of the church, you need to embrace some of these old covenant practices, you know, things like circumcision, some of the ceremonial type rules and regulations, some of the dietary laws.

And so Paul is really arguing against it. He's saying, look, we, and this is what he's getting at there in verse 19, we're dead to the law. That doesn't have any power over us anymore. We're not under it anymore because we're in Christ under grace. Now, I think a great passage, parallel passage, that you could go to, Eduardo, to help you understand what he's getting at here is found in the book of Romans, in Romans chapter 7.

I'm just going to read the first part of Romans chapter 7. He says in Romans, Do you not know, brothers, for I am speaking to those of you who know the law, that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by the law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law.

And if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit to God. How did we die to the law? How is it that we're dead to the law now?

Well, it's because we're united to Jesus Christ. The curse of the law fell upon him, and when he died, it's as if we died as it were. We are dead to the law but alive to God in Jesus Christ now. And that's precisely what the Apostle Paul is going to go on to say in verse 20. I have been crucified.

This is, again, Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Friends, can you say that? The life that I live right now, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I hope that you can. I hope that you believe that, that you know that, and that you know that you in Christ are dead to the law. The law is no longer over you to condemn you.

You have been freed by Jesus through the gospel so that you might honor God with your life, obeying him. Really wonderful news. Thank you for that question, Eduardo. And aren't we thankful we don't have to live by those laws in Leviticus because man, oh man, it would be... Man, a lot of my favorite foods, right? We just crossed right off the list. Forget that shrimp. No way. No more shrimp tacos for you.

No more all-you-can-eat shrimp at Red Lobster. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a reminder, we would love to have you consider joining our inner core, the group of people who support this program on a monthly basis. And you can learn more about joining the inner core and some of the nice benefits that go along with that by going to our website, which is corechristianity.com forward slash inner core. By the way, you can also send us an email if you have a question for Pastor Adriel. We'd love to hear from you.

Our email address is questions at corechristianity.com. And Jimmy says this, I'm a man living alone in his later years and I'm tempted by lust. I keep going back to this sin asking for forgiveness and then sinning again. It grieves my assurance. I've prayed about it but to no avail.

I need to hear from other men of faith how they overcame it and are they just lying to themselves? Hey, Jimmy. Well, first, let me just pray for you, brother. Gracious Father in heaven, lift Jimmy up to you and ask, Lord, that you would grant him strength, a sense of your presence, a sense of your forgiveness, but that also, Lord, as you say in your word, by your spirit, you would put to death those things in him, those sins, Lord, that he wrestles with, that he knows don't honor you, that grieve you, that hurt his own conscience. Lord, would you please do the work that only you can do? We know that it's not something that we can do in our own strength. We know that our hearts are deceitful and that we need your grace, your help, ultimately the work of your Holy Spirit. So would you do that work in Jimmy's life and would you encourage him today? I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. It really is so important that we understand that, brother, because I think, you know, what Paul says and what I was alluding to there is in Romans 6 through 8 where he talks about the fact that it's only by the spirit that we mortify. There's an old word that means to put to death, that we mortify the sinful deeds of the body, that we put to death those things in us that we know are dishonoring to the Lord. And there are two things, I think, in that section of the Book of Romans. I would encourage you to just camp out there as you seek the Lord and as you want to grow in this area, to just meditate on Romans chapters 6 through 8.

Two things to highlight there. The second thing, which is what I just mentioned, which is only by the spirit. So you cast yourself upon the mercy of God and you recognize that, God, in my own strength, I don't have what it takes.

I need your help. I need your spirit to work in me to eradicate these things out of my life. But the first thing there in Romans chapter 6, especially that Paul emphasizes, is the fact that you, in Jesus, even if you struggle, you struggle, you've got this battle. In Jesus, you have a new identity through the gospel. You're not the old you anymore. You've been washed. You've been cleansed.

You have been forgiven. And I think for a lot of people, that's really key because, you know, they have a struggle and they think, man, I'm worthless. This is hopeless.

I'm never going to get any better. And they sort of view themselves through that lens, through that very negative lens, as opposed to viewing themselves in Christ as one who is alive from the dead. Again, Paul says in Romans chapter 6, beginning in verse 1, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

By no means. In other words, because God is gracious, does that mean that we should just, let's just do sin, you know? No, Paul says, you're misunderstanding me if you think that's what I'm saying. He says, how can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life, for if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his, and we know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we should no longer be enslaved to sin, for one who has died has been set free from sin. And then he goes on to say in verse 12, Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness, for sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under the law, but under grace.

That seems to be a theme in today's broadcast, isn't it? It is this idea of not being under the law anymore, that in Jesus Christ we have died to the law and we have died to sin, Paul says there in Romans chapter 6, so that we might walk in newness of life. And so what I want to share with you, Jimmy, is that you belong to Jesus Christ if you've confessed your sins, if you're united to him by faith, you're dead to sin.

You have this new relationship with God and with the law, you're no longer under the law, so that you might walk in newness of life, embrace that new identity by faith in Jesus Christ, and then lean in on the Holy Spirit to put to death the sin that still indwells in you. May God bless you and be with you, and thank you so much for that call, brother. God bless. 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.