Are Christians obligated to follow COVID mandates? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi there. I'm 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.
And yes, we do get some interesting questions here. You can call us right now at 833-723. The CORE, that's 1-833-843-2673. We'd love to get your question about the Bible, Christian life, doctrine, theology, or how your Christian walk intersects with today's culture. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts. You can watch Adriel live in the studio right now on our YouTube channel, and you can send us a message that way through YouTube. And of course, you can always email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, here's a voicemail we received from one of our listeners.
This is Jody. I am struggling to find a church. I don't want to be really in a church that is like a denomination, but there's no churches around me that aren't in a denomination. And I want to know what steps you take.
Like, when you move into a town, what steps exactly do you take to find a church? Thank you. I appreciate your services.
Hi, Jody. Thank you so much for that question. What an important question that I know a lot of people have. So the first thing I want to say is denominations aren't necessarily a bad thing. I'm a minister of the gospel in a particular denomination. And no denomination is perfect, but sometimes what can be helpful there is just some ecclesiastical accountability, that is church accountability, not just for the people, but also for the pastors. And this is one of the things that drew me to a particular denomination, was just not wanting to be a pastor on my own, planting a church, reinventing the wheel, but wanting to have that kind of accountability, a brotherhood, if you will, that could hold me accountable, and so that if there were any issues, you know, it wasn't just me by myself on my own. And so there really can be and are, I think, significant blessings to certain denominations. Now, the main thing I think that you're going to want to look for is a church or denomination that values the word of God, that places a high emphasis on teaching the scriptures.
And the sad reality is there are a lot of denominations that, you know, that's not the priority. And so I would say, you know, the first thing you want to look for is a church that really values the word of God, that believes in teaching the scripture faithfully. You know, you go there and you're hearing the word of God being proclaimed, being preached, explained. That's what we need when we go to church.
We need to hear from the Lord and God speaks to us through his word. And so I would say don't rule out the churches in your area just because they're a part of, you know, a particular denomination. I would say do the work that you need to do in investigating these denominations and in determining, you know, where they stand on the Bible. And then I would say, as you, you know, determine, hey, these are, you know, there's a few churches here that really do value the scriptures. I'm going to check those churches out and then, you know, begin to visit, spend some time there, have conversations with the pastors and the leadership there.
And, you know, may the Lord guide you and give you wisdom. One thing that we will sometimes say is we'll talk about the marks of the church. How do you identify the true church or a true church? True churches faithfully preach the word of God, the gospel.
We get that right. They administer the ordinances that Jesus gave to the church in places like Matthew 28, you know, going all the world and baptized, making disciples. The baptism and the Lord's supper are practiced or observed according to what Jesus said in his institution. And there's discipline, there's fellowship, there's care. And that's exactly what you see in the early churches. In Acts chapter two, verse 42, we read, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, 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.
There's fellowship around the word of God, the apostles' teaching, the sacraments of the church, baptism, the Lord's supper, communion with the body of Christ. And so that's what you're going to want to look for, Jody. And may God bless you as you look for that.
You know, Jody's question reminds me, she said she had just moved to a new community and a lot of people may be in that situation right now. And we have actually developed a wonderful core question for you if you're looking for a church. It's called, how do I choose a church? So whether or not you've recently moved or maybe you've had to leave a church for some particular reason, how do you choose a new church? Well, this core question will be a big help to you. You can find it at our website, corechristianity.com forward slash free downloads.
Just look for how do I choose a church? Well, let's go to Cody, who's calling in from Oklahoma. Cody, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?
Hi, guys. My question comes out of Acts 13, 48, whenever it says, Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. Just what exactly is Luke meaning here, you know, whenever he writes that? Yeah. Hey, Cody.
Yeah, thank you. The Gentiles heard this, they hear the preaching of the gospel, they're rejoicing, they're glorifying the word of the Lord. I mean, this was a really exciting moment here in the early church. And then we read, as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. That is, these ones who were rejoicing, receiving the word of God, they were appointed to eternal life. Well, who is the one who appoints? It's God.
And the word that's used there, it's a perfect passive participle getting into the sort of nitty-gritty. But these people are being, or have been, acted upon by God. This isn't something they did. They didn't appoint themselves to eternal life. But God was at work in them, in their hearts. The word can mean to arrange, to determine, to appoint, as it's translated here.
I'm using the ESV. And this is just something that we see in scripture. Just a little bit later, Cody, in the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 16, verse 14, you have some preaching outside of Philippi. And we read in verse 14, One who heard us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. And the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized in her household as well, she urged us, and the text goes on.
But it was the Lord who was at work in her, opening her heart to receive the word. This is similar to what we see there in Acts chapter 13. And the emphasis here is God's sovereignty in salvation.
And I think both of those texts are clear. It's the Lord who is working here that none of us would believe if it weren't for the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, opening our hearts, granting us understanding. And this is something that God has determined, even from eternity past, if you will, before the foundation of the world. It's what the Apostle Paul talks about in the book of Ephesians, in Ephesians chapter 1. So I think this is just some of the things that we're seeing in the New Testament. And so, Cody, just a quick opportunity for you to follow up. I think that those passages are clear, but was there a question you had related to that?
Is that really what it's saying? Yeah, so that does answer it, Pastor, and thank you very much. And I'm not trying to start an Arminianism versus Calvinism debate or anything like that, which is where a lot of this stuff leads to. But like you said, throughout all of Paul's writings, too, he talks about what is, in my opinion, your preordination.
And I personally, I was raised Baptist, spent some time in a Pentecostal church, and now I'm at a Nazarene church. And so just trying to find that doctrine you spoke about yesterday that seemed to have been lost in the sea of indoctrination today. And so it's just trying to find the truth because God is sovereign. Like you said, everything is preordained by him. But he also is gracious and merciful and is not willing that any should perish. So if there's only certain people appointed to eternal life, then does that mean, conversely, there's also people marked for condemnation? Yeah, okay, there's the question.
That's the question behind the question, and it's a great question. We have to affirm what the Bible teaches, and it's very clear, looking at these passages like Acts 13, that God is the one who appoints, that he's the one who opens the heart. But at the same time, there is so much in scripture that reveals to us, it shows us God's love for humanity, the fact that he calls all people everywhere to repent, that there is this free offer of the gospel that goes out promiscuously, that is to all people, and that it's a genuine offer that goes out. And so you have this, I don't want to say tension, but you have this, what we see in scripture, the sovereignty of God in salvation, but also our responsibility. When we stand before God on the day of judgment, those who have rejected the gospel, they're not going to be able to blame God. And at the same time, we also know, this is getting to your question more specifically, that none of us deserves salvation, that God would be totally just in just overlooking us.
We've turned away, we've sinned and fallen short of his glory. It's his mercy that he reaches down from heaven to lift up a sinner like me and to reveal his goodness, his love, his mercy, his salvation. And so God is just, he's good, he's merciful, and he's sovereign. And the Bible teaches all of those things, and we need to affirm those things. And so I appreciate your question, love that you're digging into the scriptures, keep up the good work, and may the Lord bless you. Hey Cody, thanks so much for listening to Core Christianity. And as Adriel said, we always appreciate listeners who are really spending time digging into God's word. By the way, if you have kids or grandkids at home, we want to mention we have a wonderful book available that will help them understand the richness of God's creation and how he made each of us so unique and so special.
Yeah, absolutely. It's a beautiful book. It's called Creative God, Colorful Us. And there are a lot of challenging aspects of being a Christian today, a lot of misconceptions about the Christian faith, misconceptions like, you know, is Christianity just for one type of people or culture? And that's why we're offering this book for grade schoolers. We've got kids or grandkids, a wonderful resource, Creative God, Colorful Us. It's all about how the gospel encourages us to enjoy people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, and to celebrate our differences, to rejoice in how the Lord has made us. And so get ahold of this resource over at corechristianity.com. It's yours for a donation of any amount. It's really a fantastic resource.
It will help the parents and kids learn about how God created human beings to be unique and how each of us is incredibly special. You can get your copy of Creative God, Colorful Us by Trillion Newbell by going to corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Hey, our phone lines are open right now. If you've got a question about the Bible or the Christian life, you can call us at 833-THE-CORE.
That's 1-833-843-2673. Here's a voicemail that came in from one of our listeners. This is Gary calling in from Illinois. Hi, Adriel.
I like to know if you think that Christians are obligated to follow government COVID mandates. Thank you very much. Hi, Gary. I feel like maybe you saw me pull my mask down the other day at Costco or something like that. I feel like there's something behind that question. I appreciate it. I know so many people right now are just frustrated.
I live in California, in Southern California. We've gone back and forth with these different mandates, mask mandates and whatnot. There's a lot of tension in our culture.
That's seeped into the church as well. I've heard people on both sides making really, really strong statements, strong positions. You're obligated not to obey these kinds of mandates because they're tyrannical and so on and so forth, and other people saying, no, it's the opposite. Simply put, I think on the basis of Scripture that we are called to obey the governing authorities over us, even when it's inconvenient to us. We're called to disobey when they call us to break God's law.
This is absolutely clear. God's law trumps everything else. It seems to me when I'm reading the Scriptures that we're called to be peaceable, to be respectful, to honor civil government, civil authority, even when we have disagreements. I get that there are a lot of challenges when it comes to this question in particular. One of the challenges, and I know this as a pastor of a local church seeking to lead my congregation, oftentimes you'll get a new sort of mandate or instruction from one group. It'll sort of contradict something you had just said, or it's just confusing.
It's sort of changing, it seems like, from week to week. That's been a big frustration for a lot of people that I can sympathize with. I just want to read a section from Romans. Oftentimes people go to Romans 13 here, but prior to 13 verse 1, what Paul says in chapter 12, beginning in verse 9, I think that this is a great encouragement for us as Christians living in the world today. He says, Let love be genuine, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good, love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, but fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Now these Christians were suffering a lot of things, and for their faith in Jesus. Oftentimes I think that we're being persecuted, we're suffering for our faith in Jesus, when it really isn't that per se.
But what Paul says here to the Romans, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, seek to show hospitality, bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them, rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, live in harmony with one another, do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
Boy, there's a lot of that today, isn't there? Wisdom in my own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
That's what we should strive for as believers in Jesus. And that sort of leads into what he says in chapter 13, let every person be subject to the governing authorities. Now again, when those authorities call us to disobey God's law, well then we obey God rather than man. But when they're just inconveniencing us, I don't think that we have the liberty, the freedom to say, well I'm just going to do what I want because I don't feel like this or that. Now again, I know that this is a complex issue.
People get into which authority, do we go with the Constitution, do we go with the civil magistries, the lesser magistries, what essentially are we looking to? And so there's a lot of debate, but brothers and sisters, let's strive to be peaceable, charitable, gracious with each other, and to be honoring. And one of the other things that really frustrated me early on in the pandemic is a lot of people were sort of taking this strong stand. They're not going to tell us how to worship, what to do, and we need to stand up for the truth. And if your church is telling you you need to wear a mask or you need to worship outside or that kind of a thing, they're compromising, they're handing over the keys of God's kingdom to Caesar or something like that.
It was just crazy because it was a confusion. That was a confusion of the elements of worship and the circumstances of worship. God's word never says when you're gathering together for worship, you have to be seated one foot apart or you need to wear this or that. And so the government saying, hey, we would like for you to wear masks, that kind of thing, that's not infringing on worship. That's not changing the elements of worship. And that's really an important distinction to make. And I felt that some were bringing the circumstances of worship to the same level of the elements of worship. And that's a theological error.
That's just a failure to understand some of the basics about Christian worship. And so let's strive to honor the Lord in all that we do to be peaceable and charitable with each other, especially in the church. So many divisions recently related these things to these questions.
But let's be gracious with one another. And so, Gary, thank you for that question. God bless.
Some good counsel. Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a reminder, we have this wonderful book available for parents and grandparents. It's called Creative God, Colorful Us, all about how God designed us, made us, how unique we are and special we are, regardless of what nation, tribe, or tongue we are from. And you can find this by going to corechristianity.com forward slash offers.
Look for Creative God, Colorful Us by Trilla Newbell. Well, let's go back to the phones. Christy is on the line from Omaha, Nebraska. Christy, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?
Hi, thank you very much for taking my call. My question for you today is, I'm curious as all of God's people and His creation, if we repent, we are all, you know, we believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again for our salvation. Does the devil have that option as well? Is he given that opportunity?
Hey, thank you for that question. Does the devil have the opportunity to repent, to be redeemed? No, because angels are not the objects of the salvific work of Jesus. His blood that was shed was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. The author of the Hebrews said in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil. So Jesus' work on the cross redeems us. It doesn't redeem Satan. Actually what it does is it destroys the devil and deliver, the author of the Hebrews goes on to say, all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.
That's us, Christie. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Satan's fate is sealed, and he chose that for himself, and he will be condemned finally on the last day. He is currently bound, I believe, by the work of Christ through the proclamation of the gospel. And that gospel plundered Satan and plunders Satan still today and his kingdom.
And so that's why we don't believe that Satan is going to have redemption, that the redemptive work of Jesus was salvation for us, for the offspring of Abraham, and it was destruction for the powers of darkness, including Satan. Christie, God bless, and thank you for giving us a call. Thanks, Christie. Appreciate you listening to Core Christianity.
Let's go back to the phones. Gary is on the line from Columbia, Missouri. Gary, what's your question for Adriel? My question is just about the Mormon religion and the Book of Mormon, Jehovah Witness. In Bible prophecy, the key issue in determining the truth about God and His Word... Do you mean in those particular sects? Is Bible prophecy an important thing?
Well, they don't have much, and they failed and failed. I'm talking about the King James translation, basically, of the Bible. And this lady that called in earlier, it's so easy to get hooked into Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, because they put on a good act. And unless you know that, when it's the true Lord of God... Yeah, I'll just say, brother, you're right.
The Mormon religion, sect, whatever you want to call it, Jehovah's Witness, I mean, these are cults. They've twisted the Scriptures. They try to appeal to Bible prophecy to say, like in the Old Testament, to say, this was talking about us. This was talking about a revelation that we were going to give. And the Jehovah's Witnesses in particular, they had a number of prophecies. Both of these movements have had a number of prophecies that just didn't come true. I live in San Diego. There's a house in San Diego called the Beth Sarim house that was supposed to be the place, according to Jehovah's Witnesses, where you had, essentially, the patriarchs rise again from the dead and go live.
I mean, this house is literally just a few blocks, miles, if you will, from where I live. And it never happened. It was just a false prophecy. And so the important thing is that we're rooted in God's word, in the teaching of Holy Scripture, and that we don't yield to the kind of foolishness that's out there. And so thank you for your call, Gary, and God bless. Thanks, Gary.
This is Core Christianity. We have time for one more call. Let's go to Mara in Colorado. Mara, what's your question for Adriel?
Hi. So my question is kind of along the lines of the mass mandates. Well, more like the vaccination. So obviously here in the U.S., it's not mandated, but it's eventually it did get mandated just with the FDA and everything. And the vaccine manufacturers haven't released what are the ingredients and the potential for there being aborted fetal cells in the vaccine. The vaccine, if we don't know, or if during the time it becomes a mandate, what would be the stance of the church, essentially? Yeah, super. Thank you so much, Mara.
Really, I mean, we don't have a lot of time, but a couple of things I would want to say. So this situation in particular, one, I think it's important that we get the facts straight. I think the issue here is were these were particular vaccines, as they were developed, being tested on fetal cell lines? That's the question.
So it's not that there are fetal cell parts in the vaccine, per se, but it does raise another question. And here, I think that we have to exercise wisdom. Obviously, if we're called, as I said earlier, to do something against God's word, then we don't do it. And so that's where I'll leave it. 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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