Can the Bible Be Used to Cure Anxiety and Depression?

Can the Bible be used to cure anxiety and depression? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, 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. You can call us right now with your question. Here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE. 843-2673. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites.

You can email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. We also have a YouTube channel. Our cameras have been down for the last week or two because of a break-in here at our offices, but we hope to have some new cameras ready to go by tomorrow or Wednesday so you can actually see Adriel and his cool new outfit on YouTube. There's no cool new outfit.

It's the same shirts I wear all the time, so sorry. I thought you had a really cool new hat today. Well, yeah, I'm wearing a hat today because the cameras aren't here, so it's casual Monday for me.

Get away with it, right? Exactly, but the hat will be gone probably by Wednesday or whenever the cameras are operational. We'll be watching for that. By the way, you can send us a message through our YouTube channel, even though we've just got a still photo up there right now. Just go to the YouTube channel and shoot Adriel a message that way, and you can listen to the audio as well. Well, let's start off with a voicemail from one of our listeners.

This came in last week from Anna. I had a question, Pastor Adriel, about Mark 13, 32 to 37. It says here to stay awake because no one knows the day or the hour. Is that a metaphor or is that quite literal?

I would find it very hard, I think, to stay up all day and all night, and I'm just kind of concerned about that. What is the direction here? So if you could please answer that question. I want to thank you so much for your ministry and everything that you do. I learned so much from you, and I listen to you every day, and just thank you so much.

You've helped me. Hey, Anna, thank you for that encouragement. So Jesus, when he's talking about his coming there in Mark chapter 13, talks about being vigilant, being watchful, staying awake. I mean, if he was speaking literally here, I'll tell you who the most sanctified people on the planet would be.

It would be new moms, and I could say this because we have this four-month-old in our home who is not giving us a lot of sleep, especially my wife. And so all you new moms out there who are staying awake, God bless you, but that's not what Jesus is talking about there in Mark chapter 13. Yeah, this is more of a metaphor, of a picture of being vigilant, watchful against temptation, against deception.

Actually, one of the things I say, this is just a really important point. When it comes to interpreting the Bible, the most helpful aid to interpreting scripture is the scripture itself, so we want to let scripture interpret scripture. And the apostle Paul, when he talks about the coming of the Lord, the day of the Lord, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, he uses this same imagery of watchfulness, of staying awake. And he says, let me just begin in verse 2, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 2, for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Now where does he get that imagery from?

He gets it from Jesus when Jesus talks about his coming. While people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.

Now isn't that a comfort? So many people, when they think about the coming of the Lord, they're terrified, they're anxious. Yeah, I'm a believer, but what's going to happen to me? Well, here is Paul writing to the Thessalonians and encouraging them, saying, look, this day, if you are in Christ, if you belong to him, it's not going to overtake you as a thief, for you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. And so he's saying, look, being watchful, being awake, it's living in the light, it's being the people of the day, if you will, the sort of imagery of light and darkness, good and evil, living as those who are no longer in darkness, sister, those who have put on Christ, the breastplate here of faith and love, the helmet of salvation. That's how we're called to live and to walk. It doesn't mean you don't want to get a full night of sleep.

In fact, I would encourage you to do that so that you're not tired during the day. And so that's what Jesus is getting at. And that's what Paul helps us to understand there in 1 Thessalonians 5. You know, there are a lot of people that are spiritually asleep these days and maybe in for a rude awakening. Would you agree?

I would. Yeah, there is this sort of, right? I mean, we're just coming off of the celebration of Easter, the reality of Christ's resurrection from the dead. There are so many people who totally miss it, who, you know, they just sort of craft spirituality for themselves and, you know, this thing works for you, this is what works for me. But we are walking in darkness. We need the light of Christ and the light of his resurrection to guide us. Amen.

You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We would love to hear from you. Our phone lines are open right now. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 833-843-2673. I mentioned that our YouTube channel is back up. We'll be back up and running with our cameras probably tomorrow or Wednesday. Got a nice note from Jerome, who is listening in the Philippines. He says he's looking forward to our YouTube channel being back.

So thank you, Jerome, for being one of our regular listeners, or I guess I should say YouTube viewers. By the way, we have a great new resource we want to tell you about today. We get a lot of questions about heaven on this program. And to answer those questions, we are offering this free resource to you today.

Yeah, it's called Seven Things You Need to Know About Heaven, and it is completely free. You know, one of the greatest topics a Christian can think about is our everlasting life with Christ. It's what helps us from striving after the things of this world. We don't need to hunger for material possessions, for power, for ease and comfort.

Why? Because Christ has secured for us an everlasting kingdom where we are co-heirs with Him. Unfortunately, lots of folks today ignore this truth and try to turn this world into their own paradise. And others try to learn about heaven from people who supposedly were taken there in dreams. But all of this falls short of what the Bible actually says about heaven. That's why we created this resource so you can have a biblical view of heaven. So important to know what the Bible has to say about heaven and what we have to look forward to as believers in Christ. And you can go to our website right now and find that at corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash offers.

Look for Seven Things You Need to Know About Heaven. While our phone lines are open, we'll be taking your calls about the Bible and the Christian life for the next 15 minutes or so. So pick up your phone if you have a question for Adriel about doctrine, theology. Maybe you have some doubts about the Christian faith.

Maybe you consider yourself to be an agnostic or an atheist. You just kind of stumbled on the show and you have a question for Adriel. Feel free to give us a call.

833-THE-CORE, 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to Leland in St. Louis, Missouri. Leland, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yes. Hello?

Hi, Leland. Yes. I'd like to know, did Jesus ever go to hell? Did he ever actually enter hell? And I'm asking that question because the Bible states, reads that he went to the lower parts of the earth and led the captives free. Now I'm thinking that means the captives that died in the Old Testament who were believers, okay, there's a holding side, which they went to. The ones who didn't die in Jesus went to the other side, which is the suffering side of Hades. And I want to know, did he actually, but did he actually go to hell? Because the first side he went to was for the Christians that died in Christ, so that wouldn't be hell. That would have been paradise, I would think. But where the thief went, I would assume.

Okay. In other words, is the Bible clear? The question I'm asking, is the Bible clear that he went to hell? Because we have some preachers preaching that.

Hey, Leland, thank you for that question. Yeah, I mean, we've got to be real careful when we talk about this idea of Christ going to hell. Now, of course, we've gotten this question before related to the Apostles' Creed, and one of the lines there in the Apostles' Creed, he descended into hell. And so some people, and this is what I often will say, any preacher or person who says Jesus suffered in hell, that is that he died on the cross, and then he had to go for three days to suffer the torments of hell, if you will, and then he rose again from the dead.

That's just ruled out from the get-go. That's not something that Christians have ever believed or taught. But there are others who will say, well, no, there was this descent, and really it was about Christ's vindication, proclaiming his victory over the grave. It's not that he was giving people a second chance at salvation.

That would be incorrect, although there are some people who have taken that view. That's not what the Scriptures teach, and we need to take the whole Bible together. Really, the passage that you referenced was Ephesians 4, where it talks about the wondrous work. The focus in Ephesians 4 is the one body that's being built up in unity and faith and in love. Paul says in verse 4, There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, it says, when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives and gave gifts to men. Now, here Christ is depicted, and this is a quote from the Psalms, as victorious. The ascension is his victory march, if you will, over the conquered foes, his captives.

I think they're specifically the evil one and his hosts who have been conquered. Then it says in verse 9, In saying he ascended, what does it mean but that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above the heavens, that he might fill all things.

It's that descent there that I think you're referring to. That's not descending to preach a second gospel of salvation to people. It is descending to proclaim his victory over the grave, the harrowing of hell, if you will. There are other passages, I think, that help to corroborate this. You read in 1 Peter 3 where it talks about Christ going and proclaiming to the spirits in prison. Probably there, when you cross-reference that with 2 Peter 2 verses 4 and 5 and Jude 6, probably there proclaiming his victory over the wicked spirits. I think referring to the evil spirits in the days of Noah.

You think way back in the book of Genesis. Controversial text and the way it's been interpreted, but we want to steer clear from anything that would suggest that Christ suffered in hell or that he was offering people who had died already a second chance of salvation who were in hell. There's a second chance theology. That's not what he was doing.

After his death, the descent was a picture of his proclaiming victory over the angelic hosts, over the grave, and rising again and ascending into heaven as this victorious king and conquering warrior, if you will. God bless, Leland, and thank you for that question. So you're saying there's no get-out-of-hell-free card available? Is that what you're saying?

No. What we need is Jesus. You need to be united to Christ. It's interesting that you use that language, Bill, because I think sometimes people will look at things like the quote-unquote sinner's prayer. If I just do this, if there's this formula that I can go through, and that'll be my golden ticket. I go through these motions, and boom, I'm going to be welcomed into the presence of God.

But no, that's not how it works. We need to trust in Christ, to believe on him. And in believing in him, we're united to him. His Spirit fills us, and he's the one who brings us up with him. It's in him that we're seated in the heavenlies. So the key is our relationship to Jesus Christ. Some great words there.

Thank you for that, Adriel. This is Quark Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We're still taking your calls if you've got a question about the Bible or the Christian life, or maybe how your Christian walk intersects with what's happening in today's culture.

There are a lot of challenges right now in our society, and maybe you have a question about how your faith fits. So give us a call at 833-843-2673. That's 833-THE-CORE. Here's a voicemail that came in from one of our callers in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

This is from Jose. My question is dealing with anxiety and depression. I know the Bible gives plenty of verses, but why is it so hard if the Lord knows our heart and has given everything to him? We cast our burden to him. But we still have this fear that just overpowers us.

Heaven sleeps at night, and I really don't like medicine because it makes me a different person, and I don't feel safe with medicine anymore. And I'm trying to give my life to God and everything I do. I just want to overcome this anxiety situation.

How can we have strength like our Father to overcome our anxiety? Thank you. Jose, thank you for your question, brother. The first thing I want to do is just take a moment to pray for you.

I can tell that this weighs heavily upon you. And so I want to pray for you, and I want to invite all of our listeners to join me in praying right now for Jose. Gracious Heavenly Father, we lift Jose up to you, and he is wrestling with anxiety and fear. Lord, we ask that your Spirit would be at work in his life in a powerful way, that you would bring him peace, that you would calm his anxious heart, that you would also, Lord, surround him with people who can encourage him and help him, Lord. In trying to determine, Lord, what the best course of action for him is, in trying to address this issue, I ask that you would give him wisdom. I pray, Lord, that you would guide him and just ask, Father, that in these days he would be able to draw near to you and that he would experience the peace that comes from you and from your Son, Jesus, in whose name we pray.

Amen. Jose, there are a couple of ways to think about this. One, it is clear that in Scripture there is a kind of sinful anxiety that comes as a result of a preoccupation with this world, a focus so much on this world that we're full of anxiety and fear, and I think that's what Jesus was talking about in places like Matthew 6, verse 25, which says, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body what will you put on.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? In other words, he says, look, don't be so preoccupied with this world and its goods that you are kept from the peace that God wants you to have and from trusting in the Lord. And there are a lot of people, I mean, you think of the parable of the soils that Jesus told you, those who, the desires for riches, the cares of this world, choke out the seed of God's word so that people in the Christian life become fruitless.

They are so derailed by fear and by anxiety. I think that's what Jesus is getting at there. Also, the apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 4, again, he gives another exhortation similar to this, verse 6, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And so there are some people who, they do, they fall into the trap of sinful anxiety, where they're not trusting God, they're not coming before the Lord, seeking Him, making their prayers, their requests made known to Him, experiencing His peace.

And for some who are listening, that might be you. You need to surrender to the Lord and to heed Jesus' words there in Matthew chapter 6, Paul's words in Philippians there as well. But we can also differentiate between that and I think something like an anxiety disorder, in the same way that I wouldn't say, and you can go to the Bible just to have your cancer cured. You know, just read these Bible verses and your cancer will go away.

Well, that's not how it works. Can God miraculously heal cancer? Yeah, if it's in His will, certainly. And we can pray for that, and we can pray for the Lord to deal with and bring healing with areas of mental health issues. You think of depression, you think of an anxiety disorder.

But I wouldn't identify that as sin. I mean, that would be a way of putting, I think, an extra burden on an individual who's struggling with a real mental health issue. And this is where I think a good doctor can be helpful in sort of wading through, you know, what is it that I'm experiencing here? Is this more than just a sort of anxiety that people can experience because they're not trusting in God and His word? Is this something deeper than that? Is this a mental health condition? And I think, Bill, you might even be able to speak to this as well, right?

Well, you know, I think his question is excellent, and you're right. There's different types of anxiety. If it's a biological anxiety that involves brain chemistry, that's a very different type of anxiety than you were talking about with, you know, the worries, the cares of this world.

So I would say to José, get that evaluated by a professional. And he mentioned being concerned about medicine. And on the one hand, I can understand what he's saying because some of the anti-anxiety medications can be very addictive. On the other hand, there are some very safe antidepressant medications that have an anti-anxiety component.

They're not addictive. They won't change his personality. They won't alter him in any way, but they'll help him deal with those feelings of anxiety that well up within him. So that's something that I would suggest that he pursue.

Yeah, thank you. José, I pray that that's encouraging for you. And so, I mean, just to sum it up, what we're saying here is, one, I mean, it sounds to me like this might be something that's deeper than just the general anxiety that Jesus is speaking of in places like Matthew 6 where you're going to want to get some, maybe some more professional help from a doctor.

And I appreciate, Bill, your comment there that there are some other medications that maybe you just need to try something different and see what works for you, what works for your body. And in the midst of everything, I would say continuing to go to the Lord and ask God for guidance, for wisdom. If it is an issue where it's like, hey, I need to repent of something here, ask the Spirit of God to illuminate that in your mind and in your heart. And to give you that peace, you know, if this is indeed, you know, if it's that, to give you that peace that Paul talked about when he wrote to the Philippians. And may the Lord be with you, brother. God bless you and thank you for giving us a call. Thank you, José.

We appreciate you. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a reminder, we have this wonderful free booklet on Heaven. It's called Seven Things You Need to Know About Heaven.

It's a free download. You can find that by going to corechristianity.com forward slash offers and look for Seven Things You Need to Know About Heaven. Well, we do receive emails here at Core Christianity and Rob says, I'm fairly certain that my pastor, who's also my boss, is having at best an inappropriate and unhealthy relationship with an unmarried female staff member or at worst a full-on affair. I've seen his vehicle at her home on multiple occasions when he's told me he was somewhere else. I've also received texts from others who have spotted his vehicle there as well as emails from local hotels confirming his reservations. Pastors and at least one elder have confronted him about this, but to no avail. What should I do as a staff member and someone who reports to him?

Boy, man, really sorry to hear about this situation. I'm glad to hear it sounds like some people have confronted him already. It sounds to me like if this is something that's persisting, yeah, I mean, I think further confrontation addressing this, I mean, I think of what the Apostle Paul told Peter according to Galatians chapter two. You're not walking in step with the gospel.

Why? Because he was doing things, he was living in ways that were not in line with what he confessed or professed to believe. This was a different issue. I mean, Peter was not willing to sit and eat with Gentiles because he was afraid of certain Jews, but this is a serious thing, a really serious thing. It sounds like maybe there are some inappropriate relationships here. It sounds like there's already been some deception in terms of saying you're gonna be in one place and then not being there. And so these are pretty big red flags. I'm surprised to hear that he's already been confronted, but it hasn't been addressed. So it might be that there's an issue, there's more of a systemic issue in the church where you have an individual who has a lot of power and the accountability structure that's there, maybe the other pastors, the other elders, they're not able to speak into this individual's life.

That's, to me, the sign of an unhealthy system. And so probably something deeper needs to be addressed there. And obviously if you're seeing these red flags and you bring it up, you try to address it, but you just get shut down, that too is a really, really big problem. We have to take this seriously. And one of the things that Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, he talks about elders being above reproach and the importance of that because the way they live, the things that they do, reflects on the church and on the ministry of the word. And so this is a serious thing. I pray that the Lord gives you guidance, but it sounds to me like either something's gonna need to change or you should probably find a new church.

It sounds like there's some seriously unhealthy things going on there and not a lot of accountability. And so brothers and sisters, it is an issue, right? We see these things happening in the church, but that doesn't mean that we can run away from the church or neglect good churches, solid churches that are faithfully teaching the word of God and where there is accountability. I wanna encourage that for all of 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. We'll see you next time.