Does Jesus Contradict the Old Testament in the Sermon on the Mount?

Does Jesus contradict the Old Testament in the Sermon on the Mount? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. 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 our phone lines are open right now. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

As always, you can post your question on one of our social media sites, and you can always email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Ralph calling in from Long Island, New York. Ralph, what's your question for Adriel? Hello, sir. Hey, Ralph, we can hear you well. All right, I thought I put my phone on mute. Thank you, Pastor Adriel, for accepting my call.

I'm a freaking caller, hoping you're tired of my questions. Okay, here's the question. In 1 John chapter 1, verse 9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I'm reading from the NAS, right? Now, the word confess and repentance, because I hear, you know, Pastor, repent, repent, repent. Once of our sins and put our faith in the living Savior, Jesus Christ, you know, so I'm saying, I'm sorry, I don't want to confess and repent. Is that the same thing or is it different as Pastor John is saying in 1 John? Hey, first, Ralph, let me just say, don't get tired of your calls, man, at all.

I'm grateful that you call in and that you love the program. And with regard to your question in 1 John chapter 1, verse 9, that word confess is different than the word repent. It's the Greek word homologeo, and it means to agree with, to concede even, or to profess. I mean, it is the idea of we're agreeing with the Lord, with God's law about our sins. And so confession, it goes sort of hand in hand with repentance. I think it's a part of repentance, but that's a different word altogether.

It's the Greek word metanoia. And what I would say is we're called, I mean, there is initial repentance or sometimes called repentance into life where we first turn to the Lord and lay hold of Jesus Christ by faith, but we're called every single day of our lives to confess our sins and to walk in repentance, because we're going to continue to struggle with sin in thought, word, and in deed. And so what John is doing there in 1 John chapter 1 is he's trying to highlight for the Christians to whom he's writing the importance of continually walking in the light. And in fact, that's precisely what he says in verse 6, or actually I'll go back to verse 5. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. In other words, the idea of sinless perfectionism, you know, that one day we'll get to the point as Christians that we just don't have sin anymore, indwelling sin. Well, that's not true. And anyone who says, I don't have any sin, I just don't sin.

Well, that person is a liar. What we do is we confess our sins. And that's why he says in verse 9, if we confess our sins, if we agree with God and his law and what he said and say, Lord, you're right, I have sinned against sin. I have sinned against you. I need your forgiveness. When we confess our sins, he says very clearly, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And brothers and sisters, what a wonderful promise that is. He doesn't say, you know, if you confess your sins and you really feel forgiven, then you're forgiven. No, this is on the basis of God's word, on his law. And we come to the Lord sincerely and we say, Lord, have mercy upon me.

A sinner. You won't always feel different, but you know, when you go to God and you confess your sins, the scriptures teach very clearly that he does forgive us when we call upon his name. So we're called every day to confess our sins and to walk in repentance. May God give you grace, Ralph, as you seek to do that in your own life. Hey, Ralph, thanks so much for your call and thanks for listening to Core Christianity.

We really do appreciate you. If you have a question for Pastor Adriel about the Bible, the Christian life doctrine theology, maybe how your Christian walk intersects with what's happening in today's culture, which can be a challenge at times, we'd love to hear from you. A very good answer. I answered part of her question, but she was calling about a contradiction.

I was wondering if I could just interject really quickly and maybe hopefully she's still listening, answer her question more. Well, just specifically for a moment. So one of the things she asked, and this is actually a really, really good question in Proverbs chapter 26 verses four and five, it seems like there's a contradiction. It says, answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself, answer a fool according to his folly. Lest he be wise in his own eyes.

And so it seems like, well, is this a contradiction? Answer a fool or don't answer a fool and then answer a fool. And I focused just on the first part of that section in verse four, what it means to not answer a fool according to his folly, which is not to enter into these foolish disputes with people who have no interest in learning or understanding they could care less. But what does the author of Proverbs here mean when he says, okay, but there's a contradiction. There are instances where you do answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

So it's not a contradiction here. I think it requires wisdom for us to know, and this is something I said yesterday, when to answer and when not to answer. But those instances where we do answer is where you have an individual who is foolish in the things that they're saying, and we're trying to communicate clearly in a way that exposes their foolishness, lest they think that they're wise unless other people think that they're wise.

Less people say things about God, about his word, or just about life that are way out there. And the fool will speak. They love to speak.

They got a lot of words. Sometimes we need to avoid that discussion, but there are instances, and I think this is what Proverbs chapter 26, verse five is getting at. There are instances where we do just need to interject, lest the fool really think that he's wise in his own eyes, and really, I think more importantly, lest others begin to buy into the nonsense. There are times where we do have to interject, and address the argument, whatever it is, and point to the truth, and expose the foolishness. And so one of the things in the wisdom literature is you have this back and forth oftentimes. You sort of read it in counterpoint.

You have these statements, like if you do this, then that will happen. If you honor the Lord, you're gonna have a good life. But then you also have other instances in the wisdom literature, like Job or Ecclesiastes, where it seems like, well, you can do all the right things and still experience difficulty in life. And so it requires wisdom in order to parse through that, and sort of read this in counterpoint, and have the proper nuance, if you will. And it just highlights the fact that wisdom calls us to make decisions on a point-by-point basis, depending on what we're being confronted with. And again, that's a part of what's happening there in Proverbs 26, verses four and five. So I hope she's listening again today, and appreciated her question yesterday.

Thanks for your explanation. And that would apply, I'm assuming you would say, not just to people outside the church, but even to those maybe inside the church, whose doctrine or theology is out of line, is whacked out, and we need to confront that as well. Yeah, absolutely. And that's part of the way I think that we can love each other within the church, is when you see these kinds of things, whether it's related to theology or just wisdom in life, being a good brother or sister, and being able to speak into a situation for the good of our family in Christ.

Amen. By the way, we want to mention that we have a wonderful offer for you today. It's our new Faith and Family Collection. This is especially great if you are a parent or a grandparent, because there's a lot of questions we get from kids on this program, questions dealing with family issues, and we've addressed many of those in this collection. Yeah, this is a resource that's available on our website for a gift of any amount, and basically what we've done with this Faith and Family Collection is we've brought together a number of the questions that we've answered, articles that we've written, different resources that really speak to faith and family. And one of the things we believe is so important here at Core Christianity is the family and growing together as a family in the Lord.

It's one of the reasons why many of our resources are geared toward discipleship, teaching your kids even the faith, memorizing scripture. This is so important for us as followers of Christ, and so I do hope that you'll get a hold of this resource. Again, it's our Faith and Family Collection available on our website corechristianity.com. You know, your support is so pivotal in keeping Core Christianity on the air, and your donations actually help us to produce our Bible study collection and more resources for those who are looking for answers to those tough questions about the Christian faith. So as we said, for a donation of any amount, we'd love to give you this Faith and Family Collection.

You can go to corechristianity.com forward slash family again corechristianity.com forward slash family and look for the Faith and Family Collection. While our phone lines are open, if you have a question about the Bible, the Christian faith, doctrine, theology, you name it, here's the number. It's 833-THECORE. We'll be taking calls for the next 12 minutes or so. So now's the time to hop on the phone.

1-833-843-2673. Here's a voicemail from one of our listeners named Don. Hi, I'm reading Leviticus and God gives the command in Leviticus chapter 24 verses 19 and 20 to harm your neighbor as he harmed you, the principal eye for an eye. And then if I go to Matthew chapter 5 verses 38 and 39, it seems like Jesus separates himself from the God that gave the command in Leviticus and then Jesus gives a different command. How is this possible if Jesus is the same God of the Old Testament?

Hey, thank you so much Don for your question. Yeah, I mean is this a contradiction? Jesus quoting from Leviticus but then saying this is what I say to you.

Okay, a few things I think to highlight here. This is Jesus's sermon on the mount. It begins in chapter 5 verse 1, seeing the crowds he went up on the mountain and when he sat down his disciples came to him. This is really echoing the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses 15 through 18 where Moses went up on the mountain to deliver the law of God to the people of God. And this is in one sense what Jesus is doing here.

He's going up on the mountain. He's giving the law of God and he makes it very clear in chapter 5 verses 17 through 20 that he isn't here to set aside God's law. No, he says very clearly in verse 17 do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you until heaven and earth pass away not in the Yoda not a dot will pass away from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these Commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. In other words, Jesus is not minimizing the law in the Sermon on the Mount or setting the law aside. No, he's pointing us ultimately to the law's fulfillment which is love and over and over again in the Gospels and in the Epistles as well. This is something that we see love, perfect love of God and perfect love of neighbor is the fulfillment of all the Commandments.

If we love God perfectly and if we love each other as we should we're going to keep the law perfectly. Jesus is highlighting here in the Sermon on the Mount that people don't do that. This is why he goes on to say there in chapter 5 verse 20 unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

He's exposing them as hypocrites as people who it seems like they're keeping the law going through the motions but they weren't. Not the law of love, not what they were ultimately called to do. Then he jumps into these repeated Commandments. He says in verse 21, you have heard that it was said to those of old, but I say unto you. Again, this isn't Jesus setting aside the law or minimizing the law even.

It's him coming as the authoritative Lord. Actually, this phrase that he repeats six times throughout the Sermon on the Mount, you have heard that it was said, but I say to you, identifies him as the law giver, as God. This is not one of the passages that we often point to when we're making a case for the deity of Jesus Christ. It's one of the passages that we can point to because he's saying I have the authority. I'm the one who speaks and my word is the law. When he's talking about retaliation in verses 38 and following, you have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil.

If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. He's not, again, abolishing the law. He's pointing to the law's fulfillment, love. Even those Commandments that were given under the Old Covenant, the goal of those Commandments was to keep people from harming each other. It was this barrier that was put up, this law that was put up for Israel in order to keep people within the community from harming each other because there would be a repercussion.

They would be dealt with. Jesus is here not abolishing the law, but he's pointing us to what its ultimate fulfillment is, love. As the crowd is listening to him there during the Sermon on the Mount, they're thinking, boy, we all fall short. Not a one of us keeps the law of God like we should.

Friends, just read the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says things like if you've looked at someone lustfully, you've already committed adultery in your heart. What the law of God does is it exposes all of us as in need of the grace of God and the mercy of God. Certainly, Jesus is highlighting that here as well. No contradiction.

In fact, we have the revelation of Jesus as the lawgiver, the Lord himself, a new Moses, if you will, in the sense that he's delivering the law from the top of a mountain so that he might drive his listeners to the grace of God. Thank you for your question. Again, Don, may the Lord bless you. Thanks, Adriel. That's a great explanation of those passages.

We really do appreciate that. This is Core Christianity. Of course, our goal here is to answer those questions that deal with the core issues in the Christian faith, and if you have one, here's the number, 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. You can always leave us a voicemail at that number, too.

In fact, you can do that anytime this weekend if you'd like. Let's go to Kevin calling in from Missouri. Kevin, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Thank you for taking my call.

I appreciate it. Is it still a sin to eat pork and other unallowed foods in the Bible? There was also certain fish and shrimp and crabs and all that kind of stuff that were disallowed.

Hey, Kevin, excellent question. You have these food laws given under the Old Covenant for ceremonial cleanliness for the children of Israel. Are those still binding on us today? No, the ceremonial law has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ. The priestly laws, the laws related to diet, and so on and so forth, Christ fulfilled those laws. I say, thank you, God, because I happen to like seafood and bacon and all those things, and I know many of you do as well, but there are people who are concerned. Am I breaking the commandments of God if I have bacon on my hamburger or that kind of a thing?

The answer is no. The apostle Paul said in Colossians 2, verse 16, Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. The substance Jesus Christ is here.

We have received him. We're not bound by the types and shadows of the Old Testament, of the Old Covenant. Another text of scripture that you can look at, Kevin, is Peter's vision in Acts chapter 10, which I would recommend you sit down and read for just more insight here, but also the words of our Lord Jesus himself in the Gospel of Mark, in Mark chapter 7, verse 19. Jesus is talking about food here and what really defiles a person. He's highlighting the fact that it's not what goes into our mouths that defile us, but what comes from our hearts since, he says, it enters not his heart, but his stomach and is expelled. And then there's this comment that's added by the gospel writer.

Thus, he, Jesus, declared all foods clean. And so we say amen and hallelujah to that. Thank you for your for your question, Kevin.

Great question, Kevin. Thanks for being a regular listener to Core Christianity. We'd love to hear from you. If you have a question, you can always email us. In fact, you can shoot us an email over the weekend. Here's our email address. It's questions at core Christianity dot com.

Let's go to Charlotte calling in from Illinois. Charlotte, what's your question for Adriel? OK, I'm really confused about God is God, but Jesus Christ is God. I mean, and yet he's the son of God. I know God came down to Earth and went into Mary and then Jesus was born. But I'm just I don't even understand that about God is God, but Jesus Christ is God.

Charlotte, well, thank you for your question. We're talking here about the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and how God has revealed himself in scripture. God is one. Deuteronomy chapter six, verse four, hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. But as God has revealed himself throughout redemptive history, it becomes very clear that God is not one in the sense that some people think that he is one, one in terms of his personhood, one person, if you will, but that God is one.

In essence, three distinct persons, the father, the son and the Holy Spirit in each of these persons is very clearly God in the Old Testament. I think you see this in some places, but really in the New Testament becomes even more clear throughout the Gospel of John, throughout the Book of Acts, throughout the Epistles, so that the disciples of our Lord Jesus, they speak in this very Trinitarian fashion, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You remember what Jesus told his disciples at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, go and make more disciples baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. We're not baptized into the name of a creature or a created being, we're baptized into the name of God, the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and salvation is in one sense by the grace of the Holy Spirit, participation in the life of the Trinity by the grace of Jesus Christ being adopted into the family of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. So the church early on in her history, this is just something that we see in the New Testament, but the church really wrestled with how do we articulate this to the world, how do we communicate this because it is a great mystery.

At the end of the day, we want to submit to how God has revealed himself to us in his word. It's not up to us to say, I can't grasp the infinity of God, so I'm just going to make it up on my own or say, give me a God that I can fully understand and comprehend where there is no mystery. When we're talking about God, especially God as he is in his essence, we can't even begin to comprehend this. He's infinite.

He's in a different category than we are altogether. And so we submit, Charlotte, to what God has said to us in his word. And in the word, we're taught very clearly, Jesus, right? John chapter one, verse one, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Two distinct persons there, the word with God and the word still being God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. John chapter one, verse 18. The question is, are we going to receive God's revelation and say, God, I submit to what you've said about yourself. Let God reveal himself to us.

Let's not make things up as we go. This is why the scriptures are so important. There's a wider discussion here about the fact that so often we want to make God in our own image.

Give me a God who looks like me, who thinks like me, maybe even who sins in the ways that I do. We don't want to be confronted with the God of scripture. But we need to be. We need to be and ultimately it's only the God of scripture as he's revealed in the Bible who can redeem us and who has redeemed us by faith. And so I would say, you know, the language of the Trinity, one God, one in essence, three distinct persons who are distinct but undivided. Again, one God.

And we stick to what the church has said for the last two thousand years on this because there's been a lot of ink spilled and ultimately it's rooted in what the Bible teaches. Thank you, Charlotte, for your question. Thanks for that, Adriel. We have time for one more email question. This one is from Jeff and he says, Why is it when I or other people ask God to heal them or heal certain things they feel the prayer is never answered?

Well, Jeff, I'm sorry that you feel that way. At the end of the day, what I would say is God answers those prayers that it's in line with his will to answer. There are instances where we do pray for healing. I've heard stories and have experienced it in my own life where we pray for something and we ask for God to intervene and he does. And sometimes it is in the case of healings. In other instances, God uses means, right? Medicine, doctors. I mean, that's still a way in which God answers prayer. So if you're just thinking in terms of supernatural healing, I think we need to sort of broaden our perspective there. But at the end of the day, we trust that God is in control and that he's good and that even our suffering, because like Paul says in Romans chapter 8, he's able to make all things work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

So trust him. 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.