Does Paul Define the Gospel Differently than Jesus?

Does Paul define the Gospel differently than Jesus? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity.

The CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites. You can watch Adriel live in the studio right now on YouTube, and you can send us a question through our YouTube channel. And of course, you can always email us at questions at corechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Brian who's calling in from St. Louis, Missouri. Brian, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Yes, thanks. First of all, thank you for taking my call. I've been a Christian over 40 years.

I'm grateful for it every day. I think a lot of people don't realize, and this is what I want to kind of comment on, Pastor Adriel can further comment on, about specifically Ephesians 6 and 12. I think a lot of people don't realize that sometimes when we are asleep at night to have dreams, that dreams could be symbolic, but that also at the same time. I've had these happen to me before because, you know, the enemy doesn't exactly like people who are Christians, and the best way to describe them is they're demonic dreams where you're actually in the dream to the point that you become paralyzed physically.

You can't move or even speak, and the best way I've found to break free from that is you start calling on the name of Jesus and cleaning the blood in your mind, and that will actually wake you up from the dream. And I just want to ask Pastor Adriel, does that sound scripturally possible? You know, I've actually heard of this kind of a thing, and I do think, right, we're in a spiritual battle. I do think that the evil one can at times influence our dreams.

I mean, I think, you know, we don't want to speculate too much. You know, sometimes it can just be, you know, a nightmare because of what we ate that night for dinner, but I don't want to minimize the fact that there really is a spiritual battle that the evil one can influence, I think, even our dreams at times. I think what's so important for us to remember as followers of Jesus Christ, Brian, is that the one who is in us is greater than the evil one who is in the world, that we already have victory over Satan and his demons through the blood of Jesus Christ. And so for the believer, Satan's bark is a lot worse than his bite.

He's been defanged, if you will, by the cross of Jesus Christ. And so while he can pester us and tempt us and so on and so forth, really he doesn't have power over our souls. We're in the hands of God. And I was quoting there from 1 John chapter 4, verse 4, little children, you are from God and have overcome them. He's speaking here, John, about the spirit of the antichrist.

For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. And then at the end of 1 John, in 1 John chapter 5, verse 18, we read, we know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And so for believers who are wrestling with this, and really I think there can be a fear sometimes that Christians have thinking, oh man, I don't want to experience that spiritual attack.

It's just creepy when we hear about those kinds of things. Well, just rest in the fact that you are secure in the arms of Jesus, that the blood of Jesus Christ covers you and that you belong to him. And so I think the key there, and Brian, you mentioned prayer, even if you're not using your mouth to pray, you're praying in your mind. Prayer is key in the spiritual battle.

Paul says this in Ephesians chapter 6. And so we are praying against the evil one and praying for the presence and the peace of the Lord. And so I think you did the right thing. Thanks for reaching out to us. We also have a great resource that's related to this topic. It's called Can the Devil Read My Mind? You can find that at our website by going to corechristianity.com forward slash free downloads. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash free downloads. Look for Can the Devil Read My Mind? Excuse me. Let's go back to the phones.

Mary is on the line from St. Louis, Missouri. Mary, what's your question for Adriel? Yes, my question has to do with suffering. I understand that we all suffer.

We have inherited sin. But I was wondering about, you know, animals. In particular, our toy poodle has had some unfortunate medical issues. He has suffered greatly. He has been such a joy to us.

You know, in our minds, he's never done anything wrong. And animals bring us so much joy and companionship and comfort. And I was wondering why, you know, animals have to suffer so much in this world. Well, Mary, I'm sorry to hear about that situation.

I pray that the Lord comforts your family and is with you. I mean, I think that the simple answer is we live in a world that's ravaged by the effects of sin. When sin entered the world, death entered the world, and corruption, and the entire creation has been affected by this.

I mean, Paul talks about this in the book of Romans, that the whole creation is longing for the revealing of the sons of God, for that final restoration, the new creation, because sin and death have touched everything under the sun, if you will. And so that's why we suffer. That's why there's death.

That's why, you know, animals suffer as well when we see these things. And it grieves us as, you know, those made in the image of God. And I think it causes us to long for that new creation that Jesus promised to all those who put their trust in him. And so, you know, as you're going through this trial, this difficulty, realizing just the pain and the effects of sin, but clinging to the promise that you have in Jesus Christ, in the hope of restoration of all things, it's ultimately secured by his resurrection from the dead. You know, a lot of times we don't realize the importance of the resurrection, the bodily resurrection of Jesus for our hope, for our salvation. We're not just talking about a spiritual renewal of all things. We're talking about a physical restoration of the creation. And Jesus's resurrection from the dead is the ultimate sign of that, right? That God is going to restore even our bodies broken and ravaged by the effects of sin.

And that the entire creation is going to undergo this kind of glorification, if you will, on the final day, at the last moment when God restores all things. And I pray that the Lord gives you comfort as you set your eyes on that and brings healing to your family and to your pet as well. Thanks for giving us a call. Mary, thanks so much for your call.

We do feel for you and your situation, those of us who are dog lovers can understand how you how you feel right now. This is Core Christianity and our phone lines are open. If you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life doctrine, theology, maybe you have some doubts about the Christian faith.

Maybe you consider yourself to be an atheist or agnostic. Hey, we're open to your questions as well. Here's the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

Jump on the phone right now because we'll only be taking calls for the next 15 minutes or so at 833-THE-CORE. We're excited to tell you about a new Bible study that we are releasing. It's actually written by Adriel along with his co-author Josh Maloney. Yeah, I mean this is a 10-week Bible study on the book of Hebrews. And I know a lot of people have been interested in growing deeper in their understanding of the New Testament, in particular this book, because there are a lot of questions that even we get on this broadcast about the book of Hebrews. There are some chapters in the book of Hebrews that have been a concern to Christians for some time.

I think of Hebrews chapter 6, Hebrews chapter 10 as well, where sometimes people read those passages, those chapters, and think, well, do these passages teach that I can lose my salvation, that I can fall out of God's grace? And so one of the things we do in this study is we unpack these difficult passages, but we go through the entire book highlighting how the focus of the book of Hebrews is how Christ is better. He's better than all things, and right now my producer is coming to hand me a copy of the 10-week study.

It actually looks great too. So if you're watching on YouTube, you can see that this study looks wonderful. So I hope you get a hold of this resource. Again, it's a 10-week study on the book of Hebrews, yours for a gift of $15 or more over at corechristianity.com. It's really a fantastic study, and when you purchase any resource from us, you support us in doing the work that creates more resources and Bible studies that help Christians everywhere answer those tough questions that they have about a variety of critical topics dealing with the Christian faith. And you can get a copy of the Hebrews Bible study, as Adriel said, for a donation of $15 or more by going to corechristianity.com forward slash studies. Look for the new Bible study on the book of Hebrews.

Well, we do receive voicemails here at the core, and you can call us anytime 24 hours a day and leave your question on our voicemail system. Here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Mark. Paul defines his gospel in 1 Corinthians 15. I'm curious how you would say Jesus defines the gospel. Do you think it's the same wording that Paul uses, or how would you handle that? I really appreciate the show.

Thank you. Excellent question, and there have been people who have said, you know, Paul preached a different gospel than Jesus or than the other apostles. Paul focuses so much on grace and the free forgiveness of sins. We don't think that Jesus talks in that way.

There's some confusion about this, but I would say no. We're talking about the exact same gospel. You don't have a gospel of Paul that's different, in essence, from the gospel that was proclaimed by our Lord Jesus Christ as he's going around in his earthly ministry, proclaiming the message of the kingdom, the gospel of the kingdom, the good news of the reign of God, and ultimately of how God is going to put away our sins through the blood of Christ. I think one thing that we can say about Jesus, and this is really important because you hear a lot of people today talking about how, you know, I'm living the gospel, I'm living that incarnational life, following Jesus. No, Jesus is the only one who could say, I live the gospel, because Jesus is Jesus is the gospel in his life, death, and resurrection from the dead.

And so in that sense, right, there's something unique there. Jesus, his very life, his very ministry, his perfect obedience, his atoning sacrifice, that's the gospel. That's the good news that establishes ultimately the new creation, the kingdom of God. And it's Paul and the rest of the apostles who take up that message and proclaim that good news. And so you reference 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where Paul says, in verse 1, I would remind you brothers of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast the word that I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.

There it is. There's the kernel of the gospel. This is the message of first importance that Paul says. And it's that message that Jesus lived. I mean, I've been reading, I mentioned yesterday through the gospel of Matthew with my kids, and over and over again, Jesus saying to his disciples, the Son of Man is about to go up to Jerusalem and be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. You know, he's going to be put to death, but then he's going to rise from the dead on the third day. And so there is no difference, if you will, in terms of the message that's being proclaimed.

It's one gospel accomplished by Jesus, proclaimed by the apostles, and we're called to uphold that message and to live in light of it and to share it with others as well. God bless. Thanks for that explanation, Adriel.

Good stuff. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We still are taking calls. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, here's the number.

It's 833-THE-CORE, 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Vera, who's calling in from Missouri. Vera, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Vera. Good to speak with you, Vera.

What's your question? It has just come to my attention in the last couple weeks, and I don't know why I haven't noticed it before, but a certain preacher where I go to church once in a while, they have started their—maybe they've been doing it, but I hear them say, you know, after they use the Lord's name and God's name in about a five-minute prayer, so many times, they end it with, in your name. I think, don't you pray in Jesus' name? Yes, you're absolutely right. We're called to pray in Jesus' name.

Yeah, I mean, it can sort of be who you're talking about. You know, we're praying to God, I mean, to the Holy Trinity, to the Father, but we're called to approach God in prayer through the mediation of Jesus, of Jesus Christ, our great high priest, and that's why we pray in the name of Jesus. It's not just like signing off our prayers in Jesus' name for no reason. No, we're coming to the Father in the grace of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ, and this is what gives us boldness to approach God in prayer. And so, you know, I think, you know, many people just sort of assume when I say in your name, I mean in Jesus' name, but I think it's good for us to be specific, to be clear. This is how we've been taught to pray, and for one, it's just a wonderful reminder for all of us that we don't come before the Father in our own righteousness, in our own purity, but we have confidence that God hears our prayers, that we can call upon him as Father because we have Jesus as our great high priest.

And, you know, we're just talking about the Bible study that we're offering right now on the book of Hebrews, and over and over again, that's one of the things that's highlighted in the book of Hebrews is that that confidence of access that we have to God in prayer through our high priest Jesus. And just speaking to you listening right now, you know, you go to God in prayer, but you struggle to really believe that he hears you, that he wants to answer your prayers, and you think, oh, the reason I struggle with this is because I know how much I fall short, and so it strips you of your confidence, even of faith, when you approach God in prayer. This is why it's so important that we pray in Jesus' name and that we understand what that means.

God, I can come before you boldly. The veil to the Holy of Holies has been torn in two through the sacrificial death of Jesus, my great high priest. Now I have access, 100% access, to the Father in prayer, but I'm coming in the name of Jesus, my great high priest, and because and because I'm coming in the name of Jesus, I can pray with confidence. And so we really need to make sure, I think, that when we're praying, we know that we're approaching God in this way, and I think praying in Jesus' name, making sure that we're articulating that helps to remind us of that, and it reminds those who are listening to us as well. Thank you for your question, Vera.

God bless. You know, a follow-up to that, Adriel, I know there's been criticism when Christians, let's say, are invited to give an invocation at some kind of public event, and they say in Jesus' name, and then they're blasted for, you know, being, you know, narrow-minded and that they're not including other faiths, and yet if they are a Christian, to not include Jesus' name or to make the prayer some kind of nebulous thing doesn't seem to be consistent with their faith, especially if they were asked as a Christian to come and pray. Yeah, it reminds me, not too long ago, I got to go and lead the prayer of invocation for this event.

I mean, this great big event, I think it was like the Plumbers and Pipe Cleaners of America or something like that. I don't even know how I ended up, but I was asked to do this, and it was just a wonderful opportunity to pray, you know, for their opening sort of conference or whatnot, and I basically based most of my prayer off of Acts 17 and the words of the Apostle Paul there, talking about this great God who has made all things before whom each one of us, no matter what you believe, right, we're all going to have to stand before him, but knowing that God is gracious towards sinners who call upon him through Christ. I mean, we have the privilege, I would say, of approaching God through Jesus, and so we would never want to set that aside to please other people or to not step on toes, if you will. No, I mean, this is a great privilege that we have, and so I think that we want to embrace it, even when we're praying in front of others, with the hope that they would understand that, hey, this is what it looks like to approach God in prayer, and that same bold access that Christians have, I can have, too, through Jesus, and so, yeah, it's an opportunity.

It really is an opportunity to get to share about Christ and the faith that we have. So when you were so specific in your prayer in front of the plumbers, did they want to flush you, or how did that turn out? Wow, Bill, that was quick. Good.

No, they didn't. It went great, so thanks. Oh, that's good.

I'm glad to hear. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We do receive emails here, and you can email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

Here's one from Hannah, and she says, I'm a listener from the Philippines. When I think about all the sins I've committed in the past, it makes me feel anxious all the time, and I'm thinking that death seems to be a better alternative to find rest. Is it sinful to want to die and to be with Jesus? Well, Hannah, I would want you to experience the rest that you can have now, right now, through the forgiveness of your sins in Christ.

I mean, it sounds to me like you feel like these sins that you committed even a long time ago are still weighing you down, that feeling of anxiety, and so you're restless, and so you're restless, and just longing to escape that. Well, I believe that right now, through the truth of the Gospel and the promise that you have in God's Word, that you can experience rest in Christ. Now, you know, we're going to struggle, and we're going to look back at our lives at times and think, man, I wish I would have done things differently there, or I'm so ashamed of this thing that I've done, but Christ is able to forgive, and he does forgive when we go to him. And again, I said, you know, you base it on the promise of God's Word, 1 John chapter 1 verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his Word is not in us. My little children, I'm writing these things to you, John said, so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. Hannah, you have an Advocate in heaven with the Heavenly Father, Jesus the Righteous One, who lived a perfectly righteous life in your place, who obeyed the law of God perfectly, and then suffered the penalty of the law for our sins, for your sins, so that you wouldn't have to carry them around anymore, but so that they might be drowned, if you will, in the ocean of holy baptism by faith. And so embrace that great promise that God has given to you, and rest, not in how you feel. I think so often we look to our feelings and say, I just don't feel any better.

I don't feel any different. Don't rest in your feelings when we're talking about confession and the forgiveness of sin. Rest in what God has promised in his Word.

Hold fast to that. And he said, you can take him at his Word, he said, if you confess your sins, I am faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. And so if you've confessed your sins, and I believe that you have it, I mean it sounds to me like this is something that you long for, then instead of doubting God's Word, doubting God's promise, rest assured that you have been forgiven, and that the Lord is with you, and you can trust, as I said, in his Word. And so embrace that peace, and may the Lord grant that to you by the grace of his Holy Spirit. This is Core Christianity.

We have time for one more question. This is an email from Christina, and she says, I'm struggling to understand predestination. I'm worried about it since I first heard about it in high school youth group. I struggle with OCD, and one of my intrusive themes is regarding my faith and questioning if I'm truly saved. So I have lots of questions and doubts, which makes reading the Bible hard, because the more I read, the more doubts I have. I'm worried this means I'm not predestined to be saved. Can you help me?

Oh, Christina. Well, what I would say to you is don't focus on, you know, you're trying to trying to figure out, you know, what has God decreed from all eternity? We don't understand and can't fully comprehend the decrees of God, but what we can do is cling to his Word. Again, going back to the promises that we have in in scripture, and God calls us not to try to peer into his eternal decrees, if you will, but to take him at his Word and to set our eyes on Jesus Christ. And so often, when you have that language in the New Testament of predestination, it's tethered together with Christ and being in Christ. Paul says in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love.

He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. So I would say, are you in Christ? Do you believe in Jesus? Are you clinging to the cross? If you are, well then take God at his Word. You belong to him in love through Christ.

He predestined us from eternity past. And so I would say focus on Jesus and on his promise. 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.