What Do You Say to Someone Who Claims to Be a Black Hebrew Israelite?

What do you say to someone who claims to be a black Hebrew Israelite? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites.

And of course, you can always email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. Well, in case you haven't heard, there is some breaking news today. Queen Elizabeth has passed away at her castle in Scotland at the age of 96. And Adriel, you know, the Queen lived a long, full life.

She was loved by millions of people, both in Great Britain and around the world. Yeah. What a tragic and sad thing.

It seems like it happened so quickly as well. I mean, I'm just reminded of all of those passages in scripture that talk about the frailty of life and the reality of death. And I hear, Bill, you were mentioning that she was a believer, someone who had faith in Jesus Christ. And so we think of Paul's words, the hope that we have that while we mourn and have sorrow, we don't have sorrow and mourn as those who have no hope because we have the hope of Christ and his resurrection.

And so may God comfort the royal family with that great hope that we have in Christ. Amen. And certainly something for all of us to consider because life is, as we read in the Bible, it's but a vapor. And, you know, we need to be aware that any day could be our day. And so something to keep in mind. So thanks.

Thanks for that. And let's keep that whole situation in prayer. Well, here's one of our listener questions that came in. Adriel, this is an email from Elaine, and she says, Is it possible to be born again more than once? I've heard that people can pinpoint the time they were born again. But what I remember are three different timeframes that could be my born again experience. Hmm. It's not possible to be born again.

Again. I remember one time as a newer believer really struggling with the question of assurance and wondering, you know, am I really a Christian? Am I not? I mean, I made a decision to follow Jesus Christ. I had been baptized. I was a part of a church, but still really wrestling with assurance like many of our listeners do. And I remember sitting down with an older woman at the church I was attending at the time and just sort of sharing my struggle with her. You know, this question of assurance is, you know what it sounds like to me that you need? She said, You need to be born again again.

That was not the most helpful piece of advice in that moment. But some people think along those lines that, yeah, you know, you can be saved and then lose your salvation. You know, maybe you lost your born again status and you need to be regenerated all over again. But the reality is the being born again is something that happens once.

I mean, it's the work of the Holy Spirit through the word of God. This is what Peter said in First Peter chapter one, verse twenty three. Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding word of God for all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.

And this word is the good news that was preached to you through the preaching of the gospel and by the work of the Holy Spirit. God transforms our hearts, regenerates us. We are born again. And those who are born again don't ever lose that. I mean, we can go through times of difficulty and struggle with sin, but we don't ever become not born again anymore. And so that's the hope that we have that God calls us, redeems us, justifies us, but also causes us to persevere in faith to the last day where we stand with the Lord in glory.

Great explanation. Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open right now. We'll be taking your calls for the next 20 minutes or so.

If you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, doctrine, theology, maybe some doubts about the Christian faith, maybe you belong to a different religion and you have some questions about Christianity for Adriel. We'd love to hear from you. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Here's a voicemail that came in from one of our listeners named Phil. I'm looking for advice on how to witness to a coworker who is a black man who claims to be a black Hebrew Israelite. They're trusting in keeping the law in order to get to heaven. And so I've been trying to focus on how the law is not going to save him, get him to heaven. He also believes Jews and Gentiles are the same thing. I've used Galatians chapter 2 and 3 to try to explain these things to him. But if you have other good resources or advice, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

Yeah. Well, Phil, I'm always so encouraged when our listeners are sharing the gospel with friends and coworkers. And of course, one of the things I say every single time is you need to be praying because it is a work of the Holy Spirit. And so I want to pray for you right now, Phil, in your interaction with this coworker and just that the Lord would give you the right words, but also that he would open the heart of this individual. And so, Lord, thank you for Phil and his desire to share his faith with the people around him, Lord. I pray that by the grace of your Holy Spirit, you would give him just a wide open door for the gospel. There where he works and especially with this coworker, Lord, they've already been able to have some conversations about faith. And I pray that this coworker would come under the conviction of your Holy Spirit, saying that he cannot save himself by works of law, by obedience to certain rituals, but that he needs the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins that comes solely through the work of Jesus Christ. And so would you be with Phil, bless him, and would you open the heart of this individual. Father, we ask in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. You know, there are a number of religious sects out there. The Black Hebrew Israelites is one of them. And there are even sects among the Hebrew Israelites scattered abroad throughout the world. I mean, I hear more about these groups, and oftentimes they're known for street preaching, you know, being out on the street.

And in some ways, they're also known for being a little more abrasive. There's this belief that they have that they are the true descendants of the children of Israel, the scattered tribes of the Israelites. And there's a lot of sort of interesting theological views that they hold, sort of merging together some Hebrew beliefs, Jewish beliefs with some Christian beliefs, often though there's the rejection of the deity of Christ and his atoning work.

And so that's where I think you need to focus. Sounds like you're going to the book of, I mean, obviously Galatians is really good, because there Paul talks about the fact that we can't be saved by following these works of law, these religious rituals. They're, you know, particularly associated with the old covenant religion, but just this idea of being saved by our obedience more generally. You can't be saved by your obedience to God. We don't obey God enough. We don't obey God perfectly enough.

All of us sin against God in thought, word, and deed. And so I think maybe highlighting even, Phil, just the teaching of Jesus related to God's law. Let me read the Sermon on the Mount. What does Jesus say?

If you look at a woman to lust for her, you've already committed adultery in your heart. All of us are struck dead by the law of God. And that is why we need the gospel. If we have any hope for salvation, for standing before a holy God, we need the gospel.

And your friend, this coworker, needs the gospel. And so reiterating, I think, just the call that God gives us in his law, how all of us fall short of it, and how God has made a way for law breakers, like each and every one of us, to experience his grace and mercy through the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ. And may the Lord, again, just give you the words as you're opening up the scriptures with this individual, and may the Lord open his heart to what you have to say. So well said.

Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, maybe how your Christian walk intersects with what's happening in today's culture. There can be some times of difficulty and persecution.

Maybe you're struggling with that in some way, shape, or form. We'd love to hear from you. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. I also want to mention a great resource we have. One of the questions we often receive here at the Core is about salvation. People wondering, have they lost their salvation?

Are they really saved? And you heard that lady who had the question earlier. Well, we have an excellent free resource for you on that topic.

Yeah. I mean, Bill, I was just mentioning my own struggle as a newer believer and being told that I needed to be born again and again. And there's a lot of confusing teaching out there on this very subject. And it's actually heartbreaking because instead of pointing people to the gospel and to the objective work of Christ to help them have assurance, I think a lot of times we point people in the wrong direction. And so this resource called Nine Ways to Know You Are Really a Christian, again, it's completely free, is really helpful.

And especially if you're someone who wrestles with that question for yourself or you know somebody who wrestles with that question, just get a hold of this resource. It's a free download over at corechristianity.com forward slash offers. And we know that it will encourage you. We really want you to live a Christian life that's filled with confidence and joy, not with doubt or fear. And this is a great resource for you. Again, go to corechristianity.com forward slash offers and download Nine Ways to Know You Are Really a Christian.

Well, let's go to a voicemail that came in from one of our listeners. This is from Taliesin. I am new to Christianity, like brand new. I am still learning. And there's one part I was kind of struggling with about homosexuality. My best friend and sister is gay and just got married and they have children. And I know the Bible in Leviticus says man should lay with man as he would a woman. Is that just for that time frame?

Why would it apply to now if he was just talking to those people back in that time frame? I'm just curious. Thank you so much for your show. I love listening and I'm learning a lot. Thank you so much and God bless. Hey Taliesin man, so encouraged to hear that you are a newer believer newer to the faith that you're growing a lot. So let me just pray for you as well.

I'm just I'm just so encouraged father be with Taliesin. Thank you so much for the work that you have done in her life. And as she seeks you and draws near to you and Lord grows in her understanding of your word. I pray that you would just bless her fill her with your spirit. I pray that you would help her to understand your word especially with some of these difficult questions Lord. And she seeks to love and engage with family members and friends who don't necessarily embrace everything that the Bible teaches. I pray that you would help her to do so graciously Lord but holding fast to what you teach in your word. And so would you would you be with her would you bless her would you cause her to continue to grow and mature in her faith. And I thank you Lord again for the work you've done in her life in Jesus name.

Amen. Well those prohibitions that we see in the book of Leviticus with regard to homosexuality gay and lesbian relationships. You know sometimes people will say well there are all sorts of prohibitions in Leviticus like don't eat shellfish and whatnot. So you guys are contradicting yourselves when you say well you are against homosexuality or gay and lesbian relationships as Christians.

But you're totally fine with eating shrimp and pork and all these other things. Well it's important that we understand and differentiate between the kinds of law that are in the Bible. There were some ceremonial laws related to the people of God under the old covenant that we no longer observe.

And some of those laws are our food laws laws related to worship at least there in the temple the cult if you will of Israel. But then but then we have what we refer to as the moral law summarized in the Ten Commandments which is which is always binding which which impacts the way we think about relationships the way we think about sex the way we think about marriage even. And that's also reiterated in the New Testament I mean the Apostle Paul in places like the book of Romans and First Corinthians talks about gay and lesbian relationships right into the Corinthians he says some of you were gay and lesbian were in these homosexual relationships when Jesus called you. But you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and so these are not relationships that that the Bible permits you know this wasn't just something that was for people under the Old Testament. And now it doesn't matter know God still does care about who we're with and how we use our bodies and how we think about sex and sexuality. And I know that this is a really big question that so many people have because we have friends and family members who are gay and lesbian so what does that mean for us as Christians to engage with them.

Well I would say look our culture today when it comes to the question of sexual identity and sexuality is just very confused so many people wrap their identity up entirely in their sexuality I am gay or I am lesbian or this is how I identify. But that's not what the Bible teaches that the core of who we are is not our sexuality it's a part of who we are so we need to recover I think that the biblical vision of the fact that we are all of us created in the image of God but we fall and have fallen in sin. This is the result of the fall and because of the fall we have these disordered desires these struggle with sin with corruption that is very real that feels in many respects Taliesin very natural to us it just it just feels natural for me to do this to want this to feel this way. And so we have to I think put that up against the word of God and see well what does God call me to because not everything that feels natural to me is necessarily something that is good and right and true or something that's in line with God's law and we're called to follow Jesus. And so we've fallen which is I think why we have and why people have these disordered desires but in Christ we can be restored healed now that doesn't mean that we don't necessarily have those sinful desires anymore. I think all of us as believers know we still struggle with sinful desires whatever those desires might be but we confess them and turn to the Lord and say God have mercy upon me forgive me for the sins that I commit but even for the things that I desire that are out of accord with your word. And so I think you know continue to have these relationships to love your family members to love your friends and to hold fast to what the Bible teaches and that can create tension Taliesin and so often it does I mean Jesus says I didn't come to bring peace but a sword. Our belief in Jesus Christ at times can and will create issues for us in our relationships and that doesn't mean that you're doing anything wrong necessarily.

Now of course you don't want to be just harsh and abrasive and just sort of rude or Jesus doesn't ever call us to be rude and evil but sometimes just just believing what the Bible teaches and holding fast to what Christ says in his word and his law will cause there to be separation. But I pray that for you in your relationship with with your loved ones that there wouldn't be that that that you would continue to be able to grow in the relationship but that they would also see your love for Jesus your conviction with regard to God's word and that they would be drawn to Christ by the grace of his spirit and so God bless you Taliesin thank you for giving us a call and continue growing in your walk with Jesus. You know I was thinking about this Adriel Taliesin mentioned she's a brand new believer so we'd love to send her a copy of the book Core Christianity by Dr. Michael Horton. That's the book that really founded this program it was the impetus for this radio show so Taliesin we'd like to send that to you as our as our gift to you as your exciting new walk with Christ and we think will be a big help to you so and by the way on this topic of homosexuality.

We have a free resource if you are interested in learning more about this what the Bible has to say about gay and lesbian relationships you can find it by going to our website core Christianity dot com look for 10 things everyone should know about the Bible and homosexuality. You can find that again at core Christianity dot com forward slash downloads what we do receive emails and voicemails here at core Christianity here's our phone number if you'd like to leave us a voicemail anytime. 833 the core that's 1-833-843-2673 our email address is questions at core Christianity dot com let's go to Chris who's calling in from Nashville Tennessee Chris what's your question for Adriel. Okay I was just wondering is it possible to be saved but not read your Bible and is it possible to be saved and not have the action that go along with it some people say that you're just a baby Christian if you're not really super sanctified like you go to even if you're 80 you'll be a baby Christian because your actions weren't there so those are my questions. Yeah hey Chris thanks for that question super sanctified I like that I think that's what we're all working toward and what we'd like but the reality is we do still struggle as I'm sure you know within every day your question is can a person be saved but have no fruit in their lives. Well here I think it's important that we say this at the outset we're not saved by our fruitfulness it's not the fact that we're as saved as we are sanctified if you will or as justified as we are sanctified maybe would be a better way of putting it and that's a struggle that a lot of people have Christians who have the question of assurance you know they're thinking well you know I think I'm saved I've trusted in Jesus. I have a desire to be holy but I struggle with sin every day and so you know I feel more saved when I'm when I'm really being faithful and reading the Bible and then and then I feel less less saved when I'm when I just think that that's that's an unhelpful way of looking at it but there are people who are deceived out there who you know who maybe they just have this nominal Christianity. Christianity in name only and they said a prayer perhaps when they were a little kid or at some conference at some point where they asked Jesus into their heart but they're not really trusting in Christ they're actually trusting in themselves or worshipping any number of other things that the common idols of the day power money self really self is the ultimate idol I think today. James said in James chapter 2 verse 14 what good is it my brothers if someone says he has faith but does not have works can that faith save him?

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food and one of you says to them go in peace be warmed and be filled without giving them the things needed for the body what good is that? Though also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead and I think James here is talking about a specific kind of faith a we sometimes say a historical faith it's not it's not truly trusting in Jesus Christ it's a faith in name only like a Christianity in name only true faith in Jesus Christ does work. But here's where we have to be careful because even though the true faith in Jesus Christ does bear fruit Jesus is the one who bears fruit in and through us we're not always going to feel in fact most of the Christian life we're not going to feel super sanctified and as you draw near to Jesus in your own walk with the Lord you know what happens. It's not that you necessarily become more sinful it's just that you're more aware of the sins you weren't aware of before and so you almost have this growing awareness of your sin as you continue to draw near to God which leads to more repentance more confession and hopefully a greater appreciation of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ throughout your life. But you never feel just super sanctified like man I've got it all covered I'm just full of good works and perfect no as you draw near to Jesus more and more you realize Lord man I used to do these things and I thought that they were a okay but now I'm realizing how selfish I was there or how I was trusting in myself and the Spirit of God. That sanctifies us over time and reveals to us those areas of our lives that need to be brought into submission to the Lord and that's for all of us and so I would say for someone who's struggling with these questions and they're wrestling with assurance but they long to be holy. They long to be faithful to the Lord but it's like man the things that I want to do I don't do the things that I do are the things that I don't want to do you know Paul's discussion of Romans chapter 7 for that person I would want to say man cling to the gospel and rest in the gospel and continue to pursue Jesus knowing that the Christian life is this battle and you're in it. You're in it but you don't need to question that that God is for you and that he's saved you but for the individual who just says oh yeah I trusted in Jesus and don't care about really of course I wouldn't say this but this is how they live right I've trusted in Jesus but don't don't care at all about God's law going to church. Yeah no real change in my life at all in the way that I think in the way that I view sin is just sort of I got this fire insurance to that person I would say whoa you know you need to take a step back and ask yourself the question am I trusting in Jesus or am I just trying to use God as a ticket to heaven you know so that I can live however I want and then die and then I'm good to go. There's a major misunderstanding there of the gospel that person probably needs to understand the gospel truly for the first time and so Chris appreciate your question and so grateful for you and for the fact that you want to share Jesus with others may the Lord bless you and cause you to continue to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. 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. Thank you.