How Do We Share the Gospel With Roman Catholics?

How do we share the Gospel with Catholics? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity.

Well, happy Friday. 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. Our phone lines are open right now, and you can call us for the next 25 minutes or so with your question. Call 1-833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also email us anytime at questions-at-core-christianity.com. First up today, let's go to Miranda calling in from Texas. Miranda, what's your question for Adriel?

Hi, long time listener. I just thank you and Adriel and Bill for all that you do and all the answered questions. And today I call in with a heavy heart. My pastor took his life this past week, and I believe in God's providence, but I don't know how to square his actions with God's providence. Miranda, I am so sorry to hear about that, and what a difficult season this must be for you and for your church. So first, as we often do, let's just take a moment right now to pray and ask for God's comfort and the guidance of his Holy Spirit. For Miranda and for this minister's family and for this church, Father, we come before you, and Lord, our hearts are indeed heavy with this news. We look to you, O Lord, as the God who is able to comfort the afflicted and brokenhearted. We look to you, Lord God, in those seasons of darkness where we don't understand what is going on or why things have happened the way that they've happened. And I pray for Miranda, I pray for her church family, I pray for the family of this pastor, that your presence would be very real in these days to them. Comforting them and giving them also, Lord God, the hope that Jesus Christ has conquered death, Lord, even for this pastor. And so would you be with my sister, and would you be with this church, and would you comfort them, Lord, and grant your peace and guidance in the days ahead?

In Jesus' name, amen. Miranda, these are the questions that, in terms of understanding this in light of God's providence, we don't have the answers. Why God could or would allow such a tragic thing to happen. We know that we live in a world that is broken, and that the effects of the fall are seen everywhere, and that one of the effects of the fall and sin entering into the world is depression and even crippling depression. And that even believers under that weight, you know, it's wrong, it's not right. We believe that suicide is a sin.

In one sense it's self-murder, this is how Christians have talked about it throughout history, and yet we also believe that it is not the unpardonable sin. That this doesn't remove an individual from the loving hands of God, and yet it's still devastating. And so we need the comfort of the Lord, and we need especially, as I said, that solid recognition, realization that Christ has conquered death for you, for your church, and for this pastor. You know, I just think of that text in Romans chapter 8. In Romans chapter 8 and verse 31, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?

It is God who justifies, who is to condemn. Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Miranda, Christ Jesus is interceding for you and for your church. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all day long.

We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. And what is Paul's conclusion? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. For this pastor who is in Christ, not even this death can separate him from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. And these horrible circumstances are not going to separate you or your church from the love of God either. And so, sister, may the Lord comfort you and bring peace to your family and to your church as you cling to the hope that you have in Christ and as you mourn together looking to Jesus and to the hope of the resurrection. God bless you, sister. You know, Adriel, I'm reminded of how many pastors right now may be going through extremely stressful times, may be feeling depressed, may be having family issues, and a lot of times pastors don't feel like they have anybody that they can reach out to.

Yeah. Bill, I mean, it is truly heartbreaking. And so, you know, there are so many questions that people have at a time like this, and there aren't a lot of answers. And I think, you know, it's so easy with tragedies to try to figure out, okay, well, what was going on? What could we have done?

What should we have done differently? But this is where we do have to entrust everything to the Lord, looking to him, comforting one another, and putting our hope where it needs to be, which is in the promise of the gospel, that objective truth that God has conquered sin and death for his beloved children, even those who struggle immensely with things like depression. And for pastors, and, you know, this is something that we're seeing with some frequency, you know, pastors who are really wrestling with depression and isolation, we need also all the help we can get.

As you say, Bill, and the encouragement of the local church, and even maybe a good therapist, too. And so I just, you know, our hearts break for this church, and we'll continue to keep them in our prayers. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life.

Maybe you've got a struggle with some theological issue, doctrinal issue that confuses you, or maybe there's something going on in your Christian walk where you're really running up against some type of opposition, whether that's personal or spiritual. We'd love to hear from you. Here's the number, 833-THECORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Jim, who's calling in from Nebraska. Jim, what's your question for Adriel? Yes, thank you for taking my call. You go back to basically Noah's day, and it was Noah preached the gospel like for 110 years. I don't know what kind of tribulation they were going to. God was saying, God finally said, enough is enough.

My question is, do you think the United States and the world is getting to that point where God's going to say enough and enough? Thank you for taking my call. Thank you.

Okay. Well, Jim, thank you for your question. Of course, we think of the words of our Lord Jesus in Matthew 24, verse 36. Concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. You get this sense that the days preceding the coming of our Lord, it's just everybody's doing kind of living life as normal, oblivious of the coming judgment of the fact that Jesus is Lord, that we need to turn from our sins. And your question is, well, are we getting closer to that day? Does it seem like as we look around at the United States or at the world that we're just right around the corner? And what I would say to that is, well, the truth is, from the days of the apostles, we've been living in this time of tension. The spirit of the Antichrist is already at work in the world, and there have been seasons of great wickedness. There have also been seasons of prosperity, seeming prosperity for the Church, and then sort of going back to this difficulty in apostasy.

It's almost like this cycle again and again and again. We are getting closer to the coming of the Lord. Our job, though, is not to set dates because nobody knows, and of course some people have tried to do that and ended up quite embarrassed, saying, you know, the Lord is going to come back on this day or in this year.

Our job is to keep our eyes fixed on Christ through the gospel and to seek to lead lives that are pleasing to the Lord in loving him and in loving our neighbors. That needs to be where we're focused, where we are committed. It's interesting because oftentimes, especially with some of those groups that have said, oh, this is when the Lord is coming, the focus all of a sudden becomes, we just sort of retreat. We need to hunker down because it's going to happen.

Whereas Peter in 1 Peter 4, he says, you know, the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, let's be committed to prayer. Let's be committed to hospitality.

Let's be committed to loving one another. That's what we need to invest in right now, in a deeper knowledge of the word, in a deeper love for God and for our neighbors. And may God help all of us, Jim, to focus on that in the days ahead, whatever those days might hold for us. Thanks for your call, Jim.

Appreciate you. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. I have a question from Darryl from Missouri that kind of ties in a little bit with what Jim asked. It really deals with what we read in Revelation. And I know, Adriel, you've been preaching through the Book of Revelation. Darryl, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Well, good afternoon, brothers.

I appreciate you getting my call in. I'm doing a little bit of research for my books as well. And I'm looking at the time period after the thousand-year reign when Satan is loosed upon the earth before the battle of Gog and Magog and Judgment Day. Do you guys know how long that time period will last?

Thank you. So, Darryl, we're getting into eschatology here and the millennial reign of Christ. And, of course, there are solid believers who differ on when that reign is going to take place.

But your question is more specific. It's after the reign of Christ, the millennial reign of Christ, we're told, this is Revelation chapter 20 verse 7, the thousand years when they're ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out and deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their numbers is like the sand of the sea. Now, how long is that process of deception going to last for? We're not told. We're not given a specific amount of time, although it does seem to me, looking at that text, like things progress fairly rapidly. Like Satan is released and there isn't a lot of time from that release to the final battle, but that things are in a tailspin already.

And so my sense is that that happens fairly quickly, although, as I said, we're not given any clear indication in scripture as to how long that is going to be. Thank you for your question. Thanks, Darryl. Appreciate you listening to Core Christianity. If you've got a question for us about the Bible or the Christian life, here's our number, 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also leave a voicemail anytime over the weekend. We do our best to check our voicemails once each day. Let's go to Jose calling in from Colorado.

Jose, what's your question for Adriel? Hi, Pastor. Thank you for taking my call. My question is, so I'm currently serving from a local church. Me and my family have been struggling financially. We're in a very tight situation and we have wanted to move back to the state where we came from. We do have a church back there.

We were serving back there as well. But my question to you is, could the Lord be using the situation to move me back? I guess what I'm not really understanding is, at what point do we start working or start moving things on our end? Or how long do we have to wait for the Lord to start doing His work? Do we have to wait for Him to completely start it or do we start doing our works as well? I just want to make sure that I'm doing God's will and not going based off of feelings. And I'm not sure if it could be from the enemy that things are kind of falling into place. So I kind of want to make sure that I'm doing what God wants.

Yeah. Jose, my dear brother, God bless you. And God bless that desire that you have that is pleasing to the Lord. Yeah, I think of when David wanted to build the temple of the Lord, and of course he wasn't able to.

It didn't fall to him to do that, but to his descendants. And yet the Lord said to him, in so far as that was in your heart, that was pleasing to me. And your desire, Jose, to follow the Lord as you're thinking about these things, you know, do we stay put here?

Do I go somewhere else? God, I just want to honor you. That desire is pleasing to the Lord.

It honors the Lord. Now what you need is wisdom. And oftentimes, you know, we would love a neon sign from heaven, God to say, oh, now it's time. It's time for you to move, or no, it's time for you to stay, or you need to find a new job. We don't get that, but this is where you ask questions, where you have a conversation with others, and especially with your spouse, with your family. If you're serving in this church, I didn't catch it. Now, are you working in this church? Is that your occupation? No, I have a job of my own, but I am a Sunday school teacher for the youth group.

Okay. And that's how I'm serving the church right now. Well, God bless you in that, too, brother. But I think just practically speaking, you know, it's praying and saying, Lord, you know, this is where we are right now, but if it's not working out for your family in terms of being able to make a living and raise a family there, then just in God's providence, you know, that's sometimes how the Lord opens or closes a door in our lives, is, you know, providentially there's just nothing for us here. And that doesn't mean that God is against you.

It might just mean that God is opening up something somewhere else. But I think it's good to have these kinds of conversations, especially, you know, if you're serving, if you're integrated into the life of the local church there and they're depending upon you, maybe having a conversation with the leadership and saying, hey, we just want to give you an update on our family. We love this church. We love serving, but we're struggling in these areas. And it could be that God provides for you in and through those kinds of conversations, you know, that doors open up there with other brothers in the local church who are able to help or a different job opportunity. But there isn't an easy answer here. That's why I would say what you want to do is you want to make sure that you have a multitude of counselors, godly people that you trust around you who know your situation. This is what the Proverbs talk about. And that both you and your wife are praying about this specifically and saying, Lord, guide us, lead us. I would say don't don't make any rash decisions.

Don't just jump into something immediately. Take it slow, prayerfully in the context of conversations with your family and with your church. And and as time goes by, I think you'll get more and more clarity. And let me just take a brief moment to pray for you right now that the Lord would give you wisdom. Father, I thank you for my brother, Jose. I thank you for his family. And I do pray for your provision in their lives, Jesus, that you would provide for them and guide them to wherever it is that you have them, Lord. Thank you for their desire to honor you and to serve your church. And we know, Lord God, that that is pleasing to you. And so I pray that as they seek to please you in all things, that you would guide them and direct their steps and bless this family in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Jose, thanks so much for your call. We'll continue to pray for you.

No, it's a difficult decision. But as Adriel said, we are so thankful that you are serving your church in such a wonderful way. And I'm sure you will continue that service wherever God leads you to. This is core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We have a lot of great Bible studies here at the core. And our newest is on the Book of Daniel. Yeah, I'm excited about this study on the Book of Daniel.

I got to help putting this together sort of based off of the series I did some time ago on the Book of Daniel. And I'll just I'll just say why I think it's so important for us to dig into the Book of Daniel as the people of God in the days in which we live. The Book of Daniel emphasizes the sovereign grace of God over the world. The fact that even while the nations rage, and this is something that Daniel sees, you know, especially in the prophetic visions that he has later in the book.

The nations raging one after another, conquering, trampling even the people of God. Even as that is happening, God is enthroned. You see that in Daniel chapter 7.

And we need to recover and cling to that vision, that true vision of the fact that the Lord is in control even in our own day. And so I hope that you get a hold of this 10-week study on the Book of Daniel. You can find that by going to corechristianity.com forward slash Daniel. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash Daniel.

Well, we do receive voicemails here at the core. And here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Martha. I have a question about if I am a Christian and I have family relatives that are still in the Catholic religion. I was invited to accompany a child to do First Communion and I kind of felt bad, but I was firm to say no.

Later on we talked about the Bible and my niece understood, but I just don't know exactly how to speak with her in a gentle way. Thank you. Have a blessed day.

Thank you for your program. Martha, thank you so much for giving us a call and for your desire to love the Lord and to share Christ with friends and family members. You know, if you ask a lot of people in the Catholic Church in different Christian denominations as well, what is the gospel? Folks have a really hard time answering that question. What is the basic gospel that the apostles preached that we're called to proclaim?

What is the gospel that saves us? And so I think in terms of having conversations with friends and family, I think getting to that is key. It sounds like you're wondering how much should I be involved? Am I allowed to go to a family member's First Communion?

Is that bad? I don't think there would have been anything wrong with you going. It might have opened up the door for more conversations to be able to talk about some of the things that were happening there, the significance of what's taking place, but really the goal is always let's talk about what the gospel is. I found in talking to many friends who were Roman Catholic and then also in talking to many friends who were in Protestant churches, that when you ask that question, there's a lot of confusion. And so getting to the heart of the matter by saying, here's the good news of the Christian faith. Your sins can be forgiven through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And by faith in Jesus, those sins are washed away. We have hope, the hope of eternal life, the hope of the resurrection of the body, and we are called to grow in the Lord and to follow him and to have that personal relationship with him. And so my encouragement would just be to continue to cultivate those friendships and relationships with family members that are Roman Catholic, to have conversations about Jesus, to have conversations about the church, and to focus on that cardinal truth, that main thing, core Christianity, if you will. What is the gospel? And get a hold of that, one of the resources we often offer on the broadcast, Core Christianity by Michael Horton, it's a book that really gets into some of those fundamental doctrines.

I would encourage you to pick that up and maybe work through it. And that would be a good conversation starter as well. But may the Lord bless you and may the Lord bless your conversations. Just a follow up question for you, Adria. We do get a lot of calls from people from either within the Catholic Church or have friends or relatives within the Catholic Church. Just briefly, we just got a bit of time left, what would you say are the significant differences that Protestants need to know? Well, there are a lot pertaining to worship, pertaining to church government, pertaining to the doctrine of salvation. You know, the Roman Catholic Council of Trent, shortly after the Protestant Reformation, basically condemned the Protestant understanding of justification by faith alone. And so that's going to be a significant difference, you know, like how do we understand the doctrine of justification? Is it the declaration of God that we are righteous solely because of what Christ has done for us, his righteousness imputed to us by faith, our sins forgiven? Or is justification a process of inward renewal and transformation, whereby we are made more and more holy so that, you know, in the end we merit our salvation?

Well, that's the Roman Catholic position, so those are some of the fundamental differences and it's important for us to know those differences so that we can have healthy conversations with each other. God bless. 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.