Does God Show Favor to Anyone?

Does God show favor to anyone? 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, 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.

You might want to make a note of that. 1-833-843-2673. By the way, our program is on live every day at 1130 a.m. Pacific time, so if you're hearing this program at a different time, it means it's a tape delay show, so the time to call in and talk live to Adriel is between 1130 and noon Pacific each day. You can also email us anytime. Here's our email address. It's questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, here's a voicemail from one of our listeners.

This is Donald in Nebraska. In the Old Testament, did the Holy Spirit indwell the believers? Obviously, it talks about that in the New Testament, of course, various passages. I think I know the answer, but I want to hear it from you, that they were in fact dwelt with the Holy Spirit upon their belief in God. Thank you very much for your answer.

I appreciate that. Excellent question and one that comes up from time to time. Two, I think, major things that we have to avoid first is believers in the Old Testament and believers in the New Testament are saved in the same way. It's not like believers in the Old Testament were saved by obedience to the Mosaic law and believers, you know, under the New Covenant are saved by grace through faith. No, anyone who is saved throughout the history of redemption from the very beginning is saved by grace through faith.

Paul makes it very clear, Abraham was justified by faith, Romans chapter four. And so, when we're talking about the work of the Holy Spirit throughout redemptive history in the Old Testament and the New Testament, I think one of the things we have to affirm is the believers in the Old Testament had the Spirit and were saved by faith. Now, the other thing we want to make sure that we're careful not to do is just collapse all of redemptive history so that there isn't anything distinct or unique about the work of the Holy Spirit under the New Covenant. It seems like when you read the New Testament and then the Old Testament related to the promises and prophecies related to the blessing of the New Covenant that at the heart of it was the gift of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

I'm going to write my law upon your heart so that you would obey me, so that you would follow me. And so, there is something unique about the presence of the Spirit now under the New Covenant. And Peter on the day of Pentecost, he sees the Spirit of God poured out upon the church. People are speaking in tongues and prophesying.

He says, this is what Joel was talking about. In other words, now that the Spirit of God isn't just associated with the prophets and the kings and the priests in Israel, now God's people, all of God's covenant children, men and women, old and young, rich and poor, all of them are filled with the Spirit. And the way Paul talks about it in Ephesians chapter one is he says, you've been sealed with the Holy Spirit. And as believers under the New Covenant, we can grieve the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit of God is never taken from us. I would say if you're regenerated, if you're born again, indwelt with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God has sealed you. Ephesians chapter four verse 30, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. And so, we have this great hope as believers.

And so, that's the fine line that we need to walk. We're saved, believers in the Old Testament and the New Testament, we're saved in the exact same way. Believers in the Old Testament looking forward to the promises of the gospel through the types and shadows of the Old Testament. Believers in the New Testament, time or under the New Covenant, looking back to what God has accomplished through Christ, the fulfillment of those promises for our redemption and all of it is the work of the Holy Spirit.

God bless. You know, the New Testament also talks about the danger of quenching the Holy Spirit. How do you understand that, Adriel? Yeah, well, that's what Paul is getting at in, I believe it's 1 Thessalonians 5. He says, pray without ceasing and do not despise, you know, prophecies. Don't quench the Holy Spirit. One of the ways I would say quite simply is even just looking at that text that I mentioned in Ephesians chapter 4, grieving the Holy Spirit, that is through sin. Anytime we reject the word of God, think about it, if it's the Spirit of God who illuminates the scripture, who reveals Jesus to us, well, when we reject that word, when we close our ears to it, we're quenching the Spirit. When we sense that conviction of the Holy Spirit in our own lives through the proclamation of the word of God, this is what the author of the Hebrews says, is when you hear that, don't harden your hearts as the people in the wilderness did, you know, under the Old Covenant, in the Old Testament, don't harden your hearts. That's how people quench the work of the Spirit in their lives today.

It's by rejecting the word of God. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open right now if you have a question, maybe a biblical passage that's always kind of stumped you and you could use some clarification on that, or maybe something going on in your church or your Christian life that you have a question about. Here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Spencer calling in from Oklahoma. Spencer, what's your question for Adriel? Yes, I have a question about Mark 929 and Acts 4-12. It says in the passage of Mark, his disciples asked him privately, why could not we cast him out? It was about casting out a demon or a spirit or something like that. And Jesus said unto them, this kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting. And then, of course, in Acts 4-12, it says, there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

It talks about Jesus. And I was wondering about this passage. Is that something that just applied back then? Because Pentecost had not yet happened and the Holy Spirit had not yet been given to believers? Or is it something that still applies today in the lives of believers that encounter this certain type of spirit or demon protection type of thing?

Okay, Spencer, thank you for that question. I would say that it's certainly still applicable today and at the heart of spiritual warfare is prayer. Prayer is one of the great weapons that we employ as believers in Jesus Christ in that fight. And of course, we wrestle and battle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities, against the spiritual forces of wickedness. And in the book of Ephesians, Paul makes it very clear, again, when he talks about the armor of God, and he says, put on the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the sword of the spirit, and so forth.

That whole section is sandwiched between calls to pray and to be vigilant. Finally, be strong in the Lord. This is Ephesians 6 verse 10. And in the strength of his might, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

We do not wrestle, as I said, against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. And then you go down just a little bit later in verse 18, he says, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. In other words, we don't just pray for ourselves, but we pray for all the saints. You know how many times, right there, praying with all prayer and supplication.

Supplication, again, in one verse, verse 18 there, he mentions prayer four times. And so when Jesus, in the context of talking about casting out demons with his disciples, so this kind doesn't come out except by prayer and fasting, I think there's some parallel there. And the big takeaway is just, again, that prayer is at the heart of what we need to be committed to as Christians, and viewing it truly as spiritual warfare. When the church gathers together to pray, spiritual warfare is taking place, brothers and sisters, when you get together with your prayer group, and you're praying for the salvation of your loved one, family member, or friend, spiritual warfare is taking place. When you're praying against the mortification of sin, asking God by his spirit to put to death those sinful deeds, those sinful deeds of the body, the struggles, the sins that so easily encumber us, that is spiritual warfare.

And so I would say it's still applicable. Now, of course, we know that ultimately, definitively, Spencer, Jesus has bound Satan through the work of the gospel, through his death, burial, and resurrection from the dead, through his earthly ministry. So Satan has been defeated definitively by the cross, and yet we know that he still goes about like a roaring lion. And so we're called to pray, and to be vigilant, and to stand against the schemes of the evil one, and we do that by praying. God bless.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open. If you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, doctrine, theology, give us a call right now. Here's the number.

It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Chase calling in from Missouri. Chase, what's your question for Adriel? Hi, Pastor Adriel. Thank you for taking my call. Hey, Chase. Thanks for giving us a call.

What's your question? So this is a question concerning the Lord's Prayer. I grew up in the Church of Christ, which was a King James-only church, and so I was only exposed to the King James Version growing up. And it said at the end of it, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Amen. And then I look now at contemporary versions of the Bible that doesn't have that at the end of it, and it's really caused me concern because I just don't know how we as the body are to discern what really is the biblical text and what was extraneous things that are added. That's an excellent question, and we're getting here into the topic of textual criticism. Now I don't know if in your Bible, the Bible that you use now, there's a footnote, at least in mine. So look at Matthew chapter 6 verse 13. It ends, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. My footnote in the ESV says, or the evil one, and some manuscripts add, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Every Sunday, we pray the Lord's Prayer at the church that I pastor, and we include that doxology there at the end. There are some manuscripts that don't include it, earlier manuscripts, New Testament manuscripts, and there are others, usually the later manuscripts that do include this doxology. A couple of things, doxology, thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. It's this worship, this call to worship and praise.

A couple things that I would want to highlight for you. One, we're thinking about textual criticism and looking at New Testament manuscripts, or some people will make a big deal of this and they'll say, can we really trust the Bible? Are there cardinal doctrines that are questioned by these textual variants and whatnot?

But the reality is, this is not the case at all. We're looking at the text of scripture, and while there are textual variants, we're thinking about, what did the original say? There's a whole science at getting to the original, if you will, and even when there are variants, nothing is really called into question here. One of the reasons that people think that this doxology might have been added later is because oftentimes in the context of Christian worship, prayer or music would end with a kind of doxology. Some people think that this was kind of a liturgical edition where the church early on was praying the Lord's prayer and closing it off with this doxology, with this worship.

But another thing I think that you need to recognize is that the language is thoroughly biblical. This idea, yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Listen, this is Daniel 2, verse 37, you, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven is given the kingdom, the power, the might, and the glory. In other words, this doxology emphasizes there in that context, it's speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, but the doxology attributing to God ultimate sovereignty and glory. David prayed in 1 Chronicles 29, verses 10 and 11, blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in heaven and in the earth is yours.

Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. And so that language, what we can say is that it is biblical in a sense, certainly inspired. I mean, this is just language that's being drawn from the scriptures themselves, this attribution of glory and power and praise, the kingdom to God. And so I would just want to say to you, Chase, that whether you include that or don't, and some of the early manuscripts don't, those ideas are thoroughly biblical. And I don't think this calls into question the inspiration or authority of scripture.

And so that would be my encouragement to you. Chase, I just want to go back to you because it sounds like maybe there was, I know that there's some concern there. Does that make sense in terms of why at least some textual critics think, you know, it was added?

And did you want to follow up on anything? Yeah, I just, you know, a lot of people from my old life in the Church of Christ, they'll say, well, your Bible isn't a true Bible, because it doesn't include these things. And I can't argue that it's not true. You know, of course, like you said, it's thoroughly biblical language, and it's true, but it's really hard to get that criticism of your Bible isn't a true Bible, and the only true Bible is the King James version.

And that just, it really discourages me of like not knowing how to really tell that. Well, no, that's what I would just, what I would say in those conversations is, look, when we think about the authority and inspiration of the scriptures, we believe, right, that we have the inerrant, infallible Word of God. Paul says, all scripture is breathed out by God.

God breathed, 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. And we believe that the same God who inspired the scriptures preserved them through a process, right? And the way we get back to what the scriptures say is through textual, things like textual criticism.

So we do work, we got to do some work here. No doctrine, no Christian doctrine is called into question by that process of textual criticism, right? Like even that doxology there, we're not talking about, you know, man, your Bible is not true, it's been undermined or something like that. I think more than anything, it's a rhetorical argument because there's not really anything substantial there in terms of, you know, it would be one thing if they said, look, there are all these doctrines that we have that you don't have because you've taken them out of the Bible. But that's just not the case. The other thing is, just in terms of thinking about textual criticism, and we don't say that any one interpretation or translation of the Bible is the infallible inerrant Word of God, like the King James Bible.

We say that the original autographs were inspired perfectly. Those have been translated, but through the process of textual criticism, we're saying, this is what the Bible says and we have God's revelation for us. And so it's not that the ESV or the NASB or the King James Bible is the one that's been, you know, especially sanctioned by God.

That's just a wrong way of understanding, you know, how we think about scripture and its authority. And so there are bigger issues here, Chase, and there are some helpful resources out there on how we got the New Testament and the process of, you know, the idea of inspiration, the theology around that. Michael Krueger, I believe, has written some good things on the canon of scripture. He might be someone that you would think about looking at in terms of, you know, working through the idea of the origins and authority of scripture. He has a book called Canon Revisited, establishing the origins and authority of the New Testament book.

So resources like that can be helpful if you want to go deeper. And may God bless you and may God bless you in the conversations that you're having with some of your friends who are still in Church of Christ. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. I want to mention we have some great Bible studies available on our website. And these are studies you can use personally or in a small group setting. Yeah, these are wonderful 10-week Bible studies. And as Bill said, if you want to go through a book of the Bible on your own or you're looking to start something up at your church, what a great opportunity.

These studies are yours for a gift of $15 or more. We also have leader's guides. So if you are thinking about doing a group study with your church, we'll provide you with some additional resources to help you with that. And you can get a hold of these studies over at corechristianity.com. They are really wonderful. And again, we have those leader's guides available for you.

So as you're thinking about maybe a fall Sunday school class or starting up a small group, maybe check out some of those Bible studies online. There are several of them and they are excellent. You can find them at corechristianity.com forward slash studies. Well, we do receive voicemails here at the core and you can call us 24 hours a day. Leave your question on our voicemail system. Here's the number. It's 833 the core.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Here's a voicemail from one of our listeners named Teresa. I am a member of a evangelical church and I'm a teacher. They give teachers blessings before they go back to school knowing what we're faced with. Well, what my church decided to do was only to bless teachers that are affiliated with the Christian church that's attached to our school, but not with any of the public school teachers. And I felt like that was against the word of God, referring to the book of Romans 2, where it says God is no respecter of persons, that if we are members of that church or teachers that we should have all been blessed and just given the consideration because our jobs are very hard. Thank you for your time and attention and I hope that my message is clear. Hey, Teresa.

Well, thank you for that question. God bless you and why don't we just take a moment right now, brothers and sisters, to pray for all teachers everywhere, including Teresa. Teachers were teaching in the public school system, teachers were teaching in Christian schools. How about all those moms out there also who are homeschooling their kids, teaching? Let's pray for all teachers everywhere. Father, thank you for the gift of children and for the privilege that it is, Lord, to impact them, to share your truth, your wisdom with them. And I pray for Teresa. Thank you for this job that you've given to her.

Lord, we know what a difficult job it is. We ask that you would help her, that you would guide her, that you would grant her wisdom, and that you would bless her, Lord, that in all that she does she would honor you and that she would reflect your light and your love to the little children, Lord, that she is teaching and instructing. Lord, would you use her to be salt and light in the world and would you do that for all teachers everywhere, Lord God? Would you give them wisdom and your blessing, Lord, as they seek to impact the next generation?

In Jesus' name, amen. So the text you brought up, Teresa, in Romans chapter 2, where the apostle Paul is talking about the fact that God is not a respecter of persons. Verse 9, he's talking about judgment. He says, there will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil to the Jew first and also to the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek, for God shows no partiality. Just because you're ethnically a child of Abraham, if you will, just because you're culturally Jewish, that doesn't mean that you have God's special blessing. God's blessing is associated with those who have faith in Jesus Christ as covenant blessings. Jesus is a true Israelite, and it's in him that we experience the goodness, the blessing, the adoption of the people of God. By the way, in Acts chapter 10, you have similar language. In verse 34, Peter opened his mouth and said, truly, I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. That's the focus of those texts. Regardless of you're Hispanic, you're black, you're white, no, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. God isn't showing special privilege to this particular people group. The church is Catholic.

That is universal. That's the focus of those texts. I'm sorry that you felt left out, and we do want to encourage educators everywhere, especially those who are working and serving in places where the light of Christ desperately needs to be seen. May the Lord bless you and be with you. Teresa, thanks for reaching out to us. Teresa, thanks so much for listening to CORE Christianity. We do appreciate you and all the hard work you do as a public school teacher.

My wife taught for 12 years, and so she knows exactly what you are going through right now. This is CORE Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Charlotte calling in from Illinois.

Charlotte, what's your question for Adriel? I wondered why Jesus called Peter Satan and told him to get behind him. I don't understand why.

That's an excellent question. Yeah, we're looking at Matthew chapter 16 where Jesus is talking about his death, and Peter, he sort of steps in and objects. You're not going to die. You're not going to go to the cross. So Matthew chapter 16, Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. By the way, never a good idea to rebuke the Lord Jesus, but Peter is Peter. He pulls Jesus aside, begins to rebuke him, saying, far be it from you, Lord, this will never happen to you.

You're not going to die. You're not going to go to the cross. But Jesus turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan.

You are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. In other words, Charlotte, Jesus came and he had a mission. He came to put away the sins of the world. And the way he was accomplishing that was through his sacrificial death on the cross.

And Peter, he didn't realize this at the time. He thinks he's being a good disciple. He thinks he's telling you, no, Jesus, you're not going to die.

We're going to protect you. He doesn't realize what God's purpose and plan is. And he didn't until much later, probably not fully until the resurrection and then Pentecost later on. But that's the focus is on the priority, the centrality of the cross of Jesus. He came to put away our sins once and for all and nothing, not even Peter, not Satan, not the powers of hell.

We're going to get in the way of that mission that he had. 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.