How Do I Know if I’ve Truly Given My Life to Christ?

How do I know if I've truly given my life to Christ? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day.

We would love to hear from you. You can call us right now for the next 25 minutes or so with your question. Here's the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on Instagram or YouTube, and you can always email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Isaiah, who's calling in from Kansas. Isaiah, what's your question for Adriel? Hi. Hey, how are you doing? I'm doing well, Isaiah. How are you?

I'm doing pretty good. Thank you for accepting my phone call, and thank you for answering my question. My question was, because I've been tapping in a little bit and reading a lot more, praying a lot more, and also watching videos on YouTube about Christianity and things like that. As a Christian dating outside of other Christians, what is the gist of that?

I'm just wanting to know how does that all... Yeah, no, that's a really good question. First, I just want to say, man, I'm grateful to hear that you're growing in your relationship with God, that you're studying God's Word, that you're growing in prayer, that you're finding helpful resources out there to encourage you in your walk with the Lord. I think that that's really wonderful. With regard to your question, is it okay for Christians to date outside of the faith or to date people that aren't believers, I would say, what's the purpose of dating? Hopefully, the purpose of dating, if you're taking this seriously, is that you want to marry this individual.

You're pursuing this person in a way that's hopefully leading somewhere. The most fundamental question that we have to ask when we're thinking about who we're going to spend our lives with is, well, is this person in the Lord? It's interesting, because in the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 7, also in 2 Corinthians Chapter 6, Paul makes it really clear that when it comes to who it is that we pursue for marriage, for example, there isn't a checklist where he says they have to be these 17 different things. He just says they have to be in the Lord.

Fundamentally, they have to be united to Jesus Christ by faith. We don't pursue relationships, romantic relationships, with those who are outside of Christ. That doesn't mean that you can't have a friendship and that you can't grow in that friendship, but I think that you really have to define the relationship. It should be something that's very clear where you say, hey, this is not something that's going to go further than a friendship if this person is not a believer. I do know there have been many stories of people who have come to Christ through dating relationships, but I'm not in favor of what's sometimes referred to as missionary dating. I'm going to date this person into the church.

I think that that's not wise. Additionally, if you're dating someone, the relationship with the Lord that you have, I mean, that's something that you want to be able to grow in together as well as you're thinking about marriage. In terms of Scripture, there is that text in 2 Corinthians Chapter 6, Verse 14, where Paul said, Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. That means don't be unequally joined together with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?

Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share?

Share with an unbeliever. What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. And so, Isaiah, if you are in Christ, if you believe in Jesus, you are the temple of the living God.

You're filled with the Holy Spirit, and we're called to, in relationships and romantic relationships, to pursue those who are in Christ as well. And so, Isaiah, I just want to go back to you, because it sounds like you're really beginning to grow in your faith. Are you plugged into a local church right now? To be honest with you, I kind of do my own worship. I talk and I pray, I read, and I listen to worship songs on my own. I really haven't found my own church, just due to feeling like I just necessarily didn't belong. One thing I really read in a Bible that my grandma spoke to me about, because she's a preacher, she always told me that God in church, that they read about God telling his people to come as you are, and you're not really supposed to be trying to impress anyone but him. And so, when I have went to church, out of the 26 years I've been living, I just really didn't necessarily feel like I belonged, because I was always being judged by how I dressed or how I looked, and not being able to have a lot growing up. And so, it kind of deterred me away from going to church and just starting to read and try to grasp understanding on my own, which is why I've been listening to YouTube, some of the sermons and teachings on YouTube, and reading, and getting information like I'm doing now, calling in to you guys and trying to gather information. That was your experience, and I don't doubt it at all.

I mean, it's heartbreaking for me. I'm a pastor of a local church, and so I hear stories like this all the time. And there are people who are driven away from the church because they're mistreated, or people are partial to other people, not to them within the church, or they're pushed out for one reason or another, maybe because of the way they look or the way that they dress.

And so, I'm sorry to hear that that happened to you. Let me just say, you do belong. You do belong to the church through Jesus Christ, because when we receive the forgiveness of our sins by faith in His name, we are joined together not just with Him, but with a family of believers. Now, that family of believers is imperfect, and you want to find a church that's committed to the teachings of Christ, that isn't showing partiality.

I mean, James talks about that. It would be a great book maybe for you to read, is the book of James in the New Testament. He talks about not showing partiality to people within the church, not mistreating the poor and then treating the rich, like, hey, you come sit over here, have this special seat. It's a real problem today, and it was a problem then as well, but I just want to say, brother, you do belong, and Jesus is the one who has made you belong. And because of what Jesus has done for you, you're growing in your faith with Him. Get plugged in to a church where the Word of God is faithfully taught, and you can grow together with other Christians who are seeking to walk with Christ and to encourage one another. God has gifted you in certain ways, Isaiah, and He's going to use your gifts for the building up of the body of Christ, and so don't withhold yourself from the church.

Don't withhold those gifts that God has given to you from the local church. We're all called to be in local churches growing together with believers under the ministry of the Word, and so I want to leave you with that encouragement, and I want to take just a quick moment to pray for you as well, that the Lord would bless you and guide you in the days ahead. Father, we thank you for Isaiah.

Thank you, Lord. For the work that you've been doing in his life, in recent days, Lord, his desire to read your Word, his desire to commune with you in prayer. I pray that you would continue to sanctify him, to grow him in grace, and I do ask, Lord, that you would guide him to a solid church, Lord, where your Word is prized and protected and proclaimed with courage and with boldness. With the saints there, and that he would be an encouragement to the people around him. Would you grant him wisdom, purity, and a firm devotion to you? I ask in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. In the book of Amos, chapter 5, verse 15, it says, Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate. So my question really quick here is Psalm 139, verses 21 and 22, particularly verse 22. And I know David had a lot of frustration with his enemies and stuff, but it starts at 21, but particularly 22 says, I hate them with perfect hatred, and I count them my enemies.

I've never understood that, because we're allowed to hate what is evil, but that's about as far as we should be hating, isn't it? I mean, can you explain that verse to me? Yeah, Dave, thank you for bringing this text up. Psalm 139, we oftentimes focus on the middle part of the psalm, you know, where David says, You formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I mean, really just so much beauty there. And then he goes on to talk about, you know, how he's staying away from the wicked. He's calling on God's judgment upon the wicked. O that you would slay the wicked, O God, O men of blood, depart from me.

I mean, he wants nothing to do with them. And David knew these kinds of guys. They speak against you with malicious intent. Your enemies take your name in vain. These are those who hate God and hate his people. And so David says in verse 21, Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

I hate them with complete hatred. I count them my enemies. And in part, I think what you have here is also first under the Old Covenant, right? You think about the conquest, for example. Israel called to drive out the Canaanites fully and definitively.

Why? Because they were the enemies of God. They were committing heinous acts of idolatry and abuse and sin. And God had actually given them a lot of time to repent.

They didn't repent. So finally, after years and years and years, centuries, really, of this sinful behavior, the Israelites were to drive them out. We might say with a perfect hatred, with the judgment of God.

And that's in part, I think, the attitude that David has here. As the king in Israel called to execute justice and judgment, he bears the sword. In the Old Testament, it's interesting, you know, because you had kind of this merging. We weren't totally the same, but you had this merging of the church and the state in some sense, where in Israel, you know, you had this religious spiritual authority that was delegated to men like King David. But you also had this judicial authority called to exercise judgment, called to exercise the sword.

Well, that's what the civil government does today, according to the Apostle Paul. So we have to understand where we are in redemptive history, but I think specifically what David is highlighting is his role as the king to judge wicked and, you know, injustice, to stand up for that which is right and which is good, and to stand against those who do evil. And again, he describes them in verse 19, the men of blood, that is, those who shed the blood, the blood of the innocent. He's saying, I stand against them, Lord God, because they are your enemies.

And so he's called to execute judgment as the king in Israel. Now, of course, we have to again understand where we are in redemptive history and take all of that into account. And we're reminded of the words of our Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, verse 43. You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you who may be sons of your father who is in heaven, for he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Dave, thank you for your question. I think in terms of applying that verse today for us, we are called to hate that which is evil, to loathe all sin, both in us and around us, and to stand against it. And so may God give us the courage to do that. God bless you. You're listening to Quora Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Love to hear from you if you've got a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Maybe doctrine or theology has been on your mind lately.

Maybe there's something going on in your own Christian walk where you've got some kind of a struggle. We would love to pray for you. Here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Rob in Oklahoma. Rob, what's your question for Adriel? Hey, Rob, are you there? Yes, sir. Hey, how are you doing?

I'm good. My question is actually first I want to say thank you for taking my question. My question is, I've read the Bible several times and I just wonder in areas where it says, such like as in the flood, things like that where it says the world flooded, do you believe that that's the world or do you believe it was just the area that they were in because they didn't really know what the world was at that time? Hey, great question. Well, there are a couple of ways that people have taken. I mean, there are several ways people have taken this. One way is that, well, that's just all sort of stories and fairy tales and that kind of. This is meant to give us a moral lesson, sort of like Aesop's fables.

Well, that should be rejected. What we have in Genesis is history. It's theology, but it's also history. So anything that says, well, that flood that didn't actually really happen I think is not a position that we should hold to. Additionally, there are some who say, well, the flood, when it talks about the flooding of the world, it's probably referring to that ancient Near Eastern world. It doesn't have to be the entire planet. So there are some who take that view.

Now, that view is not as bad as the view that I mentioned before, but I still don't take that view either. I think that in Genesis when the flood is described and when it's described in other places, it encompasses the entire planet. It's this worldwide judgment. So I believe it affected the entire world. In fact, when you read places like 2 Peter, that flood judgment is analogous to or foreshadows the final judgment, which isn't just in a small area. It's the judgment of the whole world that Peter talks about in 2 Peter 3 specifically. So that's how I take it, but like I said, I think that there are believers, Christians, who love the Lord, who take the more localized view of the flood, and so that's debated.

But I think, biblically speaking, the best view is this is a worldwide flood. You're listening to Core Christianity with Adriel Sanchez, and we have some great Bible studies we want to tell you about if you want to dig into God's Word, the Old or the New Testament. We have a variety of studies that will really help you grow in your faith both personally and maybe in a small group setting. Bill, one of the things that's important for believers, we just had Isaiah on earlier, a newer believer, someone who's just beginning to grow in his understanding of the Word and diving deeper into his faith and prayer. It's so important that we do that, and it's so important that we do that with good resources, with resources that are faithful to God's Word.

There's a lot of stuff out there, brothers and sisters, that isn't so helpful. Some of it just flat out twists Scripture, and so one of the things we've sought to do here at Core Christianity is provide you with solid, biblically faithful resources, and one of the resources I just want to mention right now is a ten-week study on the Book of Romans. The Book of Romans, I mean, just one of...

I mean, every book of the Bible is important and influential, but the Book of Romans was used by the Lord mightily, especially during the time of the Protestant Reformation, to have an impact on men like Martin Luther. And so I want to encourage you to get a hold of this resource, this ten-week study on the Book of Romans. It's yours for a donation of $15 or more, and you can download it as a PDF or get a physical copy over at corechristianity.com.

By the way, we also have leader's guides on all of our Bible studies, so if you're leading a small group or a Sunday school class and you'd like some guidance on how to go through these studies, we'd love to get those to you as well. You can find out more by going to corechristianity.com forward slash radio. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash radio.

Well, we do receive voicemails here at the Core, and you can call us 24 hours a day and leave your question for Adriel. Here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Jared. In my personal studies, I've been looking at this commentary. It's from Romans, and it says, Jesus Christ is not looking for people who want to add him to their life as an insurance against hell. He is not looking for people who want to apply his high moral principles to their unregenerate lives. He calls to himself those who are willing to die with him in order to be raised with him. And my question is, with regards to the new birth, how do we reconcile that with the war that still rages within us, of there still being inclinations to sin or evil dispositions against others and against God? How can one know if they truly believe or if they have just outwardly reformed their life and still have a dead heart?

Thank you. Hey, Jared, God bless you, and thank you for that question. Of course, the Bible does at times speak of wholehearted devotion to the Lord. I mean, this is one of the things that seemed to characterize King David, for example, where he was wholly devoted to the Lord, a man after God's own heart. But then you also look at David's life, and you see sin. And so we have to be really careful when we use that kind of language. And I think people, especially those of us with sensitive consciences, we wrestle with this because we say, okay, am I fully devoted to the Lord? I just had that bad thought. Oh, I did this good thing, but was I doing it for the right reasons?

Was I being selfish? And we can get into this sort of downward spiral of picking every single thing that we do apart and examining it and realizing it's tainted and then feeling completely destitute and despairing. And so some of it, I would just say sometimes we just use unhelpful language in terms of calling people to what it looks like in terms of calling people to follow the Lord. Of course, we are called to give ourselves wholly to the Lord, but no one does that perfectly. No one does that perfectly.

Not one of us do. We still have these parts of us indwelling sin, indwelling sin that's still there that we wrestle with and that we're going to wrestle with, and that battle is described in places like Romans 7 and Galatians 5. So I think it's just being aware of that. It's recognizing that I'm called to follow the Lord with my whole heart, and I trust in Christ, but there is this battle that's waging, and I need God's grace and the help of His Spirit to walk with the Lord. And this is what Paul says again in Galatians.

Walk in the Spirit that you may not fulfill the desires of the flesh. I think it's helpful to flip the whole thing on its head, though, and say, look, yes, we're called to follow the Lord, to take up our cross and follow Jesus, and we recognize that time and time again we do that poorly. But where we rest, where we have confidence, what we sink our teeth into, is the fact that Jesus Christ was wholeheartedly devoted to His people, to you and to me. When we're talking about perfect devotion, we can only look to Jesus. So we go to Him with our shortcomings, with our failures, with the things inside of us, where we feel like there's this contradiction.

I know I want to follow God, but then I still am struggling with sin. We go to Him with all of that. We go to the one who is righteous, Jesus Christ the righteous, who made propitiation for our sins. That's why John says in 1 John, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin, but if anyone sins, we have an advocate. You have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ, the righteous.

He is the righteous one, and He is perfectly atoned for all of our sins, for all of our wanderings, for that imperfection in us so that we might have life. And so we have to put our confidence, our hope, first and foremost in Jesus and what He's done, and rest in that, rest in that reality. And from that place, say, Lord, give me grace to daily walk with You, by Your Spirit put to death the sinful deeds of the body that I still struggle with, that I still wrestle with. Help me, Lord. Help me to confess my sins truly to You. And even to have the desire to do that, because sometimes I don't even have the desire. Sometimes I can't even see what those sins are, Lord. Illuminate my mind and my heart. And, brother, God answers that prayer because it's His will that we're sanctified.

And so you go to Him with that humility, knowing that He's already done, He's done the work, giving you access to Him through the redemptive work of Jesus. God bless you. Amen.

Good word. Thank you for that, Adriel. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. You can always email us your question. Here's our email address. It's questions at corechristianity.com.

Here's one from one of our listeners. Where in Scripture does it give an example of the apostles forgiving people? So I'm wondering what you're getting at specifically if you're thinking about the idea of absolution, the apostles declaring the forgiveness of sins. One of them might be in the Gospel of John.

Again, I'm sort of guessing at what you're getting at here. But in the Gospel of John, in John 20, after Jesus' resurrection from the dead, He appears to the disciples there after His resurrection. He says, Peace be with you. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. And then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. And Jesus said to them, Peace be with you, as the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you withhold forgiveness from them, it is withheld.

So there's a lot of complexity here. We know that God is the one who forgives sins, but He seems to be giving His Church this authority, not the authority to forgive sins in the exact same sense that God does, but to declare the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the word of God so that those who confess their sins, ministers can say, By the grace of God, you're forgiven. 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.