Are We Saved by Faith or by Keeping the Law?

Are we saved by faith or by keeping the law? 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. Our phone lines are open.

You can call us with your question at 833-THE-CORE. Feel free to leave a voicemail as well. And of course, you can always email us your question at questions at COREChristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Amy calling in from Minnesota. Amy, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

First of all, I'd like to say hello, and Pastor Adriel, you are very knowledgeable in this, and it's so amazing to be on the air with you. I just had a question about Peter and why he did not literally fall in the water. Did he touch Jesus' hand? And was his faith not strong enough in his hand? Was his brain and his soul to literally not fall in the water, so to speak? Well, one, Amy, let me just say thank you for your kind words of encouragement.

I actually have a little earpiece, and the whole team feeds me the answers from outside the studio. It really is a delight to get to do this and to think about these passages of scripture, what God has said in his word and how we can relate it to our own lives and hear this story in particular with Jesus walking on the water. And Peter, in Matthew chapter 14, Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, this is verse 28, command me to come to you on the water. And he said, come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. And Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And so why did he sink? Well, Jesus attributed it to his doubt. He didn't trust the Lord. He didn't believe.

And boy, there are so many, I think, just practical sort of applications for us as we think about this. I mean, it's Peter looking at his surroundings. Circumstances. Circumstances, yeah, the wind and the waves and doubting, questioning whether or not God is going to keep him. Now, of course, there, the situation is, I mean, he's on the water. He's literally sinking. But how often in our own lives, Amy, as we're following the Lord, do we look around at our circumstances and we feel like we're sinking?

And maybe we are sinking in a very real sense. And God is saying, trust me. You can trust me.

You can believe in me. And so I think that there are lessons that we can draw from this, but certainly here, the two of them truly, literally on the water, Jesus teaching Peter that Peter can trust him. And of course, this is going to be a lesson that Peter is going to have to learn again and again. And certainly it's a lesson that we have to learn again and again as well, Amy. God bless.

Thank you again for giving us a call. You know, I think a lot of us look at that story and we say, what a putz. I mean, come on. You know, Jesus saying, walk in the water, Peter, what's the deal? You couldn't have enough faith. And yet he was willing to take that first step. How many of us would be willing to step out of that boat onto the stormy sea? Yeah, not me.

I don't know. You know, I stopped really, you know, it's easy when you first start reading the Bible, you read about these people and you just judge them. You're like, man, what a terrible David.

I remember when we first were reading through 1 and 2 Samuel with our kids and reading the story of David, how shocked our children were by King David. I think the more you read the Bible and the more you live life, the more you realize like, man, we're sinners. We are desperately in need of the grace of God. So I read these stories and I don't judge, you know, these Bible characters anymore. I just think, I know, Lord, that it's only by your grace.

Have mercy upon us and help us because this is just the reality. This is the reality and it was the reality for Peter too. I mean, Peter, he's sort of notorious for sticking his foot in his mouth over and over again in the Gospels. And then even after Pentecost, you know, after the resurrection, after Pentecost, still needing to be rebuked at times. You think of what Paul said in Galatians 2 where he confronted Peter because of what Peter was doing, because of his conduct. And so the Christian life is that, you know, we're struggling to trust in Jesus and to walk with him on the water of life, if you will.

Good analogy. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. You can email us anytime at questions at corechristianity.com. And of course, you can also leave us a voicemail at 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to Nancy calling in from Missouri. Nancy, what's your question for Adriel?

Hi, thank you so much. Are you hearing me okay? I'm on the road.

Hey, Nancy, drive safe. We can hear you well. Thank you. I am.

I'm on a good stretch. Thank you. And thanks so much for taking my call. And I agree with the previous caller. Pastor Sanchez, thank you for your wonderful answers. And I'm sorry I've forgotten the co-host, but even you saying, you know, look at Peter stepping out of the boat, you know, just to trust in the Lord. But anyway, both of you are doing an excellent job and I appreciate both of your counsel.

So mine is, I guess I'd say Christian life. And I'm sorry to say I'm still steaming about an action I took. But it had to do, I guess, a couple of years ago, the non-denominational church I was attending when the pastor had a point in his service. It's just a gathering. We're not in a formal building. But I trusted his walk and his spirit led by the point where he said, allegedly, I believe I'm hearing from God that someone in here can give this extraordinary amount of money. And I honestly felt I'm the only one who can do this because I came into a large amount of inheritance. And I believe he had such knowledge and I didn't jump up and down about it.

I thought, Lord, is this me? I'll be obedient kind of thing. I never had joy about handing this amount of money over. And I and what I learned after the fact, I didn't communicate with him, well, this is what I intend for you to do with the money. This is what I'd like you to do with the money. And I didn't ask, well, what were you going to do with this amount of money?

There wasn't the communication. And so I did have a sit down with him months later. And he said he even waited to deposit the money in case I was to come back. So in that interim, I was seeking out godly counsel and financial. And what I was getting was, well, you did this out of faith. But I was so desperate for an answer. Can I get my money back kind of thing?

But time had gone by and he went and deposit the check. So I just went on whatever counsel you're led to give me, I'll take it. Thank you.

Wow, Nancy. Well, a couple of things. First, I'm grateful for your heart to want to give. I mean, it sounds like this situation, and I'm going to speak about this situation because I have some concerns about how this pastor approached this situation. But I can tell that you desire to serve Jesus, to follow him, to be generous, to give to the work of the gospel. And those are all things, Nancy, that I just want to say, and that's pleasing to the Lord. That's good.

And so I want to commend you for that and thank you, sister, for, again, that desire. Now, I get really concerned when I start hearing pastors say things like, well, God is speaking to me and saying there's somebody here who can give a really large amount of money. That comes off, I mean, that's manipulative. That's a way of putting pressure on people. I think that the way in which we encourage people to give is not by saying God told me you need to give. It's by preaching the gospel faithfully and creating this sense of joy in the lives of the people that we're serving so that they want to contribute to the advancement of the gospel. What we're giving for, primarily, is for the work of ministry in the church. And so it sounds to me, just based on how all of this stuff sort of played out, it sounds to me like maybe this pastor's approach, I think that there are some serious issues there.

And Bill, I want to get your thoughts on this too. Now, of course, we know that giving is encouraged throughout the Scriptures. I oftentimes go to 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, and even really lavish, generous gifts. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9, verse 6, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And my concern with the way the pastor sort of went about this initially, as he was sort of giving this call for someone to give a lavish, extravagant gift, is that that can come off as, right, compulsion. You're kind of drawing people in reluctantly. Well, I guess if God is saying this, then maybe I need to do this.

I'm the only one who can. This must be a word from God. And I think that's, I don't think that that's, I'm very concerned about that. And I've seen some situations of spiritual abuse, and certainly also other situations where, like you said, where those resources are taken and they're used for things that aren't kingdom related.

Now, I don't know what these resources were used for, Nancy, and you don't have to share that. And so I'm saying, I got, there's some red flags there in terms of the way in which this pastor approached it. I think for you, knowing that when you give, you're giving out of a sense of wanting to serve and please the Lord. I think that knowing that that desire is honoring to Christ. But I would also just caution, I would say, you know, if this is the church that you're at, and this is kind of the practice, I would say, well, maybe it's time to consider something different.

And let me just go back to you, Nancy. Is that where you're continuing to worship? I mean, are you still having conversations with this pastor about this? No, I mean, thank you for drawing me into the conversation. I just quit. I mean, at the point where I thought, no, this wasn't right, because I appreciate the scripture you brought up.

I may even come across that. But there were points in the Old Testament passage how people willingly gave to build the temple, and it's that, and then the Christian scripture you were mentioning, I realized I wasn't willingly, well, I don't know, it wasn't my choice. I was, like you said, it was like I was under pressure.

And I thought I need to do this. And then because we didn't communicate, it went beyond the direction that I intended. So it just seemed to burn more in my heart. Well, this isn't what was supposed to happen.

Plus it was a large amount of money. And oh, well, I could have blessed this ministry, I would have rather have done this, that and the other. So it was the miscommunication and the large amount, and I'm sorry I didn't wait. Anyway, go ahead. Well, I just want to take a moment to pray for you, Nancy, and again to encourage you. And it sounds like you've learned quite a bit through this process. And just to reiterate for all of our listeners, yeah, if you're in a church where the pastor is making you feel guilty and sort of putting this burden upon you and drawing generosity from you, quote unquote, but out of reluctance, out of putting this sense of compulsion upon you, or saying God said you need to do this, God is speaking to me, as though your pastor had the direct line to God and God couldn't just communicate directly to you if he wanted to, right? Because you have the Holy Spirit too, and Jesus is your advocate too.

And so there's just a lot of issues there. And so I would just caution you listening, brothers and sisters, to watch out for that. We should give, again, because we're overwhelmed with the grace of God in our lives and because we are so on board with the mission of what is happening at the church, where the gospel is being preached, faithfully worship is being done according to the word of God. We're on board with that, we're excited about that, and so we want to contribute to that.

And we do so willingly, with joy. It sounds like the Lord has really taught you some things in and through this, and I just pray that the Lord blesses you as a result of all of these things, and wherever the Lord has you now, that the Lord blesses you at that church in particular and provides for all of your needs, and I thank you for your kindness, sister. Let's pray for Nancy right now. Father, God, we thank you for our sister. We ask Lord Jesus for your continued provision in her life. I thank you, Lord, just even that there would be a willingness, Lord.

I know that the way in which things unfolded and the way in which it came up initially, Lord, was not in accordance with your word, with the way in which this pastor went about this, but for Nancy, Lord, I know that her desire is to honor you and to walk with you, Lord, and to live according to your word, and I pray, Jesus, that you would fill her with your Holy Spirit, that she would do just that each day, Lord. Thank you for her. Thank you for the ways that you've blessed her. I pray that she would continually grow more and more in her faith and her understanding of your word, and Lord, that you would encourage her even today, Lord, that you're with her and that you would bless her at whatever church she's at now, Lord, that you would watch over her and keep her safe. In Jesus' name, amen.

Wow, I appreciate Nancy's heart as well. You can just hear, you know, she did this really hoping and praying that she could make a difference in this ministry and then feels betrayed, and I'm sure she's not the first person that's experienced that sort of thing. I get very concerned when I hear a pastor saying, God spoke to me and told me that you need to do this. That's wrong.

That's wrong. That's a recipe for spiritual abuse. There are all sorts of theological issues with that, biblical issues with that. I mean, I mentioned just, right, the idea that God can also, you know, if God is really saying something, he'll let me know, that kind of a thing. You know, it's not like you as the pastor have this special direct connection with God, and you're using that to control people, me. There's a lot of danger there, and my heart breaks, and this is one of the reasons why there is a stricter judgment for Bible teachers. You know, we pray every day, Bill, you know, before we do the broadcast, we just pray every day asking God for his mercy and for his wisdom, because doing this, answering questions about the Christian faith every day, frankly, terrifies me, and I pray to the Lord, and I say, God, have mercy. Help me, Lord. Help me to represent you well and to be faithful to your word and not to lead people astray. And I think every pastor and Bible teacher prays in that way, because it's a sobering thing to open up the word of God and to talk about it and to seek to represent the Lord and to teach others, and so we need humility, we need the help of God's Spirit, and there are some serious red flags that you can see out there, and certainly there were several as she shared that story. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adrian Sanchez. We want to tell you about a special group of people and actually say thank you to this special group.

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This is Amber. In 1 John, it says that if we love God, we will obey His command. My question is, how well do you have to be obeying to know that you know Him? Is it just a matter of trying to obey Him? Because there's so many commandments, how could you possibly be obedient in them all, or even remember them all?

Thank you so much. Yeah. Well, the truth is, Amber, every day, even as those who are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, we sin against God in our thoughts, in our words, in our actions, in our deeds. That does not justify the fact that we continue to sin.

That's not an excuse, but it's just the reality. None of us can perfectly obey the commandments of God. The law of God is pure, perfect, righteous. We are sinful, fallen, weak. We cannot be justified, accepted in God's sight, on the basis of our obedience to the law because we fall way short.

I think that's just really important to get out of the way. This is why we have the doctrine of justification, where all of our sins are forgiven, and we're accounted as righteous in God's sight solely because of the righteousness of Jesus imputed to you and received by faith alone. Your sins are forgiven through Christ, and you have the righteousness of Christ.

So think of it like this. Jesus Christ came into the world, lived the perfect life of obedience that we never lived. We fall short of keeping God's commandments, His law. Jesus lived that perfect life and then went to the cross and took what we deserved so that His perfect life might be given to us, His people. And on the basis of His righteousness, we might be justified and accepted before God. Now, as the justified, we are called to follow and obey the commandments of God. And by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we do begin to love God's word and His law even only by the grace of the Holy Spirit. So this is not something that it's like, oh, I got to do this to be accepted by God, and I can do it.

I do it by just trying hard. No, we can't. It's not something that we conjure up in and of ourselves. This is the grace of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives to give us understanding, to help us, to guide us, to lead us, to obey the Lord.

Yet still, even there, as I already said, we're not going to do it perfectly. We can perform truly good works before God, works done out of faith through the grace of the Holy Spirit that are pleasing to the Lord. But we can't perform perfectly good works before God because we still have indwelling sin. And so I think it's helpful for you to understand, Amber, that you're justified by faith in Jesus Christ. You've already been accepted by God. You have the righteousness of Jesus Christ credited to you. Now, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, you get to follow the Lord and obey the commandments. And really, when we think about obedience to God, we're thinking about the two commandments, really that sum up the entire law, Jesus says, loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. You're not going to do it perfectly.

No one can. But by the grace of the Spirit, God is in a work in you so that we begin to love him more and more each day and love our neighbor as ourselves. Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adrian Sanchez. Here's an email question from one of our listeners.

This is Sean. Sean says, I was wondering if listening to the Bible is the same as reading the Bible. I walk around my job listening to the audio Bible and I'm able to visualize what I'm hearing better than when I read because I have ADHD. It's hard for me to concentrate on reading without getting distracted.

Yeah, I think both are great. And I mean, obviously depends on kind of what you're doing. Maybe you have a long commute or maybe you're at work and it just works for you to be able to listen to the audio Bible.

I think that that's wonderful. And there are there are pros to that. I think there are also pros to sitting down and really reading through verses of Scripture and having, you know, a notepad nearby and digging in in that way. Sometimes, you know, what's helpful with that is, you know, when you're just listening to it, it can just sort of go by. But when you're reading each verse on your own, you can stop.

Right. You don't have to hit the pause button. You can just stop and meditate upon it.

And so I would I would say do both. But praise the Lord that you have an opportunity to listen to Scripture even while you work. And may God use that to build you up in your relationship with the Lord and to encourage you in your faith. God bless and thank you for listening to the CORE. 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.