How Do I Know if I’m in a False Church?

How do I know if I'm in a false church? 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. Our phone lines are open. We'll be taking calls for the next 25 minutes or so. If you have a question for Adriel, here's the number.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites, and of course you can always email us your question at questions at corechristianity.com. And by the way, if you are a podcast listener, we actually have a Core Christianity podcast. Yeah, and many of you I know are podcast listeners.

Can you believe it? We've done something like 1,300 Core Christianity episodes. So if you want to play catch-up, you can do that on our podcast. And one of the reasons we're bringing this up right now is because I want to ask you, if you're listening, whether it's on the radio or podcast, would you review us, whatever the platform is that you use for podcasts, whether that's Apple Podcasts or whatever it is, would you give us a review? A five-star review, preferably, but, you know, go with your heart.

And especially if you would write us a review as well, that would be really helpful. I want to read just one of them that we got here. This is great. I recommend that every follower of Christ listen to this podcast daily. It's a great thing to set some time aside each day on top of daily prayer and scripture study to learn something new about the Gospel. Thanks for an awesome podcast. Thanks for an awesome review, and I agree.

Reading the Word and praying every day a wonderful thing. And so, yeah, give us a review. Write us a review. That would be really, really helpful. I don't know how it all works, but I guess, you know, the more of those you get, the more, you know, it sends your information out there into the Internet land. And other people can discover Core Christianity as well. And so that's what we want. And thank you for your support. We want more and more people in Internet land, at least our Internet land. So make sure you check that out. And Adriel is right. If you review us or give us a five-star, more and more people will hear about Core Christianity and then they can download the podcast, too.

And then our producer will be very happy and he'll play lots of clapping sound effects, which is one of his favorite things to do. All right, let's go to the phones. Eric is on the line from Iowa.

Eric, what is your question for Adriel? Hi, my question is, recently, I heard someone say they were saved when they were baptized. And I've heard people say they were saved through baptism. So then I was reading in Luke.

I've been reading Luke in Luke 13. It says, no, I tell you, unless you repent, you will likewise perish. So I had a question about baptism, repentance, and then you look at Acts 16. It says, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. So I'm wondering, you know, I know that belief in Jesus seems to be the key thing. But these other verses, and then that comment about baptism, I'm just wondering about repentance and baptism. Where do they fit into salvation? Are they part of it? Can each of those by themselves save a person? That's my question.

Hey, Eric, good question. And, you know, I understand why there could be some confusion here, especially when we talk about being saved by repentance. And the question is, well, how good does my repentance have to be? Are we talking about, like, every day, am I getting saved again? Or am I getting saved again after I struggle with sin or commit a sin, and then I repent?

So it's been defined in different ways. If we think about repentance unto life, you know, that initial turning away from our sins, because we recognize that they're heinous, we recognize we're confessing that they're wrong, agreeing with God and His word, and laying hold of Jesus by faith. And that's what saves us. Jesus is the one who saves us, and in repentance we're looking away from ourselves and turning away from our sins and looking to Christ. So sometimes repentance has been defined sort of as the negative aspect of faith, that turning away from our sins or turning away from ourselves, seeking to justify ourselves or to save ourselves by our own good works, turning away from that and turning to Jesus and laying hold of Him by faith. And so we're saved by grace through faith, and that's a turning towards the Lord, laying hold of Him by faith. And the Christian life is one of everyday repentance. Now, we're not more saved or more justified, at least on the basis of our repentance, because justification, being made right in God's sight solely by the forgiveness of sins and the gift of Christ's righteousness given to us, imputed to us, received by faith alone, and that's definitive. That's done.

That doesn't go up and down. We don't have that more or less based upon how we're doing in the Christian life, whether we're doing a really good job repenting one day or not. But we are called every single day to turn to the Lord, to put to death our sins by the power of the Holy Spirit, as Paul says in Romans 8. And so the Christian life is one of daily repentance as well, of growing in grace, and we sometimes associate that with the word sanctification, that process of inward renewal as we're made more and more into the image of Jesus Christ. And you also asked about baptism, when people say, well, I was saved by baptism. We're saved by faith. Faith is the instrument of our justification, but God uses means, and baptism certainly is a sign and a seal of our salvation, of our being united to Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection. It's a real means of grace, which is to say that God, the Holy Spirit, is at work in and through these promises.

He's the one who's acting in these ordinances or in these sacraments that Christ gave to the Church, instituted as these clear pictures, exhibiting His salvation and His grace, which is real and for the people of God. And so hopefully that helps to clear up some of the confusion, Eric. I think we want to avoid two pitfalls. The one is that we're becoming more and more justified the more we repent. No, we're justified by faith. That's a definitive act that God does. But also, you know, anything that would say that repentance is not a big deal or turning from our sins is not a big deal, you know, I'm saved, this sort of easy believism thing, and then I can just go live however I want.

Well, no. Paul says that's certainly not the case. We're justified by faith, and we're saved unto good works so that we might pursue God and submit to His word and follow Him by the grace of His Spirit and as His children. Thank you for reaching out to us, and may the Lord bless you, Eric.

Just a follow-up question for you, Adriel. My daughter's youth group was doing a mission project in another state, and the church that hosted them, the pastor told the young people, if you are not baptized, you cannot be a Christian. In other words, it's the baptism process itself that makes you saved.

How would you respond to that? Well, in our day and age, Mike, I feel that for many we've minimized the importance of what we call the means of grace, of those ordinances that Jesus gave to us, baptism and the Lord's Supper. And Jesus did say in Matthew chapter 28, when He gave the Great Commission, Go into all the world and make disciples. And He defined that by the words, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you. And so at the heart of the Christian life and growth in grace is, yeah, we're baptized disciples of Jesus Christ. We're baptized into the church. Now, that doesn't mean that baptism by itself, apart from faith, saves us.

No, it's the work of the Holy Spirit through faith, as I've already said. But we don't ever want to minimize the importance of baptism as this covenant sign that God gives us, whereby through which we enter into the visible church. So I would say, you know, depending on what this pastor meant, you know, was he trying to say, you know, hey, you're saved by your baptism and this sort of act, regardless of, you know, whether you believe in Jesus or not, that's what it's all about.

Well, no, I would have an issue with that. But I also have an issue with the many, many in our day who are minimizing and relativizing the importance of the means of grace. Jesus gave us these things for a reason. And it's important for us that we honor the Lord and we understand his word with regard to baptism and the Lord's Supper, I might add, because the Lord's Supper is also a means of grace for the church today. And so I appreciate that follow-up, Bill, and love getting into these discussions about baptism. I know that's something that our listeners are really interested in.

Thanks for that, Adriel. You're listening to 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.

Maybe there's a passage of scripture that's always kind of confused you and you'd like some clarification on it or something that seems to be a conflict in scripture and you're wondering, how can that be true? Give us a call. 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Don calling in from Missouri. Don, what's your question for Adriel? Yeah, hello.

Hey, Don. My question is on Mark 1537. My preacher a week ago talked about this, and when he came to the part, Jesus was saying, My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? All he sought this was God turning his back on Jesus while he actually put his wrath, punishing the sin Jesus took. And my preacher had a different idea when he said, God don't turn his back on sin. I'd just like you to comment on this.

Yeah, thank you for that question. We're talking about here the cry of dereliction. Jesus saying, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now, the first thing you need to know is that's a quotation Jesus is quoting from Psalm 22, which begins with those words. The words of the psalmist as he's crying out to the Lord.

This was his sense. He was under the judgment of God. And so Jesus is praying in our place the words of the psalmist. And what is he experiencing there at the cross? You're a hundred percent right, Don, that he's experiencing the judgment, the judgment that was due to us for our sins, the curse of the law.

And this way you have darkness and clouds and, you know, this sense of foreboding. It wasn't just that Jesus suffered a terrible, terrible death. It's that he was bearing the weight of our sins and enduring the curse that we deserve. What does it mean that he was, quote unquote, forsaken? And this is where there's been all sorts of debate about, you know, well, was it that the persons of the Holy Trinity were separated while Jesus was on the cross?

No, we couldn't say that. We would never say that our understanding of the atonement can't undermine our doctrine of God, our understanding of who God is. And so it's not that the persons of the Holy Trinity are all of a sudden out of communion or something like that, but in a real sense, Jesus is enduring our curse, this sense of overwhelming curse truly for us, for our sakes.

And so that's why he's saying that. It's confirming what the Apostle Paul said in the book of Galatians that he became a curse for us and took upon himself the curse of the law. So I don't understand or know really, you know, what all your pastor was trying to get at there, but if he was trying to guard against the idea that the persons of the Holy Trinity were broken or severed at the cross, well, then I think that that's good.

I think that's important. But if he was minimizing the reality of the curse that Jesus endured for us when he went to the cross, well, then I think that that's a problem. You know, the Apostle Paul said that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us, those who are being saved, it's the power of God.

The cross is the central message of the Christian faith, that God has taken our sins upon himself so that we might be justified, so that we might have life. It's the great exchange, and it's what the Apostles proclaimed, and it's what we need to be proclaiming from our pulpits today. God bless.

So well said. Thank you for that. And Don, thanks so much for listening to CORE Christianity. We really do appreciate you. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, we would love to hear from you. 833-THE-CORE is our number. That's 1-833-843-2673. By the way, if you get our voicemail, you can feel free to leave a message anytime, 24 hours a day. We do our best to review our voicemail messages each day. Let's go to Jeff, who's calling in from Nebraska.

Jeff, what's your question for Adriel? Yeah, I just started going to a new church, and the pastor there seems to preach a lot from books from secular writers rather than the Bible or theologians. He does preach a little bit from the Bible, too, but I don't know if I should stay there or if I should find another church.

I have a lot of family and friends that go to that church and just love it, but I don't hear a lot of preaching from the Bible. Anytime, Jeff, I hear somebody say, you know, I have a pastor who preaches from the Bible a little bit, that raises, I mean, some red flags big time, because the job of ministers is to proclaim the Word of God. Think about what Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 1, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the Word.

Be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. Think about how solemn that charge is that Paul gave to Timothy. In the presence of God I charge you, and of Jesus, the judge of the living and the dead, by his appearing, his kingdom, preach the Word is the main thing. And so, I don't know, Jeff, if this minister, can I just go back to you really quickly, Jeff, if he's just quoting secular writers, or when you say he's preaching from that, I'm just trying to understand, has he got a newspaper up there while he's preaching and he's just going through that?

I mean, what exactly is happening here? Well, he'll take and he reads books, like if he reads a book from a man that used to be an atheist, but he found God in his search to prove there wasn't a God. And then he talks about that, which, you know, sometimes I don't think that that stuff is bad, but I thought going to church was to learn the Bible and to understand some of the things that we learn in the Bible, and I just really don't hear a lot of that. I feel like he's trying to do the work of the Holy Spirit and teach the parishioners to love and, you know, like there was a, he was pitching on Black Lives Matter, but he specified not the group and how we're supposed to love everybody. And to me, all lives matter, and just, but he preaches out of books like that rather than the Bible, and I don't, I just don't feel right about it, but I don't know how to say anything either. Well, well, well, Jeff, what I would recommend is one, I think, and boy, let's create this kind of culture in our churches where there are open lines of communication between, you know, people there worshiping and the leadership.

And so I think it's okay and right for you to go to your pastor and to go with all humility and prayerfulness and say, hey, this is a concern or a feeling that I have. I want to grow in my understanding of the scriptures, and I wonder if sometimes with some of these illustrations that you give or these other books that you're sort of bringing into play, are we taking away from, are you taking away from that study of the scriptures? Now, is there anything wrong with pastors giving illustrations or using stories, you know, this atheist came to Christ and, you know, you're using the story to illustrate a point in your sermon? There's nothing wrong with that. So long as we're focused on the scriptures, and the goal of illustrations is to help create more clarity with regard to what the teaching of the scripture is.

It's not about just telling stories. I have an issue with that, too, Jeff, and I would just encourage you and say, brother, pray and with all humility have a conversation with your pastor, and it may be that through that conversation you begin to understand more and more, okay, this is kind of his approach, and maybe his style of preaching is a little bit more different than what I'm used to. But I understand where he's coming from, and I can sit under the ministry here because there is a focus on God's word, or maybe you find through these conversations that you're on two different pages and that there isn't a focus on that expository preaching of scripture. And if that's the case, then that's where you have a decision to make, and you have to say, okay, well, Lord, should I go somewhere else? I feel like I'm not growing in my understanding of the word, and this is a charge that's given to pastors, and it's not happening here.

But I would just say don't jump to any conclusions, and with humility and prayer, have a conversation with your pastor, and may God bless you and give you wisdom as you do that. Jeff, thanks so much for your call. Appreciate your dedication to God's word and your concerns there, and we pray that that conversation will go well. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We want to mention a great resource we have available to you. We have a lot of Catholic listeners to this program and Protestant listeners who have friends or relatives who are Catholic, and there are some definite theological differences between those two faith traditions, and we have created a resource that really spells out those differences.

The resource is called What Still Divides Us? The Differences Between Protestants and Roman Catholics, and as Bill was saying, that is a question that we get frequently here on the broadcast, and so we hope that you'll take advantage of this, especially if you're a rebel. We know we have many Roman Catholic listeners, and we're so grateful for you joining us on the broadcast, and we know many of you have family members where there's differences of opinion on some of these doctrines, so get a hold of this resource. I think it'll be helpful, and you can get it over at corechristianity.com forward slash radio.

Again, it's called What Still Divides Us? We think it'll be really helpful to you. By the way, we do get voicemails here at Core Christianity.

You can call us anytime and leave your question for Adriel. Here's a question that came in from one of our listeners named Chris. My question is, regarding my church that I've been attending for some years now, I've just been noticing some concerning changes that have been taking place. There's been a lot of leadership roles that have come and gone. Our main pastor has been being switched around a lot, and there seems to be a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes that I'm not really fully aware about. I just see the outcome of what's going on, and it just seems a little off. Should I be concerned about these things to the point where maybe I should start looking for a different church, or should I stay longer and see how things really come about?

I appreciate this question so much, brother, and of course, from where I'm seated, I don't have all of the insight into your situation. I would, just given what I've heard, say it's a good opportunity to have conversations with the leadership that is there. It sounds like your church is really in a time of transition right now, and often when there's new leadership that's coming in or a new pastor that's coming in, there are changes to things, maybe stylistic changes, maybe just a change in terms of emphasis with regard to ministry or particular ministries. I think you should actually expect, if there's leadership changes happening, you should expect, okay, things are going to be different. The question is, are the right things, the main things, still prioritized?

We get this question often. How do I know I'm in a real church, a true church, where I should look for another church? What you need to understand is there are what we call the marks of the church.

This is just coming out of what the Bible teaches. You can identify true churches based upon these marks, and the first mark is the pure preaching of the gospel, an emphasis upon God's word and teaching God's word. If a church does not have the preaching of the gospel, if the word is not there, then it's not a church. You can have some sort of social club or religious gathering, but it's not a gospel church, a church of our Lord Jesus Christ if the word isn't there, because the church is created by the word. God breathed his church into existence, if you will, through the preached word, and so this foundational mark, the preaching of the word, is that happening? How about worship? Is worship being conducted according to God's word? Do you think of the ordinances that Jesus gave, baptism and the Lord's Supper?

Are those things prioritized? Is that being protected, guarded, the discipline of the church growing together with other believers? Is this a church that takes sin seriously, or do they not take sin seriously? These are the marks of the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what it should look like, and so I would say if that's happening, if the word of God is still being preached, even though you're in this season of transition, and there's a concern for the care of the congregation, the people that are there, then I would say wait it out and see how God might use you to encourage the body there with the gifts that he's given to you to build up the saints and how you can come alongside of the needs that are there, and so appreciate the question. May God give you wisdom as you move forward and bless you at that church. God bless. Join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.