Why Don’t Churches Teach the Law to Lead to the Gospel?

Why don't churches teach the law to lead to the gospel? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, it's 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. Here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. If you get our voicemail, feel free to leave your question there for Adriel. And of course, you can always email us anytime at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Donald calling in from Omaha, Nebraska. Donald, what's your question for Adriel? Yes. Thank you, Pastor Sanchez.

Thank you very much. Question, two-part question. And I've got a lot, of course, listen to you, your answer. First part question, I have a Bible study here going on. And the question comes up or came up about once we get our glorified bodies and we are in heaven, will we remember, consciously remember, the things that happened to us on earth? Typically now with the case going on in Israel, whatever, the children, the adults, whatever, if they are in fact saved, once they get their glorified body, when they get to heaven, will they consciously remember that, yes, I was shot dead or whatever, or I had cancer or whatever it may be, will they consciously remember that? And what are the biblical scriptures to back that up?

That's the biggest thing. What are the biblical scriptures to back that up? Secondarily, and I think I may have asked this before, I want to make sure I got the correct answer this time, is in the Feast 289, for by grace you've been saved through faith, everyone understands that the grace is, of course, given.

It's a gift. Grace is a gift. The secondary question, and I have other scriptures to back it up as it had more be great, the faith, that particular faith there described is a saving faith, so he gives us both the grace and the saving faith. Hebrews 12, 12, 12, two backs it up is one scripture I'm thinking about. Am I missing something there? Because someone may say, hey, well, that's the gift that you see, that that believer's gift in Corinthians 12, that's just a gift, right, a gift of faith, but is it saving faith is what we're talking about in Ephesians 289.

Thank you. Donald, two great questions, and so let me tackle the first one with regard to Ephesians chapter 2. Yes, the faith that is there described is saving faith. In other words, saving faith, too, is a gift given to us by the Lord. And by the way, it's not just Paul that says that. Peter also says that.

You think of how Peter begins his second letter. Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. In other words, all of God's good gifts that come to us come through Jesus Christ, including the gift of faith, and that faith in Ephesians chapter 2 is a saving faith.

You just have to look at the context. I mean, what is Paul talking about there? He's walking through how at one point the Ephesians were separated from God and his promises dead and trespasses and sins, but now they have been made alive through Jesus Christ. By grace, you have been saved through faith. I mean, the whole context is that saving work of God, and the focus there is on the fact that it's the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the gift of God, so that no man can boast. In other words, no one can stand before God and say, or stand before others and say, the reason I am saved is because I'm better than you and I worked harder than you.

No, we're all beggars before the Lord, and when we receive his salvation purely by grace as sinners. And so that's so important for us to grasp, I think, especially as we think about sanctification and that humility we should have in approaching God and in serving others. We recognize that it's all of the Lord's grace, and it's only by his grace that we're sustained.

And so that was the second part of the question you had. The first question with regard to whether or not we'll be conscious of what we experience on earth when we're in the presence of the Lord. And one of the reasons people ask this question, I'm guessing, Donald, this is why you're asking this question, because people think, well, if heaven is going to be perfect, if it's paradise, well, how can it be such if I still have the memory of the horrible things that happened while I was on earth? And what I would say is what we don't recognize is just how amazing being in the presence of the Lord is going to be so that we can, I think, still have a knowledge of everything that's happened, but that's going to be eclipsed in one sense by the glory of God in the presence of the Lord and the saints and the angels. So I think we're going to be overwhelmed with God's greatness, but that doesn't mean that we forget about everything that came before.

I think that it's just going to be, our sorrows are going to be eclipsed, I would say. Our tears, as we know in Revelation 21, verse 4, are going to be wiped away by God himself. In other words, that sorrow, that pain that we've experienced, it's not that we're not going to have an awareness of the fact that it was there, it's that God is going to remove the pain associated with it. And, you know, Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, when he's talking about being in the presence of the Lord, and by the way, one of the things you said is, you said, you know, when we're glorified, we have our glorified bodies and we're in heaven. Just to clarify, we're not going to get our glorified bodies until the resurrection, until the new creation. So when we die, we're going to be in heaven.

Theologians refer to this as the intermediate state. The moment you die, as a Christian, your soul is perfected in holiness and you're in the presence of the Lord, worshiping him, you still haven't received a glorified body. So that's still yet to come, that comes at the resurrection. But Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face, and he's referring to what happens, I think, upon death, then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. So why am I going to that verse? I'm just, I'm just wanting to point out that when we're in the presence of the Lord, it's not that we have less knowledge, it's that we have a fuller knowledge, a greater understanding, more clarity of thought.

And so it's not that we forgot everything that came before, no, I think we have even a fuller knowledge of our own lives, ourselves, the work of God on earth, and the presence of God is going to eclipse all of our sorrows. And so Donald, thank you for both of those questions, both really good questions, and God bless you and God bless your Bible study group. Donald, thanks so much for your call, and thanks for listening to Core Christianity. We'd love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life doctrine, theology, you name it, we're open to your questions. You can leave us a voicemail 24 hours a day at 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to John calling in from St. Louis. John, what's your question for Adriel?

Yes, how you guys doing there? I would like to ask a question. As the days are getting more and more towards the end times, it seems like a lot more preachers are kind of turning away from God's word and preaching false gospels and narratives, and I was wondering during Paul's time, was he also concerned about how did he know the false preachers of his time, and is it the same type of false preaching, or is it a little different now because of all the different technologies? And I'll stand there and hear your comments.

Hey John, thanks for reaching out. Well, there's nothing new under the sun, I would say. It's almost like the same heresies are being sort of repackaged again and again and again. It's the heresies of legalism, the heresies of antinomianism, it's all sorts of, you know, sort of different manifestations of these same basic errors that you see again and again throughout church history and certainly beginning early on in the days of the apostles. I mean, you think of the Galatian heresy, for example, the agitators that were going to the church in Galatia and adding to the gospel, and Paul says what they're preaching is not a gospel at all.

They should be accursed, they're adding to the gospel. Or you think about the Corinthians, for example, struggling with, we might say, a kind of lawlessness, right? Just sort of being okay with sin within the congregation. These are the same kinds of issues that churches are struggling with today. And you asked about the apostle Paul, you know, how did he wrestle with these things, how did he know about these kinds of things?

Well, the Spirit of God was at work in his life, I think, revealing the kinds of things he was up against. I go to Acts chapter 20, where he's speaking with the Ephesian elders, and he gives them that solemn warning in verse 28, Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. Just stop, I mean that passage just always rocks me, like just stop and think about the ministry of the apostle Paul, night and day for three years, among the Ephesian elders in their homes, warning them with tears in his eyes and saying, watch out, take care of the flock of God that he's purchased with his own blood. I know that false teachers are coming.

It's the same issue here today. We experience this, and so we need to have I think that same zeal for the truth of God's word, for the purity of the gospel, because there are people out there seeking to draw the disciples away after themselves, savage wolves who even come up within come up within the church, Paul says, and he says we need to be on guard, we need to be vigilant, we need to test the spirits. As John said in 1 John chapter 4, we need to keep Christ and his gospel central, and I hope that you see this as you listen, as you're listening right now, I hope that you recognize this, and how can you participate, how can you do your part? It's by knowing the scriptures, it's by being Berean, it's by being plugged into a solid church where the word of God is faithfully taught, and there is care for the flock, and care for sound doctrine. We need this desperately, because if we don't have that, if we don't have this care and concern, we don't have that purity of doctrine, faithfulness to the message, we get devoured by those wolves, we get led astray, and so God forbid that that should happen, and God grant us much grace and wisdom. As we listen to the words, that warning that the apostle Paul gave there in Acts chapter 20, imagining him with tears in his eyes saying, watch out brothers and sisters, hold fast to the truth. Thanks John for giving us a call. Amen, well said, thanks, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible, or the Christian life, or maybe you have something going on in your own personal life, your personal walk with God that's been a struggle, we'd love to hear from you and pray for you. Here's the number, it's 833-THE-CORE, and if you get our voicemail, feel free to leave a voicemail at that number. Let's go to Kevin, who's in Nebraska.

Kevin, what's your question for Adriel? Well with all of the devastation that's happening in Israel right now, I hear people lamenting about Israel being the chosen people, the chosen race, and how can this be happening, and maybe I'm misunderstanding. I guess being the chosen race is not a matter of geography anymore. It may be at one time that it was, but I certainly don't think just because I'm born in Israel I'm suddenly part of a chosen race. Are we not, after the birth, the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, are we not all who are believers? Are we not now the chosen race? Are we not now the chosen people?

Hey Kevin, excellent question, and a really important one for us to understand because there's a lot of confusion out there, so a couple of things. One, I think the things that we're seeing in the news, the tragedies, the murder, the horrendous acts of terrorism that are taking place, I think we can stand against that, and we ought to stand against that wherever we see that, whether that's in Israel or in some other country or here at home, wherever that is, God is against that kind of vile wickedness. But theologically, there are some people that think, and this is kind of an extreme view, but there are some people that think that just because you're born in Israel or because you're because you're ethnically Jewish, you know, that that means that you're a part of God's people, that you're saved essentially, right? So it's like some people are saved by grace through faith, some people are saved because they're the chosen people of God, and that is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Bible teaches. No one is quote-unquote chosen who is separated from Christ. This is what Paul makes very clear in places like Romans chapter 11. We've been grafted in by faith in Jesus Christ. It's only through Jesus that we are the quote-unquote chosen race, the people of God, and this is precisely what Peter says, for example, in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9. He's writing to, you know, a mixed community, Jews and Gentiles, and he says to them, he's quoting from the Old Testament, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God.

You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. It's also very clear, I mean, really everywhere else in the New Testament, you also think of what Paul says in Ephesians, where he's highlighting the fact that God has broken down the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile, and he's created one new man, if you will, the people of God, the covenant people of God, centered on faith in Jesus Christ and the free gift of salvation that we have in Christ. And so that's a very important thing, I think, to bring up, right? We recognize that, I mean, these terrible things are happening and we should stand against them, but the nation of Israel today as this geopolitical body is not the people of God like they were under the old covenant.

That's a category, there's a lot of confusion there. The church on earth today is the fulfillment of Israel under the old covenant. Israel was a type of the church today, which is Catholic, universal, and the promises of God extend to all people, including Israelites today. And again, that's Jews today, that's Paul's point in Romans chapter 11, that he's calling all people everywhere to repent and to lay hold of Jesus Christ by faith, and that when they do, they're grafted in, united to the people of God, the covenant people of God. So that's the way the New Testament talks about this. And so it's important that we understand where we are in redemptive history and how God's promises have unfolded throughout the story of redemption that we see in scripture. But again, even with that, I think we see these horrible atrocities that are taking place and we stand against them, not because Israel is in covenant with God like they were in the Old Testament or something like that, but just because it's wicked, it's evil, it's wrong. When we see these kinds of things, we want to say, Lord, have mercy, have mercy and bring your gospel to those who are desperately in need. Kevin, thank you for your question. And just to say, you asked, am I thinking about this wrong?

What's going on here? No, I think that you have the right idea and there's a lot of confusion about this in the church today. You know, one of the exciting things is we've been hearing stories about Jews who are coming to Christ in the Holy Land and Muslims as well. The fact is, God's Spirit is still moving in those areas, and we can just pray, in spite of this terrible situation, that people would know the truth and come to Christ, maybe as a result of all of this.

Yeah, you know, I'm thinking about just because I know that this is a sensitive topic, thinking about this just biblically. It's what the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 11. He begins this section in chapter 9, and he's lamenting because so many of his kinsmen, according to the flesh, the Jews rejected Messiah. They rejected Jesus. And so he's saying, okay, is it that the Word of God has failed?

I mean, what's happened here? The covenant people have rejected their own Messiah. And he says, no, this is what he says in Romans 9, it's not that the Word of God has failed. And then he begins to talk about what God was doing in and through even Israel's rejection of Messiah, which was for the Gentiles, the fullness of the Gentiles to come in, the promise going from Israel to the world, and Israel seeing that and recognizing, oh, Jesus was Messiah, and turning to him. And he says in chapter 11, verse 28, from the standpoint of the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable for just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience. So these also now have been disobedient that because of the mercy shown to you, they also may now be shown mercy for God has shut up all in disobedience so that he may show mercy to all. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways. In other words, it's all for the sake of the gospel.

It's God extending his mercy and his grace, not just to Israel, but to the nations through his son, Jesus Christ, so that all who turn to Jesus experience his blessing and are in covenant with him, receiving the forgiveness of sins and the promises that have been given to the patriarchs, to Abraham and we brothers and sisters, what Paul says in Galatians, are the children of Abraham by faith. This is just a marvelous reality and so important for us to grasp again what the Bible teaches on this subject. Amen.

So well said. Thank you for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. I want to encourage you to check out our website. We've got some great resources there, including our core Bible studies, our core guides and core questions. And one of the resources we're offering this week has to do with some of the differences between Protestant theology and Catholic theology. Yeah, it's an excellent new booklet called What Still Divides Us. We get a lot of questions about the differences between Roman Catholicism and Protestant Christianity.

And so that's one of the reasons why we had this resource put together. I think it's a great introduction to some of the main differences and you can get it over at corechristianity.com. Get it for yourself or get it for someone who's interested in these kinds of discussions, you know, the differences between Roman Catholicism and Protestant Christianity. Again, you can get it at corechristianity.com and it's called What Still Divides Us. If you have a friend or relative, someone in your extended family who is a Catholic and really doesn't understand what your beliefs are as a Christian, as an evangelical Christian, by all means, get this resource again.

It's called What Still Divides Us. You can find it at corechristianity.com forward slash radio. Well, we do receive voicemails here at the core.

You can call us 24 hours a day, leave your voicemail question. Here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Benjamin. I've been to many churches of many denominations over my lifetime. I'm finding that it seems that pretty much all churches teach a watered-down version of the gospel and I'm wondering why churches don't teach law as a lead-in to the gospel, showing churchgoers or listeners the depths of individual depravity and the manner in which Jesus saved us from what we actually deserve. I have personally been looking for years for a church that teaches true Christian community on a daily basis, accountable to one another as the Lord taught. What am I supposed to do as a man of faith when I cannot get fed in a church at all?

Thank you. Benjamin, you could move to San Diego, where I pastor, and we'd love to welcome you to our church, the one church that's getting it right. No, I'm just joking. The reality is no church is perfect, but has there been a great watering down of sound doctrine and the pure preaching of the gospel? Yeah, tragically. I mean, you think of the sort of seeker-sensitive movement and all these different movements that have overtaken a lot of evangelical Christianity, and for, you know, a lot of churches just sort of become this entertainment, this show, not a focus on God and his word and doing things to please the Lord. I think a lot of times we've gotten caught up in this sort of consumerism of church, trying to grow a church, trying to grow a brand, whatever it is. We need to go back to the scriptures and faithfully teach the word of God.

So you asked the why question, why has this happened? When I think about what Paul told Timothy, that there wasn't a day where people were not going to endure sound doctrine. Now, I think he was actually referring to his own day there to a certain extent, but certainly, you know, to our day as well. And throughout the history of the church, you know, like people shut their ears a lot of times to those calls to turn to the Lord. I mean, this is something that the Bible itself talks about, and it saddens me that there are so many Christians throughout the world, even throughout the United States, that are struggling to find churches where they feel like, okay, the word of God is just going to be faithfully taught here. But what I will say to you is don't give up, and don't neglect the church just because you haven't found a church that's, you know, guided all right.

I mean, perfect. There are true churches and there are false churches, but even among true churches, there's a spectrum. No church is perfect.

We all have struggles. And as Christians, we are obligated to call to join ourselves to true churches where the gospel is being preached. Even if you don't like, you know, the style of worship per se, or there are some things that you disagree with, no, I would still say dive in and be a part of the community there, sitting under the ministry of the word, growing together with other believers who are with you and want to grow in sound doctrine. And may God bless you with that, Benjamin, as you seek Him. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, go to corechristianity.com forward slash radio, or you can call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-THE-CORE. When you contact us, let us know how we can be praying for you. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.