How Do We Lovingly Call Out Sin In a Non-believer?

How do we lovingly call out sin for non-believers? 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. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. Our phone lines are open right now. You can call us for the next 25 minutes or so. Here's the number. 1-833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Now, you can also post your question on one of our social media sites. In fact, if you go on YouTube, we have a YouTube channel.

You can watch Adriel live in the studio right now and participate in the program by sending him your question through YouTube. And of course, you can always email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. All of us have been watching the news coverage of what's been happening in the Middle East with real close attention over the last week or so. It's such a grievous situation, and we've been encouraging you to continue to pray for what's happening there. Adriel, for some reason, you and I were talking about this earlier. God is just leading us to pray again for that entire conflict that's going on right now.

Yeah. You see the devastating images that are coming out of the Middle East and have been coming out. You think of the terrorist attack, the Hamas attack in Israel, and then bombings that are taking place.

And of course, in response to that terrible attack, Israel seeking to defend herself, we know that there are also children and innocent people who are caught in the crossfire. And so what can we do but cry out to the Lord and say, God have mercy? And so we want to do that again now and invite all of our listeners to pray with us, to pray for peace and for God's mercy to be poured out. Our Heavenly Father, we come before you once again today and we thank you that you are enthroned and sovereign, that Lord Jesus, you are the ruler of the kings on earth. And so we look to you as the one who is all-powerful and able, and we pray, God, that you would bring peace and healing to this world, and in particular, Lord, to that region of the world right now with the conflict taking place in Israel. We pray, Lord, for the protection of innocent lives. We pray for the release of hostages. We pray for peace, Lord, that your people, especially those who profess faith in your name, would be able to live peaceful lives in service to you and that those, Lord, who do not know you would come to know you, Lord Jesus, that the hatred and violence that we see would be stilled, stopped by your gracious spirit. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You know, Adriel, I've had friends who've traveled to Israel on numerous occasions, and what I think a lot of us don't realize is that there are Christians in Israel and there are Christians in Palestine.

There are Arab Christians as well. And just as you said, pray for those brothers and sisters that God would not only protect them, but also embolden them to share their faith in these difficult times. Amen.

Yeah, I mean, and you're right, Bill. That's just the thing, and that's the great tragedy in all of this, is seeing, you know, that there are innocent people caught in the cross. I mean, war is just an ugly thing. It does really make me long for the Prince of Peace, Jesus, and the full consummation of His kingdom when every tear is wiped away, and there's perfect peace in all places. That's what we look forward to as God's people, and that's what God promises in the new creation, and certainly now we long for that with great groaning. Amen.

This is Core Christianity. We'd love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, doctrine, theology, something going on in your Christian walk that you're concerned about. Here's the number. It's 833-THECORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. We have phone lines open right now, so give us a call. Let's go to John in Oklahoma.

John, what is your question for Adriel? Thank you for taking my call. I'll keep it quick. Years ago I was addicted and really bad addicted. I tried to quit myself and went to rehabs and nothing worked, and so one night I got down.

I wasn't even a Christian yet, and I just prayed, God, if you're really out there, you know, I'd give this over to you, and I threw everything I had down the toilet and flushed it and went through no withdrawals or anything. After several months and things not getting done in my timeline, like I should have been more patient now by looking back, Kind Sight 2020, will he do it two times? Will he do it another time?

I know he has the power to, but will he? Now let me ask you, John, when you say, will he do it another time, are you asking me, will God forgive me again? Or are you asking, will God just remove the addiction like he did at that one point or that feeling? Yeah, well, if I go throw my stuff down the toilet right now, you know, and rededicate my life to him, will he, you know?

Well, John, let me just say, yeah, I mean, whatever you got, and let me encourage you right now to do just that. Whatever is holding on to you and keeping you from following Jesus. Jesus himself said in the Sermon on the Mount, if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off.

So you see this thing, this addiction, I don't know what the substance is, whatever it is, flush it down the toilet, throw it away, remove it. Don't give yourself any opportunity to be tempted, and know this, that when we turn to the Lord, confessing our sins, there's always forgiveness. Now, that doesn't mean that the feelings of temptation won't be there, that it's not, that doesn't mean that it'll always be easy, I mean, this is a real struggle, it's a real battle. But you need to take that seriously, and part of taking it seriously is not just waffling back and forth, but saying, God, you hate sin, and this is destroying me, help me. Help me, God, and taking whatever steps you need to take, getting accountability, you need to be plugged into a church where you're hearing the Word of God preached to you, and you're growing in your understanding of God's Word as well so you can mature in your faith, because you weren't meant to live the Christian life and fight against your sin on your own in isolation. And so I would say, what needs to happen right now is, yeah, cut this stuff out, throw it away, flush it down the toilet, remove it so that there's no way of you getting back to it, if you're calling people to get this stuff, remove their numbers from your phone, get accountability, people around you who know you and can hold you accountable here, get plugged into a good church, and know that as you turn to the Lord, as you confess your sin, that He's gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, that He forgives all your sins through Jesus Christ who suffered and died to loose you, to free you from your sins. As John says in Revelation 1, to Him who loved us and has freed us from our sins by His blood. And if Jesus has freed us from our sins by His blood, don't go back to that and get entangled in it all over again.

And so you know what you need to do. Let me pray for you right now, and just ask for God's mercy. I know God's mercy is there for you, John, and so cling to that, believe in it, and turn to Him and turn away from that stuff. Father, thank You for John. Thank You that he called in, thank You that he experienced even that first time Your grace, Lord. And now as he reflects and he sees, Lord, how he's gone back to this, Lord, and he's weighed down by it, I pray, Lord Jesus, that once again he would experience Your mercy and the work of Your Spirit, that as he looks to You, Lord, he would know Your forgiveness, and God, that he would not turn back to these things, but that You would give him the help and the encouragement that he needs, Lord, to walk with You and to grow as a man of God in Your Word. So bless him, Lord, be with him, help him to grow in Your Scriptures and surround him with a solid community of believers who can encourage him as well and give him accountability, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. And John, we would also encourage you to check out, there's a Christian ministry, a national ministry called Celebrate Recovery. They have chapters in many churches, probably close to you. Go to the Celebrate Recovery website, find a local group, and get plugged into that.

That's a great way to get started on your journey of recovery. So thanks for your call. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We mentioned that we have a YouTube channel and that you can watch what's happening in the studio on YouTube every day at 1130 a.m. Central Time, I'm sorry, Pacific Time.

Just translate that into your own time zone, 1130 a.m. Pacific to 12 Pacific. You can see what's going on in our studio here. And you can send Adriel your question through YouTube. Here's one that came in from one of our YouTube viewers named Jack. He says, what does the Bible mean by works? Jack, thank you for that.

I wish we had you on the line so I could get maybe a little bit more with regard to your question. Sometimes works in the New Testament are set in antithesis to grace, salvation by works or by works of the law and salvation by grace through faith. You see this in particular in places like the Book of Galatians and elsewhere. And so that doesn't mean that works are bad necessarily, certainly not. Works are good and we're called to good works. But sometimes when you have that contrast there between salvation by works or justification by our works and justification by faith in Jesus Christ, there's that tension. We can't be saved by our works. Nevertheless, we are saved unto good works, which is to say that you've been justified, you've been born again, filled with the Holy Spirit, this gift of God, and God calls us to good works. Not only does He call us to this, but it is our great privilege as believers, as Christians, to get to serve God and to serve our neighbor. One of the books I think that really bears this out, this reality that we as Christians are called to good works, is Paul's letter to Titus. Over and over again you have this refrain in Titus.

I would encourage you just to read it, Jack. It's only a few chapters, but to read it and to meditate on it and to think about every time Paul talks about works. At one point in chapter 1 verse 16, speaking of false teachers, he says, They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. And then in chapter 2 verse 7, he says, Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works. And then down in verse 14, Paul says, Who gave Himself for us, speaking of Jesus, Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works. And when the Bible talks about those good works, what it's referring to is those things that are done in obedience to God's revealed will.

So we're not inventing this. They're in line with God's law by faith, in faith, right? Out of a love for God and a desire to glorify Him.

It's not a desire to glorify myself so that others would see me. Jesus makes this very clear in the Sermon on the Mount. But it's those good things done in response to God's law for His glory. In faith, now our good works are never perfect because we still have indwelling sin.

Nevertheless, God receives them and is pleased with them insofar as it's His Spirit working in us to produce this love in our hearts toward Him and toward one another. And so may God help all of us, brothers and sisters, as Christians, to be, as Paul told Titus there in Titus chapter 2, a people zealous for good works in service of our Lord and each other. Thanks for reaching out to us on YouTube, Jack.

Good word. Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open right now if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Maybe there's a passage of scripture that's always kind of been confusing to you and you'd like a little clarification. Adriel will be glad to dive into that with you.

Or maybe you have some questions about something going on at your church or another church and you're wondering, is that biblical? Is that right? Give us a call. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. I also want to mention a great resource we have here at The Core. We have listeners who are Protestants and listeners who are Catholics. There are definitely differences between those two schools of thought, those two theologies, and we've designed a great resource for you on that topic.

Yeah, the resource is called What Still Divides Us? The Differences Between Protestants and Roman Catholics. And this is a short booklet that we've produced here at Core Christianity that has several chapters focusing on the main differences as well as other recommended resources if you want to go deeper into this topic. Get ahold of this booklet, What Still Divides Us, over at corechristianity.com forward slash radio.

Got a lot of great resources at our website. And by the way, I want to mention we are a listener-supported ministry. We don't get money from a church or denomination.

We don't play commercials on this program. We count on people just like you to help us to raise support to continue in what we're doing. So if you're a regular listener and you'd like to get involved in that, you can find out more by going to corechristianity.com. We do receive voicemails here at the Core. You can call us 24 hours a day, leave your question on our voicemail system. Here's a voicemail that came in from William. I actually have a question regarding when do we call out sin for non-believers?

I had a customer who was a lesbian couple, I suppose, and they needed a notary stamp for their marriage certification. I did not do it, but how do we, in a world like this, call out sin in a loving way in order for the gospel to be proclaimed? What an excellent question, brother, and also one which is just so relevant. There are, I think, many people in maybe not the exact same situation, but in situations like that, where it's like the intersection between my Christian faith, what I believe the convictions that I hold, and the world, and engaging with people in the world. We're not called to not be a part of the world, and this is exactly what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5. I'm going to read this text in a second, but we are called to be distinct from the world.

I think a couple of things. Any time, one, you are in a situation where you're compromising your beliefs as a Christian, or you're being asked to compromise those beliefs, you just can't do that. We're always called to obey God rather than man, and this is something that's very clear in Scripture. Now, additionally, Paul says whatever is not from faith is sin, so conscience is really important here.

At the same time, think about what Paul says here in 1 Corinthians 5, verse 9. He says, I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people, not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy, and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I'm writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler, not even to eat with such a one. In other words, don't distance yourself from sexually immoral non-Christians.

You don't need to do that. I mean, you'd have to just be out of the world if that was the case, Paul says. But you should distance yourself from sexually immoral Christians, that is, those within the church who profess Christ, and are living in open sin and rebellion. We do judge those people, Paul says, for what have I to do with judging outsiders, verse 12, is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside purged the evil person from among you.

Now, how then do we go about, I think, applying the truth of God's word, the truth of the law and the gospel to those outside of the church? Because that does have to happen. It's not just like, well, you know, we don't have anything to say to them.

No, we do. And God does call us to shine as, you know, light in the world. You are the salt of the earth, Jesus said. And so a couple of things. I think, one, recognizing that, you know, the presuppositions that so many people have, I mean, even just the idea of right and wrong and morality, there are so many things that we don't share as Christians ideologically with the rest of the world.

And so there isn't that same common ground. And then seeking to find ways, I think, to bridge that gap and to communicate the truth of God's word in a way that they're going to understand it. And at the end of the day, sometimes, you know, it's just through conversations recognizing that at some point, right, I just am going to have to talk about the reality of sin and the gospel and praying, Lord, give me those opportunities to do that and to do that in a way that is good and communicates clearly the truth of the gospel and the hope for this person who desperately needs it. We're not just looking to check a box off. Okay, I shared Jesus with that person.

Good, I'm done with that. No, I mean, we should have a deep care and concern for our neighbors who are living in sin and longing for them to see the truth of the gospel. And so prayer is an important component, praying that God gives you opportunities, praying that God gives you boldness when you have those conversations, not to shy away from the truth but to speak the truth in love.

And, you know, every situation is different. So there isn't just like a one-size-fits-all, here's exactly how it's going to look, but I would encourage you to pray, and I would encourage you to build a relationship with these people. I mean, if you're with coworkers who aren't Christians, building relationships oftentimes, you know, those are the means that God uses to give opportunities, to have conversations that are meaningful and important. And so ask God to help you in that and pursue that so that, you know, the people that you're wanting to share the truth with recognize and sense, man, this person really does care about me. And maybe I don't agree with them, and maybe they don't agree with my lifestyle, but I couldn't say that they don't actually care, that they're not thoughtful. That's, I think, how we want to be as Christians and what we want to be known for. And if people hate us and disagree with us, let it be for the gospel that they reject, and many will, Jesus says, and so you have to keep that in mind as well. God bless.

This is Core Christianity. Just a programming note. We're going to be recording a second episode of the Core after this program ends here in just a moment or two. So if you didn't have an opportunity to call in in the last half hour or so, you can still call with your question. We'll be taking calls for the next 30 minutes or so. Here's the number.

It's 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to Rich in Pennsylvania. Rich, we've just got about a minute left.

What's your question for Adriel? Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel. How was the human race propagated without incest involved? Hey, Rich, thank you. Thanks for keeping it brief, too.

And I'll give a brief answer. It seems to me like if you're going to make the case, and I've done this before in the early chapters of Genesis, you do have marriage with family members, essentially. This is how the human race started and continued to grow. If we just have Adam and Eve, it seems like Cain would have had to take his wife from one of his siblings early in Genesis. Now, of course, you had prohibitions in God's law later pertaining to marrying within your family, marrying your brother or sister. So that was forbidden in places like Leviticus chapter 18. But early on, it seems like that's just what was happening. And it hadn't been forbidden by God's law.

I think what some people will say is, at that early stage in human history, the human gene pool was so pure, so clean that you didn't have all the issues that we have now and that people began to have later as sin continued to develop in us and through us. And so that's one approach, and that's the one that I'll share with you. Appreciate you calling in with that question. Hey, brothers and sisters, I just want to continue to encourage you to be praying for the things that are happening right now in Israel and in the Middle East. We serve a powerful God who is good and gracious and hears our prayers, and so don't stop praying about those things and about all of your needs. God bless. 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.