Why Do We Have Different Denominations if We Are Supposed to Be Like-Minded as Believers?

Why do we have different denominations if we're supposed to be like-minded as believers? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Well, hi there.

Happy Friday. I'm 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. You can call us right now with your question. Here's our phone number. It's 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, we are live right now on Instagram and YouTube, and you can send us a question through either of those sites. And of course, you can always email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to a voicemail that came in from one of our listeners.

This is Don. Hey, Don, excellent question. When we get to heaven, will we remember what happened on earth, or will we be conscious of what's going on on earth? One of the reasons I know that people ask this question—I don't know if this is what you're getting at—but with all the suffering that we experience here on earth, how can we enjoy heaven if that memory is still there? I don't think that God removes our memory. I don't think that we forget about what happened on earth. I think that somehow, by the power of the Holy Spirit—I mean, what you read at the end of the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 21, where God says, I'm going to wipe away every tear from their eyes and death will be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away—we're going to receive the comfort of God himself so that the sufferings we've experienced are not going to plague us when we're in the presence of the Lord.

Somehow, I think we're going to be conscious of them. There's going to be the memory of them, and yet at the same time, we're going to see things from a different perspective and we're going to have the presence of God and the comfort of God and the healing of God. You asked for a specific passage regarding being conscious of what took place, the things we experience. I do think that there's one earlier in the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 6, where John had a vision of the martyrs who have died. They've been killed for their faith in Jesus Christ, and they're in the presence of God, and they're praying to him beneath the altar.

This is Revelation chapter 6, verse 9. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

So right there it's clear. They're in heaven. They're in the presence of the Lord. They've died, and now they're with the Lord, and they're praying, saying, God, how long until you judge our persecutors, those who murdered us, those who put us to death? And so there is that knowledge that they had.

They're conscious of what took place, and they're praying to the Lord in heaven. And so there's a clear text for you. Appreciate you reaching out to us, Don. God bless you. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life doctrine, theology, maybe something going on in your own Christian walk that's been a struggle for you. We'd 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 Rodney calling in from California. Rodney, what's your question for Adriel?

Good morning. Thank you for taking my call. Me and my fiancé are both believers in the Lord. And as we all know, the law of the land concerning marriage has become so perverted with the homosexual agenda and all that. And our question is, is there anything in the scripture that prohibits us from being married in the sight of the Lord aside from the law of the land?

Rodney, first let me say congratulations on your engagement. And the question you asked is a good one. We've gotten similar questions in the past before. So here's what I would say. It seems to me like in scripture, marriage is this common ordinance that God gives to humanity. And we might refer to it as a covenant between two people. A covenant is like this binding promise. We might think of it as a promise with teeth that has repercussions as well.

You know, we break this promise, there are repercussions associated with it. It is a promise that's made before God. This is why Jesus is what God has joined together to let no man separate. God is bringing two people together in the union of marriage.

But I do think that there is this legal component as well. And that's indicated by even Jesus' words in Matthew 5 verse 31. It was said that whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. The reason there was a certificate of divorce is because there was this binding component to the union, this marriage covenant, if we want to call it that. By the way, Jesus is echoing the words of Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 24 verse 1, where he gave certain permissions for divorce.

And Jesus is going to talk about that later in Matthew chapter 19. This is not how God intended it to be. But all that to say, I don't think it's appropriate or right for us as Christians just to say, well, I love you, you love me, we're both believers, let's just get married in God's eyes, and so we'll sit down together and pray, and bam, we're married, or that kind of thing.

No, because it's this common ordinance, there is the role, I think, of the state as well. Now you said, well, we don't want to maybe associate with that because of all of the evil that we see. And I would just agree with you that there is a lot of confusion out there. But regardless of how, you know, the world defines marriage, we have the way God has defined it and described it in his word. And in his word, as I've already said, one of the things that is highlighted is that binding component, that legal component. And so that's why you would do it, not because you're agreeing with what the state says per se, but because you're wanting to follow the Lord and you're wanting to just exhibit this high view of marriage that the Bible talks about and presents to us.

And I think a part of that is, yes, it's something that you do in the presence of God, in the presence of witnesses, but it's also, there's that legal component where you are, you know, before the world married as well. And so, appreciate that question, and God bless you guys. This is Cora Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

We'd love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. We're actually live on Instagram today. If you have Instagram, you might want to go into your account and check us out. Check out our Instagram account, and then you can send your question directly to Adriel that way.

Same thing applies to YouTube. We have a YouTube channel and you can message us that way. Let's go to Anthony calling in from Tennessee. Anthony, what's your question for Adriel? Hey, good afternoon. How are you guys doing? Well, how are you?

Hey, I'm great. Thank you. I just want a little help understanding something that has recently come up in light of world news. And it's something I've always wondered about. The Jewish people being God's chosen and when he comes back, you know, the idea of coming back to Jerusalem and that I agree with all of that. If it's in the Bible, I agree with it. But I want help understanding. I was always brought up believing or being taught that, you know, the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah.

And I don't know a lot about the religion. So does the Jewish faith still reject Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah? And if so, how do we reconcile that conflict? They would still be the chosen people.

Excellent question, Anthony. And there are definitely some passages of scripture to bring up. I would say one place for you to focus on is the book of Romans chapters 9 through 11, where Paul is really picking up on that question in particular, because yes, Jesus came to his own and his own did not receive him. You know, there were Jews who embraced Christ, certainly early on, but by and large, so many of them didn't. And that's what Paul is lamenting in Romans chapter 9. He says in verse 1, I'm speaking the truth in Christ.

I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. They are Israelites and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises to them belong the patriarchs.

And from their race according to the flesh is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. So he says, look, I'm just so grieved. My heart is broken. I wish that maybe I was accursed so that they might be saved.

If I could trade places with them, I would, Paul says. It seems, I mean, just by the looks of things like the Messiah came and his very own people, they all rejected him like God's word failed. Then listen to what he goes on to say. Verse 6, it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. And not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. But through Isaac shall your offspring be redeemed. In other words, he says, look, the true children of Abraham are those who are the children of God by faith. This is what Paul is going to say elsewhere in another book in the book of Galatians, for example, Galatians chapter 3.

And so he's wrestling through this question. And essentially what he goes on to say in chapter 11 is, look, no one is a part of God's people, the holy people of God apart from Christ, apart from faith in Jesus Christ. So it's not like God has two distinct peoples. He has those who believe in Jesus, and then if you're ethnically Jewish, then you're also God's people and you're going to be saved whether you believe in him or not. And to this day, they do reject Jesus as Messiah. And so we pray, and we should pray with that same anguish and longing for them and for all people, that they would come to know Christ, to be grafted into the true people of God, as he goes on to say, as Paul goes on to say in Romans chapter 11. And so when we think about Jerusalem today or the Middle East, right, that's not our home as Christians. The author of the Hebrews says, we're looking forward to, what we long for is the heavenly Jerusalem, the new creation.

Jerusalem in scripture, you know, the land of Canaan, that's a type, in the Old Testament, it's a type of a greater reality, the inheritance of all God's people. And so there is a lot of confusion about this right now because of the things that we're seeing. And I think, by the way, we ought to be heartbroken over the things that we're seeing, the terrorist attacks, the lives of the innocent, you know, being taken.

I mean, just truly heartbreaking. So we should be praying right now also, Lord, bring an end to this war, bring peace, supernatural peace. Oh God help us. And Lord, advance your Gospel among the Jews, among the Muslims, that the light of Christ would shine so that all of them, all of us, so that we all might embrace Messiah and be grafted into the family of God, made a part of the heavenly Jerusalem, the heavenly city that we look forward to. And so again, Anthony, Romans 9 through 11, but there are so many other passages and books by me, the book of Ephesians, the book of Galatians, they're touching on this as well. And may God bring peace and may the Prince of Peace continue to reign.

Appreciate your question. And you know, we should be praying also for those believers in Israel because there are Messianic Jews there. And what a great opportunity for them to be sharing the Gospel, sharing the truth of Christ during this time of crisis.

Yeah, absolutely. Remember the faithful in Israel. Remember that there are Christians also living in Gaza. And pray for all people, just that, again, that God's peace would reign and that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, would make his name known.

Amen. You're listening to Quora Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We have an Instagram channel in case you haven't checked us out. On Instagram, you can send Adriel a message right now. And we have one from William and he says, can you explain what the baptism of the Holy Spirit means?

I'd love to. There's some debate about this, obviously. So there's some people who say the baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that you receive after already having been sealed with the Holy Spirit. So you believe in Jesus Christ, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit.

That means the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you, doesn't ever leave you or forsake you. But then there are some who teach, well, there's an additional experience with the Holy Spirit that you are to have called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And some people will say, well, you know, when you're baptized in the Holy Spirit, that's when you begin to speak in tongues or, you know, God gives you a special miraculous gift at that point, or it just gives you victory in the Christian life.

And so that's how some people define it as as what's, you know, sometimes referred to as a second blessing of the Holy Spirit. And the way in which, you know, this idea where that comes from is when you read, you know, the book of Acts, for example, on the day of Pentecost, where Jesus poured out his Holy Spirit, it says that all the people were baptized in the Holy Spirit. And in Acts chapter 2, they'll say, see, that's what we're talking about, you know, this this miraculous experience with the Holy Spirit. Paul says, by one spirit, we were all baptized into one body. And so I believe that every single Christian is baptized in the Holy Spirit. If you're in Christ, if you believe in Jesus, you've received the Holy Spirit. Now, we are called to be filled with the Holy Spirit continually, and there's a difference there. It's one thing to be sealed with the Holy Spirit, it's another thing to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and that happens as we grow in Christ's Word, as the Word of Christ dwells in us richly, through prayer and meditation on scripture, through sitting under the means of grace, the preached Word, receiving the sacraments of grace, baptism, the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Supper in particular, as we're sustained in the Christian life. And so my view is that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that all believers have experienced, and really what's being focused on there in Acts chapter 2, a lot of people miss this, they focus on just the miracles and speaking in tongues, but the tongues of fire that appeared over the disciples, what that was was this symbol of the fact that the people of God, you think of the pillars of fire in the Old Testament that led the people of God, that God is with this new church, this community of faith, that that's where the Holy Spirit is. You think about the fact that you had the temple in Jerusalem at that time, but where's the fire? The fire is on the disciples there in the upper room, and so you have this picture of this new temple, this new people of God, you also have this picture of this new creation, the wind rushing in, tongues of fire, whenever you have that imagery of wind rushing, it's a picture of the breath of life, new creation, so the people of God are this new creation, this new temple, and also this new prophethood of believers. Remember, this is all in fulfillment of what the prophet Joel said in Joel chapter 2, verses 28 and 29. So that's what's being focused on. This is the dawn of a new era in redemptive history, and if you are a Christian, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit.

The moment you believed in Jesus, that's what Paul says in Ephesians 1, you've been sealed with the Holy Spirit of God for the day of redemption, you're baptized in the Holy Spirit, and you are called as a Christian to daily be filled with the Holy Spirit through the word of Christ dwelling in you richly. God bless you, Jennifer. Thanks for reaching out to us on Instagram.

Good explanation. Thank you for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Thanks so much for listening today. We want to mention a great resource that we have here at the Core. We often get calls from Catholics who are confused about Protestant theology and Protestants who are confused about Catholic theology and how those two things differ, so we've created a resource just for you on that issue. We also get calls from Protestants who are confused about Protestant theology.

I mean, we get them all. Wherever you are in this, get a hold of this resource. I mean, we try to produce these resources and make them available for free to give you solid content that will encourage you in your walk with the Lord and help you to grow in a deeper understanding of the Scriptures. This resource in particular is called What Still Divides Us, and it is focused on the difference between Protestant Christianity and Roman Catholicism, so get a hold of it over at corechristianity.com forward slash radio. While you're at our website, browse around, check out some of our other resources, and the reason we can offer free resources is that we have some wonderful people who contribute to this ministry on a regular basis. We call them our inner Core, and if you want to learn more about that, if you believe in what we do here at Core Christianity, just go to our website corechristianity.com forward slash inner Core.

Well, we do receive voicemails here at the Core, and here's one that came in from Ray. If all Christians are to be of a like mind, and sectarianism isn't supposed to be a thing, what are all the different denominations doing to get together to synchronize their beliefs and their practices to be of a like mind and to get rid of certain things like there are Christian churches where rituals are done that aren't in the Bible that are preached against in the Bible? If we're supposed to be of a like mind, we're supposed to not have sectarianism denominations. What are we doing to get rid of all that? Hey, Ray, I appreciate that question, and this is something that has always just really broken my heart when you see the division in the church and sectarianism, as you say.

It's been a problem since the very beginning, by the way. I mean, it's one of the things that the Apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthian church on. Some people are saying, I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas, I'm of Christ. You guys are being children in the faith. You guys are being carnal with this sectarianism. A lot of it is rooted in pride, by the way, as well.

It's sinful pride. Now, there are reasons to divide. I mean, when a group or a congregation or a denomination begins to reject the authority of God's word, abandon the gospel, well, yeah, I mean, you can't be a part of that anymore. But the reality is, as you say, there are also many faithful people who love Jesus, who differ on things, and we could do more to work together. That doesn't always mean that we have to believe or will believe the same things, but even just for the sake of serving the poor or for the sake of serving one another, growing by learning from each other, I think there is a lot that we can do. And so I think that's up to each individual, one, and then each church or denomination to think about, how are we partnering with others around us for the sake of the gospel?

And what does that look like? And I don't have, you know, there isn't one answer, because it's so diverse and there's so many different groups, but I do think it's a good thing for us to think about and to long for. And let me just say one other thing. The reality is, even though we have all these different churches and denominations, the reality is there's only one church. Those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith together with their children, there might be different denominations, but they're really is only one people of God. And that unity that we have comes through faith and holy baptism. So the reality is we are one through the gospel. What we should do is live into that unity.

And so God help us. And it starts, I think, with having that heart of love that is a gift of the Holy Spirit, so that we extend charity to one another and seek to grow together. And where there are differences, I mean, it is important to have those discussions and to talk about God's Word and to grow in the Scriptures.

And it could be that, you know, you change your mind or your view on something. That's not a bad thing as we're seeking to grow together in the Word. But I appreciate the question. May God help us and help you individually as well to love other believers and to partner with them for the advancement of the gospel. Ray, thanks so much for listening to Core Christianity and for your great question. Let's go to Eric in Iowa.

Eric, we've just got about a minute left. What's your question for Adriel? Hi, my question is Genesis 4, Cain and Abel. They both brought offerings to God. God didn't look with favor on Cain and his offering, but he did on Abel. Can you explain why that occurred?

What was lacking? Great question. Is God just playing favorites here?

You know, what's going on? Genesis chapter 4, here's what we read. You know, Abel was a keeper of sheep, Cain was a worker of the ground.

That's verse 2. Then verse 3, in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, why are you angry and why is your face fallen?

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. Now there are some who have made a lot about the fact that there are two different kinds of offerings. You have one that's a kind of grain offering, the fruit of the ground.

You have another that's an animal offering. Maybe that's why God wanted the sacrifice of atonement and animal blood. But of course, you know, in Israel you also had grain offerings that God required and accepted and that were pleasing to the Lord. It wasn't just, you know, animal sacrifices that were offered.

I think the answer is in Hebrews 11, verse 4. By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

So what was the big difference? Well, Abel offered his sacrifice in faith. And it seems like Cain didn't.

I mean, that's the focus of Hebrews 11, verse 4. So I think, brother, there's your answer and I would recommend you check out that text again. And I appreciate you calling in. God bless and thanks for listening. God bless you. God bless you.