How to Answer Progressive Christianity

There are some people today who say they like the teachings and example of Jesus, but they reject most of the Bible and the Church's teachings about Christianity.

How should we respond to that? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts, or email us at questions at corechristianity.com. Well, if you're planning on holding a month-long Christmas movie marathon this holiday season, we have the perfect job for you. The product review company Reviews.org is choosing one lucky person as this year's Chief Holiday Cheermeister. If you're selected for this job, you will watch 25 Christmas movies in 25 days. To give you the largest possible selection, Reviews.org will award you a year-long subscription to a variety of streaming platforms. Now, you have to complete a brief survey with your thoughts on each movie. After you've finished all 25, you'll receive $2,500 as compensation for your hard work.

You can learn more at Reviews.org. Is that something that you think your family would like to do, Adriel? Yeah, where do I sign up? I think that would be good. We have been watching a few Christmas-y type movies in preparation, obviously, for the holidays and whatnot. But Bill, I gotta know, what are your favorites?

Well, I think A Christmas Story, that one from the 1940s when it hit once the Red Ryder BB gun, because his dad is just so classic in that movie. Reminds me of my dad. Awesome. That's good stuff. Well, let's get to our first question of the day.

This is a call that came in from Joseph in Missouri. Yeah, I just had a real quick question about this idea of faith and how we as Christians are expected to promote faith as one of our core tools in trusting in the Lord. And my question is really a matter of the authority of faith. How are we expected to trust in the use of faith as a reason for believing in God when faith can be used to justify so many things? I know many people who use faith to justify different sects of Christianity or even other religions. There are many Muslims and Jews and Hindus that also use faith. So it confuses me when I often hear my Christian peers tell me that we just need to have faith in the Lord. I wonder how we can reconcile that issue, that faith can be used to believe anything.

Bye. Yeah, Joseph, I really appreciate your question, and it is a great question, because a lot of people assume that faith is anti-intellectual or just some sort of feeling. Biblical faith is knowledge, assent, and trust. There's a content to the faith, the Christian faith, and a message that supports that content, frankly. The apostolic preaching wasn't ever, believe this because it's going to make you feel good.

It was, believe this because it's true, and it actually happened. And there are a number of places where we can see this. One, I think of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15. It's actually a portion of scripture that we're having our kids memorize right now. Paul said in verse 3, I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the twelve.

Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. The content of the faith. He's not just saying, hey, believe this because it's going to make you feel good, or believe this because it'll change the way you live.

I mean, that's true. It will change the way that you live, but we believe it because it's rooted in reality, in history. And Peter said the very same thing in 2 Peter 1 verse 16. We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased, we ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven, where we were with him on the holy mountain. John in 1 John chapter 1 verses 1 and following, he makes the very same point. He says this is what we saw and heard and touched with our hands concerning the word of life. In his gospel, John says, I'm writing these things to you so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and that believing you might have life in his name. And what he does throughout his gospel is he testifies of these signs, these things that took place that should confirm our faith.

So faith isn't just this sort of empty feeling, this empty belief. It's rooted in reality and events that actually took place that we can look at and examine and observe. And I think that there's great evidence for. Some of the resources that I would point you to are Greg Kochel's book, The Story of Reality.

I mean, that's just one. But there are all sorts of resources that we have over at corechristianity.com that talk about evidences for the resurrection, for example, and just some of the things that we go to as Christians to say, look, this isn't just, you know, let this feeling of faith well up in you. And that's how you know it's true.

No, it's examine what has been claimed. Look at what the scriptures say and embrace them because they're true, ultimately. Now, faith, as I say, it's not something that even can well up inside of us.

I mean, it comes through the scriptures, but it's also a gift given to us from God. But he often uses means to help confirm that faith and to establish that faith in our own hearts. And so God often gave his people reasons to trust him. Another passage, Joseph, that was very instrumental for me as a newer Christian when I was when I was first starting to walk with the Lord and considering all of these things and thinking about how can I be sure that what I believe is true? You mentioned, you know, other religions like Islam and that kind of thing. You know, you have all these people who are claiming to have faith. What makes this faith in particular unique? Well, one, I pointed to the resurrection, but God also said in Isaiah forty six, nine and ten, I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things that have not yet been done.

In other words, God is saying there, and it's really interesting, the context there of Isaiah forty six is he's basically in this argument against the false idols and he's comparing himself to them. They don't do anything. They can't help anyone. The false gods of the world. They don't speak.

They're worthless, essentially. And God says, I'm different than that. I actually do speak. I declare the end from the beginning. I'm going to tell you the end of the story here in the beginning before it even happens. And that's another thing that I think we can point to. We can look at the Bible's prophetic testimony. I mean, all of the things that are written about Jesus long before Jesus was born, from the place of his birth to the manner of his birth to the way that he lived to explicit details about his death. All of these things are things that I think help to confirm our faith. But ultimately, we need to go to the scriptures. And as we search the scriptures and as we listen to the apostolic testimony, what we find is it's never faith as a feeling or that kind of thing. It's this is the content of the faith and you can trust it for these reasons. And so we place our hope in God and in his word and in what he has said. And you find that it's not anti-intellectual and it's not just a feeling.

It's so much more than that. And I think that's what differentiates the Christian faith from all the other religions of the world. Joseph, thanks so much for your call. And we mentioned a couple of resources there.

We pray that you pick up one of those. In particular, that Greg Cokle book, The Story of Reality, could be a big help to you in discussing the issue of Christian faith with those in your sphere of influence. Let's get to another question here on core Christianity. This one comes from Rachel through our email. She says, Even though Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, God used him to play a huge role in the saving of our sins. Since he returned the silver, regretted his actions, and committed suicide, did Jesus forgive him and die for his sins as well?

Yeah, Rachel, I mean, what a tragic story, isn't it? Judas was one of the twelve, one of the disciples. He spent so much time with Jesus, hearing Jesus teach, seeing, no doubt, the miracles of Jesus, and even probably in certain ways being used by Jesus throughout the ministry of the apostles. And yet, he meets this tragic end, and especially in John's Gospel, as it gets closer to the betrayal, you sort of see things culminating in the betrayal of Judas and Satan entering him, we're told. Judas was not saved. The reality is Judas had remorse over what he had done, but he didn't have repentance. There was regret, no doubt, and I think there's something that's really powerfully illustrated for us here, because you think about Judas and Peter.

I mean, both apostles of our Lord, disciples of our Lord, and both having heard the message of the Gospel, having walked with Jesus, experienced his physical presence, both of them at one point even being referred to as Satan. You remember that scene where Peter tried to keep Jesus from being crucified, and Jesus said to him, get behind me, Satan. Jesus had some pretty strong words for Peter, and both of them, Rachel, actually denied Jesus at one point in their lives, but the difference was this. Judas denied Jesus and was filled with remorse, but not repentance.

He basically felt hopeless, and so he took his own life. It was absolutely tragic after having betrayed the Lord. Peter, on the other hand, after he denied the Lord, turned to Jesus.

This is a really important point. It helps us understand what repentance is. Judas, while he had remorse and regret, didn't have repentance, because in repentance, it doesn't just look like wallowing in despair. Yeah, it involves recognizing and hating your sin, turning away from it, but Judas turned toward himself, and that's why he was hopeless. In repentance, we turn from our sin to Jesus, and you think of Jesus's kindness throughout his life, even toward Judas.

I mean, when Judas was betraying him, Jesus addressed Judas as friend, even in the midst of that moment of betrayal. See, our Lord Jesus is full of love and compassion, but if we don't turn to him, if we just wallow in our sins and in unbelief, and while we might have regret for a life poorly lived, we're unwilling to hope in him to cling to his gospel, we will be lost. That's the main difference between a guy like Peter and a guy like Judas, and we have to be on guard that when we are confronted by our sins, we don't confuse remorse and regret for repentance. I mean, it's one thing to feel really bad about yourself and to sort of wallow in your sin and to think, I'm just such a terrible person, there's no hope for me. That's not repentance. There is an element of hope to repentance because repentance looks up to Jesus and realizes that despite the fact that we failed in miserable ways, in horrible ways, in ways that sometimes even shock us, there is a God in heaven who has provided for us the blood of his very son.

It's able to cleanse us from all sin, and it's recognizing that the forgiveness and grace of Jesus is more powerful even than our sin. The sins that we think are sometimes insurmountable and beyond forgiveness, no, by the grace of God and through the blood of Jesus Christ, there is hope. So I just want to say something to you, the person right now who maybe is in that place of wallowing in your failures, in your sins, feeling like, oh man, there's no hope for me. That's where Judas was. Don't stay there.

Look up to Jesus and receive the grace that he has for repentant sinners and know that his blood is sufficient to cleanse you. Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And you know, here at this program, our goal is to help you understand the core truths of the Christian faith. Every time we answer a caller's question, every article we run on the website, every resource we produce is really seeking to help you gain a clear understanding of the gospel, the core message of Christianity. But we need your support to do it.

That's right, Bill, we do. And that's why we want to ask you to please consider sending a gift now to help us continue. As a thank you for a gift of $20 or more, we'll send you our new resource, How to Read the Bible. It's going to help you be more confident in your ability to read the Bible with understanding. It's a 10-week study that can be used in personal devotions, Sunday school classes, or even a Bible study group. Each weekly lesson includes selected passages from the Bible, reflection questions, and explanations of the key themes every Christian should know about the Bible as a whole.

This study will introduce you to the history of the Bible, key concepts that help tie the Old Testament and the New Testament into one cohesive whole, and key ideas from the main sections of the Bible. To make a donation and receive this new study, head over to corechristianity.com forward slash Bible. That's corechristianity.com forward slash Bible. And on behalf of the entire team at CORE Radio, thank you for your support. You can also call us for that resource or for any one of our resources. At this number is 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. Hi, guys.

It's Tessa again. I'm from Virginia, and I had another question for you. I was talking to a gentleman online, and he said that he did not believe in repentance through Romans. He believed that it was saying that since we are no longer under the law, we no longer had to repent, that repentance would cause us to have to look back towards the law to even know what we are repenting of.

And therefore, he didn't want to frustrate the grace of Christ by having to look back at the law or be under the law in any form, and therefore we do not have to repent. And I wonder what you guys had to think about that. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Hi, Tessa. Well, one, let me just say thank you for calling us again. We love receiving your questions and digging into the Scriptures together. That's just not true, the idea that we don't need repentance anymore. I need to repent every single day.

Bill, I don't know about you. It really is a part of the Christian life, a part of the everyday Christian life. It's turning away from our sins and clinging to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, there are different ways in which people have talked about repentance. Sometimes people think of it as just a sort of entryway into the Christian life. It's that moment when an individual realizes that they're a sinner, and they turn away from their sins toward Jesus Christ to receive him by faith alone. Well, yeah, talk about conversion.

That's what's happening there. It's conversion by the grace of the Holy Spirit. But the fact of the matter is, and I love the way Martin Luther put it, this was the very first of his 95 Theses, the document that helped to kick off the Protestant Reformation. He said at the very beginning of that that when our Lord Jesus Christ talked about repentance, he intended that the entire life of the Christian be a life of repentance. And I think that if we're following the Lord, day by day, taking up our cross, as Jesus said, each day, we realize that that's the case. And the fact of the matter is, is even though we're not under the law as believers in Jesus Christ anymore, we're dead to the law.

We've been crucified with Jesus Christ. Paul talks about this in places like Galatians 3 and Romans Chapter 6. Even though we're no longer under the law, we, by the Spirit, Paul says this in Romans Chapter 8, fulfill the righteous requirements of the law.

See, the law of God, the moral law, the Ten Commandments is always in effect. We're always called to love God and love our neighbor ultimately. And insofar as we fall short of that, day by day, we're called to repent. Now this side of heaven, our repentance is never going to be perfect. I mean, it's still going to be tainted by the vestiges of sin, by our own weakness as believers in Jesus Christ. I mean, this is a real fight that we're in. That's why Paul in Galatians Chapter 5 exhorts the church, you know, walk by the Spirit so that you don't fulfill the desires of the flesh.

It's a real everyday battle, but it's a battle that we're in and a battle that we have to fight. And so anyone who says, oh, we don't have to repent anymore, I mean, it sounds to me kind of like they could be buying into that lie that John talked about in 1 John, his first epistle, where he says, if anyone says that we're without sin, he's a liar and the truth is not in him. The reason we still have to repent every day is because we still sin and we still fail. But the good news is, and John goes on to say this, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And so it's not your perfect repentance or my perfect repentance that saves us. It's that advocate that we have in heaven, Jesus Christ.

And through his prayers and his advocacy, we're called to walk with him, walk in the light, as John will say, and repent of our sins as God reveals them to us. May the Lord bless you, Tessa. Tessa, thanks so much for calling and for listening to Core Christianity.

It's great to have you as one of our regular listeners. Here's an email question that came in from John. Adriel John says, I'm in a discussion with a person who has bought into theological liberalism.

What's the ultimate, most concise study or tool for comprehensively addressing these issues? I love this person and I long to see them come to rest in Christ. Well, yeah, John, I mean, it is a tragedy when we have close friends who have embraced heresy or theological error or just flat out don't believe in God anymore. They say, I don't even have faith anymore, that kind of a thing.

And so I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Maybe let's just take a moment to pray for John's friend and to pray for wisdom for John. Father, our hearts break when people around us turn from you.

Maybe people who knew the truth and who were in church for a while, but have embraced a different doctrine. Another quote unquote gospel, as Paul calls it in Galatians chapter one, that really isn't a gospel, that doesn't give hope to people. I pray for John's friend that you would soften his heart to the true gospel, that you would cause him to see the error of theological liberalism, and that you would give John wisdom as he interacts with his friend and talks about you, talks about your word. Would you do the work that only you can do, Lord, by your Holy Spirit in bringing this individual back to you and back to the church?

In Jesus' name, amen. You know, John, there are different ways in which people have defined theological liberalism. I feel like in recent days, you know, when Christians talk about things like social justice and issues of race in the church, sometimes people will assume that that's, well, that's theological liberalism. And that's not necessarily the case.

Not at all. In fact, God's word addresses these very things. And so we want to be faithful to the scriptures. Theological liberalism is this system of belief, or lack of belief, quite frankly, that often rejects the miraculous in scripture and focuses on us, on what we do, on loving our neighbor, that kind of a thing. You know, I had to read one author in particular back in seminary named Adolf von Harnack.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend him, but he has this work called The Essence of Christianity, where he argued, essentially, that the essence of Christianity was not all the miracles, you know, things like the resurrection and Jesus walking on water. That was the husk. That stuff was meant to be stripped away. It wasn't real.

That was the myth, if you will. The real essence of Christianity is, you know, the great commandment. Love God, love your neighbor, be a good person. And the idea there with theological liberalism was, you know, the modern man can't really accept these miracles anymore. And so we have to create a Christianity that's more palatable, that's going to be able to carry weight in our modern society, because people just reject these miracles. And the sad reality is, you know, in an effort to try and save Christianity, I mean, oddly enough, that's what they thought they were doing, you know, making it more accessible and palatable for the modern man. What they actually did was destroy it, because they took the real kernel of Christianity, which is the message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the miracles. The very thing that they were saying was the husk of Christianity, the stuff that was meant to be stripped away.

That was the very kernel. That's how we have and why we have hope. Paul made it absolutely clear in 1 Corinthians 15, if there is no resurrection from the dead, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Let's not waste our lives going to church and giving to charity and loving our neighbors, even the neighbors that don't care about us and hate us and teaching our kids the faith.

What's the point? If there's no resurrection from the dead, Paul said, I'm a liar and you're still in your sins. And yet it's that very message, the essence of Christianity that theological liberalism undermined. And there have been historically a number of responses to this. There is this excellent little book by a guy named J. Gresham Machen called Christianity and Liberalism. It's going to be a little bit more technical than some of the stuff that we recommend on the program, but it's a short book and it really addresses the heresy of theological liberalism.

And so that's one resource, John, I think that you can look at. But really, I think highlighting the fact that what theological liberalism does is it actually destroys Christianity. It doesn't uphold Christianity insofar as it takes away the true kernel of the Christian faith. And that's why it's so important for us to know what core Christianity is, because a lot of times people today basically have the view of the theological liberals. And that's why people say that all religions are the same, right? Isn't the essence of religion just love God and love your neighbor?

That's what's enduring. That's what all religions call us to. Ultimately, they're all teaching the same thing, right?

Isn't that the case? And that's why I think theological liberalism is so appealing to many people today, because they've embraced that narrative. But the essence of Christianity is not that, and that's not what makes Christianity unique among all the religions of the world. It's that this really happened, that God really did send his son into the world to pay for our sins, and then he rose again from the dead, conquering mankind's greatest problems, sin and death, so that in Jesus Christ we might have eternal life. And it's that reality that theological liberalism has set aside. And so we need to recover more and more, brothers and sisters, the truth of Scripture, to cling to it, and to place our faith in Jesus and in the truth of the fact that he is risen from the dead. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this podcast. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.