What Does the Bible Say About Swear Words?

This edition of Core Christianity is pre-recorded.

every day. 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. And as always, you can email us.

Your question can come to us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. Well, first up today, a pair of British adventurers have been awarded the Guinness World Record for an unusual feat, the longest journey on a scooter with a sidecar. Their journey was a 34,000 mile trip around the world. Yes, Matt Bishop and Rhys Gilkes took their Honda SH30 scooter and a homemade sidecar on a journey across the globe. It took them 15 months to do it. And the men say people all around the world open up their homes to them during their journey. That trip spanned 35 countries and five continents.

It raised $10,000 for various anti-slavery and anti-human trafficking charities. So, Adriel, what do you think? You and me on a scooter, maybe head up to Orange County? Yeah, I mean, I don't know that I could commit to that amount of time, Bill.

And I don't think anybody wants to spend that much time with me anyway. I mean, that just sounds pretty wild. But that's cool that he was able to raise some money for really sounds like really important causes. And so, yeah, cool story. Very neat. Well, let's get to our first question of the day.

And Jasmine posted this on our website. She says, What book or character in the Bible do you feel is most underrated or glossed over in our churches today? What book or character of the Bible is most underrated or glossed over in our churches today? Well, part of me just wants to say Jesus, because I think, frankly, it's so easy for us to miss Jesus in our churches.

And here's something that's so interesting to me. You know, the people that Jesus was raised around were the ones who were the most confused about his identity. They had this sort of hometown idea of who Jesus was. You remember when Jesus went to Nazareth to preach to the people in his hometown? We're told that he didn't really do any miracles there, because they rejected him. Mark chapter 6, beginning in verse 1, He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to him?

How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his brothers here with us?

And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household. And he could do no mighty work there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. You know, we sometimes talk about how we need to be familiar with Jesus, with his teachings, with his person, and I think that that's absolutely true. We want to know the Christ of scripture, but this is a familiarity with Jesus that we need to avoid, the kind that's described there in Mark chapter 6. It's the kind of familiarity that causes us to miss his identity, and frankly, Jasmine, I think that in a lot of our churches today, we've really downplayed who Jesus is, his lordship, his sovereignty, his power, his grace, his mercy. We kind of can have this sort of hometown view of Jesus like the people of Nazareth. He was just this great teacher who came to provide us with some, you know, beautiful parables and teachings on love, and he helps make my life better. We don't understand him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And so part of me, I just want to say, I think, first and foremost, Jesus. Jesus is too underrated in many of our churches, and that's why we need to recover the preaching of the cross. I mean, that's the Apostle Paul. You think about what he said, I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

That has to be the focus in our churches. Christ needs to be exalted, and we have to be careful that we don't have the kind of familiarity with Jesus that the people in Nazareth did. You know, something else we've often discussed here on Core Christianity is that there are some churches in some full denominations that have really downplayed who Jesus is, and they talk about him as a great teacher or a prophet, but they actually deny his divinity or come close to it. Yeah, that's true, and it seems like you're hearing more and more stories about this, Bill, denying the divinity of Christ, right? So that essentially, I mean, you think about the people there again in Mark 6, in Nazareth, they thought that Jesus was just the carpenter's kid. This isn't the divine Son of God, the Savior of the world.

Well, that's what people are doing all around us today. I think most people, even, you know, outside of the church, those who don't identify as Christians, if you talk to them about Jesus, they would have some familiarity just by virtue of the fact that they're in the United States, and maybe they've heard some of the Christian story, and yet they don't understand his true identity. We've minimized him, we've downplayed him, and so the church, I think our job is to really recover again the preaching of Christ and him crucified. Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Here's a Facebook post from one of our listeners named Matt. He says, in chapter 9 of Luke, Jesus sends out his apostles to proclaim the kingdom of God, yet a few verses later, after Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, Jesus commands them not to tell this to anyone. Why were the apostles commanded to proclaim the kingdom if they were told not to say anything concerning Jesus' identity and his mission? Yeah, this is sometimes referred to as the messianic secret.

You see it in different places in the Gospels. Jesus will do something amazing, right? He'll heal someone, and then he'll say, hey, keep it on the down low. Don't go tell others. And typically what would often happen is that same individual who was healed would go, and as soon as he left, you know, would start sharing everything that had taken place.

Well, why is it? I mean, right? I mean, if Jesus is healing these people, why doesn't he tell them, hey, go tell everyone what's happening. And I think a part of it is Jesus knew what his mission was, and he's got this very clear destination. He's got a clear path to the cross. Yes, he's ministering to people. He's teaching.

He's healing. But he's focusing on the hour of his suffering. You see that throughout the the Gospel of John in particular, Jesus speaking about this hour for which he came into the world. And so one of the reasons I think that you have this messianic secret where Jesus will tell people, hey, keep it on the down low, is because he didn't want the people to just come and make him king right then and there. They were confused about his identity. Again, they missed Jesus. They didn't understand what he had come to accomplish. And so Jesus is headed to Calvary. He's headed to the cross to be the Savior of the world, to forgive all of our sins. And that's why, oftentimes, after Jesus performing a great miracle, he would tell people, hey, don't go and tell everyone.

Although, as I said, oftentimes they would. Let's get to a call that's coming in from Caitlin in St. Paul, Minnesota, here on Core Christianity. Hi, Caitlin. Tell us your question for Pastor Adriel.

Hi. It was actually a question my daughter asked me, and she wanted to know if angels could get married. Yeah, that's a great—I love Caitlin getting questions from children. My kids ask questions all the time, and boy, I'm sure we have plenty of listeners right now who are thinking, I wish I could marry an angel. You know, that's what we're all looking for.

But I'm sorry to say, no. And I think actually this is something that Jesus makes absolutely clear in the Gospel of Matthew, in Matthew chapter 22, verse 30. Listen to what our Lord Jesus said. Actually, I'll start in verse 29. He's talking to the Sadducees here, in particular, about the doctrine of the resurrection.

They've come to him and they've questioned him. And Jesus answered them, you are wrong because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God, verse 30, for in the resurrection they, that is people, neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And so there I think Jesus is making it very clear, suggesting that angels, they don't get married, and they're not given in marriage as much as maybe we might wish that they were.

So no, that's not the case. And so you can tell your daughter that she's going to have to marry a human. Well thanks, Pastor Adriel. Hey, thank you for your call, Caitlin.

Appreciate it. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Debbie's calling in from Lodi, California. And Debbie, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Hi, thanks for taking my question. I am wondering if a Christian can lose their salvation. Yep, Debbie, this is one of the questions that we frequently get here at Core Christianity, and it's one of the questions that I think plagues individual Christians.

I remember when I first came to the Lord and started walking with Christ, being overwhelmed by his grace, having this great sense of the fact that my sins were forgiven, and then it just sort of hit me one day. What if I lost all of this? I mean, I knew I was still a sinner. You know, is God going to continue to extend his grace to me?

What if I fall away? And that thought was just so terrifying to me, and I know it's terrifying for many, many believers, and so I think it's really important that we answer this question from the scriptures. And my position on this, I know that there are differences of opinion among Christians, but my position is that a Christian cannot lose their salvation, because their salvation is from the very beginning to the end, the work of God's grace. God is the one who saves us, Debbie, and God is the one who keeps us. Listen to what Jesus said.

These are his words in John chapter 10, beginning in verse 27. My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

I and the Father are one. Isn't that just so comforting? You see, if our salvation and keeping ourself is dependent upon our obedience, that kind of a thing, well yeah, then there would be a lot of cause for fear and concern, but if we can look to Christ and rest in the fact that he is the one who keeps us, who holds us, who has redeemed us, and who is going to bring us before him in perfect righteousness through his sacrifice, well then there's rest, there's hope, there's confidence there, and so no, I don't believe, Debbie, that a true Christian can lose their salvation because we are kept by the Lord, and just because I think that this is such an important topic, and I want to give you one more passage of scripture that you can look at that I think might be comforting to you. In Romans chapter 8, the Apostle Paul said this, Romans chapter 8 verse 29, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers, and those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. You see, this is a sure thing, Debbie.

If we're called, predestined by the Lord, justified by faith in Jesus Christ, we can rest assured that we're also going to be glorified, not by our own righteousness, but through the righteousness of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for your question, Debbie. Did you have a follow-up, maybe, or more that you wanted to get into there? No, that's great. Thank you so much. Very, very comforting. Thank you, Debbie. Thanks, Debbie.

Appreciate so much your call. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and today we are offering something really special for you, our new 100-page softcover workbook for the Gospel of John. Adriel, can you explain why this study is so helpful? Yeah, well, I mean, it just gets us right to the heart of the Gospel of John, and John is really such an important gospel, because it was written so that we would believe that Jesus was the Christ, and so that believing in him, we would have life through him.

I mean, who doesn't want, need that? And so I think digging into this study on the Gospel of John will be really encouraging for you. Gospel of John is a book that I frequently recommend to people, especially if they're first starting to read the Bible. I think it's a great introduction to the life of Jesus, and this is a fantastic guide that's going to engage you from start to finish. For a single donation of $20 or more, we'll get this study in your hand, and so head over to corechristianity.com to find out more. Bill, can you give them the details on that?

Sure, here's what you do. Go to corechristianity.com forward slash gospel of john to get your copy. That's corechristianity.com forward slash gospel of john. And by the way, you can also give us a call for any one of our offers. Here is the phone number. It's 833-843-2673.

That's 833 the core. Here's a question that came in through our email at questions at corechristianity.com. This is from Douglas. He says, the Scripture is clear about taking the Lord's name in vain, but what about other swear words? As a person in the military, I'm around swearing a lot, and it struck me that when we consider bad words, often we have synonyms that aren't considered bad at all. In the end, swear words seem to be an arbitrary construct of man.

Hey Douglas, thank you for your question. I just want to read a brief portion from Ephesians chapter four. It really gets us to how we as believers ought to use our speech, and I think if we can just think about this question.

Your question is more specific, but I think if we can think about it in this context, it'll really help us. Beginning in verse 25 of Ephesians 4, Paul said, therefore having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear.

So here's how I want to answer this question. I think each of us should just ask ourselves, the way I use my speech, does it breed corruption, rottenness, if you will, or does it give grace to those who hear? Am I speaking the truth in love to the people around me, speaking truth to my neighbor, as Paul said there at the beginning of that passage in verse 25? You also think about what Jesus said in Luke chapter 6 verse 45, where he said that from the heart, from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You see, oftentimes the way we use our speech says a lot about our heart, about the state of our heart, the condition of our heart, but I think that this is bigger than saying bad words, four-letter words, that kind of a thing. I think as believers, even as those who say, no, I never speak in that way, we can still have corrupting talk, and so don't believe for a minute that just because an individual doesn't use those four-letter words, that their speech is somehow grace-giving. No, we can still slander. We can still gossip. We still have to be careful that we're using our speech in ways that give grace to those who hear, and how is it that our speech gives grace to those who hear?

Well, I think it's the truth. It's speaking the truth in love. It's encouraging each other with the word of God, with the promise of the gospel, with the hope that we have in Christ. It's building one another up instead of tearing each other down, believing the best about our neighbor, about our brother or sister, and spreading that, those good things. It's so important for us to do that as Christians, to use our speech in that way, and so I think, Brother Douglas, if we can think about your question in that context and ask ourselves, is my speech corrupting or grace-giving, that's the best guide we can have. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a reminder that our program is listener-supported, so we count on people just like you to keep this program on the air.

If you could make a gift, just go to our website to learn more, corechristianity.com. Here's a question that came in through our Instagram account from Thomas. He says, I've struggled greatly with the temptation of lust. I have a Bible study group with close guys that I share my struggles with, and I also have an accountability partner with that group, yet it's still a daily struggle for me. I know that this sin is deeper than bad behavior. It's a matter of the heart, and I was wondering if you guys had any advice on how to fight this temptation and pursue holiness and godliness.

Well, it sounds like you're off to a good start. You know, I think accountability is really important, certainly being in a good church, a part of a worshiping community where there are people around you who can encourage you, where you're under the preached word week in and week out, and you have a network of men there in that church too that you can be honest with, that you can bring your sin into the light. I mean, John says this in 1 John chapters 1 and 2. He talks a lot about this idea of walking in the light, confessing our sins to each other, and let me just encourage you with the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Finally then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more, for you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus, for this is the will of God for you.

Brother, I want you to hear these words here. This is the will of God for you, your sanctification that you should abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God, and that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter because the Lord is an avenger in all these things as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. Now, maybe you're wondering, how is that an encouragement to me? I mean, I know that lust, sexual immorality is a bad thing.

That's what I'm wrestling with. Well, again, hear what Paul said in verse 3. This is the will of God for you, and I think the reason that this can be comforting is because you can know if this is God's will for you, then God is for you in the fight, in the battle against your lust, and when you go to the Lord, one, confessing your sin, but also asking the Lord for grace, he hears your he hears your prayer. I think it's easy for many people who are struggling with with a particular sin to feel like maybe the Lord is no longer on their side.

Now God is against me. The reality is, though, we need to remember, no, God is for us in our sanctification. That's the will of God for you, so that when you go to the Lord, when you present yourself to the Lord as one alive from the dead, born again through faith in Jesus Christ, as Paul says in Romans chapter 6, you can rest knowing that God is in your corner, brother, and that the prayers that you ask that are in accordance with his will, he will answer. Now oftentimes he doesn't answer them the way we expect or in the timing that we'd like, but God is and will sanctify you by his grace and through his gospel.

And another really important piece here of the puzzle, I think it's, again, I mentioned, you know, how easy it is for us to feel like, oh man, maybe the Lord has abandoned me. I can't believe I keep failing or struggling with this particular sin. Recognizing and resting in your identity in Christ first and foremost, you can't fight against your sin, mortify your sin by the grace of the Holy Spirit, put it to death, that is, as Paul mentions in Romans chapter 8, unless you're resting in the fact that in the fact that God already has accepted you through his son Jesus, you don't have to question that. No, you are a child of God, born again, brought into the family, adopted, that's what you have to recognize. And, you know, one of the passages I think that's key here, I already mentioned it, but Romans chapter 6, and by the way, if you want a good section to meditate upon, thinking about, you know, the doctrine of sanctification and growing in grace, read Romans 6 through 8.

I mean, there's just so much there, it's so rich and so encouraging. But Paul says, beginning there in Romans chapter 6, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know, get this, we know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Dear friend, you believe in Jesus Christ, you've been baptized, you have a new identity. Don't present yourself to God as a broken sinner, if you will, but as one who is alive from the dead and offer yourself to the Lord as pure through Jesus Christ and rest in what Jesus has done for you. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at CoreChristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-THE-CORE. 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.