Were the Ten Commandments Strictly for the Old Testament?

Do we really need the 10 Commandments. That is one of the questions will be answering on today's addition of core Christianity hi this is Bill Meyer with pastor Averill 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 with your question. At 833, the court, that's 1-833-843-2673. You can also email us your question at questions at core, Christianity.com what's apparent to do when they get their child to school late. While in elementary school and Francis put up signs outside their fence with an unusual request for parents don't throw late students over the closed gate goal in Evan Jan put up signs outside its date showing a cartoon picture of a parent sending a small child airborne to get over the fence. The text on the sign asked parents please don't throw your children and instead wait for the gates to be open again at 10 AM, principal Sonya's museum says parents literally through their kids over the gate. When they arrived late to find woe don't do that, a drill, please don't do that.

Yeah I I'm sorry it only happened a couple of times you have to imagine it, it had to of been fairly frequent for them to go through all the trouble of making those signs in them. I hope the fence was not too tall. Yeah I'm a fairly low fence of adjuster to help their kid over the listed to our first question of the day. This came in through our website and it says how should we deal with the contradictions we find in the Bible you know sometimes people will bring this up as an objection to the Scripture said you do one thing, I think it's really obvious today, and this is been since the very beginning is one thing that is under attack is the authority of Scripture, of God's word.

Satan wants us to question whether or not we can trust what the Bible says what God has said, ultimately, was that the very first thing that he did there in the garden with Adam and Eve, did God really say and it seems like he doesn't have a lot of new tricks.

This is the set of the same thing over and over again maybe dressed up in different ways but getting us to question God's word and one of the ways that he/she does. That is, I think with this kind of objection. You know that there are all sorts of discrepancies and contradictions in the Bible. I used to do evangelism in San Diego. Here at a big park called Balboa Park.

We would post up and share books and talk to people about the Lord and there was another just down from us booth. I guess you could say was is the atheist booth and they had all the signs up as well. You know started pushing atheism and they would oftentimes come over to us as we were talking to people about Jesus and they would say things like, how can you trust the Bible, there are all these contradictions, while assembly brings up something specific it's it's really hard to answer. I think sometimes people will just sort of throw it out there. The Bible has all these errors always contradictions without really actually looking at them and thought the first thing is we have to look at whatever these supposed contradictions are and when we do I think that what we find is we dig deeper is that there really is no problem at all me.

A lot of times the issue is were either misreading the Scripture or not. Just letting the Scripture speak in its context. So I would say that I don't know what specific passage are referring to. If you want to call back or reach out to us and point out a particular text we could we could go into that one, but I would say is people of come to me with various contradictions and I've dug deeper in and look at the context a lot of times you know people bring up contradictions in the gospel among the various gospel writers. I think that what we find this week as we look deeper is that there really is no serious issue. Oftentimes what you have is just a matter of perspective. We think about with regard to the Gospels, for example, you have these different authors who were thinking about the same events but from different perspectives and so they're giving their own sort of snapshot of what took place and that makes sense if there were recounting history. You know what it was that they experience you know make sense but it would sound like this is opposed to every single detail lining up exactly like they got together and I decided exactly what their stories were going to be no that's not what it was. This is the real history and their recounting that history for us and sometimes you do get a little bit of discrepancy, but I don't think that there really is any genuine contradiction inside of the two big things are right with like I said we need to be confident in God's word. I think we can be confident in God's word and when we get these kinds of questions rather than brushing them under the rug if you're being confronted with the particular text in Scripture don't just embrace the idea that this the real contradiction I would say dig deeper and see how it can actually be harmonized and understood in a way that really doesn't call the authority of the Bible into question so thanks for your question and and like I said, feel free to reach out to us again.

If you have a more specific passage that you're thinking about Neutra, one of the objections that a lot of skeptics bring up as I say, while the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament seems to be an entirely different God, you have this God of judgment and vengeance and violence in the Old Testament and then Jesus is all about love and forgiveness and mercy.

And there's even one leading pastor in this country who says we should throw out the Old Testament when were evangelizing because he believes a good trip people up. I wonder how you would respond to that. Yeah, I mean I've I've heard this I remember being in seventh grade, my world history teacher saying that very thing. He talked about how the Old Testament God was all about judgment.

This was this was that just a public school.

I knew God was all about judgment and then in the New Testament, Jesus showed up with long hair and Birkenstocks kinda like a hippie and and was just talking about how we needed to love each other and sleep painted the picture of this sort of radical shift now. He misunderstood the Old Testament and he misunderstood Jesus. Obviously, because in the Old Testament God was about grace and forgiveness and mercy. Think about the entire sacrificial system of the old covenant how long-suffering God was with these people who sinned against him over and over and over again in the in the New Testament. Jesus talked about judgment and hell meet read the book of Revelation, where it describes the second coming. In Jesus trampling upon his enemies.

There really is no distinction or discrepancy in the sense of the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament.

This is one God the father the son and the Holy Spirit at work throughout redemptive history, and ultimately revealing to us his grace is love his mercy but also the reality of his judgment and by the way bill that particular objection is one of the most ancient objections to Christianity. There was this burly heretic named Marcy and and that was precisely what he taught that the God of the Old Testament was different than the God of the New Testament, and so like I said yes that doesn't have a lot of new tricks up his sleeve. It sort of, that the same thing refashioned over and over and over again and we have to be prepared to respond to it. Your listing to core Christianity with pastor Israel Sanchez and April has a call that came in from one of our listeners named D. D. Thank you so much for your question and you know were talking about here. The holy Trinity and so there is some great mystery here. It makes perfect sense to me why you might have some questions to assist the great mystery of the Christian faith.

And yet it's how God has revealed himself in his word and that's why we embrace this truth is that we don't get to invent what God is like or who God is. Oftentimes, we want to do that we want to make God in our own image God reveals himself to us through his word and in his word. He's revealed himself to assist one God.

Deuteronomy 6 for hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one who is three persons equal in power and glory. The father the son and the Holy Spirit in Jesus is referred to as the word of God. In particular, in John's writings. John chapter 1 verse one in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God in your right D to recognize that what John is doing very sees echoing from the very first book of the Bible Genesis chapter 1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth will John is telling us now that right there at that very beginning point, the word, the word of the father. The word of God, Jesus, the eternal son, the second person of the holy Trinity was there and it was through him that all things were made and apart from him.

There wasn't anything made that was made.

John is that I go on to say in the next couple of verses therein. In John chapter 1 and so when we talk about the word were referring to the second person of the holy Trinity as some people have said that in the Gospel of John word the focus. There is sort of Greek philosophy because that word. The word logos was used in Greek philosophy. The people you know that John was referring to Jesus as this universal principle and in philosophy but really what he's probably doing is appealing to ancient Jewish writing.

It talked about the word of God and in this magnificent way almost at times even personifying the word giving at this divine status and that is who Jesus is God. The word the second person is a set of the holy Trinity and this reveals something to us of the Trinitarian relationship. Jesus is the word of the father, which is to say, he is always in the father that he comes from the father. We say that he is eternally begotten of the father as the son of God, and he reveals the father to us is that what Jesus says in his ministry. At one point his disciples, they show us the father, Mrs. Annie come right here. Not in that he is the person of the father, but that the son perfectly reveals to us the father that you talked about the relationship between you know Jesus is divine nature and his human nature, we have to understand the word of the second person of the holy Trinity, the son of God is a divine person and ;-) in the incarnation assumes humanity when he takes flesh from the womb of the Virgin Mary, he doesn't become a divine and human person is not to person sees one person he is one divine person with two natures through the incarnation. This is the what theologians refer to as the hypostatic union now I don't want to get bogged down and in all the theology talk right now but here's what you need to know. It highlights for us. The fact that Jesus, eternal son of God when he took on flesh for us took on everything that it is to be human so that he might be us so that he might be our perfect representative. It really has to do with our salvation. So there. There are two mysteries here really that were talking about the mystery of the Trinity and the mystery of the incarnation. And when John refers to Jesus as the word he's highlighting the fact that he's the eternal son of God. But then, of course, in verse 14 of chapter 1 he tells us that that eternal son took on flesh and dwelt among us isn't that beautiful is there any story like this anywhere else in the history of humanity. The eternal God taking on flesh and dwelling with us so that he might redeem us.

It really is wonderful and for all eternity. D.

Were going to be marveling at this great mystery and rejoicing the salvation that Jesus accomplished for us. Thanks for your question. The thanks so much for calling him for being one of our regular listeners there listing the core Christianity with pastor Israel Sanchez I go Meyer and you know holidays are filled with a lot of fun activities but sometimes the hustle and bustle of the season drowns out the most important aspect of Christmas.

The fact that in Jesus, God has come to be with us that were so excited to share a new resource we have here core Christianity.com our Christmas devotional.

It's called Jesus Christ the promised Messiah.

This is a daily devotional that shows you what Christmas is all about each day of December, it highlights prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament, and it shows you where these prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus in the New Testament. So take some time every day by yourself or with your family to read the Scriptures and meditate on their meaning. Our hope is that you come to Jesus through the pages of the Bible you and your loved ones will experience his life-giving presence.

This Christmas, this devotional is free when you sign up for our weekly newsletter. So head over to core Christianity.com/Christmas to download. That's core Christianity.com/Christmas April. Here's a question that came in through our website at core, Christianity.com/radio. We know that Jesus shed his precious blood for the forgiveness of sins, but how we know what sins we need to ask forgiveness for unless we have laws to go buys such as the 10 Commandments is it possible to know what sins are and lest we have a list of rules to follow.

Yeah well one.

It's a great question honestly God in his word has given to us is revealed will. His law and one of the reasons God gives it to us is because we need to hear the law got it's what drives us ultimately to Christ.

Now, in another sense God has revealed his law to us even just through nature is the best we will refer to this is natural, but the idea that we have this sense of God's sense of right and wrong and everyone has that right from the very beginning from birth by CS Lewis talks about this a little bit in his book mere Christianity. Some of the great theologians of the church have also talked about this, this, this sense of God that we have even through creation.

Think of what Psalm chapter 19 says the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament show with his handiwork day and today utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. At the very created order reveals to us that there is a God who was all-powerful and were accountable just by virtue of that knowledge is what the apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 1. Here's another really wonderful things would you and I believe in Jesus Christ. When we are united to him by faith God the Holy Spirit does something amazing. You know he does he takes the law of God, and he writes it upon our hearts in a unique way and this was something that was promised way back in the Old Testament in Jeremiah chapter 31. This was an ancient prophecy, promise of what's called the new covenant is new promise that God was making with his people ultimately with you and with me that this Jeremiah chapter 31 beginning in verse 31 behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Not like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was there.

Husband declares the Lord, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people.

Isn't that beautiful you think about that scene in the Old Testament were God writes his law on the tablets of stone in here. The prophet Jeremiah Singh God is saying to the prophet Jeremiah might my people broke that covenant.

Remember that the vivid imagery of the stone tablets being broken Moses throwing them down. God said you know I'm in a do in this new covenant I'm gonna write my law on the hearts of my people, and everyone who believes in Jesus Christ was filled with the Holy Spirit has that love God written on their hearts to something, something strange happens when when that takes place.

I remember when I first trusted in Christ and God's grace was revealed to me doing things in thinking things and acting in ways that that I had done my entire life that were totally normal and all of a sudden I felt this sense of conviction.

Since lately I think there's something wrong here and I never had before. What was that it was the presence of the Holy Spirit.

It was the fact that God had written his law upon my heart and maybe you experienced the same thing as a Christian that really is a wonderful thing. It's okay so I'm saying here is God's law is revealed will is so important for us to know, and I think it does highlight for us. Oftentimes, ways in which we are sitting and in ways in which we need to repent and our hearts are oftentimes so blind our eyes are so blind that we will just sort of overlook certain things in God's law and that's what we need to be continually reminded and humbled and directed to the gospel directed to Jesus, but God also writes his law upon our hearts. God's law. God's moral law is still in effect and ultimately of summarizing what Jesus said what he taught us to love God perfectly and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Now none of us can do that. That's why that's not the good news of the Christian faith.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Paul tells us in Romans and so Jesus came and fulfilled the law so that we might experience God's forgiveness and that he fills us with the spirit so that right now in this life we begin to hate our sin and love. God's law and love God. I appreciate your question and may the Lord bless you as you seek to honor him and to grow in his word and in obedience to his word. This is core Christianity with pastor Israel Sanchez, just a reminder that we are a listener supported ministry. So we, people just like you to keep us on the air. If you would prayerfully consider making a gift would be a big help to us.

You can find out more@corechristianity.com what here's a question that came in through our Facebook page or drills from Kathy.

She says, what does it mean to count the cost of being a disciple hi Kathy, thank you for that question and I think you know we just have to go to the words of our Lord Jesus here because he talked about this very thing in Luke chapter 14 beginning and in verse 26 he said this, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple for which of you, desiring to build the tower does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it otherwise.

When he is laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish or walk-in going out to encounter another king and war will not sit down first and deliberate. Whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000 and if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asked for terms of peace. So therefore anyone of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple is so interesting to me this note. We are not called as Christians are not called us up as a pastor to make believers or to make disciples of myself were called to make disciples. It's what Jesus said that when he gave the great commission in Matthew 28 go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you when he talked about the cost of discipleship. He said look, it's going to mean laying down your life and that's precisely what it means to follow after Jesus to get in line behind them to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

It will cost you your life now.

What what does that mean Amelia to in the first century for many believers it meant martyrdom and for people throughout the world today.

It does mean that ultimately I think for many of us in the United States what it looks like is laying down our own will was our own lives to follow Jesus in service and service of his people and service of one another means that it's not about us first and foremost, it's about him and knowing him and walking with him and I love that when Jesus called us to make disciples there in Matthew chapter 28 he started with baptism, he said go make disciples in here's here's how it starts. You baptize and what is baptism a sign of it's it's it's a sign and seal of the forgiveness of our sins of our having been washed as they were not saved by the fact that we are perfect disciples not one of us is we were like the disciples in the Gospels we follow Jesus and then we go astray or or we misunderstand what he says or we turn away from him like Peter, but Jesus does call us to lay down our lives and follow him and what saves us is not the fact that we do that perfectly it's the fact that Jesus did that for us. He is the one who laid down his life who took up the cross so that our sins might be forgiven so that we might be baptized into his body, by faith, and as a result of that wondrous work of Jesus.

What he has done for us. We are called to lay down our lives in service to each other and to him and we do that, not so that we can be saying do it because he lay down his life for us. Thanks for listening to core Christianity to request your copy of today's special offer.

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