Episode 125 | Dr. Michael Horton and Adriel Sanchez answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com Key questions answered in today’s show: 1. Is there a place for self-defense as a Christian, or must we always turn the other cheek? 2. Is obedience necessary for salvation? 3. In Ephesians 2:19, Paul says that we are no longer “strangers and aliens,” but in 1 Peter 2:11, Peter writes to Christians “as strangers and sojourners.” Do both apostles confuse the identity of the Christian?  4. If Jesus is the forgiver of sins, why does he say in John 20:23, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld”? 5. What is the spirit of the antichrist? 6. How do you know if a teaching is a false gospel?

Episode 124 | Dr. Michael Horton and Adriel Sanchez answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com Key questions answered in today’s show: 1. In Matthew 11:30 Jesus says, “for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” What happens when the Christian life does not seem easy and light? 2. How much does someone need to know about doctrine to officially become a Christian? 3. If God is loving, why doesn’t he save everyone? 4. Is Isaiah 54:1–3 a prophecy about New Testament missions? 5. How can we learn not to doubt if we are saved or not? 6. How do we balance the events we see in the media with our expectation for Christ returning?

Episode 123 | Dr. Michael Horton and Adriel Sanchez answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com Key questions answered in today’s show: 1. Since Jesus was without sin and incapable of sin, how was his temptation real and genuine? 2. I would really like to take my faith more seriously and study the Bible, but I have no idea where to begin. What do you recommend? 3. How do you understand Romans 13 on obedience to the government? Does this mean we can never oppose a government even if we think it’s corrupt? 4. How do faith and works relate to salvation? 5. Can you speak to the claim that there was no church in the Old Testament?

Episode 122 | Dr. Michael Horton and Adriel Sanchez answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com Key questions answered in today’s show: 1. What does it mean in Mark 12 when Jesus teaches that in heaven we won’t be married? 2. Why does the book of Ecclesiastes describe life as being meaningless? How does this have anything to do with Jesus? 3. How does Jesus’ suffering save people if lots of other people have suffered worse than Jesus? 4. Why does Jesus say that a “good” shepherd will leave 99 of his sheep to look for a lost one? 5. Who were the Nephilim? 6. Is receiving salvation really as simple as believing?

Episode 121 | Dr. Michael Horton and Adriel Sanchez answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com Key questions answered in today’s show: 1. Is it Biblical to say that we are saved by love and not by law? 2. How do you maintain hope in the face of all the confusion in the church today? 3. Is Romans 8 talking about the salvation of the natural world? 4. Does union with Christ mean that we eventually become absorbed into God?

Episode 120 | Dr. Michael Horton and Adriel Sanchez answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com Key questions answered in today’s show: 1. How should we think about pluralism? In what ways is this bad and in what ways is pluralism good?​ 2. How should we practice the Lord’s Supper? Is it okay for people to administer the Supper to themselves? 3. How should I understand God’s wrath and judgment? 4. What is the balance in being grace-centered and letting people get away with sin? Where does repentance fit with grace?​ 5. The Bible teaches that there will come a time where people will practice a form of godliness but deny its power. What do you think that means?

Episode 119 | Dr. Michael Horton and Adriel Sanchez answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com Key questions answered in today’s show: 1. What do you wished people understood about the Bible? 2. I grew up thinking that if I was faithful God would provide me with a good life. Yet, I know of so many Christians who are not blessed, and especially when I think of Christians in poor countries that are faithfully enduring persecution it seems like being faithful to God doesn’t lead to a more blessed life. And as I read the Bible, especially the psalms it seems like even the wicked prosper. Can you explain this? 3. My question is Jesus says if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it and there are other similar quotes that come from him. But what’s very difficult is even things that seem to be God’s will: asking for people’s salvation, asking for people will severe illnesses to be healed aren’t answered. God does not answer those prayers on many occasions. So I’d love to hear your encouraging thoughts on how Christians can take hold of promises such as these without being discouraged when prayers aren’t answered. Thank you and God bless you.  4. Why does the Bible call the church the bride of Christ? 5. Science teaches us that God doesn’t exist. How should Christians respond to this? What evidence do we need to prove otherwise?

Episode 118 | Dr. Michael Horton and Adriel Sanchez answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com Key questions answered in today’s show: 1. Why is it important to believe in justification by faith and have assurance? Doesn’t a lack of having assurance help us to sate motivated to do good works? 2. In John 14:27 Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” But in Matthew 10:34 Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” How do these two fit together? 3. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus says that we should love our enemies. I don’t know how to do this. Does Jesus really want us to love people who hate us? How is this even possible?

Episode 117 | Dr. Michael Horton and Adriel Sanchez answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com Key questions answered in today’s show: 1. How can I prevent my personal Christian growth from becoming stagnant? 2. Can a person make Jesus their personal savior without making him Lord? 3. Why does the God of the Old Testament seem so different then the God of love in the New Testament? I understand that God is unchanging and that the Old Testament God had to be loving but why didn’t the Old Testament reveal God as a God of love? 4. I’m a Religious Studies major at Texas A&M, and I recently became a Christian. I’m taking a class on Islam for my major. Is it okay for Christians to read other holy books? 5. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” I know that this is true but my life doesn’t seem to be blessed. Maybe I don’t have enough faith. How should I understand God’s plan for my life? 6. Since Jesus hung out with sinners, does that mean we should too? Where do we draw the line?

Episode 116 | Dr. Michael Horton and Adriel Sanchez answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com Key questions answered in today’s show: 1. In the book of Philippians Paul says that he came to consider everything as a loss for the sake of Christ. How can we come to that same conclusion? 2. Can a Christian in this life have assurance of salvation and can he have full assurance of salvation in this life? 3. Is it possible to be saved by following our conscience or the light that is within us, that God has given to each one of us in knowing right from wrong? Are there other religious paths to salvation or do we need to become Christians to be saved? 4. In Ephesians 4:29 it says, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” What does this mean? 5. Dr. Horton, I have a question about how grace alone salvation squares away with passages about discipleship? I’m thinking of passages like Matt. 10:38; Rev. 3:5; Rev 21:7-8; Eph. 5:5.  6. If we are saved by grace, why does Matthew 24 indicate that our salvation is based on works of mercy that we did in our lifetime?