Soli Deo Gloria

I’ve quickly become a huge supporter of Christian apologetics. It seems more and more the world is growing more intense on attacking the Christian faith. Long gone are the days of the infamous “Who Was Cain’s Wife” questions that puzzled many new Christians. Now people are taking more pluralistic approaches and aren’t even asking the good questions. Instead, our politically correct attitude of not offending anyone has caused a postmodern world to not question anything but take everything as a possible golden road to Heaven. It’s all the more important in this era that we live in to not only provide a defense (apologetic) to our faith but be every stronger lights of Christ in such a dark and confused world desperately seeking for truth.

As Peter writes:
‘Always be prepared to make a defense (gr. apologia) to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence’ (1 Peter 3:15)

Are we doing this effectively to those who 1) question our faith in a hostile manner or 2) who are seeking answers and genuinely have questions concerning our faith and the Bible. Imagine not being able to defend our own faith to someone struggling - it is possible that may cause that person to fall deeper in a state of dismay? Peter says it best and we should ‘always be prepared to give an answer to everyone’. Note two important words - ‘always’ and ‘everyone’. Not just the ones attacking, not just the ones genuinely struggling with questions. Equally important is the irenic stance of our defense as noted in 1 Peter 3:15 where we are to use gentleness and reverence in our apologetic.

I’m not saying at all that we should take a polemic approach to apologetics at all… nothing is worse than hostile apologetics. An irenic approach is exactly what all Christians should be armed with. But to be armed we first must gird ourselves with the armor of God. Paul explains to us exactly how this is done in Ephesians chapter 6. Theologically, the armor of God is explained by Paul as our defense against the schemes of the devil. However, there is a particular piece of armor that is tantamount to not only our obeying God and growing closer to Him, but also as the backbone of our ability as Christians to provide a solid defense to our faith. That piece of armor is the sword of the Spirit, or the Word of God…. the Holy Bible.

… and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Eph. 6:17b

Apologetics are not just the responsibility of theologians or those who enjoy debating Christianity around a coffee table. Apologetics are the responsibility of each and every Christian that walks this earth. For me, this has caused me to want to delve even deeper into God’s Word and prayerfully ask God for wisdom and guidance to be able to be a Christian soldier in a world so desperate for truth - the truth of Christ Jesus.

So dig in tonight in your Bible and ask God to guide you on a journey of sharing your faith and apologetics! An excellent resource for apologetics is Ravi Zaccharias ministries at www.rzim.org.

Apologetics