Humble Boldness
Humble Boldness
Every Christian is called to give a reason for why he has this hope in Christ. It is vitally important that we learn how to deal with our emotions and passions. We are to boldly defend our faith with no fear, but this must be done with humbleness and respect.
1 Peter 3;15-16 says,
"But set apart Christ as Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed".
Peter tells us to set apart Christ as Lord in our hearts. This means that Christ is to be LORD of our life, thinking, motives, and actions. He is to be the final standard that we seek to follow. As Christians we are called by God to give a defense for why we believe what we believe and why we have this great hope in Christ. This is to be done with meekness and respect. The word "defense" in its Greek translation is where we get the word "apologia". It is a legal word used often in courtroom settings. It carries the idea of setting forth a response to an accusation. We are to be ready always to give this defense for why we have this strong foundation in Christ.
When we come to defend our faith, we must start by defending it by the word of God. The word of God is our authority. The unbeliever may be quick to say that we are presupposing that the Word of God is true first, and then forcing it upon them. But as Christian this is what we must do, We have set apart our minds to God when we believed in him. For we did not learn Christ from the principles of this world. We have put on the mind of Christ. The unbeliever will still say "But you are just making the word of God your final authority. To this we answer, yes we do, but by what authority other than yourself do you use to justify yourself. Don’t you reason upon your own reasoning and then become the final standard in what you think. If reason is your authority then the Bibles claim to absolute authority, as God’s Eternal revelation is it’s own standard too.
The Truth lies in which worldview is consistent in its thinking and defense about all reality. As we will see, the bible says that unbelief is foolishness. This foolishness is not a mocking of a person, but of his worldview, that being an impersonal universe. The battle comes down to two conflicting ultimate commitments.
In the end there are only to views, you will presuppose that God exist or you will not. There will be two conflicting presuppositions on reality and two final authorities. Either your final authority will be the Word of God or finite reasoning.
Every Christian is called to give a reason for why he has this hope in Christ. It is vitally important that we learn how to deal with our emotions and passions. We are to boldly defend our faith with no fear, but this must be done with humbleness and respect.
1 Peter 3;15-16 says,
"But set apart Christ as Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed".
Peter tells us to set apart Christ as Lord in our hearts. This means that Christ is to be LORD of our life, thinking, motives, and actions. He is to be the final standard that we seek to follow. As Christians we are called by God to give a defense for why we believe what we believe and why we have this great hope in Christ. This is to be done with meekness and respect. The word "defense" in its Greek translation is where we get the word "apologia". It is a legal word used often in courtroom settings. It carries the idea of setting forth a response to an accusation. We are to be ready always to give this defense for why we have this strong foundation in Christ.
When we come to defend our faith, we must start by defending it by the word of God. The word of God is our authority. The unbeliever may be quick to say that we are presupposing that the Word of God is true first, and then forcing it upon them. But as Christian this is what we must do, We have set apart our minds to God when we believed in him. For we did not learn Christ from the principles of this world. We have put on the mind of Christ. The unbeliever will still say "But you are just making the word of God your final authority. To this we answer, yes we do, but by what authority other than yourself do you use to justify yourself. Don’t you reason upon your own reasoning and then become the final standard in what you think. If reason is your authority then the Bibles claim to absolute authority, as God’s Eternal revelation is it’s own standard too.
The Truth lies in which worldview is consistent in its thinking and defense about all reality. As we will see, the bible says that unbelief is foolishness. This foolishness is not a mocking of a person, but of his worldview, that being an impersonal universe. The battle comes down to two conflicting ultimate commitments.
In the end there are only to views, you will presuppose that God exist or you will not. There will be two conflicting presuppositions on reality and two final authorities. Either your final authority will be the Word of God or finite reasoning.
posted by Rich7 at 2:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home