Up until now you will have read that the Latin-American church is undergoing a crucial moment in its history to defend the faith, avoiding religious syncretism. Our foundation needs to be the Word of God.
Now, however, I would like to discuss with you the centrality of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in apologetics.
Apologetics without the Gospel is unfaithfulness
The verse that has been used to coin the term for the ministry of defending the faith, “apologetics” or “apologia”, is 1 Peter 3:15:
…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…
In that verse, the word used that was translated to “defense” in English is ἀπολογία (apologia) and it means a verbal defense/response/reason. But have we actually considered the context of this passage?
Peter was writing to the “elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Peter 1:1). He writes to a persecuted and scattered church to assist and encourage them in regards to how to live as Christians in a hostile world in which they find themselves in.
How should we respond to this context of persecution? The rest of verse 15 of chapter 3 informs us:
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- “…in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy.” An imperative that requires action: Set apart Christ as Lord in your heart, no matter what you might suffer by the courts (v. 14) or what they say of your faith. Jesus, and his Word and commission, are your marching orders as a good soldier.
- “…always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason.” A perpetual preparation to be ready at all times, in and out of season, to share with all.
- “…for the hope that is in you”. What is the hope in us?
The context of this verse is the proclamation of the gospel, not simply a refutation of the worldview held by those who are questioning as if we were to be held there. It is not about winning a philosophical argument. It is not even about demonstrating that there is a Creator – the majority of our world, even in various eras of our human history, believe that there is a Creator, and even then they hate him. To admit that there is a Creator God is reason enough to recognize our own condemnation, it does not however give us reason for hope. Only the gospel gives us hope. The purpose and end of apologetics is the gospel.
“yet do it with gentleness and respect…” Highlighted here is one of the greatest weaknesses of our common apologetics. We see it on social media, on anti-atheist pages, a class of mockery against atheists and skeptics. It is incredible to know that we have been saved contrary to our sinful will, now we act as if we were better than those who have not received the grace that was given to us.
On the other hand, before addressing apologetics with unbelievers and believers alike, it would be good to consider some familiar verses.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:19-20)
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18).
What is known as the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28 reveals to us commands that Jesus left for his church relating to our activities before the world. Of course, that is to share the gospel. And once they are in Christ, baptism and discipleship.
The apostle Paul, also, writes that we were given the ministry of reconciliation. So whatever message we share with the world without reference to the gospel is an act of disobedience and unfaithfulness towards those universal biblical mandates.
Apologetics and a Right Understanding of Salvation
In light of the preceding explanation on reconciliation, let us consider Romans 5:10:
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only possible avenue of reconciliation. It may well be that this is the most elementary of the Christian faith, but as it seems, many Christians understand it until they get to apologetics from which they then separate it from their systematic understanding of biblical doctrine.
It is critical to understand this because there exists a very real and subtle danger that is of great consequence in apologetics. The use and practice of apologetics can deceive our own flesh. Let me explain. In Christ, we have lost prestige and scholarly repute before the world, but in the field of apologetics, we suddenly find ourselves in a situation where we are offered some form of restoration to our prestige in the midst of the brothers of the faith which elevates us to a place of admiration.
Our flesh is so depraved, and we tend to, in those moments of temptation, solemnly minimize what the Bible teaches about fallen man due to our confusion and even deception. We want to debate in favor of God in a philosophic manner without considering that the power that was exclusively given to save men was the gospel. In an apologetic seminar, we lower our professor glasses with an elitist style and we exhibit a display of our sharp mind during the use of tactics wrapped in philosophical arguments. We have memorized the logical fallacies that are opponents commit: Ad Hominem, Ad Hoc, A Priori, Ad Populum, straw man, etc., and we hear ourselves as highly dignified and prepared before our brethren when we overwhelm them with the use of these terminologies in arguments with our opponents.
Perhaps with this attention, we feel vindicated for the contempt of our relatives when we confess that we now follow Christ, leaving the vain and empty sacraments and idolatry (of Catholicism) to follow the true Jesus Christ.
There may be some pain that has not yet vanished as a result of the rejection we have experienced by our friends and neighbors, but now the apologetic hero has entered as a solider armed with the stones most precious of his prince in his shield, and the sword which many envied, and he rescues us from our humble state to bring us to a place of admiration.
With all this, I wish simply to say: May we be careful to not end up justifying and exalting our selves instead of exalting God.
Man attempts to exalt himself through a show of greater intelligence and comparative power, but God is exalted by men when He saves a wretched sinner. The two cannot mix.
As a matter of fact, salvation occurs when a person who is dead in his sins (Col. 2:13) is granted repentance for his vile opposition to his Creator (Acts 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25), and all this is due to a miraculous intervention of God. John Piper explains this in a way that can guide us toward a soteriologically correct direction as it applies to our apologetic:
Although God desires for all people to be saved, He “may grant repentance”. I believe that means that the desire of God is that all be saved but this does not make it that He saves all. God has desires that do not reach the level of His volition (will). They are subject to other considerations – such as His wisdom, which guides Him to display His glory in a more complete way. He has His reasons as to why He “may grant repentance” to some sinners, and to others not.[1]
Never forget that man lacks nothing of evidence in order to worship God, what prevents him is his own unrighteousness.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse (Rom. 1:18-19).
This passage is perhaps most popular in sermons, articles, books, apologetic arguments, etc., to demonstrate that there really does not exist any sincere atheists given that general revelation stands as a perpetual witness and accuses the rebellious world.
But this passage only postulates in an implicit manner that the existence of God is obvious, while it explicitly displays the divine accusation that people know the attributes of God (His eternal power and divinity) as Creator.
Although atheists known this God, they respond ungratefully by worshiping creation instead of the Creator. This means that the problem is not atheism, but rather ungratefulness and wrongfully oriented worship.
The world cannot even respond in a pious manner toward God because the people’s hearts have been darkened and their reasoning subjected to vanity (Romans 1:21). They do not necessarily need (its worth the redundancy) to be solely corrected in their reasoning, they also need the light to illuminate their darkened hearts, and truth in their vain minds.
The recipe for this dilemma is beyond that of a simple argument:
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).
Our response to the philosophical arguments is not so much to demonstrate the existence of God, but rather to unveil the attributes of God which they themselves suppress by their own unrighteousness.
To navigate through the waters with their doubts and questions with apologetic and biblical tools, we course toward a biblical presentation of the gospel, knowing that it is there where God has placed transforming power.
Challenges for the Latin American Church
The opportunity before the Latin American church is immeasurable. The direction of the church in the next century or two depends on how it responds to the challenges it now faces.
Of course God can change the course of the church irregardless of what decisions the church makes today, but from what it appears, it has not worked this way in the past. We see in history that God generally uses men and women such as ourselves to project the direction of the church while she seeks direction in His Word.
May we be careful to not solely affirm Sola Scriptura, and fight to teach the sufficiency of the Scriptures in our weekly sermons, only to contradict ourselves in respect to apologetics. May we be careful to not approach apologetics as if it were divided or separated from the reach of the power of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16); a power that is solely found in the salvific plan of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The challenges that we now face is not only the decision to submit every ministerial tool to the authority and sufficiency of the Word of God, but also that our tools proceed from there as our starting-point.
Apologetics is very useful, however, there exists the temptation to elevate our flesh and present ourselves as the wise sages of our age. Such pride blinds us to biblical truths.
May we study the manuscript traditions, investigate the arguments against the existence of God, His attributes, the sound doctrines and the affirmations of the Scriptures, and may we draw nearer to this lost world with the Bible always open; standing always upon this foundation, trusting in the power of God and not in the weakness of our arguments.
[1] John Piper, “God Desires All to Be Saved, and Grants Repentance to Some”, DesiringGod. Accessed November 3, 2016. http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/god-desires-all-to-be-saved-and-grants-repentance-to-some/.