Expository Apologetics
Expository Apologetics • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsIntro in Voddies Baucham's book "Expository Apologetics" and discussion of Romans 1.
Notes
Transcript
I have been looking, thinking and praying concerning where we should go in our study time.
I finally settled back at what I originally intended with apologetics
Apologetics is simply being able to give a defense of the truths you believe
We the biblical definition of this from
VOddie says
In its simplest form, apologetics is knowing what we believe and why we believe it, and being able to communicate that to others effectively (Titus 1:9; 1 Pet. 3:15; Jude 1–4).
He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
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,
Most of the time, when we think of apologetics, we think of a professor or doctor debating back and forth with a theologian in some deep scientific and theoretical way
That does occur but 99% of us will never have that debate
However everyone of us needs to know what we believe and why we believe it and be able to communicate that to others clearly and effectively
In the book, VOddie states
In its simplest form, expository apologetics is about three things. First, it is about being biblical. We answer objections with the power of the Word. Second, it is about being easy to remember. If we can’t remember this simplicity, we won’t use it in our everyday encounters. Third, it is about being conversational. We must be able to share truth in a manner that is natural, reasonable, and winsome.
and
The goal here is to be able to answer him or anyone else in the normal flow of everyday conversation as you share your faith in a natural way.
The primary difference between expository apologetics and others is that it presupposes that God’s Word is the only tool sufficient for mans problems.
That God has spoken and spoken clearly.
So, when we are asked questions we dont have to run anywhere but to the truth claims God has given us.
Thats a good thing.
Because it limits what we have to know
I dont have to understand every facet of Islam or molecular biology, I need to understand the main truths of the bible and let it defend itself.
By all means, to be better at this- we will need to start thinking about things in different way
Not that we need to read every news article we can but when we do hear the news we must begin to think about what is the real problem they are asking?
What doctrine of the Bible are they asking, confusing, twisting or attacking?
Case in point- Kate and I were talking about someone she knew in the past the other night who apparently is living a ungodly lifestyle and in her post put #exvangelical
I honestly had no idea what an exvangelical is but I looked it up
It is a deconstructionist movement of people who either left the evangelical faith altogether or moved to a more radical, extreme off shoot of it
This person, I believe is in the left altogether category as if there is any other, said after 36 years I am finally being me #exvangelical.
Upon clicking on the hashtag, it takes you forum where many people have posted in
On guy said concerning Easter, that he was raised that Jesus died horribly for sin he committed some 2K years ago and that it was his duty to be grateful and why should he not fall at his feet devote his life to him and how could I ever turn away from this gift?
He went on and said he always had a voice in the back of his head telling him he was wrong even he believed in the Easter story and how he thought it was wrong that someone did something for him that he didnt consent to 2k years before he was even born.
He correlated him to jealous boyfriend who tried to control a girl by declaring how he would willing die for you so how dare you not love him back?
Said he wonder how things would have been if the Easter story was told in liberal way as mystical story about how much God loves us an how much we should love others.
Said he celebrated Spring with bunnies, eggs, and sunshine. No crucifixion, no resurrection other than trees and flowers. This was the only part of his culture and heritage he would hold on to. #exvangelical, #exchristian, #easter, #deconstruction
So thats a mouth full
But it has some key questions we should be looking for
So as talked about it my mind tried to digest what he didnt like or was attacking on a doctrinal level
Two issues: He has misunderstood Jesus death on the cross and to whom it is affective for and secondly he has misunderstood his depth of depravity.
But this is an example of things that will need an answer and Bible is sufficient for it and we can give a clear reason why if we have understanding of the Scriptures
What I would like to focus on would be the phrase “I alway had this little voice in the back of my head saying this was wrong” meaning a more biblical evangelical view of Easter
VOddie makes mention of this in detail, in that he makes his defense of unbelief found in Romans 1
Lets look there
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.
What we find is that the wrath of God is coming against all ungodly
Its their sinful desire and unrighteousness that suppresses the the truth
Go back to the mans comment, “that little voice in my head....”
His own desire to look the truth in the face and then reject it
But that goes for every unbeliever
vs19- Enough of Gods goodness is on display for every person to know God exists because Scripture says he has put it on display
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
They have sufficient knowledge in creation, but yet reject him
VOddie says,
This influences our strategy directly. If man’s problem is a lack of information, then our approach in apologetics must be information-heavy. Our goal has to be finding the areas where the hearer is uninformed and informing him. Moreover, if his problem is an information problem, we can rely on the information to do the work of convincing and converting. If, on the other hand, man’s primary problem is a sin problem, then information alone is not sufficient. The answer to sin is not information, but repentance!
So our job is to answer the question with the only thing that can save his soul
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
They supress the truth, it has been made clear to them, they have no excuse
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
Not only do they have no excuse, they know there can only be one God but they dont honor him as such
Suppressing the truth, turn from truth, denying the God of truth- they darkened their minds and became fools
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Do to suppressing what was made clear to them, they became fools and worshipped the creation rather than the creator
Because the willingly rebelled, God gave them over to dishonorable passion and a debased mind
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
but even weightier
Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
They know the truth and reject the truth and deserved to die for it
So we see there is alot on the line here if we are going to believe the bible
If we believe the bible, then we have only source of truth and the Gospel is the answer.
So for the next few weeks we will be looking into how to be better equipped in expository apologetics and trying to look at how to answer some questions using these tools to do so.