When Peter writes the church and encourages her to make a defense to anyone that asks for the hope that they have, he's not just writing to the church leaders. He's writing to every person in the pews to make that defense.
Welcome to 3onefive. Here we're talking apologetics, biblical studies, and worldview. Just one point, 15 minutes or less. I'm Jones Oliver. Today, our very first show, I thought we could start with the question: who is apologetics for? I'd like to ground our response in Peter's first epistle, chapter three, verses 13 through 17.
Of course, within the realm of apologetics, this is a common passage, but at the risk of being trite, here we go. 1 Peter 3:13-17
Now who is there to harm you if you're zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ, the Lord, as holy, [00:01:00] always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you
Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behaviors in Christ may be put to shame.
For it's better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
Now ordinarily, when I'm talking about this passage in apologetics, I'd break this out into five parts. What is apologetics? Who is apologetics for? When and where do we do apologetics? Why do we do apologetics?
And how do we do apologetics? But today, I'd like to stay focused on who is apologetics for.
And as for this passage I just read, let's take a step back and ask the question, why is Peter writing this letter?
First, he's writing to encourage a church, and then he tells us in chapter one, verses three through twelve that Christians are to rejoice as we are called to a living hope
A hope that can only be purchased on the cross by the blood of Christ, and that hope to an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance that is kept in heaven. [00:02:00] And why is he speaking of this hope? Well, there's this underlying suggestion that he's encouraging a church that's also being persecuted.
And then he pivots in verse 13 with this word, therefore. It's at this therefore that Peter begins to outline to these saints that this hope lived out will look a lot like the fruit of the Spirit that we read about in Paul's letter to the Galatians
What does Peter write here? "Prepare your minds for action, be sober-minded, put away all malice and deceit, and hypocrisy and envy and slander. Have unity among the saints. Have a tender heart. Be humble. Do not repay evil for evil, but on the contrary, bless. Be self-controlled.
Love one another. Show hospitality, and do not be surprised at trials when they come."
In other words, Peter's fortifying these Christians with wise and encouraging words. He's saying that if you, Christian, live in this world, you are living in a world that is not Christian, so do not be surprised when you suffer.
But back to today's question: Who is apologetics for? [00:03:00] What does Peter tell us? Soon after, "Do not repay evil for evil," he writes, "And always be 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." I think it's evident from Peter's letter he isn't writing to just the church leaders. He's speaking to the entire church, " that he's expecting this letter to be read to everyone in the congregation.
Jude does the same thing in his letter. He writes his letter to every person in the church, a plea to contend for the faith against wolves that have crept in. And this applies today. Once you're in a church, unlike Monopoly, there is no free parking. Every person is part of a church body. Every person has a role in the health of that body.
In other words, Peter's charge to defend isn't just a task of the pastors and the elders. It's the task of every single saint.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes that the churches are given evangelists, shepherds, and teachers so that the saints are equipped for the work of ministry.
And in many cases, it includes that readiness to contend for and to defend that gospel hope.
So I propose that as apologists, we're called to [00:04:00] help train up the church so that each person in the congregation can make a defense for the hope that they have. I think sometimes as apologists, we can be too outwardly focused, but I would call us back to our churches to help train up the saints.
And I would argue it's not just the skill set that we're trying to bring to the church, but I think that knowing apologetics can also be encouraging for most saints. There are two parts to this. First, Christians on the balance are not generally aware of apologetics, or if they are, many look at the whole field of study with a bit of hesitation.
They're uncertain why it's useful to know apologetics and how it helps them in their walk with God. To many Christians, apologetics seem obtuse, complicated, stuffy. In all fairness, the same hesitations are often extended to systematic theology, church history, philosophy, or even when it comes to reading the Apostolic Fathers.
But second, all Christians need encouragement. There'll be days when the burden is heavy. There'll be days in the midst of the storm, the sky and the sea will blur together. And on those days, God can seem distant, maybe even lost. There'll be days when the onslaught around us is just simply relentless. And I don't know what that storm will look like for you or the saint sitting next to you, [00:05:00] but when we do find ourselves in the midst of it, I think there's comfort in knowing that we have an evidential faith that is true.
And a faith that has truth and facts is like a cord of three strands. It's not easily broken.
C.S. Lewis in his book, A Grief Observed, wrote through a different kind of storm, but he also knew that God was there too, even in the midst of his grief following the death of his wife. I think it's this evidential faith that Paul is alluding to in one Corinthians chapter fifteen, verses twelve through nineteen.
In it he writes, "Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there's no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised."
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. We're even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you're still in your sins Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope [00:06:00] in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead
in this passage, Paul isn't suggesting this is true. He's stating emphatically that this is true, that Christ has been raised from the dead. There's no "I feel," "I believe," or "Yeah, that makes sense." It's stated here as a brute fact, and if it weren't true, we the Christians are the fools
And this is where apologetics comes in. It helps us make that defense for the hope that we have. It helps us make the case for the empty tomb. And in other places, apologetics helps us to understand that it's more reasonable to believe in God versus the alternative. Or maybe it's metaphysics, that beauty points us to a creator.
And then again, someone may ask, "But so what?"
I'll contend that apologetics can also help Christians be better evangelists, that the general study of apologetics can help us to not only defend the hope that is within us, but to also share the gospel more effectively because we simply know that the gospel is the best response.
It helps us to answer people's real questions. [00:07:00] I would even argue that apologetics can help protect our churches from false teaching and the false claims of cults, religions, and other worldviews. Does that mean that we have to be experts on every false teaching out there?
Certainly not. Sproul summarized it like this: "To spot fake diamonds, you just need to study real diamonds."
In closing today, who is apologetics for? It's for us. It's for our friends, families.
It's for our children. It's for everyone sitting in the pews on Sunday morning
But it's not just another tool hanging in our shed waiting to be used to win an argument. Apologetics is comforting, it's biblical, and ultimately it's something that helps us in our walk with God.
Hey, thank you for listening.
Please check out the show notes for links and additional resources.
Until next time
