Developing a
Biblical Worldview
Part 2
Gaining Christian Discernment in a World of Con
Written and Illustrated
by
Jay Wegter
@2021 by Faith Christian School PSP & Gospel for Life
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of a brief quotation embodied in critical article or reviews with the proper credits given.
All Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible (unless otherwise indicated).
Printed in the United States of America
Cover art: The Parting of the Red Sea, a painting by Jay Wegter.
The original is hanging in the reference library of The Master’s Seminary in Los Angeles, CA.
The parting of the Red Sea is one of the greatest miracles of God in the Bible (Exodus 14).
This event was performed by the Lord as the final act of deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. After Israel crossed the Sea on dry ground, the Lord closed the waters upon the Egyptian army. The painting seeks to capture the drama of God’s infinite power over His creation. God’s saving displayed in this miracle is immortalized in Psalm 66:6; 78:13; and 136:13:
He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot; There let us rejoice in Him! (Psalm 66:6) He divided the sea and caused them to pass through, and He made the waters stand up like a heap. (Psalm 78:13) To Him who divided the Rea Sea asunder, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. (Psalm 136:13)
“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8).
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2).
About the Author - Jay Wegter
:
University Professor, Speaker, Writer, Fine Artist, Founder & Executive Director of Gospel for Life
An experienced pastor and Bible teacher, Jay has a B.A. degree from
Christian Heritage College and a Master of Divinity degree from The
Master’s Seminary. He is adjunct professor of Theology, Christian
worldview (Apologetics and Evangelism), Biblical Discipleship, and Grace-
Driven Sanctification at The Master’s University. He also has developed
courses in Christian Theology for biblical counseling majors at The Master’s
University.
Because of his passion to help the church recover her New Testament mission, Jay founded the non-profit corporation, Gospel for Life in 2005. GFL is a training ministry which assists local churches in fulfilling The Great Commission through evangelistic outreach and through curriculum designed to keep the Gospel central in discipleship. GFL provides equipping in leadership development, evangelism, apologetics and discipleship, and in grace-driven sanctification (www.gospelforlife.org).
Table of Contents:
Know the Biblical Gospel
14. A Christian Worldview in Evangelism…………………..……………………….……..…………….1 15. Gospel Essentials………………………………………………………..…………….………………………11
Equipping the Believer.
16. The Romans Road for the 21ˢᵗ Century………………………..……………………………………23
Our Methodology in Christian Apologetics
17. Christian Ethics: Right from Wrong…………………………………………………………………..36
Pressing the Clash between Worldviews.
18. Addressing Social Issues with Scripture………………………………………………...……..….48
Including abortion.
19. The Myth of Neutrality………………………………………….………………...………………………61 20. The Biblical Point of Contact……………………….……………………………..…………………….73
The Biblical Point of Contact between God’s Truth and the Unbeliever.
Introduction to Biblical Cosmology
21. Biblical Cosmology…………………………….….………………………………….………………………84
The Reality of Biblical Cosmology s the Gospel’s Foundation.
Genesis, Gender and Sexuality
22. The Human Body and the Christian Worldview………….……………………...………….…97
The Purpose of our Bodies is Vital to the Christian Worldview.
‘World-proofing’ our High Schoolers for College
23. The Idolatry of Atheism……………………………………...………………………………………….110
Identifying the Idolatry of Postmodern Atheism in Universities – including gender/sexual anarchy.
24. The ‘Intolerance’ of Tolerance………….……………………………………………...………….…122
The Bankruptcy of Moral Relativism.
25. Ideological Social Justice………….……….……………………………………...…………………...136 26. Critical Race Theory………………………………………………………………………………………..152
With references to Intersectionality.
Glossary of Terms ………………….…………………………………………………………...……………………165 Verses………………..………….……………………………………………...…………………………………….……167 Appendices………………………………………….……………………………………………...……………………170 End Notes…………………………………………….……………………………………………...……………………172
Learning Concepts and Outcomes:
- To diligently apply and trust God’s truths in every area of life and thereby develop a comprehensive faith that will stand against the unrelenting tide of our culture’s non-biblical ideas. We designate these false ideas as plausibility structures.
- To understand the ways that our culture has been ‘duped’ by deceptive philosophies and false religions— and to realize that humanity has torn itself away from God’s “blueprint.” This will assist in developing an informed compassion for the lost.
- To capture and embrace more of God’s worldview, and trust what God says with unwavering faith in order to be able to make right decisions, and form appropriate responses on moral issues, and deepen our discernment of culture.
- To develop a ‘total truth’ unified worldview so as to bring one’s entire life under the lordship of Christ.
- To step out of ‘privatized Christianity’ and to equip oneself to engage our culture directly in effective evangelism (1 Pet 3:15).
- To study Christian worldview as a tool to evaluate the erroneous worldviews of the unbeliever, and in so doing, to learn to tear down the fortresses raised up against the plausibility of the gospel (2 Cor 10:3-5).
- To commit ourselves to the process of transformation which occurs through the renewing of the mind, and to develop and learn to use our cognitive faculties to the love God and to bring Him glory by seeing the entire cosmos in light of biblical worldview (Rom 12:1-2).
- To cultivate an affection for a biblical apologetic and its worth in preaching, counseling, evangelism, and other situations when the truth must be defended before a pagan world, cult setting, or before a disobedient Christian.
- To establish a biblical understanding of evangelism and a working understanding of the Gospel—and to take this Gospel knowledge into the world—learning to be effective in evangelism by sharing the Gospel on a regular basis (Mt 4:19).
How to Use the Lesson Assignments:
Teacher Lesson Preparation:
- Videos are available from Jay Wegter’s TMU class.
- Read the material, review the questions and class examples in the margin.
- Structure and layout the class time o Pray for the class outside the class and pray with the class before starting. o Check the questions from the previous lesson.
o Review the text in depth and give illumination for any difficult sections or vocabulary words. o Dialogue with the students, give examples and stories, and use the margin ideas for class time. o Remind the students of the homework for next time.
- Course planning: o Number of lessons (26) o Assigning homework to be completed after the lecture of the lesson. o Correct the homework o Optionally, assign papers – give topic selections, get student’s topics, give rubric, get thesis statement, outline, rough draft, and final draft.
Student Expectations for this Workbook:
- Students should expect to read this at least two times – This is not material that can be skimmed.
- Each lesson is about 2 hours a week of reading and answering questions (about ½ hour a day 4x week meeting 1x week for a lecture)
- Students will participate in the lesson’s lecture and work through the workbook reading and questions.
- This book is meant to be a workbook as well as a resource book that students can look back on when faced with specific worldview related questions.