How to share the Gospel in a Post-Christian World

How to share the Gospel in a Post-Christian World

Adapted from the book, This Little Church had None, Gary Gilley and Jay Wegter

Recovering the neglected elements of the biblical gospel

I. There are only two philosophies of absolute truth: God or self

A. Because there are only two philosophies of absolute truth, the Word of God demands antithesis (stark contrast between two mutually exclusive WV’s).

There are but two philosophies about absolute truth: the Word of God or self. The two philosophies of Word of God or self are irreconcilable and mutually exclusive. That is why antithesis is needed. Without a clash between these worldviews the sinner’s imagined autonomous reason is not put on trial. In order for effective conviction of sin to take place, God’s claims as Creator must be brought to bear on the sinner’s conscience (Jn 16:8-11; Gal 3:22).

When I teach evangelism, I frequently draw a map of the United States on the board. It is obvious that in order for a map to benefit navigation, our present position must be located on it. I’m reminded of the humorous story of the Maine farmer who is asked by a wayward motorist, “Do you know how to get to Bangor?” The farmer answers, “Sure do, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to get there from here.” The point is we have no other option in reaching our destination than beginning at our present location. We have to pinpoint our location if we are to navigate by the map. Yet this seems to be lost on some well meaning believers who practice personal evangelism. The unbeliever must be clearly shown his exact “location” in reference to Christ and the gospel.

B. The book of Romans is the most comprehensive treatise on salvation in the Bible.

When teaching evangelism, I call the book of Romans God’s “map” to eternal life. When I share the gospel from Romans with a person who is unsaved, I take as much time as necessary to show the unbeliever his present “position” on the “map.” I take him to the passages that deal with sin and unbelief. Before he can be moved to the part of the “map” on redemption, the unbeliever must whole-heartedly agree that the divine “GPS” has located him in the portion of the “map” that deals with transgression and falling short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).

This seems obvious, but it is often bypassed. When God saves the sinner, He finds the lost person in a state of rebellion and pollution. That’s where God locates him—that is the sinner’s “position” on the “map.” God’s Word is the locator that uncovers the sinner’s position and condition.

Only the biblical model of antithesis exemplified by the Apostle Paul does justice to the mutually exclusive worldviews of God and self. The truth of the gospel cannot be successfully accommodated to the relativism characteristic of postmodernism. By the world’s wisdom it is impossible to come to know God (1 Cor 1:21). There can be no saving knowledge of God until the sinner fears God as He is revealed in Scripture (Prov 1:7). Ask the unbeliever, “How much do you think you need God in order to find God?” “In fairness to what God claims in Holy Scripture, may I show you what God says about you dependency upon Him to find Him?”

Greg Bahnsen, who is now with the Lord in glory, was a renowned public debater who specialized in the field of epistemology. Dr. Bahsen offered compelling reasons for the use of biblical antithesis. “Without the ingredient of antithesis, Christianity is not simply anemic; it has altogether forfeited its challenge to all other worldviews.¹ [I]f we are true to the antithetical nature of Christianity, we must engage in a presuppositional challenge to unbelievers to show them that in terms of their worldview they cannot make sense of logic, facts, meaning, value, ethics, or human significance. ² [W]e must openly challenge the apostate philosophic constructions of men by which they seek to suppress the truth about God, themselves, and the world.”³

C. Pressing the antithesis between God’s truth and the lie plays a critical part in the conviction of sin.

As previously stated, by incorporating antithesis in evangelism we bring divine truth to bear on the conscience of the unbeliever. This is vital because the debate is not merely one opinion against another—it is God’s indictment of the unbeliever’s willful ignorance of God. The nonbeliever is guilty in God’s sight for what he does to the truth.⁴ Antithesis brings that guilt to light. Countless unbelievers claim to be good persons. Ask them, “Has anyone shown you from God’s Holy Word that ‘good people’ do not suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness?”

If we avoid the antithesis step in our evangelism it suggests that the unbeliever is neutral toward the truth of God. If we treat the unbeliever as if he is neutral, it assumes that he needs only “religious information” rather than conviction of sin. But, by utilizing antithesis, we are following the example of the Apostles and our Lord. Antithesis underscores the fact that truth is an ethical issue (Jn 3:19-21). Because antithesis shows the nonbeliever what he does with God’s truth, antithesis has the power to bring the appropriate weight of guilt upon the conscience.⁵

In the course of effective evangelism, we steer the conversation to a point at which there is an irreconcilable clash between sources of authority (God or self). The unbeliever’s stubborn adherence to self as the final point of reference must be challenged or he will continue to spew objections to the gospel. Remember, our witness is aimed at repentance.

The Christian apologist must be ever aware that sinners will not be satisfied with the answers we give until they give up their rebellion against God.⁶

The unbeliever’s rebellion against God is manifested by the fact that self is his non-negotiable starting point and controlling presupposition. Once we understand that the natural man has no fixed point of reference outside of self, we can employ antithesis by contrasting the sinner’s point of reference to the authority of God’s Word. Without antithesis, the sinner’s controlling presupposition remains uncontested.

What the unbeliever thinks about himself, and what God says about the unbeliever, must be put into bold contrast. The reason why is because the sinner still imagines that the answer to his spiritual dilemma remains in his own hands. We must challenge the sinner’s ultimate reference point so that his opposition to God is brought to light.

Without this humbling convicting stage, our evangelistic efforts are like painting over the barnacles on the rotten hull of a ship. The polluted condition of the heart must be revealed before the remedy of the gospel will ever be embraced. By utilizing antithesis in our witness, we are able to show that the assumptions of the unbeliever are on trial in God’s court. To put it bluntly, the Creator never leaves the sinner’s assumed autonomy intact. Throughout Scripture God declares that His Word is a fixed immovable point of reference that stands in antithesis to self. Self reliance, the world’s approach to knowledge, is condemned by God as folly (Prov 1:7; 3:5; Jer 17:5).

D. The unbeliever’s problem is not that he has no idea who God is. His problem is that he does not like who God is, therefore he rejects divine wisdom (Col 1:21).

This is the cause of the nonbeliever’s rash speculations about reality (this is why the unbeliever makes ‘super statements’ such as, “The Bible is unreliable,” “No one knows for sure.”). The sinner’s intellectual problem is produced by his moral condition (as a spiritually dead individual in need of regeneration).⁷ The faithful Christian apologist is mindful that, to a large extent, we take to the unbeliever what he already knows but seeks to suppress—the knowledge of God (Rom 1:19-20).

II. Commonly neglected elements in today’s evangelism

A. The church today is afflicted by a gospel which requires no repentance.

The words of Welsh pastor Howell Harris are even more true today than they were 200 years ago. “Churches are filled with folks who have a détente with sin; they are at ease under its dominion. They won’t study the fruits of faith or make their election and calling sure, but turn the grace of God into licentiousness.”⁸

The author’s point is well taken—we have forgotten the necessity of deep conviction of sin. God’s grace is free, but its bestowal has conditions which are set by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit prepares the sinner for grace by means of conviction (Jn 16:13). The burden of sin and wrath on the conscience is a function of divine grace because Christ’s merit is known only to the poor soul in deep distress. Small conviction of sin will yield only slight views of Christ’s blood and merits.

There is a necessary desperation which must accompany true conviction of sin. It is only the destitute sinner who falls at the feet of Christ. Only those who have been smitten with the death wound of impending damnation flee to the Savior. Only those stripped of all self righteousness cry to Christ for mercy. The unsaved “religious” man has yet to receive a death blow from the law of God. The law has never been manifested to him in its spirituality (Rom 7:14); in other words, he has never been thoroughly slain by the law. If he had been, he would be dead to the law as a source of life. Instead he is still ‘alive’ to the law. In other words, he hopes that his own efforts at morality will move God to save him in the end. By contrast, if he had been stripped of all self-righteousness, he would be dead to the law. Only then would he understand that he must find spiritual life in Another and not in law-keeping (Gal 2:19).

As a consequence of being yet alive to the law, the idol of self is set up in the heart against Christ in His offices of Priest and King. The false professor feels that he is a good Christian before he is thoroughly condemned by the law. Only when the law slays him will he be made to feel his utter need of faith in order to lay hold of Christ’s imputed righteousness.⁹

B. Only the Spirit’s convicting power can slay self-help.

Says Howell Harris, nature can’t stand being stripped of all righteousness. Nature would rather despair, would rather choose Judas’ noose, than go to Christ on His terms. “Be merciful to me the sinner” is the hardest prayer in the world. To confess Christ from the heart is above the power of flesh and blood.

So much profession of salvation today is merely an accommodation, a lowering of the market to what the flesh is capable of, namely a form of religion in which men have never parted with self-righteousness. As a result, carnal professors are strangers to the blood of Christ.¹⁰ The unregenerate person lies in a deep spiritual slumber of apathy. All his false hopes must be dashed or he will never flee to Christ.

False professors are more naked, wretched and poor than they can possibly imagine. They have not seen their own moral bankruptcy and spiritual ruin. They seem ignorant of the fact that God only pities, forgives and receives those who are poor in spirit, self-condemned, broken-hearted and sincere. No man apart from the Spirit’s work can prepare himself in this way. It is the Spirit’s convicting work to harrow the heart until it is ‘mortally wounded’ by the law. Says Harris, no one ever came to liberty without feeling himself in bondage. No man ever believed without discovering through an evil heart of unbelief that believing is the hardest thing in the world. No one ever took up the cross in self-denial without perceiving hell, darkness and wrath pursuing him until fleeing to Christ as his only refuge. ¹¹

The Puritans argued that three stages of conviction were necessary to prepare a soul for salvation: 1.) The individual must become aware of and confirm the reality of God’s moral government (that God Almighty reigns over and rules His creatures by means of His holy Law). 2.) The individual must be brought to the conviction that he has failed God’s moral Law and is therefore a debtor to God who stands guilty before God. 3.) The individual must become convinced by the Spirit of personal inability—that it is impossible to work one’s way out of condemnation. The Puritans referred to this final stage of conviction as “legal bondage.”¹²

God’s way is radically different from the self-salvation inherent in modern evangelistic methods. God comes down and scatters every stick, stone and pile of mortar that the sinner has built in the interest of personal merit. When the Spirit does His convicting work, He does not leave one stone upon another. He is a jealous God and will have no partner in the way of salvation.

When the quickening power of God’s Spirit has passed upon a man’s conscience, he is brought to see himself to be morally and spiritually bankrupt. This inward sight of self cuts him off sooner or later from legal hopes (hopes of being saved by law-keeping).

In many cases the work may begin in a way scarcely perceptible—but be sure of this, that the Lord will bring down the hearts of all His people with labor; He will convince them of their lost state before Him and cast them as ruined wretches into the dust of death—without hope, strength, wisdom, help, or righteousness, except that which is given to them, as a free gift of distinguishing grace (Rom 5:6-11).

C. Our problem today is we want conversions without conviction. We urge sinners to take Christ as Savior before they’ve undergone any trauma of soul over their sins.

This work of grace in the conscience, pulling down all of man’s false refuges, stripping him of every lying hope, and thrusting him down into self-abasement and self-abhorrence, is indispensable to a true reception of Christ. No matter how informed his judgment is, he will never receive Christ spiritually into his heart and affections until he has been broken by the hand of God in his soul to be a ruined wretch.¹³

This process of conviction by the Spirit can take months. The most common approach the awakened sinner takes is as follows: having been awakened to his sin, the sinner goes through a period of personal reformation. He makes resolutions. He tries to repent. God allows him to labor under this attempt to change his own nature—but it is all to ‘bankrupt him’ spiritually. The Holy Spirit intends to strip him of all self-righteousness—to show him his moral deformity. The sinner has no clue how strong his depravity is until he tries to put his feet on the bottom of the river of his depravity and walk upstream against its current. The Spirit uses this carnal effort to devastate self confidence.

As Christian workers who preach the gospel, it is vital for us to be ever aware of the Spirit’s work of stripping the unbeliever of all self-righteousness. It is a dangerous thing for us to lead the unbeliever in a prayer of accepting Jesus BEFORE the Spirit has stripped the person of self-righteousness.

III. The need is to recover the gospel essentials that are

increasingly missing today.

A. The biblical gospel must include the character of God and the character of the sinner. The true gospel contains the following essentials:

1. Who has the sinner offended?
2. How has the sinner offended God?
3. What are the consequences of offending God?
4. From What are sinners to be saved?
5. What has God done about the sinner’s dilemma?
6. How are sinners to be saved from ruin?

WHO has the sinner offended?

Our gospel message must have at its core the glory, majesty and exaltation of God—He is the offended power. Without the knowledge of God whom he has offended, the sinner will not see himself in opposition to God.¹⁴ The gospel is about God whom the sinner has offended, about the Creator’s moral majesty and righteous justice. God cannot be made to fit the sinner’s instincts, radical miscalculations, and carnal ideas of deity. All conviction of sin and remorse for sin begins with the character of God as He is revealed in Scripture.

In your witness, start with God as Creator—begin with who God is in relation to all else (His absolute claims upon His creatures). “Don’t assume the culture knows anything about God,” says Ken Ham. Don’t try to lead someone to Christ who doesn’t understand God’s character. False evangelism tries to attract by focusing on divine love to the exclusion of God’s holiness, sovereignty and righteous justice.

HOW has the sinner offended God?

Man must experience a degree of devastation about personal sin. The modern gospel circumvents this step. There must be an awakening in the individual as to the fact that all sin is against God, against His holy character. There is no repentance until the sinner says the same thing about his sin that God does. Sin makes him an enemy of God (Rom 3:23; 5:10).

Jesus took the rich young ruler back to the law of God (Lu 18:18-23). The sinner must be shown how he has specifically offended God. The cross cannot be made personal without making the sinner’s depravity personal (that is, the transgressor must be shown that who he is and what he has done in his person has offended God). The preaching of the law is the tool for identifying sin (Ro 3:20; 5:20).

In our culture, people hear the gospel through a grid of self improvement. They assume that the gospel is about them, about their self-therapy, not about God who is glorified in judging sin at the cross, and thereby redeeming and reconciling the sinner.

(EXAMPLE: In witnessing to a college student named Rachel the other evening, it became clear that this coed had a completely different definition of sin than God does. Rachel proclaimed that she was a good person because she was so tolerant of everyone and their beliefs. She even suggested that if God were good, that this tolerance viewpoint should be God’s position as well!)

WHAT are the consequences of offending God?

The law stops every mouth that all may become guilty before God (Rom 3:19). Man’s “uneducated conscience” cannot be trusted to assess the seriousness of sin and its verdict of death and separation from God. Only by proclaiming the character of God and the immutability of His law will sinners conclude that they are lawbreakers in God’s sight who deserve eternal condemnation (1 Jn 3:4).

The law is the identifier of sin—without the law, how does a person know of what to repent? Modern evangelism ignores God’s law. As a consequence, the modern gospel is emptied of the gospel essentials of sin, hell, conviction and repentance. God has born witness to man’s moral and spiritual condition. God is just and fair to shut impenitent sinners out of the enjoyment of His glory forever (Mt 10:28). Sinners who reject God’s authority, who do not fear God or believe God, are liable to death and judgment (Mt 12:36). They will experience God’s verdict—the separation of their souls from God forever in eternal punishment (Rom 6:23). Sinners make a wager or “bet” that God will not judge them eternally for their sins (Ps 10:13).

WHAT are sinners to be saved from?

Sinners must be told that they need to be saved not only from the consequences of sin (death and separation from God in hell) but also from sin itself. Salvation is not merely deliverance from the penalty of sin, but also deliverance from the dominion of sin. This is absolutely vital—it is a truth inherent in true repentance (Lu 13:5; 24:47). The individual who truly repents wants to be freed from the tyranny of sin. Jesus felt a love for the rich young ruler; then told him what he must be saved from—covetousness (Lu 18:22ff.). Sinners must be told that they must be saved from the wrath of God which will justly come upon all who do not believe the Gospel and repent of sin (Rom 2:1-10). The fact that God will someday lay bare every heart is stated in a gospel context (Rom 2:16).

WHAT has God done about the sinner’s dilemma?

Without knowledge of God whom the sinner has offended, and without knowledge of God’s law which the sinner has trampled, there will be no grasp of what God has done to save. Grace makes sense only to those who see themselves as condemned lawbreakers. The good news of the gospel is that there is an almighty living God who is Creator. He has taken on flesh and dwelled with mankind. Christ the God-man died for our sins according to the Scriptures. By His substitutionary death, He fulfilled the long-awaited promise of a perfect redemption. He established the new covenant in His blood (Matt 26:28; 1 Cor 11:25).

The atonement Christ has made exalts divine justice. Because of the cross, God is glorified in extending forgiveness full and free to believing sinners. By His resurrection from the dead, Jesus conquered sin, Satan and death. His resurrection is proof that the Father has accepted the Son’s sacrifice on behalf of all who will believe. God is ready to receive even the worst sinner who believes and repents—because Christ has provided the all-sufficient sacrifice for sin.

HOW are sinners to be saved from ruin?

The promise of eternal life is offered to all who believe and repent. “Turn from your sins and follow Christ—take hold of eternal life!” God is focusing His mighty power in the gospel—in saving sinners (Rom 1:16, 17). The good news of the gospel is that man may have certainty about forgiveness of personal sin and man may have eternal life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (Jn 3:36; 5:24-25; 10:27-29).

God desires you to be saved—He even commands you to come to Him and be forgiven, to be reconciled to Him on the basis of what He has done in Christ Jesus (Is 55:3-7). You need not remain an enemy estranged from Him—He has promised to receive all those who come to Him by faith in His Son (Jn 1:12, 13; 6:37; Acts 17:30-31). Christ is calling sinners to repentance and faith. These are twin graces that will be present in the regenerate person. Repentance and faith enable the sinner to flee to Christ and take hold of Him as Savior (Phil 1:29; Eph 2:8-10).

B. The problem with modern evangelism is its false diagnosis of the sinner’s dilemma.

Without a correct diagnosis of the sinner’s condition before God men will resent and resist the gospel. Apart from the Holy Spirit using the law, men tend to hide themselves from the exposure and judgment of their sin. No man welcomes the cure provided by the cross until he sees that his “sin disease” is eternally fatal. A man does not understand the gospel if he has no understanding of divine law.

The law is the means of showing the sinner that God is “Moral Governor” of the universe. The law now has both a precept role (commandments) and an evangelical role (conviction of sin). Its evangelical role is to make sin exceedingly sinful (Rom 7:13). We are to therefore preach the law “killingly” to the end that the sinner loses all hope of contributing to his own salvation. The law in the hands of the Spirit removes the sinner’s false hope in good works to save him.

Early Puritans such as Robert Bolton (1606-1654) recognized the danger of “short-cutting” the gospel by offering free grace, before the conscience was afflicted by the law.¹⁵ The Puritans regarded the moral law as a codified copy of the divine nature (God’s holiness in transcript), an unchanging expression of the holy majesty of God’s Person. Since God’s moral government is founded upon His law, the ineffable principle of moral cause and effect reveals God’s righteous character. C. H. Dodd regarded God’s moral law to be built into the very fabric of the universe and creation.¹⁶

Under the new covenant, the evangelical role of the law is summarized in Galatians 2 and 3. In these chapters the law places the entire human race in custody awaiting judgment, thus the moral law of God operates like a “bulldozer” that scrapes human merit off the face of the earth.

In fulfilling its “evangelical” role, the law is pictured in the book of Galatians as a prosecutor, an executioner, a jailor, a tutor, and a curse-er (thus the law prepares the sinner for the gospel by slaying all his false hopes and by exposing his condemned condition before God—Rom 10:4).

C. Learn to use the law in apologetics and evangelism. A suggested procedure for using the law in apologetics and evangelism:

1. Establish the very concept of moral law.

Ask key questions to make sure the person with whom you are sharing understands that God governs by means of His law. Note how our culture separates the person of God from the moral law of God. In your evangelism, strive to join the person of God to His unchanging law. God’s law is an expression of His loving care of us. To break His laws is to sin against God’s character and it is to sin against love which God’s laws are meant to safeguard.

(EXAMPLE: “Does it disturb you that family values are under attack? Has anyone ever shared with you where morals originate?”)

2. Establish that moral law is a direct reflection of God’s unchanging moral character.

It is impossible to love God without submitting to and valuing His commands as the expression of His righteousness (Deut 30:19-20). The Leviticus formula is, “I am the Lord, therefore . . .” God’s standard never evolves because the Lawgiver never changes. His moral law for man reflects the immutable character of His righteousness and holiness. It is a standard that is eternally binding upon all civilizations.¹⁷

3. Establish the existence of God’s moral government.

Moral cause and effect are administered by God (note: Deut 10, 11, 13, 27, 28). By obedience to God’s commands, we manifest that we are God’s possession and that we are willingly subject to His moral government. Paul preached the gospel against the backdrop of the coming judgment of God’s moral government (see Acts 17:30, 31; 24:15, 16; Rom 2:16). To reverence God and His moral authority is to understand that sin issues the ‘paycheck’ of death and separation (Rom 6:23).

Remember, every false worldview has its own erroneous counterpart to the biblical doctrines of sin, moral guilt, atonement, and salvation! In a rudimentary fashion, God’s law is written on the conscience of every man (Rom 2:15). We can ‘tap into’ this innate knowledge of God’s moral government by reaching the conscience. The Apostle Paul states that the human condition is made known by God’s law (Rom 7:9-11). Man is responsible to God for his conduct, held to a standard of conduct and indicted and judged for not upholding that standard, even if he has never read or heard of the Bible (Rom 2:12-15). According to Paul, man has an innate knowledge of God’s attributes (Rom 1:20), an innate knowledge of God’s person (Rom 1:21), an innate knowledge of God’s law (Rom 1:32; 2:14-15), and an innate knowledge of God’s judgment (Rom 1:32).¹⁸

D. In our apologetic “reasoning” we must remember the conscience of man must be reached before cherished intellectual fallacies are abandoned.

Arguments against the God of the Bible come from the unbeliever’s intellect. The ungodly mind is like a brick wall built to keep God out. It has enmity against Him. It refuses to bow to the law of God –‘because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; (Rom 8:7) (NASB).

The carnal mind weaves arguments and attacks against God. The unregenerate mind is the place of battles against God—it is a place of great hostility against the knowledge of God (Col 1:21). The mental wall of antagonism against the knowledge of God is hard and immovable and, as a witness of Christ, one should make a habit of skirting it.

Learn to speak directly to the conscience. Ray Comfort notes, “The conscience is the only part of human nature that isn’t an enemy of God. The conscience is God’s ally. It speaks for the law of God. It bears witness (Rom 2:15). It testifies for God. It is the witness who points out the guilty party in the courtroom. If we want to win our case we must bring out our star witness (God’s law) and put it on the stand to give it a voice. We want to stop the mouth of the criminal and that’s what the lawful use of the law does (Rom 3:19; 1 Tim 1:7-11). It condemns the guilty and drives him to give up his defense, so that he will be forced to look solely to the Judge for mercy.”¹⁹

IV. Learn to preach the law of God in association with the need

for repentance.

A. Preaching the law of God and preaching repentance toward God are necessarily joined to the Holy Spirit’s preparation of the sinner.

Only the man prepared by God’s Spirit goes to war against his own sin and his own sin nature. The sinner prepared by the Holy Spirit takes God’s side against himself. Luther once said, “Penance remains while self hate remains.” In other words, no one comes to Christ without being overwhelmed with self-contempt over personal sin. In order to be brought to true repentance, a man must be taken beyond the fear of punishment—to hatred of sin and love of Christ. Repentance begins with sobering thoughts of eternity, then proceeds to conscience-crushing contemplation of personal sin.

The sinner will come willingly if the Spirit of God has prepared him by crushing his conscience over sin and by bringing him to the end of self. Unbelievers stop short of saving faith and repentance when they place their trust in their efforts of personal reformation (legal repentance). Therefore it is the Spirit’s convicting role to bring the sinner to utter bankruptcy of soul and despairing of all self-help. True turning from sin has a palpable desperation about it. The prepared sinner longs for forgiveness and deliverance from sin. The cost of discipleship lived out under the absolute lordship of Christ appeals only to the person who is desperate to be delivered from sin. The prepared person is willing to pay any cost and part with anything in order to have Christ and deliverance.

The man who is genuinely converted never outgrows his amazement at divine forgiveness. His mind and affections are now servants and instruments of God’s Word and grace. He continues to glorify God by viewing God’s grace from the vantage point of what his sin deserves (Eph 2:1-16). This is why we preach the law, for it is the beginning of understanding what we justly deserve and it is the beginning of preparing the sinner to appeal to the throne of grace for mercy.

B. The modern “gospel” fails to bring the human condition to light; it comes short of producing true conviction of sin.

Without exposing the human condition in a convincing way that afflicts the conscience, people have little idea from what they are to be saved. Modern presentations of the Gospel tend to emphasize the benefits of salvation rather than the character of God and the sinner’s condition.²⁰ When Christ preached the gospel, He removed all middle ground—He eliminated all gray areas. He emphatically stated that there is no neutral territory between truth and lies, between heaven and hell. Christ’s words concerning the gospel made a clear division between men. If a person is not following Christ with all his heart and seeking to build His Kingdom and involved in gathering souls then, according to Christ, that person is scattering and is “against Me” (Luke 11:23).

Christ and the Apostles preached the law of God, original sin, the need of repentance, and the need of a new nature. When the gospel is preached biblically, the soil of the heart will be “plowed up” in order to receive the good seed (Matt 13:1-23). Our self-trust, self-boasting, self-analysis, and self-seeking flow from the deception that we can live independently of God. Self-centered man is separated from a holy God by three immense barriers:

• A bad record—“All have sinned. . .” (Rom 3:23)
• A bad heart—“From the heart of man come evil thoughts. . .” (Matt 15:19)
• A bad master—“Whoever commits sin is a slave. . .” (Jn 8:34)

God won’t let us live as rebels forever. God’s punishment for rebellion is death and judgment. God will call us into account for our actions. The sentence God passes on us is entirely just—it gives us what we have asked for by our rebellion. By our attempts to live independently of God we have said, “I prefer to live with my back to You, I don’t want you telling me what to do. Leave me alone.”²¹ “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Heb 9:27). It is a terrible thing to fall under the sentence of God’s judgment. God’s judgment on rebels is to withdraw from them, to cut them off from Him self permanently. God is the source of all life, light, love, good and blessedness, being cut off from Him means death and hell.²² “The wages of sin is death. . .” (Rom 3:23a).

In our alienation from God in this life, we will experience an accusing conscience which generates fear, guilt, and depression. But in the existence to come there will be loss of all friendship and earthly joys forever (Matt 8:12; Luke 16:19-31). There will be frightful pains of body and conscience forever (Mark 9:48).²³

C. Because of His love, God sent His Son into the world, the man Jesus Christ.

Because of His great love and generosity, God did not leave us to suffer the consequences of our foolish rebellion. He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to take our punishment and to bring forgiveness. ²⁴ “Christ died for our sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Pet 3:18). God raised Jesus to life again and appointed Him Ruler of the world. Jesus has conquered death. He now gives new life and He will return as Judge. God accepted Jesus’ death as payment in full for our sins and raised Him from the dead. As God’s appointed Ruler over all, Jesus has also been appointed by God to judge the world.²⁵ “He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained” (Acts 17:31a; Jn 5:22-23).

Jesus offers a new life—both now and eternally. Our sins can be forgiven through Christ’s death and we can be delivered from rebellion and brought into friendship with God. The pardon that Christ brings to those who trust Him assures believers that when He returns He will accept us into His eternal home. “In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead” (1 Pet 1:3). God’s gift of new life in Christ removes the barriers which separate us from God (a bad record, a bad heart, a bad master.)

In Christ the believer has:

• A perfect record—“Christ . . . is made our righteousness” (1 Cor 1:30).
• A new heart—“A new heart I will give you” (Ez 36:25-26).
• A new master—“My yoke is easy” (Matt 11:28-30).

Jesus said of the new life He offers: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He that believes in Me. . . from within him shall flow rivers of living water” (Jn 7:38-39). In this new life, God Himself comes to live within us by His Spirit. We experience the joy of a new relationship with God. God’s Holy Spirit gives you the ‘fruit’ of “love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22). God’s Holy Spirit gives you power to overcome feelings of loneliness, stress and fear of people and the future (1 Jn 4:18). He gives the power to break habits like selfishness, depression, uncontrolled anger, sexual lust, overeating and substance abuse. ²⁶

We come to Christ by way of repentance and faith—we come to God by coming to Christ. To repent is to turn in sorrow from your sins. Repentance is not our suffering or our good works to earn salvation but a turning from our sins to the living God through Christ Jesus. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him turn to the Lord, that He may have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Is 55:7). Trust in Christ Jesus alone. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. . .” (Acts 16:31). Trusting is accepting, receiving, and resting on Christ alone as the Savior from our sins.

V. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Knowledge: Proverbs 1:7

A. To avoid Christ (God’s light) at any point in the academic pursuit is to be misled, untruthful, and spiritually dead

. One must be presuppositionally committed to Christ in the world of thought or else (by default) be deluded by persuasive argument (Col 2:8).²⁷

All ‘Life View’ thoughts and philosophies fall into one of two categories: obedience or captivity (Col 2:8). We are to press the antithesis—and in doing so remove all imagined ‘middle ground’. Without repentance, one remains in a state of foolishness, folly, and eternal darkness.

An appeal to neutrality is nothing more than a thinly veiled disguise for all-out war against the epistemic authority of Christ. The antithesis between imagined human autonomy and Christ’s authority cannot be erased.²⁸

We must confront the arrogance which assumes that genuine knowledge is attainable independent of God’s direction and standards. Attempts at self-sufficiency unavoidably result in futility (a position which cancels out the possibility of finding truth) (Eph 4:17-19).

B. God the Lord is the Originator of all truth.

All our knowledge is a receptive reconstruction of God’s primary thoughts. Intellectual self-sufficiency always leads to foolishness and delusion. According to Scripture, a ‘fool’ does not want to find the truth; he only wants to be justified in his vain imaginations. The fool will not leave his intellectual folly UNTIL he sees that his imagined autonomy is hostile to knowledge.

God’s unbending purpose is to make foolish the wisdom of the world (1 Cor 1:18-25). God is in the pride destruction business. The Word of God says that one cannot know God and the world aright by means of independently exercised reason. Reverence and faith must precede the knowledge of God and what He has made.

God’s justice is filled with His intention to demonstrate His wrath in the form of a divine ‘object lesson’. Like a public hanging; error will forever be hung on the gallows of God’s justice and eternally exhibited in all its ugliness and horror (see Romans 9). Consider how men who do not fear God are oblivious to this public purpose of God to demonstrate His wrath (1 Cor 1:18-21; 2:6-9).

The Hebrew word for fear is YARAH (NIDOT, 2:527). It means to hold in honor—to be afraid—to be in awe—to worship—even to be alarmed. The word ‘fear’ in the context of fearing God frequently refers to the reverence and awe and respect which God’s Person elicits (Deut 10:12-13). The fear of God is associated with obedience to His commands—obey, walk, do, listen, hear, fear, heed—thus fear of God is inseparable from appropriate moral conduct. Fear of God is also associated with an awe of God which is an essential part of true worship.

Of Job’s fear of God, the Word says that he was blameless, upright, turning away from evil (Job 1:8). The fear of the Lord is wisdom. Proverbs is the main book of the Bible dealing with the fear of God. Fear of God, wisdom, and knowledge are closely associated in Scripture. The theme of Proverbs is the wise man versus the fool. The wise man fears the Lord; the fool is lacking fear of God.

In Ecclesiastes, God’s absolute sovereignty is a just cause for fear and reverence for God. The fear of God underlies wise decision-making (Eccl 3:14). The whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments—consider how ‘rational’ this is in view of the fact that God will bring every act to judgment; whether good or evil (Eccl 12:13-14).

A true understanding of who God is inspires worship; even trembling (Ps 55:5-6; 90:11). The fear of God inspires moral conduct (Gen 20:11; Neh 5:15). Such fear is imparted to God’s people in order that they might not sin (Ex 20:20; Jer 32:40). The hard hearted do not have the fear of God (Is 63:17). Jesus commands men to fear God (Lu 12:5). The fear of the Lord is the first principle of wisdom (Ps 111:10; Prov 1:7). The fear of God is also associated with knowledge (Prov 2:5).

C. Scripture teaches a metaphysical system—all things are of God; through God; and unto God (Rom 11:33-36).

Theologically—this text (Rom 11:33-36) is “Mount Everest”—all rationality therefore is stipulated upon reasoning from this vantage point. There is no other reality.²⁹ Therefore we must think God’s thoughts after Him in order to understand and interpret the world as a whole.

The Bible’s metaphysical scheme (above) is absolutely essential for Christian Worldveiw. What a contrast this is to the unbeliever’s metaphysical system. The unbeliever, according to 2 Peter 3, opposes the truth of the universal flood, the coming Kingdom of God, and the day of the Lord. The unbeliever’s ‘metaphysic’ (view of the nature of reality) is uniformitarianism (all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation) (2 Pet 3:4).

Empiricism as a ‘gateway’ to truth is woefully limited. Empirical experience gives the appearance of things; but empiricism cannot do the following:

• It cannot correct illusions (it can’t go beyond appearances).
• It cannot open up the world of reality lying beyond the senses.
• It cannot determine the limits of possibility and impossibility.
• It cannot deal with the world as a whole (without an authoritative universal, it is left with a fragmented, disunified, atomistic view of the world).
• It cannot ‘weigh’ its own worldview on the scales of absolute truth.
• It cannot set forth an explanation of the nature of reality.³⁰

Metaphysically, empiricism is capable only of reckless flights of speculation.

Empiricism cannot discover the plan of redemption by looking at a cursed earth in which nature is red in tooth and claw and dominated by cruelty.

This is sobering indeed—no wonder the reprobate is plunged into the depths of eternal confusion on the Day of Judgment (“how did I come to this awful place?”). To reject Scripture as the presuppositional starting point is to destroy the possibility of knowledge. We are to call unbelievers to abandon their suppression of the knowledge of God—to repent of their rebellious mindset and to abandon the ‘worship’ of their own imaginings.

What is the highest, ultimate standard and criterion for truth—authoritative, clearly known— validating all other proposed authorities for truth? It is the Word of God.³¹ God the Lord interprets everything definitively. If we want to know something; we must think His thoughts after Him. God plans, knows, and sees all—therefore the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.³²

Authority is part of His Lordship. He has the right to command, to tell us to obey, and to tell us what to believe. When sinners try to gain knowledge apart from the fear of the Lord; that knowledge is necessarily distorted (Rom 1:18-21).

D. When we speak of the unbeliever’s knowledge being distorted we do not mean that every sentence is distorted—what we do mean is that their worldview is distorted, twisted, and unreliable—it does not correlate with reality.

To make self, or something other than the God of the Bible, the final standard of truth is to commit epistemological suicide. The willful assumption of autonomy always results in epistemological disaster. God calls ‘doing your own thing’ utter foolishness.

The unbeliever’s method of knowing—his epistemology—his philosophy of fact—and his criterion for truth are collectively (according to Scripture) what make him a fool. What any individual regards as a fact depends upon his worldview. The autonomous man becomes his own ultimate epistemological authority—this is hostile to the Word of God and it is abhorrent to God who proclaims Himself as ultimate authority of the universe. God condemns man’s quest for independence and intellectual self-sufficiency.³³

When an unbeliever questions the Word of God as an ‘autonomous’ critic; the Word of God draws that person into judgment. God’s sure Word is the final authority and final criterion for truth. God’s Word is the ultimate authority in the world of thought. Woe to him who strives with his Maker (Is 45:9). The creature has no right to question the Creator. The authority of God’s Word is the necessary presupposition for all true knowledge. Rather than having God pass tests of fact, logic, beneficial effect, and subjective satisfaction; the Apostle Paul realized that logic and fact (and all other criteria) are senseless without God.³⁴

A fool trusts his own heart (Prov 28:26; 29:11; 12:15). Biblically, what is a fool? Answer: a person whose final ‘authoritative’ reference point is self. A fool trusts implicitly in his own utterances, his own opinions, and his own professed wisdom. It is impossible to arrive at truth in this way; and it is impossible to autonomously verify the Word of God. “If one does not begin with the truth of God, he cannot conclude his argumentation with either truth or God.”³⁵

God is ultimate self-consciousness—what He says is truth, is real, is fact. He is self-sufficient Creator. The mind of man is not self-sufficient—we must take in the Word of God as our starting point and standard of knowledge. We must presuppose Christianity—nothing can be known if the Creator/Redeemer is not known first. The knowledge of God is the condition of rational inquiry. ³⁶

Autonomy is destructive to human reason because autonomy makes impossible demands on finite, dependent human intellect. Autonomous reason arrogates to itself the very epistemological role of God. This is why autonomy is the height of arrogance. In the Word of God, the knowledge of God is so certain that no reasonable man should doubt it. All men are without excuse (Rom 1:18-21).

All the treasures of God’s wisdom and knowledge are in Christ. Aside from Christ and His self-attesting Word—man can produce nothing but vanity—“the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’” (1 Tim 6:20). Thus the quest for certainty can be successful only as one takes the fear of the Lord as the beginning of knowledge.³⁷

“I believe that I might understand” (Augustine). Ontology must precede our epistemology OR, we are still stuck in Eden’s Lie. (As an exercise—have the class discuss the topic, “What is a wedding and where does the institution of marriage come from?” Select two speakers who will discuss the topic from a believer’s and an unbeliever’s perspective.)

E. The fear of the Lord is the only reliable ‘gate of knowledge’—all other proposed gateways to knowledge put a person in a position to NOT have truth and knowledge.

All other proposed gateways to knowledge (empiricism, philosophic naturalism, false religion, etc.) assume that man’s reason is autonomous—in other words; that man’s reasoning processes are in fine working order and are able to attain real knowledge independent of God’s infallible revelation.

Here is a summary of reasons why the fear of the Lord is sole gateway to truth:

• Man as the image of God is an analog of God. Man’s mind is uniquely created to receive revelation from God. Man as image-bearer of God is designed by God to think His thoughts after Him.
• Man is utterly dependent upon divine revelation in order to know as he ought. What God reveals in Scripture; man could never discover through his own independent inquiry.
• God structures all reality. God and His plan for His creation constitute ultimate reality. The Word of God is His revelation concerning Himself and His plan.

• Truth has no origin or existence independent of God.

• Truth is an ethical issue.

Truth is an ethical issue for the following reasons:

• Man was created with the capacity to know God. God made the knowledge of Himself evident in them, and evident to them (Rom 1:19). There are certain attributes of God that every man knows—this knowledge of God is inescapable (Rom 1:20; Ps 19).
• God charges man with culpability for suppressing the truth of God (Rom 1:18). Sinners studiously suppress the knowledge of God that they have been given. Because they work to suppress the knowledge of God they already possess; they are without excuse (1:20). Man is eternally responsible with what he does with both general and special revelation.

• Those who suppress the truth bear the consequence of their willful sin (Rom 1:18). The wrath of God is revealed against their ungodliness and unrighteousness. Suppressing the truth calls forth the wrath of God against them because they hold down the truth in unrighteousness.
• God paid an infinite cost to put men back in possession of the truth. Christ is God’s truth incarnate. Christ is God’s eternal utterance (Word) made flesh. Nothing less than the death of the Son of God in the sinner’s place can remove the darkness from men’s minds and hearts (2 Cor 4:4-6). Regeneration (purchased for God’s people at the cross of Christ) is the resetting of the mind to receive God’s truth.

F. Questions that can be used to uncover the folly of the unbeliever’s worldview:

• Is there anything in creation that can’t happen by itself? Is there anything in creation that gives massive evidence of being designed instead of coming into existence by chance? If biblical creation were true; what would we expect to see? (Answers the materialistic assumption that chance did it all—that the universe made itself; sustains itself; interprets itself.)
• Why is evil in the world if God made it? (The answer to this question is one of the major themes of Scripture—make sure you can answer this.)

• Did you know that God has made it very clear in His Word; the penalty for disobeying God is de-evolution; not evolution. (Because of human sin; the creation has been ‘dragged down’ into decay, death, disease, injustice, suffering, and extinction.)
• When we think of evidence that something designed, consider that a boomerang does what wood does not normally do—come back! Why does it come back when you throw it? What is the evidence in a boomerang for a designer? (This practical, simple question can turn the conversation to the subject of God’s plan and design for all He has made.)

• What categories in creation are admissible as support for an Intelligent Designer or Creator? (If they say, “None!” you can point out that they have a core assumption that they have made on faith alone without proof.)
• The ingredients in DNA (sugars, phosphates, amino acids) do not make codes by themselves. Have you ever considered how complex these codes in DNA really are? (Point out that even the simplest software program has a designer—how much more infinitely complex is the program that is responsible for the construction of the human eye?)

• Do you know what you believe happens to a person after death? How did you come to that conclusion? Do you have a good reason for rejecting Christ’s testimony concerning this question? Has anyone ever talked to you about your conscience and your soul? (May I invite you to ‘step into Christian Worldview’ for a moment to explain what God says about this?)
• If you were to set out to find God; how would you proceed? Do you know what God’s Word says about finding God? (Do you know why God’s initial contact point with us is our sin and rebellion—because according to God’s Word, that’s the condition in which God finds us— dead, stuck, rebellious, unable to help ourselves.)

• Has anyone ever shown you from the Bible why you are accountable to God? (Because you are made in the image of God—you have been designed by God for a specific purpose. And you will only come to know that purpose as well as recover that purpose through the Lord Jesus Christ.)
• May I show you from God’s Word what it is about life and the afterlife that you could never know apart from God’s revelation the Bible? (Answers the objection, I won’t believe it unless I see it for myself.)
• May I show you from Scripture why death is such a serious issue? (Explain that the sting of death is sin. Christ’s resurrection connects mankind to eternity—His resurrection demands that there is an eternal existence! His resurrection is the only possible conquest of our greatest enemy—death. His resurrection is the Father’s endorsement of His cross-work for sinners. You are dead without His resurrection—death will destroy your soul forever in hell apart from Christ’s work.)

• What do you think of Christ? Who is He and why did He come to earth? (May I show you from God’s Word? Christ is the only means of knowing God. Christ is God’s message to sinners. Christ is the manifestation of God—what He is like. Christ is the only Mediator between God and man.)

VI. The Fear of God is Central as an Evidence of Salvation

1. The fear of God is not a natural fear (ex. fear of heights, pain, etc.) (Prov 29:25; Rom 3:18 - “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” The natural man (the unbeliever) denies God’s justice:

Ps 10:11-33 - “He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” 12Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. 13Why does the wicked renounce

God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”? The natural man’s spiritual dullness is evidenced by the fact that he fears physical danger more than the loss of his eternal soul (Matt 10:28; Ps 90:11). The natural man dismisses God’s warnings and behaves as if he can handle God’s judgment and condemnation (Ez. 22:14; Rom 2:1-11). Since the fear of God is not natural; it must be planted in the heart and learned (Deut 31:12-13; Ps 34:11-14). Who is teaching you this fear?

2. No one goes to heaven unless they fear God. (Eccl 12:13-14; Jer 32:38-40; Ps 147:11- “The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” Ps 119:155 – “Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes.” Rev 11:15-18; 14:6-7; 15:1-4). God is worthy of our reverential fear (Deut 28:58). The Scriptures enforce the fear of God. Ps 139:7-12; Jer 17:9-10 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” Impenitent sinners harden their hearts against the fear of God (Luke 17:27; Rom 2:1-11; Job 21:12-13). The fear of God is the foundation and beginning point of all spiritual wisdom (Ps 25:14; Prov 1:7; 19:23; 9:10 - “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

3. The fear of the Lord is one of the chief evidences we know God (Ps 19:9; Phil. 2:10-13 - “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ¹² Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

Heb 4:1; Acts 24:15-16 – “Having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. ¹⁶ So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.”

Luke 1:50 - “And His mercy is toward those who fear Him from generation to generation.”

4. The fear of God is mixed with faith and love toward God . (Ps 145:19-20; Ps. 33:18-22 - “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, 19that He may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. 20Our soul waits for the

LORD; He is our help and our shield. ²¹For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name. 22Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in You.” Deut 30:19-20; Deut. 13:3-

4. The redeemed love and fear God with the reverence, obedience, and affection fitting of sons (1 Jn

3:1; 2:13-14; Eph 5:1-2).

2 Cor 6:14-7:1 - “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? ¹⁵ What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean

thing; then I will welcome you,¹⁸and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

5. God commands you to repent and to begin fearing Him (Jer. 5:22-24). Without the fear of God, men are controlled by sin’s self-deception—even while under divine wrath. Thus, even in the face of ultimate destruction, men bribe their consciences into a false peace. 1 Thess. 5:1-3 - “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” Jesus warns that destruction will come suddenly (Luke 17:26-30).

2 Pet 3:3 - “Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.” Those who refuse to fear God are enemies of God and enemies of the cross of Christ.

Rom 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.”

Col 1:21 - “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, ²² he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.”

Phil 3:18-19 - “For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.”

6. Those who fear God flee to Christ for refuge Heb 6:18 - “So that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” Is 8:13; Ps 18:1-2. God commands all men to come to Christ and be saved from eternal divine wrath. Acts 17:30-31 - “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” See also: Is 55:6-7; Ez. 18:23, 30-32.

7. Those who fear God find satisfaction, blessing, security, and contentment in God (Ps 147:11; 128:1-4 - “Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.” Eccl. 8:12, Acts 9:31.

8. Those who fear God serve Him with joy and gratitude.

(Rom 12:1-2; 2 Tim. 2:15; Heb. 12:28 - “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our God is a consuming fire.”

9. The fear of God is the Christian’s continuing safety (Prov 4:23; Heb 4:1; 12:14; 1 Cor. 11:31-32 - “But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. ³² But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”

2 Pet. 3:11-14 - “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹² waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. ¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” The fear of God protects the believer from carelessness, sloth, compromise, and presumption.

Endnotes:

1 Greg Bahnsen, “At War with the Word: The Necessity of Biblical Antithesis” www.reformed.org (2001) 1. 2 Ibid. p. 16. 3 Ibid. p. 18. 4 Greg Bahnsen, Always Ready (Atlanta, GA: American Vision, 1996) 157-159. 5 Michael Kruger, “The Sufficiency of Scripture in Apologetics” The Master’s Seminary Journal, 12:1 (Spring 2001): 72. 6 Thom Notaro, Van Til and Evidences (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1980) 40. 7 John Frame, Apologetics to the Glory of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1994) 232. 8 Edward Morgan, The Life and Times of Howell Harris (Denton, TX: The Need of the Times, 1998) 71.

9 Ibid. p. 74.
10 Ibid. pp. 24-25.
11 Ibid. pp. 257-258.
12 Ernest F. Kevan, The Grace of Law, (Soli Deo Gloria, 1999) 86, 92.
13 J. C. Philpot, The Heavenly Birth and its Earthly Counterfeit (Chapel Library reprint) 4..
14 Joseph Lo Sardo, “Errors in Modern Evangelism” www.sermonaudio.com, (5/7/06).
15 Robert Bolton, Afflicted Consciences, p.175.
16 C. H. Dodd, Gospel and Law, pp. 70, 71, 79.
17 Douglas W. Phillips, Esq., “Do Laws and Standards Evolve?” Impact #303, Institute for Creation Research,1998.
18 Richard C. Barcellos, The Ten Commandments, p. 19.
19 Ray Comfort, Conversions True and False, audio message, www.livingwaters.com.
20 Jim Elliff, The New Gospel: Appealing but not Revealing, p. 3.
21 Two Ways to Live, www.mathiasmedia.com .au/2wtl/.
22 Ibid.
23 C. John Miller, Powerful Evangelism for the Powerless (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1980) 149.
24 Two Ways to Live, www.mathiasmedia.com .au/2wtl/.
25 Ibid.
26 C. John Miller, pp. 147-148.
27 Greg Bahnsen, Always Ready, p. 5
28 Ibid., pp. 7-8
29 Bahnsen, Always Ready, p. 180
30 Ibid., p. 181
31 John Frame, Apologetics to the Glory of God, pp. 7-8
32 Ibid., p. 50-52
33 Michael Kruger, TMS Journal, “The Sufficiency of Scripture,” 12:1, pp.76-78
34 Greg Bahnsen, “Socrates or Christ: the Reformation of Christian Apologetics,” Foundations of Christian Scholarship, p.
217
35 Ibid.
36 Bahnsen, “Pragmatism, Prejudice, and Presuppositionalism,” pp. 287-290
37 Ibid., p. 292