We cannot bring glory to God by using the tactics and ways of the world. No, we are to take the high road of conformity to the character of Christ. Then we will be able to stand in the hottest battles.

Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:19-21, NASB).

It is the duty of all believers to serve the Lord by being good soldiers, ready for battle to stand and contend for His Truth no matter the cost. However, there is both a right way and a wrong way this is done. It is vital for the apologist to know the truth and that is found only in God’s Word. Yes, some godly Christians speak and write truth from God’s Word, but the primary source for us is the Word of God. This is why it is vital that believers sit at the feet of good and godly teachers of God’s truth that they may know and love His pure doctrines. I have seen so many good Christians attempt to stand up to apologists that are all about some man-centered version of our faith, but they are not prepared. This usually ends badly. The reason this happens is that these good people use tactics born in the flesh rather than from the humble, and wise heart that is submitted totally to the will of God. The enemy is an expert at inciting people to react emotionally to what they perceive as wrong and this can lead to snippy arguments that produce only bad fruit.

I have many rules for commenting on this blog. For instance, I will delete comments that contain attempts to discredit someone else by using a personal attack. These rules came about several years ago after I wrote an article using scripture and some quotes from Martin Luther. The quotes from Luther were used primarily to get his take on what the scripture passage said in light of the subject of the post. However, one fellow did not like what the post was about nor did he care too much for my blog, the ministry of CRN, or me in general. Instead of using exegetical arguments to show that I was wrong in using those passages to make my point, this fellow attacked the character of Martin Luther as well as mine. He ignored scripture and went to discredit me personally and indirectly by showing that Martin Luther was all sorts of things that he felt cast him in a bad light. He accused me of not being too bright plus many other things that I do not care to go into right now. In any case, not one of his arguments cast any doubt on the truths in those scripture passages or my exegesis of them. His tactics were designed to discredit me personally and indirectly by trying to do a character assassination of Martin Luther.

It was from that experience that I developed the rules we still use on this blog. There are many opponents in the visible Church to God’s Truth. They hold to man-centered non-doctrines mixed with enough Biblical truth to make them look appealing to the naïve. These fellows cause divisions in the visible Church. They sell their version of Christianity packaged in slick packages that rival that of any entrepreneur. I am convinced that many if not most of these fellows believe that they are right. They are not knowingly doing evil. Their problem is that, if they are genuine believers, they are not very mature. They are still convinced that our salvation is all about us and what we can do instead of about God for His glory alone. They have a huge problem with the Sovereignty of God because that cramps their concept of personal freedom. None of these things are the unforgivable sin though and we must remember that. On the other hand, those who hold to a version of the Gospel that is unbiblical, and there are many, are simply servants of our enemy.

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