The apologist is called upon to give a faithful witness to the truth, rather than to attempt to improve on the Lord’s wisdom by autonomous arguments. No one was ever argued into the Kingdom of God. Being confident of his or her ability to challenge apostate thought, the believer must reason, not according to the principles of secular thought, but on the presupposed truth of Christ’s word, and looking to the power of His Spirit to bring conviction, conversion, and understanding. A successful apologetic, being given according to Christ’s Word and Spirit, is a function of the grace of God, not human cleverness and wisdom.

5 Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? James 2:5 (NASB)

During His earthly ministry, as our Lord walked through Roman occupied Galilee, Samaria, and Judea and other parts of what we call the Middle East in our time, the “so-called educated experts” criticized Him with respect to His education credentials (John 7:14-15). What was His response? Did He back down? Did He buy into the authority of these men as carrying any weight that He must take into account in regards to the truth He taught and preached? No! He countered by challenging their competence. Think of the outrage today if someone like me who has no letters after his name like Doctor of Theology or whatever were to do as our Lord did and directly challenged one of these high placed religious leaders whose fruit of apostasy is continually being revealed as they refuse to follow the will of God. However, that is the very basis our Lord used to disqualify those who challenged Him (John 7:17, 19). 

Is it possible for the obedient Christian walking in the Lordship of Jesus Christ to do this? According to John 7:17 and John 8:31-32, the Christian, being in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit and dwelling in Christ’s Word knows the truth. The reverse is also true. Those outside the will of God, even if they hold high office in some church have actually refused to acknowledge God and the truth about Him, which will lead them into futility and error in all fields of thought (Romans 1:18-21). On the other hand, the obedient Christian knows the truth because all things pertaining to life are granted through knowledge of God (2 Peter 1:3).

The obedient Christian who defends the faith can challenge the reasoning of these people no matter their standing because their own unrighteousness blinds them. No matter how sophisticated or well educated an apostate is, he or she can be presented an effective apologetic by any obedient believer.

26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NASB)

However, this does not mean that we should all just drop what we are doing and go on the attack with those theologians with whom we disagree. No, we must follow a properly guided method paying careful attention to refrain from appealing to the autonomous principles of secular thought to bring understanding to those with who we are in disagreement. The unbeliever’s method, standard, and starting point are inherently contrary to that saving understanding at which we must aim. Autonomy and understanding are mutually exclusive. We will fail miserably and most assuredly, quickly, if we rest our case on the very same presuppositions that infest those with whom we are debating. The apostate or unbeliever has his or her presuppositions firmly rooted in an attitude of autonomy; since these are the source of their lack of understanding they assuredly cannot provide us the path to bring them to understanding.

The entire human race is dead in trespasses and sin, falling short of the glory of God (Ephesians 2:1, 5; Romans 3:23; 5:15); because of this, no one seeks after God or has understanding (Romans 3:10-12). There are no exceptions within the ranks of the unregenerate. Sin has led the unbeliever to exalt his own imaginations and to ignore the revelation of God, and thereby the unbeliever’s reason is always deflected into futile erroneous, and unrighteous conclusions. What does the unbeliever say from his or her heart (from which are the issues of life)? He or she says that there is no God, and thereby shows that they have no knowledge or understanding (Psalm 53:1-4; Romans 3:10-12).

When the apologist defends his or her faith, it is against these people and some of them are professing Christians with high titles and positions in denominations and churches, seminaries, and universities. Of course, some of them claim to be Jesus followers while trying to take your web site down through any means possible, legal or illegal. Not all enemies of the Cross and the Truth of our Lord Jesus Christ are professing atheists, but they all fit the description in the paragraph above. Yes, that is right unbelievers can be very religious. They lack understanding and their reasoning is unprofitable. In their minds, they are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). His or her mind is at enmity with God and they are unable to do God’s will (Romans 8:7).

When the apologist defends his or her faith, the sinner’s intellectual assumptions, operation, and competence are on trial, not the revelation of Christ. The rebel thinker walks according to his own thoughts and is, therefore, locked into the foolishness that proceeds from his heart (Isaiah 65:2; Mark 7:21-22). Apostates are those who have departed from the faith so they unavoidably speak falsehood and teach demonic lies (cf. 1 Timothy 4:1-2; Romans 1:25)

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