September 28
Ready with the Reason
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.
–1 Peter 3:15
The Bible is a spiritual book, it is also a logical book, and the Christian faith is a logical faith. Clearly there has to come a moment in every person’s life in which he or she takes a step of faith, but there is a logical progression to the truths that are found in the Bible. They fit together. They make sense. And the more you understand them, the more you see that the other philosophies of the world do not really make sense.
We need to recognize that when we are seeking to share the gospel with people, they will often try to get us off track with their so-called reasons for why they do not come to Christ or with that great question that has really been troubling them.
We need to know what the Scripture teaches. The Bible tells us that, as believers, we should always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks the reason for the hope that we have (see 1 Peter 3:15). The phrase used for “answer” in this verse is a fascinating one, because it comes from the Greek word, apologia, from which we get our English word, apologetic. This word means to give a verbal defense to anyone who would ask us for a logical explanation.
However, we should do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so those who speak maliciously against our good behavior in Christ will be ashamed of their slander. We should have answers, but we are to give those answers with gentleness and respect. Not with arrogance. Not with a know-it-all attitude. But with humility.
Copyright © 2005 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.