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John

When dealing with the lost, we need to understand that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”-2Cor.2:14, and that “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”-Rom. 8:7

We need to trust in the efficacy of the gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation-Rom.1:16. That is what God uses to open darkened eyes and convert souls. “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”-1Cor.1:21

Spurgeon said, “Defend the Bible? I would as soon defend a lion! Unchain it and it will defend itself.”

God’s Word is alive and powerful-Hebrews 4:12! We need to trust God to do His work through His Word as we simply obey Him in preaching it. Isaiah 55:11 declares, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

There is a place for reasoning with people concerning the truth of God and His Word. But we must stay within the limits of Scriptural examples and principles concerning that.

In Scripture God has declared that man is without excuse if he denies God’s existence because God’s existence is clearly evident through nature-Rom.1:20; Psalm 19:1. There is no need for us to try to go to great lengths in trying to prove God’s existence. We can simply tell them they have no excuse because they know intuitively that God exists, by looking around at the creation.

God has also given each person a conscience to know right from wrong, which is also a powerful and clear evidence of His existence and truth. Jesus and Paul reasoned with the lost by using God’s Law to deal with the conscience and convict of sin, righteousness and judgment-Mark 10:17-27; Acts 24:25.

God may at times use fulfilled prophecies to aid in destroying certain prejudices against the truth of who Jesus is. Paul and others reasoned with the Jews from the Scriptures concerning Jesus being the long-awaited Messiah. So I’d say fulfilled prophecy is a valid tool to use in reasoning about who Jesus is.

I usually try to keep it real simple when dealing with the lost. To sum up and recap, there are a few basic things every lost person knows intuitively.

1, they know God exists by looking around at the creation.
2, they know right from wrong through their conscience.
3, they know evil should be punished by their sense of justice.

We can reason with them concerning their accountability to God and the fact that one day they will stand before Him to give account of their lives.

The enemy will use the lost to try to stump us and make us fearful but we must stand firmly and boldly on God’s Word.

This short vid promotes a resource which I believe can be helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM1AWO92Crc

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Oracio

Brother John,

I do not want you to think that I am avoiding your question by the answers that I give. I will tell you first what I believe in regards to unbelievers and defending scripture, what my response will be to them, and then I will tell you what my response will be to a professing believer.

First, our beliefs about Scripture is a doctrinal issue. It is a doctrinal issue because the Scripture says a lot about itself in regards to its usefulness, purpose, inspiration, trustworthiness, etc. When I encounter unbelievers, I make it a point to preach nothing but Christ and him crucified. There is a reason for this:

The primary reason is because the enemy is cunning. When a man is preaching the Gospel, the enemy knows that he cannot simply make a beautiful girl walk by and totally distract him from preaching the gospel. He knows that he cannot simply react in violence against the preacher because it will only make him respond with joy and more preaching of the gospel. I am probably going to be in trouble for saying this, but the primary method, I believe, that satan uses against us to prevent us from preaching the gospel accurately is doctrine. Christians should love doctrine. They should live doctrine. They should also proclaim the Gospel (which has some wonderful theological points), and it is the preaching of the gospel that allows men to hear the Word, be drawn by the Father, and believing, become saved. However, not all our doctrines as believers are the gospel--this includes the trustworthiness of the scriptures. Satan will distract us from preaching the Gospel by making us defend the Scriptures. If someone said to you, "prove to me that Jesus is the son of God!" or "Prove to me that Jesus turned water into wine!" Now we move from preaching the Gospel to teaching something else, which can be very dangerous. I make it a point not to debate with lost people about these things because I have never successfully proclaimed the Gospel when I try to also be an apologist. When I was lost, all my objections and questions and wrong-headed ideas melted away (or at least started to) when I heard the Gospel, believed it, and came to know the Lord. They just started dropping off. Really, the world would consider me a fool, but I don't care anymore about what they think.

In regards to beleivers:

Apologetics is very useful. But we must remember, the burden is not on us to prove that what we say is true, but for them to prove that what we say is false. We should take another believers objections and answer them prayerfully, biblically, and with good, solid research. We should also make a clear distinction between minor issues and major issues. Not every issue that a believer objects to is a potentially faith-breaking, soul-crushing issue. So we need to make sure that the brother is not treating something like a comma-placement or a mispelling like something that would totally invalidates the atonement of Jesus Christ. You see what I mean?

Also, I recommend doing research together, praying, reading, researching, etc. Because, when you and the brother get through this, together, you will be much closer to the Lord and to one another, which is one of the goals of the church in the first place and is definitely what part of discipleship is all about.

Also, this is a wonderful website:

http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/

It is a fantastic, thoroughly research, resource in regards to the Scriptures. I think you will find it very useful.

I know I didn't answer your question directly, but there is no way I could answer the entirety of objectives on this site. We just take them one step at a time.


A final word: If a professing believer rejects or begins to reject the faith, we need to follow matthew 18 and preach the gospel to them. The gospel is a powerful reminder of why we believe what we believe. And if the person is actually an unbeliever, masking as a Christian, then it will give them an opportunity to be saved. But if the Lord lays it plainly on you that the person you are dealing with is lost, you need to cease trying to prove the validity of the Scriptures and start preaching the Gospel, because if they are lost, they have no spiritual foundation for which to confirm that anything you say is true.

Oracio!

I love it when the Lord has 2 people saying the same things, without one or the other knowing.

By the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses... :)

Can the bible be trusted?
by DEADn on 2014/5/14 14:29:27

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Greetings John

My response to this question would simply be this, yes the Bible can be trusted. My reason for why I know that it can be trusted is because of CHRIST JESUS who lives in me. When I read the Bible JESUS who lives in me testifies to my spirit that what I am reading is true and can be trusted. JESUS is the WORD...
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How can we prove the Bible can be trusted?

John

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Where in the Bible does it tell us to "prove the Bible" we are told to share JESUS with the lost but we are never told we have to "prove" anything. Share JESUS with those who are lost don't debate them. If they receive what you have to say you have a brother in CHRIST if they reject it move on and shake the dust off your feet.

God bless
maryjane

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Oracio

DEADn, in dealing with Muslims we have an easier starting point than with atheists because Muslims believe in a holy creator, in heaven and hell and a judgment day. God's Law is a powerful instrument in reasoning with them. They believe in the 10 Commandments and think they can keep them. We can reason with them by taking them through the Law and helping them see they haven't kept God's Law. We can reason with them that God requires absolute perfection in thought, word and deed. Reason with them about heart-adultery and heart-murder and other sins. Ask them how they are going to answer for their sins on Judgment Day. Tell them that no amount of prayer or fasting can wash away their sins. Once they see their guilt the good news of the cross of Christ will start to make sense to them. The same goes for any person of any other religion.

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Oracio

The Bible contains the only message on earth that can cleans the Soul.

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John

I am not against anyone on this forum. I am simply trying to stretch our witness and asking for responses in how to do deal with this when confronted with people who don't believe the bible, believe it is simply written by men, believe it has been rewritten believe that there isn't much secular history to back up some of the claims and so on.

Is 'Because the bible say so' really an answer? Why does the bible say so?

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John