In this month’s episode magpo provide po tayo ng theological foundations ng Christian apologetics. Aside from its task as biblically mandated, apologetics has a biblical design that moves from motive to a ministry output in participating with God's redemptive story. Eto po ang gagawin nating outline for the month: mandate, motive at ministry. After laying those necessary foundations, apologetics must have a curriculum and a parallel process of not only learning how to build one’s faith from objections but also how to engage objectors. That we will do next month. Sana po ay wag kayong magsasawang makinig at samahan ako.
When we talk about "task", we talk about “a clearly defined piece of work.” It derives from the Latin word "taxare" which means a “charge” (the early sense of the word is “to impose a tax on”). A task can either be self-imposed by sense of necessity or obligation or given by somebody outside yourself -- either someone you esteem or someone in authority. When we use the phrase “task of apologetics” here we mean it in the sense that somebody gave the Christian that task. RC Sproul comments that this task “rests upon a biblical command. We find a mandate in Scripture to defend the faith, a mandate that every Christian must take seriously.”* One can downplay or even disregard apologetics like many Christian these days. But once you claim a justified belief or a knowledge of truth, you will always do apologetics as a response to those who will question it or even malign it. And we have seen that in the church's long history when there has never been a shortage of militancy against the cherished truth of the Christian faith by people outside her. The saints of the early church would use reason to refute and to persuade in the hope of producing new beliefs to their listeners. The application of these truths was attested with their very lives. Some have lost their lives doing so carried out by murderous tyrants or angry mobs. You might call them stupid or time wasters but you must recognize the urgency of the message: every Christian must take apologetics seriously.
However, may importante po akong sasabihin. Ang task ng apologetics ay built upon sa magandang balita na natanggap at pinanampalatayanan ng anak ng Diyos. What do I mean by that?
Bago pa man makita natin na ang apologetics ay isang tungkulin ng isang anak ng Diyos, kailangan maunang malaman natin na ito ay isang tungkuling naipanganak dahil sa ebanghelyo. Bakit ika ninyo? Pansinin natin ang charter text ng apologetics sa New Testament, ang 1 Peter 3:15 -- “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” Yes may task na binigay diyan, at yan yung “sanctify the Lord in your hearts” at “always be prepared to give an answer” kaso lang bago mo gawin yang mga ‘yan, ano ang mayroon ka na? Ang sabi diyan ay “hope that is in you.” Ano yung hope na yun? Nasa chapter 1 verse 3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” The hope is in the Gospel, that is Jesus Christ in you the hope of glory (Col 1:27).
So before we go into the demands of apologetics, the duties of apologetics, or however lawful terms you might want to put it, this task emerges out of the Gospel. It didn’t emerge out of a legal duty for Christian, but on what Christ has done to you. You do duties because Christ has done His duty. Christian duties are not currencies for God’s favor. Christians are favored by God because of the treasures of Christ imputed to them. The DO emerges out of the DONE. Our Christian imperatives are contingent upon Gospel indicatives.
Mahalagang ma-distinguish ang “indicative” at “imperative.” Mga categories po ‘yan na natutunan natin sa basic English nung elementary pa tayo. Ang indicative sentence ay isang simpleng paglalahad; samantalang ang imperative ay isang pangungusap na nag uutos; (at kung gusto nyo pa ng totoong English review, ang interrogative sentence naman ay nagtatanong -- subalit hindi natin pag uusapan dito ang interrogative: yung indicative lang at imperative.)
Ang halimbawa ng indicative sentence ay “Christ died on the cross.” Naglalahad po siya. Ang imperative naman ay, “Go and sin no more” -- nag uutos siya. Paul gave an indicative statement concerning the Gospel sa 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” Ang example naman ng imperative kay Paul ay sa 1 Corinthian 16:13-14 “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”
Ang Gospel po ay nasa indicative, hindi imperative. Kasi kung naka imperative ang Gospel, hindi na yon Gospel, but a Law. Ang Magandang Balita ay isang balitang nilalahad, preached, hindi ito iinuutos. Ang ebanghelyo na pundasyon ng ating bagong buhay ay isang paglalahad. Sabi ni J. Hampton Keathly, “In short, ‘the Gospel’ is the sum total of the saving truth as God has communicated it to lost humanity as it is revealed in the person of His Son and in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible.”†
Dagdag pa ng isa sa pinakapaborito kong Christian theologians na si Michael Horton,
the pattern of the New Testament is consistent: First the indicative, followed by the imperative. It is not only followed by Paul in his epistles. For instance, Peter first tells believers that they are living stones being built up into Christ's temple, chosen and holy because of their union with Christ (the indicative). Only then does he say, "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul" (1 Pet. 2:11). Those who reverse this order will be forever enrolled in programs and strategies for reaching "the victorious life" and the "filling of the Spirit," because they believe that the promise is held out on condition of fulfilling certain conditions or obeying certain commands, whether "surrendering," "yielding," "letting go and letting God," or any number of approaches. Paul's entire argument in Romans six rests on the fact that something has already happened. He does not say, "If you yield your body to righteousness, you will die to sin," but rather, "For we know that our old self was crucified with him" (v.6). He does not say, "Make sure that sin does not master you," as many believe that sin can master a so-called "carnal" Christian. Rather, he states, "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace" (v.14). . . The objective determines the subjective, the divine announcement of what has already been done for and to the believer in Christ dictates the Christian life.‡A task is a duty to be carried out and set to us by a command or a law. Apologetics is not the Gospel, it is a task. But it has to be built upon the Gospel for the Christian -- “be prepared to give an answer to the hope that is in you.” Kung walang “hope that is in you” wala kang ia-apologetics. Hindi ka magtatanggol kung wala kang ipagtatanggol. Sa kasabihang Pinoy, “Wala kang madudukot, kung walang nakasuksok.”
The beauty of apologetics as a task or duty built upon the Gospel is that it is also a privilege. To explain to people the grandeur of God in creation, salvation, and providence, is already a thing of joy. But to be commissioned by God Himself to tell those things about Him and to help people see the Gospel and believe it, makes this, your commission as the Great Commission.
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* RC Sproul, Defending Your Faith,1.
† J. Hampton Keathley, "What is the Gospel?" in Bible.org (website); accessed at https://bible.org/article/what-gospel.
‡ Michael Horton, "The Indicative and The Imperative A Reformation View of Sanctification," in Monergism.com (website); accessed at https://www.monergism.com/indicative-and-imperative-reformation-view-sanctification.
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