The Ax is Already at the Root

November 25, 2018


May we have God's grace and power to stand for the truth and lovingly, yet boldly confront the bad worldviews of our day with the truth of God's Word! Romans 1:18-19, "18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them."

SERIES TEXTS

  1. RENEW YOUR MIND: Romans 12:1-2, "1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
  2. DEFEND THE GOSPEL: 1 Peter 3:15-16, "15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer (apologia) to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."
  3. DEMOLISH DEMONIC STRONGHOLDS: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, "3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

SERIES DEFINITIONS

  1. WORLDVIEW: How you see the world and give an explanation for everything you believe.
  2. A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW: Seeing the world through the lens of God and His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
    1. Axiom: God exists and has revealed the Bible (sixty-six books) as the foundation for all truth and knowledge.
    2. Presuppositions: The Word of God gives the following six categories of knowledge; "God, creation, humanity, Jesus, salvation, and judgment."
    3. Propositions: All implications derived from good biblical exegesis and deductive logic.
    4. Best Guesses: All claims based in induction; the scientific method and experience.
  3. EXAMPLE OF USING THE BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW IN REGARDS TO HOMOSEXUALITY: "Since God's Word is my foundation (axiom) for all truth and knowledge I presuppose that God has an order for sexuality and make the proposition that it's a sin and people who act in such a way will perish based on 1 Timothy 1:8-11.

Check our Presuppositional Apologetics Class for more information. 

GOD WILL CUT DOWN THE BAD TREES AND THROW THEM INTO THE FIRE

Matthew 3:10, "The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

BAD RELIGIOUS TREES

ISLAM: Mohammed was a violent false prophet that lived a very immoral life and was most likely demon-possessed.

  • Surah 4:157, "And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah ." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain."
  • Galatians 1:8-9, "8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!"

ROMAN CATHOLICISM: Based in the false teachings of the popes, tradition, and superstition.

  • Council of Trent, Chapter Nine, "For even as no pious person ought to doubt of the mercy of God, of the merit of Christ, and of the virtue and efficacy of the sacraments, even so each one, when he regards himself, and his own weakness and indisposition, may have fear and apprehension touching his own grace; seeing that no one can know with a certainty of faith, which cannot be subject to error, that he has obtained the grace of God." Chapter Ten, "Do you see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only."
  • Romans 4:1-5, "1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness."

EASTERN PHILOSOPHIES (HINDUISM & BUDDHISM): Loosely based on the ideas of polytheism, karma/reincarnation, gurus, and personal salvation through whatever path is best for the individual.

  • "Hindus believe that no religion teaches the only way to salvation above all others, but that all genuine paths are facets of God's Light, deserving tolerance and understanding." ("Basics of Hinduism" from Kauai's Hindu Monastery)
  • John 14:6, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"

CHRISTIAN CULTS (JEHOVAH WITNESSES & MORMONS): Anti-Christian groups that started in the 1800's that teach unorthodox doctrines about God, salvation, and God's Kingdom.

  • JW'S: "To benefit from that sacrifice, people must not only exercise faith in Jesus but also change their course of life and get baptized."
  • MORMONS: 2 Nephi 25:23, "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”
  • Ephesians 2:8-10, "8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

BAD LIFESTYLE CHOICES

ABORTION: To murder and end the life of an unborn child.

  • "I'm not ashamed and I'm not sorry": I had my abortion on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The white-haired midwife who prepped me was kind and gentle. The doctor was efficient and professional. They gave me nitrous oxide and I floated in a haze above my body for a few minutes as I felt the fetus leave my uterus in a violent, painful cramp. I went home and slept for hours, waking to find that the nausea was gone, my body my own again. The next day, I went blueberry picking with my friend, feeling healthier and happier than I had in weeks.
  • Proverbs 6:16-19, "16 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, 19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community."

LGBTQ: To either live in or support a perverse lifestyle of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, or Queer.

  • "We are a Reconciling Congregation and celebrate the gifts of diverse Christians—lesbian, gay, same gender loving, straight, bisexual, transgender, queer—in every part of our life together, including lay, staff, and pastoral leadership." (Urban Village Church in Chicago).
  • 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, "9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

RACISM: The belief that either evolution or God made different human races.

  • "The Negro race ... is marked by black complexion, crisped or woolly hair, compressed cranium and a flat nose. The projection of the lower parts of the face, and the thick lips, evidently approximate it to the monkey tribe: the hordes of which it consists have always remained in the most complete state of barbarism." Georges Cuvier (1769–1832)
  • Acts 17:26-28, "26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’"

2 Corinthians 10:3-5, "3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

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Posted in Worldview Series