Are you Equipped?

1 Peter 3:15 "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."

My friend, not only are we to make Christ Lord of our lives, as Christians we should be able to give a ready defense for what we believe in.  The Greek word used for 'give a defense' is apologia ἀπολογία. This is where we get the word 'Apologetics', which is the branch of theology that deals with the Defense of the Gospel.

Oh my friend, we are not to apologize for the Gospel, but to be ready to defend it's teachings and able to explain the reason for the hope we have as a Christian.  Why is it so important to be able to defend the Gospel?  As we see here in 1 Peter 3:15, scripture tells us we are to be ready to give a defense. When people see Christ in your life, it is an opportunity to share with them and lead them to the Lord!

There is so much evidence that supports the Bible! The acronym that helps me identify the evidence of apologetics is: MAPS

M = Manuscript Evidence - The Bible has more manuscripts found than any other book in the world
A = Archeology - There is archeological evidence that proves everything that happened in the Bible
P = Prophecy - Prophecies in the Bible have been fullfilled
S = Statistical Probability - The Probability of all the prophecies being fulfilled statistically is like 1/trillion; in other words unheard of

We need to be equipped and ready to defend the Bible, ready to give an answer for the Hope we have in Jesus Christ. We need to study the Bible to know what it says.  There are two well know authors in Apologetics: Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel.

Josh McDowell was an agnostic when he decided to prepare a paper in college that would examine the historical evidence of the Christian faith in order to disprove it.  However, he converted to Christianity, after, as he says, he found evidence for it, not against it.  Josh McDowell has written many books and is well known for his book 'Evidence Demands a Verdict'.

Lee Strobel was an award winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune.  He set out to prove the Bible was false as an atheist.  After nearly two years of investigating the evidence of Jesus Christ, Lee Strobel accepted Jesus Christ into his heart.  He has written several books such as 'Case for Christ', 'Case for Faith' and more.

These are wonderful books to read to help learn the evidence of our faith.

Then notice further in verse fifteen that Peter also instructs us how to give this defense.  He says with meekness and fear or respect.  We are not to go out and argue but in a loving manner present the gospel.  The purpose is not to win an argument but to win lost souls for Christ.  If we are going to impact lives for Christ, our walk needs to match our talk. Actions speak louder than words.  We need to make Christ Lord of our lives, living only to please Him and not men.

Click here to read or hear more on the study of 1 Peter.