← Defenders Podcast
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Welcome to Defenders, the teaching class of Dr. William Lane Craig. For more information and resources from Dr. Craig, go to reasonablefaith.org Today we reach something of a milestone. We come to the end of our Defenders course. It's taken us about seven years to get to this point, but now we cross the finish line. So it's with a sense of nostalgia as well as satisfaction that we finally reach the end of our course. In the final two lessons, I want to say a few words about the class by way of reflection and retrospect as we close the very first purpose of the Defender's class, if you look at our purpose statement, is the to train Christians to understand, articulate and defend basic Christian truths. All three of those verbs are important. First, to understand Christian truth, we want to have a grasp as profound as we can of Christian doctrine what the Christian world and life view take teaches. So in this class we've tried to explain and elucidate various concepts that underlie the Christian faith. We've surveyed the different views that the Christian Church has upon these various Christian doctrines. If anything, I hope that this class has opened your mind to the diversity of perspectives that are represented in in contemporary and historical Christianity on these different doctrines. But it's also important that we not merely understand these doctrines, but that we are also able to articulate them. We want to be able to explain them clearly. In this class, I've tried to show you how to express these doctrines in an accurate way that will communicate them to the people that you want to talk with. I hope that some of you will take the opportunity to become teachers yourselves and to lead a Bible study group or a Sunday school class where you will be teaching this material to others. Finally, we've aimed also to defend these doctrines. As we've surveyed Christian doctrine from from the doctrine of revelation to the doctrine of the Last Things, we've looked at how one might defend these doctrines, what arguments and evidence might be given in support of these various Christian truth claims. You'll remember that one of the qualifications that Paul lays down to be an elder in the church in Titus 1:9 is that he needs to be able to teach Christ Christian doctrine and to confute those who contradict it. I think that we all want to aspire to that kind of maturity, even if we never actually serve as elders in the Church. So being able to teach Christian doctrine and refute objections to it, I think will be something that that is greatly to be desired. That's the very first purpose of the Defender's class that We've tried to fulfill. The second purpose of the class, you may remember, is to reach out with the Gospel to those who have not yet come to Christ, always being ready to give a defense to anyone who should ask the reason for our hope. I hope that many of you will avail yourselves of the opportunity of bringing a non believing friend to the defender's class. As I said earlier, this is a place where we welcome a diversity of perspectives not only among Christians. We have Catholics, we have Baptists, we have Pentecostals, we have all sorts of Christians represented in this class, but also non believers as well. Even more importantly, each of us in our individual lives needs to be involved in helping to fulfill the Great Commission by sharing the Gospel with others. Finally, third, to be an incendiary fellowship of mutual encouragement and love in a large mega church like ours. You're really going to get lost if you don't have a smaller church within the church that you can identify with and that you can get to know where there are people that you care for and pray for and who will care for and pray for you. And that I think is something that we are building in our defender's class. And yet, having said that, in a sense, we have only scratched the surface of Christian discipleship. Some time ago, someone shared with me that what Jesus actually said in the Great Commission that he left his disciples in Matthew 28:19,19,20 was this. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always to the close of the age. Notice what Jesus says we are to teach. As we make disciples of the nations. We are to teach them to obey all that Jesus has commanded us. As I reflected on that, it hit me forcefully that I'm not really doing that at all in this defender's class. I am not teaching you what Jesus commanded. We really haven't looked at the teachings of Jesus about the ethical and spiritual life, for example, about the kind of person that you are to be as a Christian follower of Christ. Much less have I taught you to obey those commands. To do that, you would need to have some kind of a discipleship group such as the 12 disciples, where Jesus took these 12 men apart and poured his life into them and taught them to to obey his commands. He did not just teach them the commands, but he taught them what it means to live the obedient life of a disciple, of being one of his followers. And I haven't even begun to do such a thing as that in this defender's class. In that sense, I have a real sense of inadequacy. I won't say failure given our limited objectives, but I am just us so impressed at how little we've really done in one sense about building disciples. We have just scratched the surface of what it means to be a Christian disciple. It seems to me that the paramount thing that Jesus has commanded us to do and that we need to remember is found in Matthew 6:33 in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Jesus said, don't focus upon your needs or other material concerns. Focus on the kingdom of God and its righteousness. This, I think, ought to be the heart cry of every Christian. The kingdom of God, his reign in your life, and the righteousness that attends it. What kind of character are you building? What kind of person are you becoming to bear the name of Christ as a Christian? To be his disciple? What does a disciple of Christ look like? Turn to second Peter 1:3 11, where we have a very interesting list of the character qualities that ought to describe a Christian disciple. There Peter says, his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises that through these you may escape the corruption that is in the world because of passion and become partition partakers of the divine nature. So the goal here is to escape the corruptions that are in the world because of sin and to partake of the divine nature to become like God himself. So here is Peter's advice. Listen to this advice. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue. So you have your faith in Christ. And now you're going to add a certain character quality that ought to characterize a disciple of Christ. And the first one is what he calls virtue, that is to say, moral excellence. You should have a virtuous character. To be a good person, you are to cultivate moral excellence. Then he goes on to say, and virtue with knowledge. So in addition to virtue, we want to supplement our faith with knowledge. Now, this is obviously not intended to be just any sort of knowledge. Not knowledge of Russian literature or agriculture or quantum mechanics. Rather, he's talking here about Christian doctrine about the knowledge of God's truth. Look at Ephesians 4:14. Paul says, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. Part of Christian maturity is to have doctrinal discernment so that you won't be carried about by every wave of doctrine or teaching that comes along. You will have a clear grasp, a clear knowledge of Christian doctrine. Then Peter goes on to say, and knowledge with self control, that is to say, self mastery. You should have a mastery over yourself. What this means will be, for example, self mastery over your bodily passions and appetites, over the lusts that are inherent in our fleshly body. These are so powerful, obviously, that it takes tremendous self mastery for people to keep these bodily passions in check and to live a holy and righteous life. Have you arrived at the point in your Christian life where you can say, I am the master of my own body, of my own flesh. I control its appetites and desires? I find that these appetites and passions are so powerful that if you allow them free reign, they become really impossible to control. So the better thing to do is what Paul says to mortify these earthly passions and appetites that are in you by avoiding the things that would arouse them and stimulate them. For men, I think that would mean, for example, not going to movies that have explicitly sexual material in them. If you avoid these things and shun the temptation, then these sorts of desires will be easier to manage and self control will will become more feasible. Another aspect of self control is control over your temper. It is easy, especially for some people, to become very angry at others and to lose our temper. This is a loss of self control, a loss of mastery over yourself. Also one's tongue. How do you use your speech? Do you glorify Christ in the way that you talk? Or do you say things that you later regret and wish you hadn't said? Why did you say those things? Because in a moment of a loss of self control, your tongue got away from you and you began to speak in ways that you shouldn't or other various desires that you might have. Our desires are not to be for earthly material goods like wealth, big houses and fancy clothes. Our desires are to be spiritually oriented and to be focused upon those eternal values that will last forever and not to be sucked into American consumerism and materialism and greed. Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:25 says that we should exercise self control in all things in the way that an athlete exercises self control. Undoubtedly, what Paul is thinking of here is the Greek Olympians. The Greek Olympic athletes exercised self control so that they might win their event. In the same way that an athlete in training for the Olympics is master of himself and exercises self control. So we as Christians need to exercise self control over our lusts, appetites, temper, tongue and desires. Next Peter goes on to say, and self control with steadfastness, or as I call it, perseverance, that is to say, endurance. We are in this for the long run. The promise of Scripture is that he who endures to the end will be saved. Remember Jesus Parable of the Sower where some of the soil received the word of God, the shoots sprang up, but then they withered away because they had no root. Others are overtaken by the thorns of materialism and the desire for worldly things and are choked out. But we are to be disciples who who are in it for the long run, who persevere. So Peter says, add perseverance to your character. Next he says, and steadfastness with godliness. That is to say, we are to have a spiritual orientation. In First Timothy 6:6 11, Paul says, There is great gain in godliness with contentment. For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced their hearts with many pangs. This is a real warning, especially for us in an American culture that is so consumeristic and materialistic and says that the American dream is to have a chicken in every pot and everyone a homeowner. Those are not Christian values. Christian values are godliness. To have a spiritual focus, to let your life be focused on spiritual things rather than material things and material advancement. Then Peter says, and godliness with brotherly affection. Brotherly affection or kindness toward others is to be exemplified first and foremost within the body of Christ. To our fellow Christians. In Romans 12:9, 10, Paul says, Let love be genuine. Hate what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. We ought to be cheerleaders for one another and to be seeking the good of one another. We are not fighting against one another or jealous of one another, but seeking one another's good. In 1 John 3, 16, 20, John says, By this we know love that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. So John says, we are to be liberal in giving the goods that we have to help brothers and sisters in need. The last quality that Peter says we should have and brotherly affection with love. This is the agape love that characterizes God Himself. Paul describes this sort of love in 1st Corinthians 13:4 7. Paul says, Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful. It is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. As Christians we ought to be able, each one of us, to put our own name in the place of the word love in this passage. I am patient and kind. I am not jealous or boastful. I am not arrogant or rude. I do not insist upon my own way, and so on and so forth. When you do that substitution, it's really convicting, isn't it? Because we know how far we fall short of this standard. It convicts us of our lives. Nevertheless, this is a description of what a Christian disciple ought to be like. In our final session, I want to talk about how we can go about developing these character qualities in our lives.