We Destroy Arguments (2 Corinthians 10)

Welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist. My name is Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist. Have you ever heard someone say that we should never argue about our faith? I've heard that a lot of times. I've heard people say that we shouldn't ever try to argue about our faith, but we should only share our faith.

And if someone denies our faith or doesn't want to believe it, well then we just say that we're going to agree to disagree and move on. And it's very popular nowadays for people to say, no, we should never have arguments when it comes to what we believe about God.

The Need to Contend for the Truth

Well, the Apostle Paul thought it differently. In fact, we see quite a bit in a lot of his writings that not only did he argue for the truth, but oftentimes he condemned those who were denying the truth that he was proclaiming.

He was claiming not only that he was preaching the truth, but that he was preaching a truth that was exclusive, that his truth was the only truth, and that anything that would violate it was error. This isn't because he was a man of pride, but it was because he was a man who had been taught directly by the Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel, and he says if there's a gospel that's opposed to the gospel that he's teaching, then it's another gospel, and because there is no other gospel, it in fact is a false gospel.

2 Corinthians 10 and the Command to Destroy Arguments

Well, today we're going to be looking at 2nd Corinthians chapter 10, and in 2nd Corinthians chapter 10, the Apostle Paul makes an observation that's important for us to recognize today, and it's going to be the topic of our discussion.

He says, beginning in verse 3, Now, this is important because when he says in verse 5, we destroy arguments, what he is essentially saying is that when an argument comes against the truth of God, that we are not to simply say that we're going to agree to disagree, but we are to take a stand, and sometimes that means taking a stand that will destroy the arguments of our opponents.

Christianity as the Exclusive Truth

This is where I think it's very important to consider how we share the Christian faith. When we share the Christian faith, we are sharing an exclusive truth, meaning that the Christian faith says not only is it true, but other faiths such as Islam and Mormonism and the Jehovah Witness movement, those other faiths are not on equal par with Christianity, those other faiths are in fact false religions, and this goes around.

There are really only two religions in the world. There is Christianity, and there is everything else. Now, just by saying that, I would be called by many people not only unreasonable, I would be called a bigot.

I remember years ago, there was a woman on the Oprah Winfrey show, and she proclaimed that Jesus is the only way to heaven, and Oprah Winfrey, with great confidence, said he just can't be. He can't be the only way, and since then I've seen many people go on to her show and into interviews with her, and she has even gotten pastors, and I say pastors with, you know, quotes, pastors to go on her show and say, yes, there's other ways other than Jesus Christ, and of course those pastors are apostates, they're not true ministers of the gospel, because if there's one thing about the gospel that is very clear, it is that the gospel is an exclusive gospel.

Jesus Christ says, I am the way, and the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. Therefore, if we are faced with someone who is opposing that, then we have the responsibility to stand on the truth, and at times we are going to have to destroy their argument, and you say, well how do we destroy an argument?

Apologetics and Presuppositionalism

Well, we destroy an argument with the truth. We take a stand for the truth, and notice what this passage says, our weapons of warfare are not of the flesh. Our weapons of warfare are divine power to destroy strongholds, and the divine power that we have is the truth of the gospel, the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us.

This is why, when it comes to the subject of apologetics, and apologetics is the practice of defending the faith, I come from the school that is called the presuppositional school. Presuppositionalism, and because this is a short video, I won't have a lot of time to explain this, but basically it simply means that I'm taking for granted from the outset not only that God exists, but that the world doesn't make sense unless God exists.

So if a man comes and says to me, I'm an atheist, I don't believe God exists, then that's his argument, and I'm going to demonstrate that not only is his argument foolish, but it breaks down under scrutiny, and I'll begin to challenge him on his reasoning.

How can he believe in things like evil if he doesn't believe that there is a standard? And one of the most clear, or one of the most common arguments I've heard from atheists is, I don't believe in God because there's so much evil in the world, and the response of that is simple.

If there is no universal standard of good and evil, then there's nothing we can really define as evil outside of our own individual morals, and our own individual understandings of right and wrong, which are very different cross-culturally.

We can't really have a standard for right and wrong if there is no God. As one great theologian of the past has said, if there is no God, all things are permissible. And so, one of the ways that we would destroy the argument is simply demonstrating the fruitlessness of atheism, and we do this in other areas as well.

Rejecting Neutrality in Evidentialism

And so, if someone were to say, as Christians we should never argue, I would say, no, that's not true. We need to argue, but we need to argue with the truth of God's Word. We don't need to use worldly methods.

That is why I am not an evidentialist. Evidentialists believe that the best way to try to defend the Christian faith is to meet the unbeliever on equal ground and say, we're going to begin with a neutral position, and we're going to examine the evidence from a neutral position.

The problem with that is that there is no neutral position. The Bible says if a person is not a believer, he is not just an unbeliever, but he's actually an enemy of God, and therefore he's not going to be able to look at the evidence with a real neutral mind.

He's always going to be looking at the evidence with a mind that is opposed to the evidence. I remember years and years ago listening to the debate between Gordon Stein and Greg Bonson, which took place in the 1980s, and during the debate Gordon Stein was asked by Greg Bonson, who was the Christian, what would it take for you to believe that God exists?

What evidence would prove to you that God exists? And Gordon Stein said, well, if the podium raised up six feet off the ground, and I knew that it wasn't wires or magnets or anything like that, and I knew that there was no other explanation, then I would have to believe there was some type of supernatural explanation for that, and I would have to believe that God had intervened.

And Bonson responded, if I remember correctly, and again this is from memory, but basically said, no, that evidence would not satisfy you, because your problem is not a lack of evidence in the existence of God, the problem is you do not want to believe all of the evidence that is clearly before you.

And remember that, when you're speaking to someone who doesn't believe, it's not because they have a lack of evidence, the problem is they are unwilling to see the evidence that is all around us. The Bible says that God has demonstrated his reality to all men.

Romans 1 says, all men know God exists, and every man is without excuse. Therefore, when we share the gospel with them, and they start giving us excuses, that's the time where we have to start destroying those arguments.

Lovingly, patiently, not hatefully, but we destroy arguments. We don't simply allow them to pass by. Now, I want to clear something up. I am NOT saying that as Christians we should be always argumentative and always looking for a fight.

I see some Christians online who are always looking for an attack, and especially in Facebook groups and social media forums, that's probably the least positive way that you can engage someone with the truth.

Personal Evangelism and a Face-to-Face Defense

The better way is always to have a conversation face-to-face, like the time I was in the restaurant, I was speaking to a friend about God, and an unbeliever walked over to me, says, I've heard your conversation, and I don't believe in God, can you tell me why you believe God exists?

And I sat him down and we had a great conversation. That's the kind of thing, and he had many challenges, and I responded to those challenges well, I told him why I thought that he not only, why I believed that not only he knew God existed, but that he was denying the existence of God, and tried to encourage him, of course, to believe what he knows in his heart is true, and that is that God exists, that he is real, that he has sent his son, and that his son died on the cross, and that only those who believe in Jesus will be saved.

I went through the gospel with him, but the clarity of the point is, when he began to make objections, I didn't say, well, you have your truth, and I have my truth. I said, no, what you're saying is incorrect, what you're saying is untrue.

I'm not saying that to be unloving, not saying that to be hurtful, but there are times when we have to take a stand for truth, and we have to destroy arguments. We have to be able to stand up for what is true.

It can be difficult, it can be, well, it can honestly, it can be very daunting, and sometimes it won't be what we want to do, because it's easier just to simply say, well, we're going to agree to disagree, but when it comes to eternal things, sometimes it's not best to say we're going to agree to disagree, sometimes it's best to go ahead and let them know that what they believe is not correct, and that the arguments that they're making are not true.

And so today, as we look at this passage, my encouragement to you, again, not to be argumentative, but not to listen to the argument, not to listen to someone who would say that you should never make an argument as a believer, and believe that, because that's not the truth.

We are not called to never make arguments. We are called to destroy arguments with the truth. Thank you for listening today. I hope this has been an encouragement to you. Please, if you've enjoyed this Bible study, you can see our other ones on our YouTube page, and I would encourage you to please subscribe to our page, and you'll get every day of the week, Monday through Friday, a new Coffee with a Calvinist at 630 a .m.

Thank you again for listening. I'm Keith Foskey, and I have been your Calvinist. May God bless you.