"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" (1 Peter 3:15, KJV).
Over the millennia, men and women of faith have lived and died in the faith. Throughout their lives—and by their lives—the faithful servants of God have given an answer. They have given a defense of their faith and their hope—the same faith and hope we share with them. We all have a great hope in the resurrection. We look forward to Christ's second coming, and to the coming Kingdom of God. Whether you have been living God's way of life for a month, a year, a decade or more, you can give an answer.
If you believe the Bible and strive to live by it, you can give an answer. If you know what you believe, you can give an answer. If you have God's Spirit flowing out from you, and you renew it every day through prayer, meditation and Bible study, you can give an answer. If you are doing God's will, you can give an answer.
Some years ago, I received a phone call from a Church member who was being pressured by a friend who told her, "If you're not going to eat pork, then you're going to have to do everything the Old Testament says. You can't eat any pears from your pear tree until after seven years." This member felt that she was being put on the defensive. She started "backpedaling." She said she did not remember reading that in the Bible, then afterward she told me she felt she had let God down because she did not have an answer for the friend who was pressuring her.
How would you handle such a situation? Could you answer that question? How would you answer an argument against your faith, particularly when you are not familiar with the specific biblical point your attacker is raising? Would you become flustered and feel that the attacker must actually have solid proof that your foundational beliefs are wrong? Or would you be able to say respectfully, "Thank you for caring about me, but I'll have to research for myself what you're saying about that scripture"?
As many of you probably realize, this Church member was responding to a deceptive argument. She later discovered that her friend was misrepresenting Leviticus 19. This taught our Church member a valuable lesson: Do not take for granted that a critic or accuser has all the facts, or is representing them accurately. Prove the truth for yourself!
This Church member appreciated my counsel that she did not need to feel pressured to know everything "on the spot." Critics want to make you think they have found the "loose brick" in your faith, and that if that brick is removed your whole spiritual house will fall down. Of course, people have for millennia been trying to find a loose spiritual brick that will bring the Church down, but they have not found one—and will not find one!
Regarding God's laws for agriculture, His people have proved for themselves that they work. Many of you may be familiar with the agricultural program at Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, where my wife and I lived for twelve years. This program sought to apply God's agricultural principles to actual working farmland—to the fruit trees and to the crops—and they even implemented the biblical land Sabbaths. This program was especially blessed. One county agent saw it for himself. He had seen the land before the program began; it had become virtually worthless after being overworked by cotton farming. Seven years later, after the land rest, that agent returned and saw the land fertile and productive. He said he could not believe his eyes upon seeing the transformation. God's ways really do work!
Have you put your spiritual house in order? Have you built your beliefs on a sure foundation? Many scriptures use a house as a symbol of your belief system. God's Church is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:20). And: "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11).
So, what is your spiritual foundation? Is your house built upon a rock (Matthew 7:24–27)? Some in God's Church are new in the faith, and are just starting to learn. It may take them some time to come to a deeper conviction and understanding, as they internalize the truth as part of their godly character.
Make Yourself Ready
How do you become ready to give an answer? How do you state your faith, and prepare to describe your faith? Many scriptures remind us that we are to talk often to one another, and exhort one another. One simple and practical way to do this is to ask questions at the dinner table (Malachi 3:16; Hebrews 10:25). We read in the biographies of many famous world figures that they learned about the world while seated at their parents' dinner table. Before he became President of the United States, John F. Kennedy discussed world issues at the dinner table with his father Joe Kennedy, who was for a time Ambassador to England. At dinner, you can ask your family members, "What is God like? What is the Bible? Why keep the Sabbath?" Those sound like simple questions to most of us, but more than 99 percent of the world's population cannot answer them adequately. Do not assume that you are safe because you think you know the answer now; there are tens of thousands of our former brethren who thought they knew the answers, but who eventually apostatized and fell away. Did they really know the answers to those questions? Yes, we need to speak often to one another, as Malachi reminds us (Malachi 3:16–17). We need those answers to form our deepest convictions, and we need to live by every word of God.
How else can we prepare ourselves to answer? Many men have the blessing of having a Spokesman Club available in their congregation. This helps "iron sharpen iron" (Proverbs 27:17). We need to expose our ideas to others who have wisdom and experience. How often do we see people come up with the weirdest, most way-out ideas, because they have isolated themselves from being cross-examined? Many of our former brethren, who for years were kept on the right path because they were in the community of the faithful, have gone off in their own little isolated communities, and they argue against all wise judgment. Seeking after branches and twigs, they have lost the "trunk of the tree." When a minister isolates himself from the body of Christ, and no longer has a multitude of counsel other than those who are his "yes men," he can easily fall into error. Scripture tells us, "A man who isolates himself, seeks his own desire, he rages against all wise judgment" (Proverbs 18:1).
If we are to give an answer for what we believe, we obviously need to know what we believe. The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, "and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). We need to know God's word and study it regularly.
One tool that can help you prove and strengthen your beliefs from God's word, and can help you be ready with an answer, is the Church's Statement of Fundamental Beliefs. I hope you already have a copy of this and have read it; if you do not, you can order a free printed copy or can download one from the Church Web site. It is not a complete exposition of every detail of our beliefs, but it is meant as a thorough overview, agreed upon by Dr. Meredith and the Council of Elders. Although we often hear of well-meaning people who look at the hundreds of Church of God groups and say, "we're all the same," the truth is that we are not all the same! There are real differences and distinctions, and you should not just assume that some group is a doctrinally sound part of the Church of God simply because it says it is. You need to prove the Truth for yourself, from God's word.
But have you even read all of God's word? How long does it take to read through the whole Bible? In the back of one of my copies of the New King James Version, there was a one-year reading program. I completed it in a year and a half. For some people it may take a little longer, and some may proceed more quickly, but it can be done. And you will benefit from it. Remember, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly furnished for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16).
Remember, according to the literal translation of the Greek, all of Scripture is "God-breathed"— the Greek word is theopneustos—so we can have great confidence when we read it. We also have a responsibility to know it and to respond to it. Have we internalized the foundational doctrines of the Church? The sixth chapter of Hebrews lists six basic doctrines: (1) repentance from dead works, (2) faith toward God, (3) baptisms, (4) laying on of hands, (5) resurrection of the dead and (6) eternal judgment. The seventh doctrine, by the way, is our going on to perfection, having laid the foundation of those six doctrines.
Those doctrines are the basis of God's plan of salvation for you, and He has made that plan well-known through the annual Holy Days and the weekly Sabbath. Have you studied those doctrines thoroughly? Do you really believe them? Are you so convicted of them that they are a part of your very character? You need to be thoroughly convicted.
An Awkward Question?
Has anyone ever asked you, "Are you saved?" How did you respond? When I was in high school, one of my friends asked me, "Dick, are you saved?" I replied, "What do you mean?" He said, "Well, if you were to die tonight, do you believe you'll go to heaven?"
I wanted to end the awkward conversation, so I said "yes" and my friend did not get an opportunity to "save" me. The problem was that I did not know the Truth at that time, and I was just oblivious. I thought everything was fine, until God called me several years later and showed me differently.
The truth is, we have been saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved. We have been saved from the death penalty by accepting the shed blood of Christ (Titus 3:4–5). We are "among those who are being saved" (2 Corinthians 2:15). And we shall be saved by Christ's life (Romans 5:10). Remember, "he that endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13).
Another common question is, "Do you love Jesus?" Many of us in God's Church can sometimes feel offended by this question, because it can sound so "Protestant," and can remind us of the apostasy in our former association. But in general it is a good idea to give the questioner the benefit of the doubt, and you can probably answer helpfully after you discern the questioner's attitude and approach.
There are several ways you could answer that question. One would be to ask your questioner, "Which Jesus are you talking about? Are you talking about the false 'Jesus' who is said to have done away with His Father's commandments?" Most likely, though, you can hold that response in reserve. But it is a good exercise to ask yourself, "Do I love Jesus? What does it mean to love Jesus?"
We know that to love Jesus is to keep the commandments (John 14:15; 1 John 5:3). I hope you are showing your love for Jesus by keeping the commandments! And I hope you do love your Savior, who gave His life for you, and who sits today at the Father's right hand as your High Priest and intercessor!
Years ago, I remember asking my Ambassador College students to share with me their personal proofs of God's existence—not just the "traditional" seven proofs which we all know. One student gave a response that I remember to this day. He said: "I know God exists, because if He didn't call me and I didn't make changes in my life, I would be dead now. I know that God exists because I see the evidence in the change in my own life."
That student saw God's personal concern for his life. I could say something very similar: if God had not called me, I would probably either be dead or in prison by now. I know that God—the true Jesus of the Bible—shed His blood for me, and if He had not covered my sins with His blood, I would end up dead for all eternity. I love Jesus, the Christ, because I belong to Him! He is the Passover Lamb who was sacrificed for me. Here is how Paul expressed this thought: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Romans 5:8–10).
We can also reflect on Dr. Meredith's favorite verse: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20, KJV). And we can be profoundly thankful for the love God showed by allowing His Son to die for us (John 3:16).
It is not unbiblical to express our deep emotional response to our Savior and His love for us. The Psalms express King David's heartfelt love toward God. We should not be deceived by a false sentimental Jesus, but there is a right sentiment we should have for the true Jesus of the Bible, who will soon return as King of kings and Lord of lords. We should not let ourselves be pressured into some false or superficial declaration of "Praise the Lord" or that we "love Jesus." But as you grow closer to God in your development as a Christian, I hope you can say, privately, to your Lord and Savior: "I love you" from a meaningful and genuine place in your heart.
Answer in Faith
When we answer someone, we must have an attitude of faith. Are you ashamed of Jesus Christ? Do you become defensive or nervous when people ask you about your faith, or your relationship with Jesus Christ? There is no reason in the world why we should become defensive or nervous about Him. We read: "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38). So we want to be careful never to be ashamed of our Savior.
How should you answer if a person comes at you with an aggressive or critical question? Notice Christ's example. "Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, 'By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?' But Jesus answered and said to them, 'I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things'" (Matthew 21:23–24). Jesus then asked them whether the baptism of John came from heaven or from men. "And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'If we say, "From heaven," He will say to us, "Why then did you not believe him?" But if we say, "From men," we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.' So they answered Jesus and said, 'We do not know.' And He said to them, 'Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things'" (vv. 25–27). Following Jesus' example, it is sometimes appropriate to answer an aggressive or challenging question with another question.
Remember, though, it is not a good idea to become hostile or arrogant in our responses. Imagine how someone would react if you said to them, "You asked me if I'm a Christian; well, I'll tell you, these millions of so-called Christians in this world are no more converted than a tadpole!" When we give an answer for the hope that lies within us, our answer should reflect that hope, not bitterness.
How would you answer the question, "Are you a Christian?" What, in fact, is a Christian? Most people in the world would simply say, "It is someone who accepts Christ." But is that the Bible's definition? Notice: "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His" (Romans 8:9). In other words, unless Christ is in us—unless we let Him guide us to live His way—we are not Christians. Remember Christ's admonition, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things I say?" (Luke 6:46). And: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
A true Christian, of course, will be found doing the Work that Christ commissioned the Church to accomplish. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19–20).
Often when people ask us questions or challenge our beliefs, they are doing so honestly and humbly, and we can help them by answering in an honest and reasoned way. However, we may sometimes recognize that our questioners are not reasonable, and that no matter what reasoning we try to use to help them, it just comes back in our face to cause more contention. Jesus told us that we are not to cast our pearls before swine, and we know it is not our job to "convert" people to our beliefs. The book of Proverbs tells us, on the one hand, "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him" (Proverbs 26:4). On the other hand, as the next verse counsels us, "Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes" (v. 5). So both principles are there, and we need to discern which is right in each circumstance.
I remember a time, many years ago, when I was driving somewhere with one of my college friends. I said something silly to him, but he just ignored me. Because he did not respond, I thought to myself, "I had better not be silly or foolish in his presence anymore!" So there is a time not to answer a fool, but with God's help we can discern when it is appropriate to answer.
Ready to Answer?
How can we always be ready to give an answer? If we want to be ready to give a reason of the hope that lies within us, we must have hope and faith. Abraham, called the "father of the faithful," was strong in faith. He was fully convinced that God could do what He had promised (Romans 4:20–21). Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). So it is vital that we read the Bible regularly. As we do so, God will bring to our remembrance the truth of His word, through His Spirit (John 14:26).
If we are to be able to give an answer for what we believe, we need to believe the true Gospel. Contrary to what some critics have charged, the Living Church of God has not changed what we believe about the Gospel. It is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Christ preached that Gospel, and it is also called the Gospel of Christ—since He is the King of the coming Kingdom of God. Some brethren may think it is wrong if we sometimes choose to express the truth of the Gospel in our own words, but in fact this is something we each need to do. We need to internalize doctrines and make sure they are truly our beliefs—beliefs we can understand and express to others. Not that we change things to suit our own ideas, but that we express the "trunk of the tree" unchanging truths in ways that are meaningful to us.
To give an answer, we need to seek God's wisdom. That wisdom is the wisdom from above (James 3:17). When we answer, we must be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). We must also be filled with God's Spirit. Christ told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would teach them what to say (Luke 12:11–12). If we are brought before magistrates for interrogation, we should not worry about planning ahead what to say. If we have been keeping close to God, and we are filled with His Spirit, God promises to guide our words.
Finally, we must have a fervent love for God the Father, and for His Son. Remember when Jesus, after His resurrection, was testing Peter. Peter had betrayed Jesus and denied Him three times, just as Jesus had foretold. We read: "So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' He said to him, 'Feed My lambs.' He said to him again a second time, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' He said to him, 'Tend My sheep.' He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?' Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'Do you love Me?' And he said to Him, 'Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed My sheep'" (John 21:15–17).
How would you answer if Jesus asked you, "Do you love Me more than these?"
If you have lived God's way of life for years, you have basically answered this question by your deeds, and by the faith that motivates your deeds. When you have made mistakes you have repented, and you have remained willing to grow and to overcome. Your life experience should be an answer for others who seek evidence of what you believe.
Brethren, as we continue to draw closer to God, let us always be ready to give an answer!