Answering for the Faith

Background Scripture: Luke 12
Lesson Scripture: Luke 12:4-12; 1 Peter 3:13-17

Introduction

Answering for the faith and having true faith are not the same, although they are very closely related to each other. Every person is given the measure of faith, but the term “the faith” refers to the entire body of truth revealed to man by the Word of God, interpreted by the church, and given to the believers through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. This true faith has been handed down through the ages by faithful men and women of God, and the forces of hell shall never overthrow it.

We need to often remind ourselves of our responsibility and privilege to not only live the faith but to answer for it. Let this lesson illuminate our desire so that “the communication of [our] faith may become effectual.” How is this done? “By the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus” (Philem. 6).

Key Verse

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 Pet. 3:15).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

Christ may have spoken the words recorded in Luke 12 in the central months of his ministry, perhaps well after He attended the marriage in Cana of Galilee. It was also after Jesus raised a young man, the only son of a widow, back to life near the city of Nain and after being in the country of the Gadarenes. Here Jesus was met by the man with the many devils that were cast into the herd of swine. However, it appears to be before his encounter with Zacchaeus and also before He healed the woman of the infirmity she had for eighteen years.

The first number of verses in Luke 12 and the verses in 1 Peter 3 convey similar thoughts—the unpleasant likelihood of being persecuted for the faith. We should not be alarmed about this, as it is only our natural body that is in danger. It is only when our soul’s salvation is threatened that we should become alarmed. The devil will use every ploy he can to confound the soul of man. He hates God, so he directs his hatred toward the Christian, God’s children. Even though he appears as an angel of light with our good in mind, his intent is to steal, to kill, and to destroy.

What does it mean to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, and how are we to be ready to give an answer about our faith? To sanctify means to set apart for a sacred purpose. To become sanctified in living the Christian life and to be a living witness for Christ, we will need Him inside our hearts. We will need to be submitted and surrendered to Him. If we are not fully sanctified, our efforts to witness for the Lord will be less convincing. For a minister to stand before a congregation and preach the Word, he must be sanctified, dedicated, and ready to speak that which the Holy Spirit gives him at that moment. Anything less than sanctification will be of self and will render the Word less effective. Others will recognize this, so all endeavors to answer for the faith should be after a time of prayer.

To blaspheme against the Holy Ghost is a very serious sin. A sincere Christian believer need have no fear of this. To blaspheme is to ascribe the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to the devil. It is to have known the ways of God, to have walked in his ways, to have had a relationship with God through his Holy Spirit, and then to deliberately and willfully attribute that which God has done for us through the Spirit to the powers of darkness. It is through the Holy Spirit that we have a relationship with God. The Spirit is our seal unto the day of redemption.

Let us always treasure what God has done and continues to do for us.

Practical Truths for Today

Being witness to an event means being present when and where it happened. It entails seeing it with our eyes, hearing the sounds of it with our ears, and feeling the heat, the cold, the hardness, the softness, the pain, or whatever our sensory system experiences at the time of the incident.

To bear witness is to personally recount such an event. A person called before authorities to relay what happened at the scene of a crime or accident or recounting a humorous incident to someone else is an example of being a witness. Missionaries returning home from being abroad for a number of years and giving a report of their experiences are being a witness of the Lord’s work.

Numerous Bible verses instruct us to not bear false witness. Because of these instructions found in the Word, it is sinful for us to falsify a true record. God will not hold him guiltless who does not bear a true witness. Every born-again Christian has witnessed the goodness of God and knows what it was like to be in the bondage of sin, away from God. The experience of being lost was real as was forgiveness and deliverance from sin. Our lives should be a continual expression of that which we have experienced and encountered.

As we consider the instruction to not bear false witness, can we say our life is a true answer or response to that which we have experienced? Are the thoughts we think bearing a true witness? “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matt. 12:34). Are the words we speak, the things we purchase, that which we are pursuing in life, the places we vacation, and the way we spend Sunday a false claim or a true witness of the faith? If these things, or even parts of them, are a false witness of that which the Lord has done for us, how can our lives be a valid answer for the faith? In reality, we are bearing witness of what is truly in our hearts. If our actions are not in harmony with the will of God, we must give an account for our thoughts, deeds, and actions. We will ultimately answer to God here in life by way of repentance and reconsecration or on judgment morning.

Illustrations

The martyrs rejoiced in the opportunity to be questioned for their faith and to suffer for it, considering the privilege to die for the faith the crown of one’s life. The following is taken from Martyrs Mirror.

“In the year 303 two brothers, Primus and Felician, were brought prisoners before the criminal Judge of the city of Numenta, in Italy. He first examined Felician, and asked him, whether he would rather sacrifice to the gods, and live in honors, and see good days, or be tortured unto death with all manner of torments?

“Felician answered: ‘How canst thou speak to me of pleasant days? I am now eighty years old, and have been enlightened with the saving knowledge of Christ for about thirty years; yea, I am still finding the greatest joy of my heart in His service. And thou wouldst persuade me to forsake my Saviour, and accept instead of Him the vain lusts of this world! Far be it from me; for I have resolved to cleave to Christ, my Lord and my God, to the very last breath of my life.’

“Thereupon this good old man was put in prison, and his brother Primus brought forth, whom the Judge endeavored to persuade that Felician, his dear old brother, had apostatized. But Primus was confident that the contrary was true; therefore he said that it was a lie. Upon this he was beaten with sticks, and burned on his loins with lamps. But he sang with the prophet David: ‘O Lord, Thou has proved us with fire, as silver is tried.’

“Then both were tormented, in different ways. Molten lead was poured down Primus’ throat, while Felician was beaten with leaded scourges, nailed with his hands and feet to a stake, and inhumanly tortured. Both were cast before the lions and bears; but as these would not harm them the Judge caused the martyrs to be beheaded and their dead bodies laid on the ground for the dogs and the birds of the air. However, they were buried by the Christians.” 1

“In the following year, [1537] . . . George Vaser, was sent to Pechstall, in Austria, where he gladly began to teach the Word of the Lord, notwithstanding he had just come out of the prison at Metling. He gathered the believers, and established a church, according to the command of God. But he could not escape a certain deceiver, a genuine tool of all treachery, who, under a false appearance, pretended to learn the grounds of the truth of him as a minister, but, in the meantime appointed many servants, commanding them at a suitable time to apprehend this George Vaser, which they faithfully did.

“He was then subjected to much cruel torturing, and while in prison was tempted in manifold ways: but he remained very steadfast and faithfully followed unto death Him whom he had proclaimed in the faith; thus testifying with his blood (being executed with the sword), to the faith and the truth of God.” 2

Questions

1. If we are not being questioned for our faith, could it be that we have accepted too much of the world’s ways?
2. First Timothy 5:8 says, “If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith.” If we are not providing a true witness of the faith to our family, are we infidels?
3. Does the lack of a burden for the lost souls of men indicate that the faith is not precious?
4. Discuss what the faith really is.
5. Relate experiences where you needed to answer for the faith.
6. 1 Martyrs Mirror, p. 180
7. 2 Ibid. p. 446

Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).