Author of Contradict – They Can't All Be True.
>> Click Here to Listen to Episode 102! <<
(Right Click and “Save As” to Download the File)
Or Click Here to Listen in iTunes.
Andy continues the series on Lutheran Theology. This time Wes is back and together they discuss the formal principle of Lutheran theology and the nature of Law and Gospel.
>> Click Here to Listen to this Great Episode! <<
(Right click and “save as” to download)
David Pratt has been a Lutheran high school teacher for twelve years. In his theology classes, no matter the course title, he constantly sprinkles apologetics into the lesson plans. After listening to episodes 22 and 29 of Reconnect, which both explained and critiqued the use of various approaches to Apologetics, he had a lot of feedback to provide. In this episode, David shares his commentary on those episodes, correcting what he thought was not always an accurate depiction of presupositional apologetics in those episodes. Hopefully, you’ll learn as much from his feedback as I did. His explanation and use of presuppositional apologetics has certainly given me a much better understanding of the usefulness and tactful approach to take with presuppositional arguments for the purpose of sharing both the Law and Gospel of God’s Word. – Andy Wrasman
Show Links:
Episode 22: Mixed Martial Apologetics with J. Warner Wallace
Episode 29: What’s up with Presup? with Andy and Ben
David’s School: Faith Lutheran Middle School and High School in Las Vegas
>> Click here to Listen to “Law and Gospel” episode! <<
Or listen in iTunes.
Andy and Wes discuss Law and Gospel.
0:30 – Law and Gospel Intro 
2:35 – What is God’s Law?
5:20 – What is the Gospel?
6:40 – When does a person need to hear Law? When does a person need to hear the Gospel?
10:00 – Public preaching of God’s Word needs both Law and Gospel.
14:20 – Don’t weaken the Law of God.
18:30 – The Law found in the Sermon on the Mount
20:55 – Can we meet God’s standard in this life?
25:00 – God’s Law is written on all men’s hearts.
27:00 – Knowing that God’s Law is written on the hearts of men, most adherents of other religions are likely already in terror of God’s Law and need to hear the Gospel, not more Law.
31:20 – Christianity has both Law and Gospel. Other religions just have the Law.
35:00 – What is the hermeneutical principle of distinguishing Law and Gospel in a Scriptural text?
52:00 – Closing words
Show Links:
>>Listen to Reconnect Episode 23 Now!<<
>>(Right click and “save as” to download)<<
I (Andy) have recently noticed, on the Contradict Facebook page I administer and on other pages, that most posts on homosexuality speak just the Law of God ( i.e. his standards, commands, and expectations). The Gospel is typically missing.
I took a photo of a gay wedding cake and then added the text, “Jesus died for this sin too!” off to the side of the image. With this single statement the Gospel is proclaimed, and at the same time homosexuality is still shown to be sinful.
Jesus is the Savior of all adulterers. I am one of them. To clarify, in Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”, he defines adultery as any lust. He defines murder as hating anyone. Jesus essentially shows us that we all have broken God’s Law, that we are all sinners in need of divine redemption. He provided that redemption through the shedding of his blood for our sins, through his life, death, burial, and resurrection.
“To share or not to share?” That is the question. In this episode George shares why he chooses to abstain from sharing religious posts on social media sites, while I share why I am in full support of such posts. To close George shares four Facebook posts pertaining with homosexuality and wants to know if I’d share them or not. Putting the Law and Gospel principle into action, I decide to share or not to share.
To learn more about Law and Gospel watch the videos with Law and Gospel in their titles in the following playlist I created on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS-hGmUdPsUnbaRFbrhQqhy9zj-h5mwub
Dear readers, whoever you are.
This isn’t exactly what one usually would consider when they think of defending the Christian faith; the statement, “You will die.” It’s not pretty. It’s not nice. We try not to think about it. We try to push death out of our minds. That’s why they call them casualties and not deaths! That’s why they call them viruses, or the bird flu, or the swine flu, and not plagues! (Paraphrasing Henry Rollins) We don’t want to think about death!
To quote the Black Sabbath song, “After Forever,” “When you think about death do you keep your cool?”
Well to quote the song more, “I’ll be prepared when you’re lonely and scared at the end of our days.” The answer in that song by Black Sabbath of course is “Jesus Christ is the only way to love.”
I know a pastor who sets up shop at university campuses. He shares the good news of salvation with people. However, if a person rejects the news. If they are complacent, if they are ambivalent, he challenges them to consider the alternatives… what if there is no God, then you die and you are in the ground. What if there is a God? And you have rejected him? What if that God is Jesus? What then? Are you so sure… do you keep your cool when you think about death?
He told one student, “Well, just remember you are going to die.” And the student left the conversation at that, but came back to him a month later and said, “Do you remember the last thing you said to me?” The pastor did not. The student said it had troubled him ever sense talking to him. He finally came face to face with his own personal death, and was he so sure… was he so certain that he would be reincarnated as his faith taught. The pastor shared, “Jesus will save you from that death. He paid for all of your sins.”
Part of apologetics is just properly explaining the Christian faith, and God’s Word can be divided into two camps, Law, and Gospel. God’s Law shows us that we are sinners, that God’s wrath is upon us and that we justly deserve his eternal punishment. God’s Gospel shows us our savior. To learn more about Law and Gospel, click here.
So, you will die. Worried? Well, maybe you shouldn’t be complacent? Don’t put off considering what lies beyond this life. To be fair, I’ll say look to all religions, but I’d recommend looking to Christianity first, and I say this because it is objective, read 1 Corinthians 15 to know what I mean. That passage will show you the center of the Christian faith. It will tell you where the Christian faith stands or falls. It will show you that you are a sinner and that you will die for those sins, yet it also will show you the good news that Jesus died for sins, was buried, and on the third day rose from the grave as according to the Scriptures.
For more on sharing the Gospel on a college campus using a table-top evangelism style approach, listen to Reconnect Episode 6: Contradict – Campus Evangelism.
>>>Order Andy Wrasman’s book, Contradict- They Can’t All Be True.<<<
Andy Wrasman 