Faith on Fire: Watch, Be Strong, Act Like Men

Host: Hon. Sam Rohrer

Guest: Bryan Osborne

Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 3/19/26. To listen to the podcast, click HERE.

Disclaimer: While reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate transcription, the following is a representation of a mechanical transcription and as such, may not be a word for word transcript. Please listen to the audio version for any questions concerning the following dialogue.

Sam Rohrer:

Hello and welcome to this Thursday edition of Stand in the Gap Today. And it’s also our monthly focus on creation, apologetics and biblical worldview. And we bring all of those together on this focus. My special and returning guest today is Bryan Osborne. He’s an author. He’s a conference speaker and Christian apologist for Answers in Genesis. The title I’ve chosen to frame our … Well, it’s a very timely conversation. And it’s entitled this, Faith On Fire. Watch. Be strong. Act like men. Throughout the entirety of scripture, God’s people are commanded to watch. Throughout scripture, we are instructed to be strong and courageous in faith and action because that character trait is directly linked to our walk with God, our obedience to his commands, and it speaks of walking by faith, not by say. We’re also told in a number of places to act like men and we’re told to be strong.

And in the New Testament in particular, we’re instructed in all things to do all with Christ-like love. Yet, in our age where there is such an abandonment of respect for the word of God as authoritative in all matters, where we know now over 90% of all Americans, including those professing to be Christians, is it any wonder that we see our nation, though many talk about God, walk like the world, think like the world? Is it any wonder that most are driven by the spirit of fear and where what it means to be a man has been so totally redefined as to make that biblical definition of that standard nearly unrecognizable? If there was ever a time for God’s people to know how they should think and live and act, it is now. Now, this need in part drove the context, I think of one Corinthians 16:13 and 14, where the apostle Paul says this, “Be watchful.

Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” Well, in these verses, apostle is not speaking just to men, but to men and women of God who have their lives redeemed with their identities now molded by the relationship to God through faith in Jesus Christ. Today on this program, Bryan and I will pursue this practical and relevant biblically important conversation. The title again is this, Faith On Fire, Watch, Be Strong, and Act Like Men. And with that, welcome to the program again, Bryan Osborne from Answers in Genesis. Bryan, thanks for being back with me.

Bryan Osborne:

Thanks, Sam. Good to be here. Good to chat for a little bit. Hey, everyone who’s listening across the nation everywhere else.

Sam Rohrer:

Bryan, let’s get into this. A little bit of a background to this when you and I were talking before we settled on this theme. From a personal perspective, you’ve considered and witnessed, I’m going to say some of the power of this emphasis from the Apostle Paul here in one Corinthians 16:13 and 14, which I just read. And it was made applicable. You saw that where a large group of men gathered at the Creation Center there at Answers in Genesis in Northern Kentucky where you’re located. But share just a bit about what you witnessed in that event, would you?

Bryan Osborne:

Absolutely. It was so good. So this was our second annual men’s conference and we had over 2,000 men at the Answers Center, which was at the Ark Encounter. And Sam, it was incredible. I mean, there’s something unique about men gathering together who have a common desire to be what God has called us to be, to honor him, to lead well, to serve him faithfully, and then to be encouraged and edified in our community together. Had a lot of top tier speakers there. We had Barry Wilmore and Astronaut. People might be familiar with him. Darrell Harrison was phenomenal. Dr. Owen Strand, Chuck Black, wonderful author, former F-16 fighter jet pilot, but given just his wisdom on leadership within the family from a biblical worldview. And of course, Ken Ham. I got to speak at it as well. But it was so good. And people can actually go, if you just go to my Facebook page, just look at Bryan Osborne.

I shared a video of the men just singing. And I’m telling you what’s that, just 2000 plus men singing great hymns together. And not only did it sound good, but it was just that unity and men coming together to glorify God in that way. It was beautiful. It was awesome. It was encouraging, edifying. We had a blast. And I course people to check out the video, check out the conference and for the men out there, plan for next year. We’ve already got, get this down. 1400 signed up for next year.

Sam Rohrer:

Excellent.

Bryan Osborne:

And so about a year from now. So we got room for about 800 more. So guys hurry and sign up, but it was incredible. And our theme was faith on fire, be strong, act like men pulling from one Corinthians 16. So I thought it was fresh in my heart. That’d be a good thing to talk about today, and you thought so too. So I’m glad we are.

Sam Rohrer:

Yeah, indeed. Let’s just walk through that. Anybody who’s listening, whether there’s women listening and have been a part of a large group of women where there’s a focus on biblical truth or men, and that’s kind of a setting, which I’ve been a part of as well, Bryan. It is. There’s just something dramatic about it. But let’s get right into it and just talk a little bit here because in Paul’s first commandment there, but his first warning, he says, “Be watchful.” The ESV says, “Be watchful.” King James says, “Watch ye.” In Hebrew’s name, Bible, it just says watch, but to clear, it’s watch. So Bryan, share your thoughts about the definition of watch and why it’s such a critical characteristic to be exhibited by a true believers and particularly in our days of deception and in a nation that’s walked away from the truth of God’s word.

Yeah,

Bryan Osborne:

Sam, as you well know, and I’m sure the audience does too. There are so many attacks on the authority of God’s word, on biblical Christianity, on the body of Christ that come at Christians from so many different angles in our culture today. And I think really, we’re talking about watching, it’s be alert. Understand where the attack is coming from. Understand how the attack is happening today. We understand that ultimately it’s a spiritual battle. We know that. We know that the attack is on biblical authority because of that. We know the enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy, but how’s he doing it today? And actually there’s a warning in the New Testament where we’re told to watch out just like the serpent tried to deceive Eve, tried to deceive us in a similar way. And so really, how do you deceive eve? What did God really say?

Questioning God’s word, undermining biblical authority. He does the same thing today, but we got to be aware of whether that attack is happening in our current cultural setting. And Sam, it’s not just watching what’s happening in the culture be prepared there, but if you look at the New Testament epistles, you see a constant, constant warning to watch out for false teachers in the church, bringing in bad ideas, typically culturally relevant, trying to import those into God’s body, into God’s word. And so we got to watch out for those as well. So being alert, where’s the attack on biblical authority happening today? How is that creeping into the church and then giving a sound biblical response that is rooted in God’s word? But to do that, we’ve got to be alert. Now I’m not saying you watch the news twenty four seven. I’m just saying be alert, be aware, be ready biblically.

Sam Rohrer:

Yep. Excellent. Bryana brings us right up to the break. And ladies and gentlemen, if you’ve been listening to me on the program, we’ve been talking a lot about deception, days of deception. That’s one of the reasons that we must be alert. Be alert to God’s purposes, our purpose in this life. Why are we here? Be alert to the fact of all of the efforts to distract us from the main mission of being salt and light. You get the idea. There are a lot of reasons to be alert. And the Apostle Paul and what he spoke there in one Corinthians 16, 13 and 14, it’s very, very powerful. We’re going to walk down through these other elements. Our theme, faith on fire, watch, be strong, act like men. If you’re just joining us, we’re just now beginning our second segment here today. My special guest today is Bryan Osborne.

He’s been with me many, many times before. His author is a conference speaker and a Christian apologist with Answers in Genesis. They have their website at answersingenesis.org. And our theme today is one that, well, I think applies to all of us. Faith on fire. Watch, be strong, act like men. Now you say, “Oh, I’m not a man, so I don’t need to listen.” No, yeah, you do. Particularly if you’re a man, listen, but this is not just for man because this is in the context of all believers. So stay tuned and we’ll walk through this, but just to look back just a little bit of what we went over in the first segment and then moving ahead. But throughout scripture, the use of the word watch in simple terms, it means to be alert, to pay close attention, not just to kind of look, but to really be really visibly focused with your brain engaged, to pay close attention with an intent of seeing approaching danger.

So it’s being alert for a reason. And it’s really the same context as the Old Testament, watchmen on the wall. They were looking, they were alert. They were perceiving danger so that they could protect themselves and warn those under their care. The Apostle Peter in one Peter chapter five and verse eight made this very clear when he said this, “Be sober minded. Be serious. Be focused. Be watchful.” And that’s the key word. Be watchful. Why? Because your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. So this use of watch in scripture is not just something to keep your eyes open, but it’s a full body engagement, mind engagement with a purpose. So it’s important to be watchful because our spiritual lives and our testimony before the world is literally at stake and we know it is under assault, not just by the devil who’s prowling around, but all of his minions and the entire world and the world system.

But then the apostle Paul moves from the apostle Paul, not Peter there, but moving back to the apostle Paul in Corinthians. He moves from being watchful and he links this to essential characteristic of the command to stand fast in the faith. Bryan, provide any further insights or applications you might have in regard to either the meaning of watch or the reason why in our day it’s so important and then move to the definition of what the apostle Paul talks about next, that characteristic, or I would say the state of being he describes as stand fast in the faith.

Bryan Osborne:

Yeah. You summarize it so well, Sam, with defining what it means to be watchful, to be aware. I think the only thing I would just tag along right along with that is that it’s not just us being watchful for ourselves. We do need to be aware for ourselves for the sake of our own faith and our own testimony to be sure. That’s absolutely clear, but it’s also to be watchful, to prepare those who are under our care, under our charge, to equip them and to prepare them to engage the culture and stand fast in the culture they’re in, to be aware of the challenges they’re going to face. And I find this with a lot of believers who are maybe more seasoned like I am, 40 and above. And you think they are entrenched in the Christian faith. And so the current popular attacks on biblical authority regarding issues of origin, creation, gender, social justice and so forth, maybe don’t affect them as much because they’re already rooted.

So they don’t feel the weight of those attacks, but what they don’t realize is they’re kids, their grandkids. They’re not rooted like they are. And they feel the full brunt of those attacks. And so we got to be watchful when it’s coming down the pike, not just for our sake, but for the sake of those under our care, and not to charge for every believer, but I would say especially for men who are to be the providers and protectors and the priests of the home, we have to equip those under our care to be ready to engage. And so I think that would be the other part of being watchful. You think about the watchmen on the wall, he wasn’t just there to warn himself. He was there to warn everybody about the incoming attacks so they could be rightly equipped. And so I think that’s an important thing that we bring to light on that issue.

And then as we get into stand firm, I think sometimes Sam, we really overcomplicate this, just meaning just stand firm in the faith, be rooted in God’s word, be willing really to live and proclaim plain biblical truths in a bold loving way to the culture around us. And I think in its simplest form, that’s what we’re talking about. A while back, I was doing a conference and I was speaking and I was defining marriage biblically and I was quoting Jesus. I was quoting Genesis and we see there in Genesis that he made them male and female. And I made the off the hand comment that that’s how we know they’re only two genders. And to that, a group of hundreds of people started applauding me. Like I had said something bold and courageous. He said there are only two genders. That’s crazy. No one does that.

It’s a simple truth, right? If we will simply proclaim God’s plain truth and live it out, that is an act

Sam Rohrer:

Of

Bryan Osborne:

Standing firm. So staying a biblical authority is the core, I think, of what it means there.

Sam Rohrer:

I think that’s excellent. And it really, as you say, is not that complicated. But Bryan, I was thinking about this in any position a person may find themself, challenges will come. And I’m going to ask you about that in just a minute, but challenges will come. The key is to know well enough what we believe about what the word of God says so that we do not compromise. Now, I spent about 20 years of my life in public office. I look around, I see what’s happening today. I see the impact of pragmatism taking over, completely taking over and things given to bribery and corruption. And I look to even many guys that I know who are believers who are in that position and I’m saying, “Oh man, why did you compromise biblical truth?” God’s word is always true. Lying is always lying. Deceiving is always deceiving or however it may be.

So challenges, ladies and gentlemen, come to us from all sides. Let me just go ahead and just set this up here, Bryan. I want to ask you for some application from your perspective, because as you said, standing fast or, well, I mean, literally means an intent not to move, stand fast. Don’t move is something that God told to his people, Israel, his people, Israel in the Old Testament. One place that it really stood out to me when I went back when I was looking at this, Exodus 14:13, is when Moses during the Exodus said this, “Fear not stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today.” And then in another place, slightly different application, two Samuel 23:13, it gives the account of one of the brave men that were there at that point, Shama was his name. The Bible said that when all the other Israelite men ran from the pilfering Philistines who were coming in and taking land and crops and all that from Israel at that point, that this individual, this brave man, Shama, decided not to run and the verse says this, but he took his stand in the midst of the plot.

It was a plot of ventils that the Philistines were trying to take and he defended it. He took his stand and defended. So Bryan, standing fast has many applications. I just mentioned a few of them here, but what are some of the challenge that you see facing a person of true faith in God in our day about which a true believer must be aware? In other words, everything’s trying to get our feet to move off of the word of God. Share some of those examples.

Bryan Osborne:

Yeah, man, there’s so many. You pointed out that many already. I would say, number one, of course, the easy one to see is one in the culture where the attacks on biblical truth about marriage, sexuality, gender, justice have all been redefined in our culture. And if you dare take a stand on the biblical definition of those things, then you will likely face backlash, maybe some sort of persecution within our culture. Maybe you don’t get the job or lack a promotion or maybe you lose friends or family members. And of course, within the political sphere, which is just morality applied, if you take a biblical stand in the realm of politics to push biblically oriented policies, then you will face backlash in our culture today to be sure in so many different ways. And so I think you see those challenges in the culture and being willing to pay the cost of what it is to stand firm on God’s word in those areas.

I would also say that there are challenges within the church and to me, sometimes those are more insidious because as Christians, our culture is so sneaky, of course, with our sin nature where we like to be comfortable. And so if our culture promises comfort, if we can just go along to get along, therefore we can have a nice little life, achieve the American dream and not feel discomfort, then we’re inclined to do so. And that can sneak into the church. And then also you have wolves and sheep’s clothing who are coming into church importing bad ideas. I think a while back mean you did an episode on progressive Christianity and proclaiming believers who are really, they’re using Bible verses to support atrocious things like abortion and gay marriage and transgenderism. Our governor here in Kentucky just quoted some Bible verses to support transgenderism. And so they’ll actually quote the Bible out of context.

And so the challenge for us there is they claim they’re staying on the Bible, but they’re not. They’re like the devil who’s tempting Jesus in the wilderness. They quote scripture, but to twist it and misapply it. So our challenge in the church, in those cases, is to know God’s word well enough to say, no, no, no. Here’s what God’s word says in context. Read the whole verse, read the whole passage, read it in his proper context, rightly divide the word of truth, which means we got to be students of God’s word, take it all back, be like the Bereans and that takes time and effort, but that is of the utmost importance to equip ourselves to deal with the challenges and equip those in our care to build those challenges, both in the culture, but also creeping into the church.

Sam Rohrer:

Bryan, that’s excellent. We’re at the break here and it’s a great place where you took us. Ladies and gentlemen, we all, where are the Bereans? I like to compare the Bereans to the other application of iron sharpening iron. We need each other and we need to take those things which we hear like the Berean said, of which there are so many things that are partially true and look things many totally untrue, but take those things and in light of God’s word with others who are committed to that, sit down to determine what is true. All right, that’s part of standing. If we don’t haven’t worked those things out, we don’t know where we ought to stand. So anyways, you got the idea, we’ll come back, we’ll continue on this faith on fire. Well, we’re right in the midpoint of our program today. Our theme, again, today is this, faith on fire, watch, be strong, act like men.

And those words, plus some more we’ll get into, really come off the pages of an instruction that the apostle Paul gave to the church at Corinth. And in chapter 16 of one Corinthians, it says in verse 13 and 14, these things we’ve been following down through. The apostle Paul says, “Watch, watch ye,” he says in the King James, “Stand fast in the faith.” We’ve looked at both of those. And then he goes on, then he says, “Quit you like men or actually it means act like men and be strong.” That’s where we’re going to look at that piece of the instruction that the apostle Paul gives throughout scripture, the command to be strong and to act like men regularly occurs. It was frankly not the apostle Paul who was the first one to use these words. He used them, but he wasn’t the first one to use them.

In fact, in one Kings, chapter two, verses one and two, when King David was about to die, and that meant the passing off the transferring of the authority as King of the Kingdom of Israel at that point, and it was about to be passed along to his son Solomon. And then those two verses, verses one and two of one Kings chapter two, it says this, “Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die, and he charged Solomon, his son saying, I go the way of all the earth, be thou strong therefore and show thyself a man.” So the apostle Paul picked up that concept from the Old Testament, but it’s all the way through the Old Testament. Possible is not the only one who said it, but he was applying it to a very specific need there with that Corinthian church enough today.

Now, King David’s command to Solomon to show thyself a man follows his charge to be strong, so they go together. In the case of David, though he follows up by what he means by that, by saying, “Be obedient to God’s word and walk in his ways.” And it says these words, “Walk in his ways, keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments and his testimonies as it is written in the law of Moses. Why? That thou mast prosper in all that thou do and whithersoever thou turnist.” All right, Bryan, being strong and acting like men throughout scripture seems to, in my study and observation over life is it walks together with a knowledge of God’s word and linked to the obedience of it because it does no good to know of God’s word and then not to follow it. So as you look at this particular command, as it pertains to men, of course, but we know to all of those who claim the name of Christ, men and women of God, what does this concept mean to you and how is it practically manifested?

Bryan Osborne:

Yeah, I think you said it so well, as far as all believers, male and female alike, that concept of walking, knowing and obeying God’s word is so key in standing firm and being strong the way the Bible describes it. And if I were to focus my attention specifically towards the men for a second, myself, looking at myself first in the mirror, then all the other men who think about this, we’re at to like men, but we got to define that, not like the culture defines what a man is. We act like men as God’s word defines what a man is. And say there’s been such an attack on manhood, on males period, in the West as our cultures embrace this kind of meal Marxist ideology, the oppressors versus the oppressed, males are part of the oppressor class, therefore they’ve been demonized and they’ve been told to sit down, be quiet, give up your authority and power and give it up to all the other people groups, women’s, whoever else in the culture.

And so our culture is telling us part of it is saying, “Hey, listen, if you’re a man, you’re part of the oppressor class, you need to get out of the way, you need to get out of your privilege and give your power and authority to other peoples and you need to sit down and be passive.” And in our sinful flesh, Sam, sometimes men are okay with that. “Okay, hey, you know what? I don’t want to do anything anyway. I can just stay here and do my hobbies, play my video games, I can be detached. You do whatever you want and I’ll just play over here to decide. “That’s a temptation and that’s something our culture wants to pull us to. And then there’s been a pendulum thing as well, and you’re probably aware of this, but you have the woke left, which says the stuff I just said.

And now there’s a group kind of rising. Some will call them the woke right, but there are different names for it, but basically it’s a group of primarily men who’ve been tired for so long in our culture of being told that being a male is toxic and that you’re by definition bad or unneeded or a pain or thorn inside of the culture by being a male. So these males run up and say,” Forget that. No, we’re going to be manly men. We’re going to be tyrannical. We’re going to get as many women as we can, get as much weight as we can. We’re going to accumulate as much wealth as we can and that’s going to be define our manhood. And it’s way over here to this tyrannical, male chauvinistic, true, toxic masculinity where people are thinking that is what a man is. Same as you know, and I’m sure our audiences, that’s not what a biblical man is.

Biblical manhood, acting like a man is following the example of Christ who showed strength in his humility and how he led by serving as he came during his earthly life. And so as men, we are to follow the example of a Christ. We are to be strong like Christ who is dependent on God doing his will alone, God’s a father with a God, the son, we’re to be dependent on God. We are laying down our lives and service to him and obeying his word and crying after God and praying to God to give us the strength and the wisdom to lead well and to walk well, that people may see the example we set in our life and our deeds and our thoughts and our actions. And then our kids may emulate that to the glory of God if we all pursue Christ together, but that’s a laying down.

That is a servant oriented. It is a God is supreme, I’m serving him, and then next to that, I’m serving others, my family, the people after that, myself has always last. And that is totally antithetical to what our culture, only on the woke left or the woke right is saying. They say, no, it’s all about you, but no, the Bible says, no, it’s all about Christ. It’s all about God and serving him faithfully. And so when we’re acting like men, that’s what we’re striving to do, to fulfill that God given role, going back to Genesis chapter one, where we go all the time to get these biblical foundations for these ideas and really executing that. And so that’s the kind of manhood. That’s the kind of male leadership we are talking about and that’s something that we have to constantly be sure we’re centering ourselves back on God through his word and prayer that we are focused in line with that.

Sam Rohrer:

You know, Bryan, it is something when you look back over history, how that balance of a true, godly, biblical man has either there’s been swinging to one direction where he’s a dominating, cruel individual that has the ability to view other people, children or women as slaves or whatever. And then to the other side where the man sits on the couch and as you talked about, looking at his video games and wilding away his time while his wife, if he has one, is doing all the work. There’s something particularly demonic about that effort to do that, but at the end of the day, a godly man … Well, we’re going to talk about the next part, the next segment about love that has to be in there as well. But why do you think there is such an attack on the balanced male, the Christian man?

Bryan Osborne:

Yeah. I heard it said recently, I’ll probably butcher the quote a little bit, but politics is downstream from the family and I think they said family is downstream from leadership in the church or something along those lines. But what we do know is that the family unit is the foundational cell block of any functioning, flourishing society to the glory of God. And so we want a strong, healthy family, a man and a woman together in holy matrimony, having a family, raising them to honor God, to know him and glorify him. And if you do that, and that’s your general theme for society, it can flourish by God’s grace and for his glory. The enemy knows that. So if you want to deconstruct what’s traditionally been, in our case, a Christian based society, if you want to deconstruct that and to destroy it, how do you do that?

Well, destroy the family. Destroy the family. And how do you destroy the family? Take out the leader, distract the leader, destroy the leader, take him out, and then the family crumbles, and then you get the ripple effects downstream into the lives of your wives and your children and schools and so forth. The family units where we are supposed to be gathered together and to be equipped, which is where we can watch and we can stand firm, we can pass on the legacy and biblical truth to our kids. Deuteronomy six, as we’re with our family, as we rise up, as we sit down, as we walk along the way, that we are instilling biblical truth and virtues into our children, into our families so we could then spread it

Sam Rohrer:

To

Bryan Osborne:

The culture around them. But if you destroy the family, you don’t have that. And so you’re breaking down the foundational pillars of our society by taking the family, which is supposed to be built on God’s word, God’s authority and God’s truth. And it’s a pretty straightforward truth. There’s nothing revelatory about it per se, but it’s a good reminder to us all that, hey, the family has a bullseye mark on it from the enemy, especially the father, the dad. No, the enemy wants to take you out, which should compel us to be on our needs and in God’s word, that we may be faithful, lead well, glorify God and ask for his strength to empower us to what he has called us to do in this role that is so sacred as a husband and a father.

Sam Rohrer:

You know, Bryan, and that is so excellent. And ladies and gentlemen, we don’t have time to go beyond it in this point, but part of this of being a man, the application is for a man, be a man. But within it, I think throughout scripture, it recognizes that a person, if you are a male, you are operating within the definition of what God expects you as a male to be. But by application, it applies to the woman. God’s design for the woman. Women don’t try to be a man. Man, don’t try to be a woman. Children don’t try to be your parents. God’s plan is in part of all of what we’re talking about. Standing fast on God’s word is operating according to God’s total plan and doing it fully. As we go into our final segment, let me just thank all of you who are listening to me right now for doing so and being a part of the program.

I want you to know that as our listeners, as some went to this program, you are a vital, vital component. And on radio, you obviously can’t see me. You can’t see my guest today, Bryan Osborne. He’s in Kentucky. But by radio, we can be connected of this fashion. I cannot see you. And it’s one of the things when you’re in radio, they tell you that when you speak into the microphone, as I am right now, envision someone out there and you speak to them as a person. Now, there could be millions listened to us right now. We’re on our 550 stations that will hear this program throughout the balance of today. And then in Africa, they’ll pick it up tomorrow and all of you folks listening in Kenya and particular neighboring countries. We are so glad that you are a part of this program as well.

But radio prevents us from actually seeing each other. But on the other hand, we can sense that. And I want you to know it’s important that you are there. We try and pray for us. Pray for our entire team. Our co-host, Dr. Isaac Crockett, who will be leading the program here tomorrow. Dr. Jamie Mitchell and myself, as we put these programs together from various perspectives, all biblical perspective, but different themes. Pray for us as we do that so that what we deliver is God’s word only, not our opinion. Obviously, we provide our opinion, but I want it to be always constrained by scripture. And that’s what we say is biblical worldview. That is the guiding thing. So that’s all there. That’s part of why it’s important that you pray for us. I ask for your prayer. I ask for your financial support. We’re getting caught up in so many distractions around us in this country, around this world, that it’s an easy thing.

If you listen and so forth to say, “Well, somebody’s taking care of them financially.” Well, only you, if people are moved by God’s word by the Holy Spirit. So if you are inclined, benefited by this, sit down and consider sending us a financial gift. And by that way, you can partner with us to make sure that we’re able to continue doing what we’re doing and with God’s help to even expand that. So I’ll just leave it off at that point. And Bryan, we’ll get back into this as we try to wrap up this emphasis today, which has been really so practical because we’ve talked and we’re coming off of this passage in one Corinthians 13 or 16, actually, verse 13 and 14 where the apostle Paul is kind of summarizing his first epistle to the Colossians church. And he says there to them, men and women, he says, “Watch, stand firm, act like men and be strong.” And I think it pertains to a little bit more than what we were just talking about, the whole concept of understand your position in Christ.

And in that, don’t move. Be anchored in God’s word. Be anchored in truth and do not compromise it. Anyway, he goes on and he concludes with a command that in our culture today is often portrayed as weakness or perhaps some subverted thought of it. It seems to be the opposite of being a man, the opposite of standing firm. And that is the concept of love because the apostle Paul said this, let all things that you do, watching, standing firm, all of that, everything you do in life, do it as a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Whatever you do, do it in love. Now, Bryan, define the word translated love in this verse and how it fits with and actually undergirds all the other things that the Apostle Paul is telling this person of God, men and women of which we’ve been talking today.

Bryan Osborne:

Yeah, this is so relevant because as you said, it is a command. Let all you do be done in love. We’re told to do that. And of course, we have to define our terms. According to our culture, love is basically tolerating, affirming, and celebrating basically anything and everything except to biblical Christianity. And as a Christian, if you don’t tolerate and affirm what they tolerate and affirm, they will intolerantly cancel you while claiming to be tolerant the entire time. That reminds me of the great theologian and Nigam and Toya from the princess bride. You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means. It happens all the time in our culture. But biblically, Sam, love, if you look at the biblical definition, is an action down for the benefit of another often at cost to self. Love is something we choose to do to benefit someone else, even if it costs us something.

That’s biblical love. It’s rooted in God’s nature and his truth. God is love. And we see this correlation in God’s word where if you love God, you will obey him. Why? Because love is rooted in who God is. His nature, his truth defines love. Therefore, when you obey him, that is a loving thing, that connection between love and truth all the time. In one Corinthians 13, we are told that love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but love rejoices in the truth. So part of being loving is being in the truth, being consistent with God’s nature and his revelation in God’s word. And so what is loving is to actually obey God and to proclaim his truth. The act of proclaiming God’s truth by its nature is loving. I understand our culture will call that hate because they don’t like what it says, but the act itself is a loving thing because that truth we proclaim and we live is God’s revelation.

It is real. It brings clarity and that brings a kindness and a call to repentance. And so biblical love is, again, doing something for the benefit of another often that costs to self. And that’s quite

Sam Rohrer:

Different

Bryan Osborne:

Than the second definition of love. We got to be sure we differentiate between those two things.

Sam Rohrer:

Yep. In this passage, Bryan, this Greek word love is agape. It’s a different form. It’s not Phileo, love. It’s not a husband, wife, love. It’s a Christ love that we cannot do on our own. We can’t work up agape love. Can you speak to that a little bit? I have the distinguishing aspect because if we are loving as Christ loves, God love, agape love, when we’re dealing with other people in the world, we’re not, as you said earlier, we’re not thinking about ourselves. We’re thinking about their soul and how God loves that soul so much that he sent his son Jesus Christ. It’s that attitude that actually works in and through the true believer. That’s what really makes a big difference,

Bryan Osborne:

Doesn’t it? It sure does, Sam, you’re dead on. And that is the type of love that we are to have and to engage with and to keep that focus, Sam, to keep that our sight set on what that actually is. We have to have God’s help, as you said. And how do we have God’s help? Through prayer, through reading his word, through fellowship of the saints, being in the body of Christ, meeting in a local body, having that time, iron sharpers, iron as men, me being together, that we may encourage each other in the faith and to set our spikes on Christ to view the world and view others correctly. And truly, Sam, the most loving thing that we can do to the world around us is to warn them as they are racing to their doom, as they project God’s word and reject God’s truth.

The most loving thing we can do for our families is to equip them with God’s truth so they can indeed stand firm. The most unlimited thing we could ever do would be to ignore the lost world as it walks towards hell or even worse to applaud them so we might get their approval for a little while as they’re racing towards their doom and rejection of God’s truth. No, to be loving is to count the cost. Yeah, it might cost us something to share truth with a culture that hates truth, but it doesn’t matter. The loving thing is to do what’s best for them no matter their cost to the glory of God. And to keep that focus, to be willing to lay down ourselves and put ourselves last and not first, we need God’s help, which requires us to be in his word, in the body and in his presence through prayer.

Sam Rohrer:

And Bryan, that brings us right up to the end of the program. Thank you so much for being with me today and our listeners. And what an emphasis, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that you’ve benefited by this a little bit in the midst of this very wicked world, confusing world, deceptive world, that we don’t listen to those who say, “Well, I hate my enemies. I’m going to get back at them.” No, no, no. Not as a believer, we do not because we understand God’s love for us, undeserving agape love through Jesus Christ. And we reflect that kind of love, standing firm on truth, all of the things we talked about here today on this program. So thanks for being with us. Bryan, God bless you and everything that you do, their website, answersingenesis.org.