Heritage Presbyterian Church Adult Sunday School

1. P e t e r J o n e s
Director of truthXchange
A Worldview & Culture Teaching Series by Ligonier Ministries
Adult Sunday School
Summer 2019

2. Lesson Slide
10 2
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
The Big Question
How can we make sense of the
breakneck spiritual and social changes
happening right now in our culture?
and
How should Christians respond?

3. Lesson Slide
10 3
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Lessons in the Series
1. Explaining Modern
Culture
2. The Rise & Fall of
Secular Humanism
3. Carl Jung’s Alternative
Spirituality
4. Paganism in the
Shadows
5. Paganism in the
Spotlight
6. Pagan Sexuality
7. From Personal
Spirituality to
Worldview
8. Where Is Society
Headed?
9. Unbiblical Responses
10.Articulating a Biblical
Worldview
11.Living in Holiness
12.Thinking with a
Discerning Mind

4. Lesson Slide
10 4
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Lesson Introduction
• In the previous lesson, we looked at ways in which
Christians should not react to the hostility of modern
culture
• In this lesson, we will see what Christians should do
• They must first understand the opposition’s
worldview (a major goal of this series), and then they
must clearly affirm the superiority of the Christian
worldview with its twoist view of reality

5. Lesson Slide
10 5
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Scripture Reading
• Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what
is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness'
sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be
troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as
holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone
who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet
do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good
conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who
revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should
be God's will, than for doing evil.
1 Peter 3:13-17
• Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so
that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Colossians 4:6

6. Lesson Slide
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Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Teaching Objectives
1. To show how Christians must respond to the
pagan worldview of modern culture
2. To explain the oneist and twoist views of
humanity
3. To point out the fundamental areas where
individuals can either worship the Creator
or the creation

7. Lesson Slide
10 7
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Watch Lecture 10

8. Lesson Slide
10 8
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Rejecting Christianity for
Oneism
• The critique of Twoism
• If God, in his mysterious eternal being, is so distinct from us,
how can we hope to have any relationship with him?
• Jung struggled to believe in a God we cannot understand,
leading to psychological neurosis
• The no-win situation of Oneism
• Jung’s solution was to find the god within, eminently
discoverable within the human psyche in an experience of the
numinosum (i.e., arousing spiritual/religious emotion;
mysterious or awe-inspiring)
• But who really believes we can save ourselves?
• But who can honestly say that he or she is worthy of divine
worship?
• The optimistic hope is to join the opposites of good and evil to
eliminate guilt, but then the regretable fallout is everything is
finally excused and relativized away

9. Lesson Slide
10 9
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
The Gospel is Our Source
of Power
• For progressive spiritualists, power comes from transpersonal
(occult) experiences with archetypal deities by recovering
ancient pagan astrology
• For Christians, power comes from outside the self and
outside the created world into real history
• Flowing through the Spirit-inspired Word of God
• Bringing to the world the good news of Jesus’ triumphant victory
over sin and death
• Achieving salvation once for all at the cross of Christ
• There is no other answer! If Twoism is true, we can’t
abandon the struggle to hold up this truth
• The only genuine help available to solve our sin problem must be a
radical solution from God the Creator
• Ultimate good news cannot come from mere creatures, however
united and Oneist they might be (Ps 121:1-2)

10. Lesson Slide
10 10
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
The Gospel is Our Source
of Acceptance
• Left to our own power, we cannot fulfill God’s
requirement: “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet 1:16)
• Twoists (Christian believers) are neither optimists nor
pessimists, but realists
• We long for purity and yearn for wisdom, but when we look
inside we see not high, pure selves, but the filthy rags and
mental folly of a desperately wicked heart (Jer 17:9)
• The gospel gives clear, reality-based, self-knowledge that
drives us to our only hope: Jesus Christ

11. Lesson Slide
10 11
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
The Gospel Declares We
Cannot Save Ourselves
…all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is
written: "None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one
understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned
aside; together they have become worthless; no one
does good, not even one." 13 "Their throat is an open
grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom
of asps is under their lips." 14 "Their mouth is full of
curses and bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift to shed
blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and
the way of peace they have not known." 18 "There is
no fear of God before their eyes.“
Romans 3:9b-18

12. Lesson Slide
10 12
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
The Gospel is God’s
Solution
• The Christian gospel is not called the gospel of Paul
or the gospel of the Church, but “the gospel of God”
(Rom 1:1)
• The gospel is God’s solution, not a human theory
• The gospel is a news item, a formal announcement of
an event that took place in history for our
redemption
• No other religion in the entire history of the world
has a comparable statement that “in Christ God was
reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor 5:19)
• Summarized in the Nicene Creed, confessed and
believed by all branches of the historic, orthodox,
evangelical faith

13. Lesson Slide
10 13
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
The Gospel Reconciles the
Twoist’s Problem
• The foundational truth of Twoism emphasizes the
clear separation of the Creator and the creature
• But the church’s gospel message seems to undermine
the very notion of Twoism
• The Creator became a creator in the Son of God’s
incarnation!
• A growing Oneist heresy emerged in the early church called
monophysitism (“One Nature-ism”) that viewed Christ’s
humanity and deity as a single entity—ultimately denying
the Twoist reality
• The Council of Chalcedon formulated a careful
statement on the nature of Christ to safeguard Twoist
truth

14. Lesson Slide
10 14
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Chalcedon’s Christological
Formula
• Chalcedon’s goal was to unpack what the Apostle
Paul says about the mystery of Christ, that “in him
the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col 2:9)
• “The Son is…co-essential with the Father according to the
Godhead…co-essential with us according to the
Manhood…before the ages begotten of the Father as to the
Godhead, but in the last days…for us and for our salvation
[born] of Mary the Virgin.”
• By definition, the God of Twoism is indescribably
larger that created life
• Bigger than anything we can imagine
• In Jesus he made himself visible and accessible to us,
sharing our human body with its pains and trials
• This is a God who can be known, trusted, and worshiped

15. Lesson Slide
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Articulating a Biblical Worldview
The Power of the Gospel
• The gospel depends on bad news
• God is holy and transcendent
• Human beings are by nature sinners and need to be made aware
of the depth of their moral and spiritual depravity
• “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their
unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Rom 1:18)
• In his wrath, God gives over sinners to the effects of their sin
within history as an anticipation of his final judgment—when it
will be too late for mercy
• The gospel is therefore powerful news for sinners
• God’s love will powerfully move our sinful souls as we
understand both God’s genuine personhood and his
condescension (self-abasement) to reach sinners through Christ

16. Lesson Slide
10 16
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
The Message We Must
Proclaim
• God is for us!
• In the NT, “for us” almost always has to do with God’s act of
redemption and actions related to his love
• Sometimes God is the subject of the act, giving his Son for us;
other times Christ is sacrificially giving himself for us
• Jesus was given over for us!
• God has acted objectively for us in our sinful state by taking on
the problem of our evil and dealing with it, in one place at one
time, in the vicarious work of the Son
• God punishes sin as it is borne by Jesus; God justifies the
believer by granting Christ’s righteousness to us
• Jesus is for us by dying for us!
• Christ’s death for us demonstrates that God is for us because
Jesus is the divine Son. Jesus is God in the flesh.

17. Lesson Slide
10 17
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Given Over but Not Giving
Up
• Our culture is beginning to put pressure on Christian pastors
to avoid preaching the full extent of Romans 1
• Covering up sin and denying the fall by failing to reflect the Bible’s
position on homosexuality and other sins will only conceal and
silence the liberating, glorious power of the gospel
• Christians must not give up preaching the gospel, otherwise
we will no longer hear testimonies like this from a former
lesbian:
• “In October 2008…I was convicted of my sin in a way that made me
consider everything I loved, and its consequences…My eyes were
opened, and I began to believe everything God says in his word. I
began to believe that what he says about sin, death, and hell were
completely true. And amazingly, at the same time that the penalty
of my sin became true to me, so did the preciousness of the cross.
A vision of God’s Son crucified, bearing the wrath I deserved, and
an empty tomb displaying his power over death—all things I had
heard before without any interest had become the most glorious
revelation of love imaginable.” ~ Jackie Hill Perry

18. Lesson Slide
10 18
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Our Calling: A Different
Giving Over
• Giving over our bodies to holiness and self-sacrifice
• Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in
humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also
to the interests of others.
• Giving over our bodies following the example of Jesus
• Philippians 2:5-8 Have this mind among yourselves, which is
yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of
God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in
human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to
the point of death, even death on a cross.

19. Lesson Slide
10 19
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Given Over in All Things
• There is a deep relationship between what Jesus did
and what believers must do
• The “given-over” Christ is our constant model, “who
loved me and gave himself over for me” (Gal 2:20)
• Jesus predicts that his disciples will be “given over”
and “hated …for my name’s sake” (Mt 24:9)
• 2 Corinthians 4:11 For we who live are always being given
over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also
may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
• Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved
the church and gave himself up for her
• As we are “given over” for the sake of others, people
might hear the truth of the gospel, see our good
works, and turn to our Father in heaven

20. Lesson Slide
10 20
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
The Blessing of the Gospel
• So we live given over but not giving up, because we’re
assured that God will:
• “surely bless [us], and…surely multiply [our] offspring (Gen 22:16-
17)
• “freely give us all things (Rom 8:32)
• vindicate us, even in the face of persecution, because if God is for
us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:31)
• transform this wonderful but fallen cursed creation by his
incredible resurrecting, life-giving power, into the new heaven and
earth in which righteousness dwells (2 Pet 3:13)
• In this day of small things, we need to be big thinkers about
a big God—the Creator and Lord of the heavens and the earth
• The big picture is not pie-in-the-sky, but it includes the sky as the
only vision that makes final sense
• In this fallen world, great obedience and gutsy self-sacrifice are
the order of the day
• One day, having been faithful, we will reign with Jesus, our
example, leader, and savior, over a new heavens and earth

21. Lesson Slide
10 21
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Our Challenge Must
Embrace Two Realities
1. Witnessing before the world to the Twoist,
Trinitarian character of God and how it looks in
everyday living. We are called to understand the
Lie in order better to articulate the Truth.
2. Asking God to show us how to speak the truth
faithfully and courageously in the difficult days
ahead
• Without the transformative power of the gospel, we will
lack courage, and our efforts will be in vain
• But difficult days are the most revealing
• “Brokenness is somehow key to transformation in this
broken world. Grace is often more evident on the
heels of disgrace, and truth is often more evident on
the heels of falsehood.” ~ Pastor Mark Foreman

22. Lesson Slide
10 22
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Our Goal: Eyeing Heaven
and Earth
• Keep one eye on the coming marriage supper of the Lamb
(Rev 19:9)
• Keep the other eye on our calling to cover the earth with
the knowledge of the truth (Hab 2:14)
• Keep both eyes on the power of the gospel:
• with holy living [see lesson 11]
• with transformed thinking [see lesson 12]
• with the clear message of Romans 1
• with the simple arithmetic of Oneism and Twoism as the only
options: one the Lie, the other the Truth
• This is the only hope for a planet drowning in pagan fantasy
and a Church wandering in deep confusion, seriously
conformed to the world
• May the Lord grant us the strength and faith to witness to
the Truth (Rom 16:25-27)

23. Lesson Slide
10 23
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Study Question Answers
1. The only system that oneism cannot dominate is
twoism. True
2. Peter Jones relies on Romans 1when contrasting the
Christian and pagan views of God.
3. If people do not understand the relationship of
“creation” and “the fall,” they will never
understand redemption. True
4. Paul points out three fundamental areas where one
can serve either the Creator or the creation. These
are spirituality, sexuality, and theology.
5. The real struggle of the modern age is the identity
of humanity. True

24. Lesson Slide
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Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Discussion Questions
1. Why is it necessary that a Christian have a clear
understanding of his or her opponent’s worldview?
2. Peter Jones notes that the confrontation between
oneism and twoism is not simply between thinkers,
but between passionate worshipers. How does a
recognition of this fact inform disagreements
between the differing views?
3. Paganism has neither a personal God nor an ethical
universe. How can you use these facts to challenge
someone who holds a pagan viewpoint?
4. Explain the different views of humanity espoused by
oneism and twoism.

25. Lesson Slide
10 25
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Next Lesson
Twoism isn’t just descriptive of the structure of biblical
cosmology; it’s a worldview that flows out of a way of life,
the way of holiness. Believers today—tempted to conform to
the Oneist world all around them—fail to see that holiness is a
way to speak of the cosmological binary of twoness, which
maintains natural, created distinctions in order to bear
witness to the Twoist Creator God.

26. Lesson Slide
10 26
Articulating a Biblical Worldview
Resources by Peter Jones
• Only Two Religions (study guide)
• Only Two Religions (evangelism tool)
• truthxchange.com (website)
• heritage-pca.org (website)
• The Other Worldview (book)
• The Pagan Heart of Today’s Culture
(booklet)