Question: In the July Q&A, a reader asked about counseling an unbelieving sister about yoga....Trying to convince someone intellectually of the need of salvation is usually a losing argument, in my opinion. | thebereancall.org

TBC Staff

Question: In the July Q&A, a reader asked about counseling an unbelieving sister about yoga. While you gave some very pertinent information about the dangers of this practice, you did not mention the primary responsibility of sharing the gospel and other scripture relevant to her arguments in order to turn her to the Lord. Trying to convince someone intellectually of the need of salvation is usually a losing argument, in my opinion.

Answer: Thank you for reminding me and our readers that faith comes by “hearing the Word of God” (Rom:10:17). I assumed that readers understood that, but perhaps I assumed too much. I provided valuable information about yoga, its origins, and its dangers, that should have been enough to cause anyone involved in this Hindu practice to be ready to hear the gospel. But I failed to mention the gospel.

To present the gospel to unbelievers in the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, we must give proof to those who may not even believe that the Bible is God’s Word and why it must therefore be heeded.

An apologetic must be employed, at least to some extent, to convince the unbeliever. To Jewish audiences that he met on his travels, Paul used their scriptures to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah foretold by their prophets—because every Jew at that time believed the Scriptures. Today, however, most Jews don’t believe the Bible to be God’s Word. Therefore, in presenting the gospel to them, as to unbelievers, we must take the apologist’s approach that Paul used with the Greeks on Mars Hill.

We have just revised and improved Seeking and Finding God. I wrote this for myself to have something convincing to give to unbelievers who may be skeptical about God and the Bible. I highly commend it to others. The revised and expanded second printing should be available by mid-April.