Theological term
Polemics
7 sermons · All terms
The Warning Against Judaizers
Philippians 3:1–3 contains the only sustained polemical section in the epistle, and the apostle Paul deploys it as a warning against Judaizers — those who insisted that faith in Christ must be supplemented by Mosaic ceremonies such as circumcision for acceptance with God. Working through Paul's strategy in verse 1, his three-fold warning in verse 2, and his corrective in verse 3, the sermon demonstrates that the Judaizing error — whether in its first-century form, in Roman Catholicism, or in modern movements such as the New Perspective on Paul and Federal Vision — nullifies the grace of God by refusing to let Christ be a whole Savior. The church's only boast, identity, and worship are grounded in Christ alone, received through faith alone, apart from any confidence in the flesh.
The Apostle Paul, Part 3 - His Ministerial Character
Paul's ministerial character and doctrinal legacy in Philippians 3:1–11 are examined through four defining characteristics: his zeal for the centrality of Christ crucified, his ardent defense of the truth, his strong opposition to error, and his earnest desire for the salvation of both Jew and Gentile. The juxtaposition between Paul's former confidence in fleshly privilege and his post-conversion boast solely in Christ exposes the bankruptcy of all self-righteousness before the alien righteousness received through faith. The sermon closes with a Spurgeon quotation calling every Christian — not only ministers — to have the cross as their philosophy, tradition, gospel, and glory.
Genesis 40:1-23
Genesis 40 records the imprisonment of Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker alongside Joseph, the dreams God gave them, and Joseph's divinely sourced interpretation of those dreams. The chapter turns on Joseph's declaration that interpretations belong to God alone — a polemical claim against Egyptian dream-divination — and on the bitter irony that the butler, restored exactly as Joseph predicted, promptly forgot the man who served him. Working through the three movements of the chapter (the imprisonment, the dreams, and their fulfillment), this study shows God's providence operating through every injustice and disappointment to advance Joseph toward his appointed exaltation, demonstrating that God never forsakes his people even in the deepest pit.
Stephen's Defense, Part 9
Acts 7:51–53 records the climactic conclusion of Stephen's defense before the Sanhedrin, in which he reverses the charge of blasphemy against Moses and the temple by indicting the council itself for idolatry. Each epithet Stephen employs — 'stiff-necked,' 'uncircumcised in heart and ears,' and 'always resisting the Holy Spirit' — is drawn from the Old Testament vocabulary of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and the Psalms, showing that the council stands in unbroken solidarity with the idolatrous generations before them. The pinnacle of their guilt is the betrayal and murder of the Just One, the Messiah foretold by the prophets, whose coming was the very purpose of the law and the temple they claimed to defend. The sermon calls hearers to recognize that the law of Moses and the temple of God both point inexorably to Christ, and that to reject him is to break the law one professes to uphold.
Genesis 1:3-25
Genesis 1:3–25 presents not a bare catalogue of events but a theologically ordered narrative of God's creative work, moving from formlessness to a world formed and filled for man's habitation. The study traces a recurring five-part formula in each day of creation — announcement, command, fulfillment, evaluation, and temporal marker — and then unpacks the structural pattern in which days 1–3 establish realms (light, sky and sea, land) and days 4–6 install their respective rulers (luminaries, fish and birds, land creatures), with man as the image-bearing vice-regent over all. The account is also polemical: Yahweh's creation of sun, moon, stars, and sea creatures directly undercuts the astral worship and mythological cosmologies surrounding Israel. Hearers are called to embrace six-day creationism by faith, to reject the incipient Gnosticism that denigrates the material world, and to read Genesis 1 as Scripture reads it — by faith we understand, not the reverse.
The Plan for the Conquest
Deuteronomy 7:6–16 sets forth the basis and practical implications of Israel's distinction from the Canaanite nations as they prepare to enter the promised land. The passage grounds Israel's identity — as a holy people, a chosen people, and God's special treasure — not in their numbers, righteousness, or achievement, but solely in the sovereign, covenant-keeping love of God. The sermon traces this language of election through Exodus 19, the wider book of Deuteronomy, and into the New Testament, demonstrating one continuous people of God across the covenants and directly challenging the two-peoples framework of classic dispensationalism. The practical implication Moses draws on the plains of Moab is that right theology must precede and fuel right obedience: knowing the faithful, merciful, and just God of the covenant is what equips the people to enter the land, resist idolatry, and inherit the promised blessings.
Peace Upon the Israel of God
Galatians 6:16–18 closes Paul's polemical epistle with a benediction of peace and mercy upon 'the Israel of God,' a phrase that has generated significant debate between covenant and dispensational readings of Scripture. This exposition argues that Paul is not reintroducing an ethnic distinction between Jewish and Gentile believers but is rather identifying the entire church — Jew and Gentile united in Christ — as the one Israel of God, in fulfillment of the prophetic promises of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophets. The marks Paul bears in his body (v. 17) are not a lamentation but an apostolic badge of identification with the crucified and risen Lord who has inaugurated the new creation. The sermon closes by drawing together the epistle's central burden: justification is by faith alone in Christ alone, and the Christian's only boast is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.