Session 11, R.C. Sproul — 2012 National Conference
The final message of the 2012 Ligonier Ministries National Conference was from Dr. R.C. Sproul, titled "Love the Lord Your God with All Your Mind."
Dr. Sproul expounded the noetic effects of sin, that is, how the fall affects our thinking. For sinners to love God with their minds they must first be regenerated.
Dr. Sproul opened with a reading from Romans 1:19-25, 28.
The faculty by which we reason has been seriously disturbed by sin and the fall
The fall has seriously damaged our ability to think and reason, however, our ability to think has not been totally annihilated. It is true that pagan thinkers can add 2 + 2. You don't have to be regenerate to get a PhD in mathematics. Yet, when it comes to the knowledge of God, men and women suppress this truth, denying what is plainly seen in Creation.
The Christian faith is reasonable
Dr. Sproul referenced Augustine as saying a faith without reason, is not faith, but credulity. God never calls us to make a leap of faith into the darkness. Instead, the Scriptures call us to take a leap out of the darkness, into the light. Our faith is reasonable, but it is not deemed as reasonable by the unconverted.
Regeneration is the necessary condition for loving God with your mind
The moment you are regenerate is the first time you are disposed to the things of God instead of being opposed to them. However, you still carry the baggage of your unconverted way of thinking with you. We therefore need to continually grow in loving God with our minds.
If you despise doctrine and knowledge, it is possible that this indicates you're still in your fallen condition. The unconverted don't want God in their thinking. Whereas the Christian wants God to dominate their thinking.
Dr. Sproul said, "Mindless Christianity is no Christianity at all. You can't love what you don't know."
Dr. R.C. Sproul is Ligonier’s founder and chairman, known for helping Christians understand what they believe, why they believe it, and how to defend it. Dr. Sproul also written over 70 books, and serves as both the senior minister of Saint Andrew’s in Sanford, Fla. and president of Ligonier Academy of Biblical and Theological Studies.