29 April 2010
Atheism and the Gospel
The whole point of atheism is this: if there is a God, then there is an absolute moral standard to which I am accountable. I have violated this moral standard and I can't stop violating it, no matter how much I resolve to stop. Therefore, I am guilty and subject to judgment and punishment. The fear of this judgment and punishment is hanging like a dark cloud over my head and keeping me from enjoying life. In order to have peace, I need to erase any thought of this God from my mind and fill it with something else instead - philosophy, hedonism, illicit sex, drugs, whatever. This is really hard work, so I'm going to get very angry at anyone who stymies my efforts by reminding me that there is a God to whom I am accountable.
The Gospel says: yes, there is a God to whom you are accountable, and yes, you have violated His moral law and you can't stop violating it. God knows your predicament and has provided a remedy by sending His own Son to not only keep that moral law perfectly in your behalf, but also to suffer the punishment due to your failure to keep it. Now, stop trying to do what you cannot do and believe on Christ and receive what He has done as a free gift. You will then have the peace that you desire because you will no longer fear judgment and punishment, and because you will also have a new nature that delights in the moral law and loves to obey it.
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2 comments:
This is ridiculous. You give no reasons other than fear for both believing and not believing. Desire to sin does not cause Atheism, thinking does.
John, you should re-read the post. The motive for believing the Gospel is not fear, but the grace of God in Christ "which casts out all fear" (1 John 4:18).
The mind of the unbeliever is unable to see the grace of God and therefore sees Christianity as just another religious system of "do this and don't do that." It isn't. Instead, Christianity is a Person - the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam who obeyed and suffered in the place of sinners.
Believe on this Person and receive what He has done and then you will no longer have to try to silence your conscience with vain philosophies. Then your mind will really be free to think.
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