I read an editorial in the Washington Post recently in which
a young lady, now an atheist, explained the process of her departure from the
church. She went to church often while growing up, but then she started
drifting away from her faith while she was a teenager as a result of people in
her church not being able to fully answer some of her life questions. She said
the only answers she got were obscure references to Bible verses and some
trifle suggestions to just "have faith".
After finishing the
article, her questions stuck in my mind. At first the questions seemed like
they’d be fairly simple to answer. "Why is it a sin to be gay?"
"Where does the Bible say we can’t have premarital sex?" I started to
formulate some responses in my head to see if I would have had the answers if
she'd asked me those questions. I
thought of Bible verses, and passages from books I’ve read. But these answers
were probably similar to the answers that drove her away from church in the
first place. There had to be a better response. As I considered her questions
again later that evening I started to realize what this young lady's questions
revealed about something deeper within her. Her questions at their root were
not Bible trivia, but instead her questions revealed her ultimate objection to
God's lordship.
Someone who objects
to God's lordship will most likely view the rules and commands of the Bible and
of God, as an encroachment on freedom. During her self-proclaimed loss of her
beliefs, this young lady may have asked herself, “Why does the Bible or God or
anyone else for that matter have the right to tell me what I should and
shouldn’t do?" Or maybe she told herself she's her own person. That it’s
her life and as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, then it must not be
wrong. She said she stopped believing,
but I would argue, that someone who is in defense of sin in their life or in
the lives of people they love, has never put their trust in the God of the
Bible. An objection to God's lordship and defense of sin are clear marks of
someone who doesn't have saving faith.
We who have put our trust in the God of the Bible, need to be keenly
aware of these marks when someone approaches us with questions about faith. If
we see those marks and we respond to questions with only our favorite verse,
we're no better than the one mentioned in James 2:16 who says, “Go in peace;
keep warm and well fed,” to someone who needs clothes and food without doing
anything to meet their physical needs. When someone needs salvation, we need to
tell them about the saving grace found only in the gospel.
You see the gospel
tells of a God who isn’t in His essence a great rule giver, that’s not the
story at all. The God of the Bible created man and woman to live with him in
the Garden of Eden. He gave them a beautiful place to live where food was
plentiful, where they had human companionship, and most of all where they had
direct access to God Himself. He walked in the Garden and lived with his
people. They were created to bring Him glory1, and as long as they
did that, they would enjoy His provision and fellowship for all eternity. But
as you know, these first humans, just like the rest of us, chose instead to try
and glorify themselves2. By their actions they showed they didn’t
think God’s provision was enough, and they really didn’t like to be told what
to do. In their minds they probably asked questions in the same spirit, I
suppose, that this young lady asked. "Why shouldn’t we get to eat whatever
fruit we want? Who is God to tell us what to do? We should eat and become like
Him." They raised themselves into the position of lord, and cast down
their creator.
Maybe when you think
of the story of Adam and Eve you remember how the great rule giver came in and
rained his wrath down upon them. But not so fast. Did the full wrath of God really rain down on
them? If it had, the human race would have been a rather short-lived race. He
did bring a curse of judgement which included eventual physical death,
separation from God, pain in child birth and hard labor in growing food. But he also continued to show those two who
disobeyed Him, undeserved grace. He gave them clothing3 and
continued to provide them with food. But even more amazing, he already had a
plan to rescue sinners like Adam and Eve from His curse. And this is where
amazing grace begins to be revealed. God's plan was to send His only Son to
suffer and die in our place so we can have eternal life with Him4.
What a just and graceful God! He still delivered the curse on sinful creatures,
fully knowing His Son would be the one to pay the full price that the curse
demanded for all of our sins. God's son Jesus, not us, would be the one to
suffer the agony of being nailed to and hung on the cross5. Jesus,
not us, would be the one to get mocked and ridiculed while he was dying6.
Jesus, not us, would get the spear in His side7. Jesus, not us,
would take the full wrath of the Father on Himself for every sin we ever
committed, are committing and ever will commit. And why did He do that? To make
a way for us to be forgiven8!
You see, our sins can't go unpunished. God is perfectly just
and therefore needs a perfect payment for our sins. God accepted the sacrifice
of Jesus' perfect life as that payment, with His acceptance revealed in
Christ's resurrection. The curse of
death and eternal separation from God was broken in the resurrection of Christ.
Christ purchased our forgiveness by forfeiting his life. When we turn from our
sins and trust in Jesus as our Savior from the just punishment of God, He
places his perfect life over ours so that when God looks at us, He sees Jesus'
perfection, not our sin9. When we're covered by the death and life
of Christ, a Holy God can adopt10 unholy creatures into his family
and His house in heaven11. Does that sound like a great rule giver
just waiting to tell you you’re doing it all wrong? Or does that sound like a
loving, self-sacrificing God full of grace and mercy?
At the same time we have to consider that If God sent his
only Son to die for our sins, doesn't that show how serious He is about sin?
Would He have allowed His own Son to be tortured to death if sin was no big
deal to Him? The one who truly grasps what God has done for them and how
serious He is about sin, will have a repentant heart. Instead of asking God why
He’s such a kill joy, they will exclaim, “You have bought me with your life and
now my life is yours 12. Show me anything in me that breaks your
heart and break my heart for it as well. Make me into the image of Jesus 13.
Help me glorify you, my Lord 14.” They will begin to see the divine
inspiration in the fulfilled prophecies of scripture, the consistency of God's
word, the other-worldliness of the Bible’s philosophies; how true it rings with
the picture of the world they see around them as the Holy Spirit begins opening
the word to their heart. They begin to see how God is changing their heart to
love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them 15. And
even more strikingly, they will begin seeing the depth of sin in their own
heart like Paul did in Romans 7:24, and they’ll grieve over it. If the
scripture says God created man and woman for holy union wherein the two become
one flesh16, they will grieve over anything that is less. What God
calls abominations they will call abominations. What God loves, they will love.
If there’s even a question that God may not be honored by something in their
life, they will cease that activity, even if scripture is silent on the issue.
Their default will be to serve their Lord and put His concerns over theirs.
I believe the
following question really gets to the heart of true belief. Is there anything
in your life that you wouldn't be willing to give up to follow Jesus? Would you
be willing to give up your house? Your cars? Your money? Your food? Your
clothes? Your friends? Your family? Your lifestyle? Your life? Jesus always
asked those who would follow him, to be willing to leave behind what was most
important to them because he wanted them to answer the ultimate question of
lordship. Rich young ruler, will you leave your fortune for me?17 Fishermen,
will you leave your families and livelihood and follow me?18 In
Matthew 8:20, Jesus asks a disciple to leave the comforts of home to follow
him. In Matthew 8:22 Jesus asks another disciple to leave his inheritance and
follow him. Jesus knew exactly what and
who people placed into the role of Lord of their lives, and in order to follow
him, they had to leave their other lords behind. Jesus said, "Anyone who
loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves
their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take
up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will
lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it."19
In light of knowing
the evidence of true faith and God’s lordship over someone’s life, looking back
at the young lady’s questions, it’s clear she never trusted in the God of the
Bible. She wasn’t willing to give up her sin or her life to Christ. Maybe she
was into religion for a while, possibly because that’s what her family did.
Church can be social, it can be comfortable, and it can provide a sense of
belonging. But going to church doesn't mean someone has saving faith. So when
we’re confronted with questions like these, instead of offering a simple verse
here or there, let's tell the story of the gospel, because "it's the power
of God unto salvation for everyone who believes"20. May our
prayer be that the Lord lovingly speaks His true gospel through us and saves
the lost from His true, never-ending wrath they will experience in Hell if they
never turn away from their sins and accept the forgiveness and lordship of
Jesus 21.
2 Genesis 3: 4-6
3 Genesis 3:21
4 John 3:16 and Ephesians 1:4-5
5 Luke 23:32-34
6 Matthew 15:29-32
7 John 19:34
8 John 14:6
9 2 Corinthians 5:21
10 Galatians 4:5
11 John 14:2-3
12 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20
13 Romans 8:29
14 1 Peter 4:11
15 Matthew 5:44
16 Mark 10: 6-9
17 Luke 18:22
18 Luke 5:11
19 Matthew 10:37-39
20 Romans 1:16
21 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10
