Tuesday, March 10, 2015

When it comes to believing in God, I'm skeptical

When it comes to God, I’m a sceptic. I’m not skeptical about God though. I know He is real. What I am skeptical about is that anyone can truly understand who He is and not be changed. Most people would say they ‘believe’ in God; but that can’t be true given that this ‘belief’ has no practical effect on their lives. If one utters the phrase “Sure, I believe in God” while they continue to live a life void of worship towards Him, that phrase is a lie or the one uttering it is deceiving themselves into believing that mere verbal assent is all that is required for a relationship with the all mighty Creator of the universe ["But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves" (James 1:22 NASB)]

When one understands the nature, character, holiness, power, and love of the true God, how is it possible to refuse to live for Him? No one knows the true God if they can continue to live lifestyles that are in direct conflict with God’s will as revealed in His Word, the Bible [“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:15 NASB)].

An example is in order: if you believe that drinking a certain liquid concoction will kill you, are you going to drink it? Not if you want to live, you won’t. Why? Because your belief causes you to act in a certain manner. What one believes about God will cause that person to act in a certain manner also. If you believe in the God of the Bible, you will understand that He is a loving, holy God to Whom you owe everything. Therefore, you dedicate your life to Him. If you do not believe in the God of the Bible, you simply go about doing whatever your selfish desires and lusts lead you to do, possibly even claiming that, “Oh yes, I believe in God”. But, you don’t.

What’s that you say? “But there is evidence that I can see in the example you gave, I can’t see evidence for God.” You see it all the time, every day, in everything. You simply choose to attribute it to something else. The intricacies we see in nature you attribute to an unintelligent chance/coincidence rather than rightly giving God the credit. The simple fact that we understand there is good and evil in this world points to a Source of morality that transcends our own being. If we were making the rules, we would certainly make rules that were easy to keep. Why construct moral absolutes that we must struggle to maintain? Oh, for the sake of humanity. Why is there anything within us that cares about humanity? Because God is love (I John 4:7-8) and His love motivates us to care about others, that’s why.

When it comes to the God of the Bible, there are some who say, “I don’t believe in a god like that”. Then they do not believe in God.

When speaking of some sin or another, some will offer, “I don’t think there is anything wrong with that”. Then they do not believe in God.

You may believe in a god of your own imagination, but you don’t believe in the one true God. We can fashion a god of our own liking; however, that god is not real…there is only one God.

Or you may simply be saying you believe when, in fact, you do not. Deceiving others into believing you believe is not the same as believing. Believe it.

Think about this: you would not be here except for God; He created the universe in which you live and holds it together, He created you, he sustains you millisecond by millisecond. He created colors, smells, tastes, love, justice, logic and everything else that exists that is good [“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17 NASB)].

Therefore, if you are not living a life of obedience, love, and worship towards God, you really don’t believe He exists. It is impossible for any sane person to actually believe there exists an all-powerful entity (Who created us and is currently sustaining us, to Whom we owe everything, and to Whose plan we are ultimately responsible) and not be completely changed by that belief.

There is one way that a person can truly understand who God is and still not dedicate themselves to living for Him. Outright rebellion against Him. There are those who understand their responsibility and accountability to God but choose to reject His lordship instead. These people choose the path to eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46) willingly, knowing full well they are rejecting forgiveness and salvation simply so that they may selfishly continue feeding their own pursuits.

The next time you’re tempted to say you believe in God, think about what you’ve just read. Ask yourself if you really believe and if that belief directs your life or if you are merely deceiving yourself and/or others and your only god is the desires and lusts of your own selfish heart.

Ask yourself this: If there truly is a God as described in the Bible, what could be more important than knowing Him? Should anything come between you and the kind of relationship with God that He wants with you? Each of us has sinned against Him; this sin separates us from Him and leaves us guilty of rebellion against Him. Because of His great love, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross to pay for your sins and mine. When we repent of our sins and dedicate our lives to living for Him, we are forgiven of our sins and our eternal destination changes from eternal punishment to eternal life in paradise with Him. He has provided the means, but we must make the choice to either follow Him or continue in rebellion against Him. The choice is ours.

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15 NASB).

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