What Does the Lord Require of You?

Some of us are acutely aware of the shortcomings, failures, and inadequacies in our lives. When the Holy Spirit is working on our consciences, we also become aware of our guilt in the eyes of God. The Bible says that, “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NASB). To be clear, this sin that separates us from God, applies to everyone, “...through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12 NASB). Therefore, since we all find ourselves in this condition, how should we respond?

The prophet Micah asked the same question in the Old Testament: “With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (Micah 6:6-7 NASB). Notice that, when one realizes his or her guilt before God, the initial response is to perform some outward duty. The offerings listed in this passage are intentionally exaggerated in order to make the point that outward actions, no matter how grand, are no substitute for our inward condition.

Therefore, Micah replies: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 NASB). In another passage, we find: “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13 NASB) and “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6 NASB). These traits are traits that originate in a heart that loves God. One cannot truly love justice, kindness, be humble, love God, love one’s neighbor, be loyal, possess the knowledge of God, walk in His ways, and obey His commandments if one’s heart has not been changed by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Outward observances mean nothing if one’s heart, mind, and life have not been surrendered to the will of God.

In New Testament times, we fulfill this humble surrendering by bowing to the Lord Jesus Christ. We trust in Him for our salvation; believing that He died on a cross to pay for our sins, the sins that separate us from God. Only when we truly submit to Him does our worship truly mean anything at all. Then we enter into personal saving relationship and gain eternal life.

“For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2 NASB)

Arguments From Atheists, Part 3

Atheists are determined to disprove the existence of God. They attempt to promote arguments that suggest there is evidence that God does not exist. A reader, in the comment section of one of my articles, supplied me with several of these arguments.  While everyone will not accept all of my reasons, they are offered in the spirit of love with the hope that those who are truly seeking answers will realize that they do exist for these challenges and that believing in God is not unreasonable.

Atheist Argument: The omnipotence paradox suggests that the concept of an omnipotent God is logically contradictory, from considering a question like: “Can God create a rock so big that He cannot move it?” or “If God is all powerful, could God create a being more powerful than Himself?”.

Response: This argument proves that the atheist asking them does not truly want an answer.  These are simply smokescreens meant to muddy up real discussion about God, His character, and His attributes.  J. Warner Wallace writes, “When someone asks, “Can the all-powerful Christian God create a stone so heavy he cannot lift it?” they are asking a logically incoherent question. It is the equivalent of asking, “Can God create a ‘square circle’?” Circles and squares are mutually exclusive by their very definition. As a result, the question nonsensically queries the creation of something similarly nonsensical. God cannot create square circles for the same reason He cannot sin; He acts dependably in a manner consistent with His moral and logical nature, and our universe is the beneficiary of God’s dependable nature. Those who ask logically incoherent questions of this kind are requiring God to violate His nature (His logical coherency) in order to demonstrate His nature (His power)” [1].  Logic is a reflection of God’s unchanging nature; therefore, He will act in a logical manner.  Although God is omnipotent, the Bible does say that there are certain things He cannot do. He cannot sin (James 1:3); He cannot change (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17); He cannot deny Himself (II Timothy 2:13).  Does this mean God is not omnipotent?  No, it simply means that He acts according to His nature. 

Atheist Argument: The Omniscience paradox. “If God is omnipotent, then he should be able to change the future to an “alternate future” that is unknown to him, conflicting with his omniscience” Similarly, an omniscient God would know the position of all atoms in the universe over its ~14 billion-year history as well as its infinite future. To know that, God’s memory needs to be bigger than the infinite set of possible states in the current Universe.

Response: Simply because we cannot comprehend the immense power and ability of God does not mean He does not/cannot exist.  It makes good sense to consider that God, Who is capable of creating the universe, is able to do far more than we are able to wrap our minds around.  The argument about an omniscient (all-knowing) God creating something He does not know is a self-defeating argument; much like “can God create something that is uncreated”, simply an exercise in word play…nothing more.  There are also many unfounded assumptions contained in this argument: the universe has not been proven to be 14 billion years old, yet this argument makes that assumption in an attempt to bolster its case.  One could also contend that humans do not know how big God’s memory needs to be to do anything.  These are meaningless shots in the dark that do not contain facts, only fantasy.

Atheist Argument: The “No Reason” Argument tries to show that an omnipotent and omniscient God would not have any reason to act in any way, specifically by creating the universe, because He would have no needs, wants, or desires since these very concepts are subjectively human. Since the Universe exists, there is a contradiction, and therefore, an omnipotent God cannot exist.

Response: The only reason God has for acting in a certain way is simply because He chooses to act in that way.  It is amazing that we sometimes think we have the right to determine how God should or should not act.  If God cannot act as He chooses, He is not God.  Humanity shows its arrogance when we say that we have decided, by using our fallible reasoning capabilities, that God should have done this or that He shouldn’t have done that.  God asked Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding...” (Job 38:4 NASB).  God is pointing out the fact that He did not ask our opinion when He created the universe and everything in it; therefore, who do we think we are to question Him? 

As to the idea that ‘need, wants or desires’ are ‘subjectively human’; is it reasonable to believe that an all mighty God has no feelings?  The Bible clearly says that God loves us, it speaks of His anger and His wrath against sin and evil doers, He can grieve…are these not feelings?  He certainly would have no needs because He is God, but we know He has desires because the Bible clearly says so, “God, our savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Timothy 2:3-4 NASB).  Whereas many of our wants and desires are sinful, God has no wants or desires that are contrary to His holy nature.  But it is not we who decide God’s nature; He created us, not the other way around.

There will come a time when we are all judged by God, are you ready? “...the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified...” (II Thessalonians 1:7-10 NASB).

NOTES:

[1] http://coldcasechristianity.com/2013/are-there-limits-to-gods-power/

Arguments From Atheists, Part 2

Atheistic, anti-God arguments abound.  This article presents several of these arguments, along with Christian responses. These responses are offered in the spirit of love with the hope that those who are truly seeking answers will realize that they do exist for these challenges and that believing in God is not unreasonable.

Atheist Argument: The Argument from Poor Design contests the idea that God created life on the basis that life forms, including humans, seem to exhibit poor design.

Response: And what would be a better design?  Since God is all-powerful and all-knowing would it not be reasonable to believe that He created us the best way that He himself saw fit?  Once again, this atheistic argument spotlights the arrogance of humanity.  We somehow think that we know better than God; we think that we could have done a better job than God.  This begs the question, “How would we have done it?”  We cannot create a single life, let alone all the plants, animals, and humans in the world.  We have never made a planet, nor can we, yet we feel that we have the right to criticize God’s creation.  We must keep in mind something else; the world we observe today has suffered the degenerative effects of thousands of years of sin and corruption.  What we see in the world around us is not in the same condition as when God created it.  God deemed the universe “very good” when He first made it (Genesis 1:31).  I Timothy 4:4 tells us, “For everything created by God is good” (NASB).  God created everything just as He wanted it; it is due to the effects of sin that we have so much heartache, disease, death, etc. in the world today.

Atheist Argument: The Problem of Evil contests the existence of a god who is both omnipotent and omnibenevolent by arguing that such a god should not permit the existence of evil or suffering.

Response: God created us and endowed us with freedom.  However, freedom is not real freedom if we do not have choices.  God gave us the ability to choose; we can choose good or we can choose evil.  The first humans chose to disobey God and sin entered our existence (Genesis 3; Romans 5).  Our sinfulness is the root of evil and suffering.  If we really care about it, why don’t we change?  We have no one to blame but ourselves.  The Bible tells us that God can change our very nature if we will simply repent of our sins and live for Him, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (II Corinthians 5:17 NASB).  When a person is changed by God in this manner, he or she no longer surrenders to the sinful lusts and temptations that so often cause people to act in a less-than-loving manner. 

Atheist Argument: The Problem of Hell is the idea that eternal damnation for actions committed in a finite existence contradicts God’s omnibenevolence or omnipresence.

Response: This argument does not take into consideration how God views sin.  He sees sin as a serious enough offense that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross in order that our sins could be forgiven (John 3:16-17).  Love, or benevolence, is not God’s only quality.  God is also concerned, among other things, with justice.  When one understands that God has done all that is required for us to stay out of Hell, and that the only reason anyone goes to Hell is because of their own choice to reject God’s offer of salvation, it is clear that the sentence of eternal damnation ends up being a self-chosen destiny. We should also keep in mind the difference between ‘torment’ (which is part of the biblical doctrine of Hell) and ‘torture’ (which is not part of the biblical doctrine of Hell).  J. Warner Wallace explains, “The Bible says those who are delivered into Hell will be tormented, and the degree to which they will suffer is described in dramatic, illustrative language. But, the scripture never describes Hell as a place where God or His angels are actively “torturing” the souls of the rebellious. “Torture” is the sadistic activity that is often perpetrated for the mere joy of it. “Torment” results from a choice on the part of the person who finds himself (or herself) suffering the consequences. One can be in constant torment over a decision made in the past, without being actively tortured by anyone”. [1]

Atheist Argument: The Anthropic Argument states that if God is omniscient, omnipotent, and morally perfect, He would have created other morally perfect beings instead of imperfect humans.

Again, I am amazed that some, who deny the existence of God, are arrogant enough to believe they can claim they know what a good and holy God would, or would not, do.  What these people are really doing is setting themselves up as a higher authority than God (at least in their own minds).  The truth is that God could have created humans any way He wanted; however, He chose to create the humans He created.  It was His choice.  Now, because humans have a choice, they can choose wrongly.  We often do choose wrongly, does this mean that there is no God?  Just because your car breaks down does that mean that no one designed and built your car?  Certainly not.  Our bad choices are not evidence against God’s existence.

Atheist Argument: The Argument from Non-belief contests the existence of an omnipotent God who wants humans to believe in him by arguing that such a god would do a better job of gathering believers.

Response:  The Bible teaches that everyone receives the knowledge that God exists. God made it unavoidable that everyone knows of His existence. The Bible tells us that, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1 ESV). The handiwork that points to an incredibly intelligent source is apparent all around us. One would have to be willfully ignorant to attribute all the intricacies found in nature to random chance.  We see this reinforced in the biblical book of Romans, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20 ESV).

The Holy Spirit is even now touching the hearts of people so that they might realize their sinful condition, the inevitable coming judgment, and their need of a Savior.  Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would come, “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:8-11 ESV). The Spirit works on the conscience of every individual; making it clear to each person that there is such a thing as sin, that we are responsible to a Creator, and that we will be judged someday. Contrary to the premise of this atheist argument, God has made it impossible NOT to know He exists.  However, He has given us each a choice whether to acknowledge Him or to reject Him.  Atheists may not believe in God, but, according to the Bible, they cannot say they never knew they should.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16-17 NASB).

Resources:

[1] http://coldcasechristianity.com/2013/why-would-god-punish-finite-temporal-crimes-in-an-eternal-hell/