Most people believe that they are basically good, sure they may make a "mistake" once in a while but who doesn’t. We grade our goodness on a curve, we place the most "evil" of society on one side of the scale and the most "holy" on the other and figure we land somewhere in the middle. Is that the Biblical standard for righteousness? The answer to that question is obviously no, the Biblical standard is perfection. If God does not grade on the curve and He demands perfection how can we be perfect? By placing our faith and trust in Jesus.
Mat 5:48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Rom 3:9-24 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; (10) as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; (11) THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; (12) ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." (13) "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS"; (14) "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS"; (15) "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, (16) DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, (17) AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN." (18) "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES." (19) Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; (20) because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. (21) But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, (22) even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I spoke with one of the cashiers at Walgreen's today and I began by asking her if she had to work every Sunday. She said yes and went on to say that her weekend is Tues. and Wed. I asked if that prevented her from attending church and she responded by stating that she did not attend church. I asked why she didn't attend church. She responded by boldly stating that she did not want to go to church because she is an Atheist.
ReplyDeleteI’ve engaged several Atheists in the past and this is the first one I’ve met who did not want to discuss God and/or religion – I was especially surprised because she came across so bold in her initial response. My follow up question after she identified herself as an Atheist was why do you believe that there is no God? She, and I’m not making this up, said I believe in “Science”. Okay…what does that mean (that is what I was thinking I did not actually say that). Then she followed up by stating that she also believed in “Scientific Evolution”. I followed up by asking what “Science” had to say about how the Universe came to be. Her next response surprised me – “I don’t like talking about this?” I said okay and said I hope I hadn’t offended her; I smiled, picked up my bag of items and thanked her for talking to me.
This one encounter shows us how powerful the influence of “Science” is with people. My guess is, and this is only a guess, that she did not like talking about it because she did not know how “Science” answered those questions. I put Science in quotations because there is good Science and bad Science. Good Science will account for all possibilities not just the ones that fit the Scientists world view. Many of these Scientists engage in Science with the presupposition that God does not and cannot exist.
In the end Science will not be a good excuse, her not believing in God is a result of her suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.
(Rom 1:18-20 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, (19) because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. (20) For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.)
These are the times in Evangelism where we unfortunately have to put our pearls back in our pocket and go on our way. I’ll pray that God will use someone else to reach her.
Jimmy
Hey guys,
ReplyDeleteI am in Dallas this weekend visiting my folks and nana. We had a wonderful time in the Lord's house this morning, my mom's church (PCA). They are in the process of searching for a new pastor and so they had a young man preach today. It was an EXCELLENT sermon on Mathew 8 and who Jesus is. It was wonderful. This fired me up for today. I knew my kid sister would be coming over later for a swim and lunch. I prayed about how I would approach her because I knew I wanted her to be my encounter for day 14. As we swam with all of our kids and our mom, I decided to go for it. It was scary because we have had many talks in the past that have not gone over too well and it had been a few years for me to bring up a real gospel presentation with her. Jenni and James opened the door. They wanted me to tell aunt Jennifer about our 30 day challenge and what it was about. So, we did. Jenni started it with our key question "what do you think it takes to go to heaven?" My sister looked a bit surprised but then answered and said "You want the bible answer or my answer?" I said, "Yours". I was amazed at her answer. She said we ALL go to heaven. So this started a wonderful conversation. I asked her if she believed in a literal hell, she said sord of. She said I guess the people who do the really BAD stuff go there. Jenni then told her the gospel and that only those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. I also made it very clear and she listened. My mom helped me in explaining grace. It was so cool. I decided then to ask her what she thought about the resurrection of Christ. I asked her if she thought that really happened. She said, "well, I do not know" But she asked me "what did he do when he supposodley walked out of the grave?" I loved it. I pointed her to 1Corinthians 15 where it states that he was seen by 500 witnesses. I took her to some other passages as well. I praise the Lord for this and this was a big deal because our conversations in the past had never been this good. I thank God, my prayers for my sister have been constant since the day God saved me, and this encounter today really encouraged me. I am praying the Lord would open her ears and eyes to her desperate need of the perfect Savior we talked about by the pool today.
Mags
Jimmy: I've worked with a couple of atheists. Your encounter sounds typical based on my conversations with them. Absolutely no amount of "proof" could convince them and eventually they stated "I don't like talking about this" or "I'm not talking about this anymore."
ReplyDeleteI work with a woman now that doesn't claim to be a Christian; she doesn't identify herself as atheist, either (her husband does). BUT, she believes her deceased mother is an angel whom the woman prays to regularly. We've had some interesting conversations about that one. I've been talking to her and praying for her family for over 15 years. God's timing.