In a previous devotion (Atheism on Trial – August 4, 2021) I shared the following quotation: “To be an atheist you must have infinite knowledge in order to know absolutely that there is no God. But to have infinite knowledge, you would have to be God yourself. It’s hard to be God yourself and an atheist at the same time!”1 – Ron Carlson and Ed Decker. I believe that deep down in the heart of those who claim that God does not exist is the knowledge that there must be a God.
What the atheist (or so he thinks he is) is really doing is suppressing the truth about the existence of God. This is clear from what we read in (Romans 1:18-20): “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” We also read: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart…” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Abraham Lincoln said it well: “I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say that there is no God.”
Both Scripture and nature make it clear that while one may deny that God exists outwardly, he can’t deny what his heart is telling him – that there must be a God. Since I started my blog back in June 2020, I have posted over 400 devotions. All of them have been designed to help strengthen the faith of my Christian readers by showing you why the Bible is such an amazing book. While I am aware that apologetics is first and foremost able to help encourage the faith of believers, this field of study suffers from the same issues that sharing the Gospel message does with so-called atheists. In both cases atheists suppress the truth of the Gospel and the clear powerful arguments that apologetics makes.
Sadly, there are just many people that are running from God. And the real reason is that they enjoy their sinful lifestyle too much to give it up and come to God. May the following three quotes show you why those running from God deny, reject, and hide from Him: “I am persuaded that men think there is no God because they wish there were none. They find it hard to believe in God, and to go on in sin, so they try to get an easy conscience by denying his existence.” –Charles Spurgeon. “Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.” –E. Paul Hovey. “The chief reason people do not know God is not because He hides from them but because they hide from Him.” –John Stott.
Does that mean we shouldn’t share apologetic arguments with the non-believer? Not at all. Apologetics, however, should never take the place of sharing the Gospel message. Just what can open the heart of an unsaved person, especially an atheist, is hard to fully know, but I believe there is a five-fold approach that can be very helpful.
Before I share these five points it is important to understand that we are in a spiritual battle for the souls of those we come in contact with. As a result, we must be the most excellent ambassadors for Christ that we can be.
Assuming we know the individuals we are sharing with, these five elements are: First, our Christian witness. If we want others to take our message seriously, the way we walk and talk the Christian journey is so important. If we are leading a godly life, those we are sharing with will take notice that we are different, and hopefully will see our sincerity and morally upright character. If we act no different than the world we will lose all credibility with our listener right from the start.
Second, our testimony. We all can share our personal testimony of how God radically changed us from sinner to saint, and from bondage to free. A testimony can prove very powerful, especially if the person we are witnessing to knows you before and after your conversion.
Third, and most importantly, we need to share the message of the Gospel. We need to let the person who we are witnessing to know that Jesus loves them, and that they are special and of great value to God. But we also need to let them know that they are sinners that must repent. A clear Gospel message should be at the heart of our witnessing.
Fourth, depending on where the person is coming from, we can share some of the many excellent apologetic arguments that can really get the person to re-think his positions about God and Christianity. For example, if they believe in evolution we can show them how this theory is a bankrupt worldview. But remember that apologetics is just one element in our witnessing.
And, fifth, everything we do must be covered with prayer. Prayer is so important because so often it’s in our prayer closets that we can ask God for the conviction of the Holy Spirit to fall on the individual we are witnessing to. Fervent and consistent prayer may be the key element surrounding all the other four areas we have just discussed that can open the heart of our non-believer. And in the last analysis it all comes down to an issue of the heart.
And let’s remember we all at one time were running from God – I know I was. So, let’s be effective witnesses for Jesus. Eternal destinies are at stake!
1 All of the quotes in this devotion are from: Charlie H. Campbell, Apologetics Quotes (Carlsbad, California: The Always Be Ready Apologetics Ministry, 2020).