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Here are
the questions. Sometimes not having any ideas of
what the answers are can put unnecessary walls between someone and God.
Won't living a
relatively good life make God happy with me? I mean if God grades on the curve, I am
sure that he will let me in.
I've seen what
some of God's people are like, and if that's what Christianity is, then why should I want
to be a Christian?
Why should I
want to have a relationship with the God of Christianity who is supposed to be all-loving
and all powerful, and then allows so much pain and evil to exist in this world?
Aren't Christians kind of
bigoted when they act like Christianity is the only way to end up in heaven?
What would I have to do to
get right with God and spend eternity with him in Paradise?
My responses to these questions are brief
and certainly won't satisfy everyone, but I sincerely believe that they will be helpful to
a lot of people, and for some people it will be the only time that they have had any
helpful answer at all.
Won't living a
relatively good life make God happy with me? I mean if God grades on the curve, I am
sure that he will let me in.
Response to question 1. We have a tendency to compare ourselves to those worse
than we are to make ourselves feel better. The person in prison for assault says,
"At least I'm not a murderer." The burglar says, " At least I am not
guilty of attacking and beating anyone." And so on, but the judge allows the
one to go free who is not guilty of breaking any law. What God tells us in the Bible
is that if we always kept every one of his laws without ever doing anything wrong, not one
lie, etc. then a person would be okay. (1) He also warns us that no
one ever attains that perfect record. (2) Someone saying, " If
I live a life that pleases God, then I'll make it and be safe," is saying something
true enough, but it is similar to the person who says, "If the boat sinks and I can
swim to shore, then I will be safe." This is a true statement too, but if your
boat sinks 200 miles from the nearest shore, you could be a better swimmer than anyone you
know or ever heard of, but you wouldn't be able to make it to shore by yourself and be
safe. In the matter of living a life good enough to please God, you could be the
most perfect person that you know or ever heard of, but you will not be able to make it by
yourself and be safe. But God cared enough to provide help so that people wouldn't have to perish. (3)
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I've seen what
some of God's people are like, and if that's what Christianity is, then why should I want
to be a Christian?
Response to question 2. If Christianity were simply aspiring to the sort of life
that I've seen people live, well then, I would never aspire to be a Christian. If
fact if being a Christian were to aspire to be just like me, then I wouldn't blame anyone
for not being a Christian. But the message of the Bible is that one should aspire to
be like Jesus Christ. (4) (For it is after all
Christianity, not Daleianity.) Jesus Christ helped people, loved people deeply, and
had power available to actually bring about good changes in people's lives. He never
slandered anyone, stole from anyone, or hurt anyone. The real question people need
to ask is not, " Do I have anything against Christians?" but rather, " Do I
have anything against
Christ?" One more thing, to truly be a Christian one must have true faith, and
that means to be committed to try to live the Christian life. Some people identify
themselves as Christians when they have no intention of ever trying by God's help to be
like Christ and turn from wrongdoing. That is not true faith or truly believing in
Jesus Christ, God's Son. Just having an understanding that Jesus was real, died for
sins, and provides the way to get right with God, does nothing. The Bible reminds us
that even the devil has that kind of dead, ineffectual faith. (5)
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Why should I want to
have a relationship with the God of Christianity who is supposed to be all-loving and all
powerful, and then allows
so much pain and evil to exist in this world?
Response to question 3. That an all-loving and
powerful God allows evil is something that troubles almost everyone sooner or later.
We all live in this world that has so much trouble and pain, and even those of us who grew
up trusting God can be surprised at just how much pain and evil can happen, even to people
that we know to be good. At those times we can be tempted to get angry with the
all-powerful Creator of the universe for not doing anything about it immediately.
There are two things that I remind myself of at times like that.
First, I remind myself that from the
beginning, God could have stopped everyone from ever choosing or doing a wrong
thing. If he had done that, he would simply have had a bunch of robots down
here. Relating to only robots instead of choice making people is pretty unsatisfying
for us and would be for God too. My kids sometimes chose to act in wrong ways and
that could be pretty frustrating, but as creatures able to make choices, they also chose
to love me and say "I love you Dad." That was great!! By contrast if
I were to take my tape recorder (which never gives me any trouble) and get it to say,
"I love you, I love you, I love you." I would find that pretty
unsatisfying. So I am glad that we human beings, are choice making creatures (I
don't think that I would like being a robot). I am glad that God tells people not to
choose evil, and I can appreciate why he wanted to have creatures who would choose to
appreciate his goodness and love him. Of course when you have creatures that can choose
evil, there exists the possibility that some will choose evil, and of course some people
do choose evil at times, and the effects of evil ripple out to effect others as
well. I think that I must also mention that sometimes in his own wisdom God does
take charge and do things immediately, often granting prayer requests.
The second thing that I remind myself of, is that when people did the very first evil
thing, God could have simply just done away with it all. Had be done that, you and I
would never have even existed! Instead, God came up with a plan so that people who
have done wrong (like me) could have those wrongs paid for, and so that they could
get right with him. He is now giving people time to get right with him, but he won't
wait forever. God hates the pain and evil that troubles us even more than we do, and
there will come a time when he will stop everything, judge evil and end it forever.
(6) He will then make a new creation, Paradise, free of pain and
injustice, to last forever. Those who get right with God will live with him in
Paradise forever. (7)
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Aren't Christians
kind of bigoted when they act like Christianity is the only way to end up in heaven?
Response to question 4. Christians are no more
bigoted or unfair at saying what will happen based on their understanding of the spiritual
nature of things than a scientist is bigoted or unfair at saying what will happen based on
his understanding of the laws of nature. Just as there are physical laws that exist and
govern how well a plane will fly, so there are spiritual laws that exist and affect a
person's spiritual wellbeing. People can be bigoted and make a choice to
exclude a certain category of people from their club or from fair treatment, but a
scientist is not bigoted when he tells someone that the plane that they have designed and
built will not fly. He is not being bigoted even if that person's feelings are
hurt. Though they initially disagree with his message and may even feel hurt by it,
they may well become glad for the message, especially if he is right and they had planned
to stake their very lives on a plane unable to fly. Christians never want to hurt
people's feelings or be snobs and vote someone out of a club. Christians have come
to understand spiritual laws, because God reveals them in the Bible, and at times they are
sorry to have to send a message that the ideas some people have about why they are
acceptable to God just won't fly. Christians are also ready to share what they know,
because they really do want people to know how to have a right relationship with God and a
spiritual life that soars.
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What would I have
to do to get right with God and spend eternity with him in Paradise?
Response to question 5. How does one get right
with God? The message of the Bible is that no one can in their own strength live a
life so good that they will be right with God, and that no one has ever been so completely
inoffensive, or had such good works, that God would want them with Him in glory for all of
eternity. (8) Yet at the same time He has provided a way for
people to receive his gracious forgiveness apart from works or perfect behavior. (9) It was earned by Jesus Christ and is received by people who believe
in Jesus with a true faith. (10)
It is important to understand that a lot of
people only believe in Jesus in the sense that they will say that he was a good teacher
and died for people's sins somehow. That kind of believing, if that is all there is,
is not the kind of believing required in the Bible. The word in the original Greek
text of the Bible translated in English as believe means the kind of believing where a
person has a strong commitment to and trust in someone or something so that one will
sincerely intend to act on that belief. Believing in Jesus in this way means that
you trust that his suffering on the cross paid the punishment price required for your
wrongdoing, and that you trust him enough to commit yourself to follow him as leader
and Lord of your life and to try to obey His commands. That is true faith that God
looks for, and when he sees it he graciously forgives a person's wrongdoing and comes into
their life. That person is now right with God. God also helps that person
change their behavior over time. A person in a right relationship with God will find
that they have more power to do what is right and stop doing what is wrong, because God
himself helps such people. While it takes time to come to where one is living
a better life, at the very instant of coming to true faith a person is right with God and
can look forward to spending all of eternity in Paradise with him.
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FOOTNOTES
- Galatians 3:10-11a. All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it
is written: "Cursed [doomed to perish] is everyone who does not continue to do
everything written in the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is justified before
God by the law. Back
- Romans 3:23. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God. Back
- John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Back
- I Peter 2:21. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you,
leaving you an example, that you should follow his footsteps. Romans 15:5. May
God...give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus.
Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Back
- James 2:18b-19. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my
faith by what I do. You believe that there is One God. Good! Even the
demons believe that and shudder. James 2:26b. Faith without works is
dead. Back
- II Peter 3:7. By the same word [spoken by God] the present heavens and
earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of
ungodly men. II Peter 3:9b-10a. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to
repentance [a change of mind and decision to turn from evil]. But the day of the Lord will
come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar... Back
- II Peter 3:13. But in keeping with his promise, we [those who are right with God]
are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of the righteous.
Revelations 21: 1, 3-4. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first
Heaven and the first earth had passed away... Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he
will be their God. And he will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be
no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed
away. Back
- Romans 3 :16. (see footnote 3) Galatians 3:10-11 (see footnotes 2
and 3) Back
- John 3:16 ( see footnote 3) Galatians 2:8. For it is by grace you
have been saved through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by
works so that no one can boast. Back
- Acts 16:30b-31a. They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
you will be saved. Back
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