By Shane Kastler
Atheism is unnatural. But so is Christianity. The only belief system that is truly “natural” is theistic unbelief. In other words, it is normal to believe in the existence of a God that you don’t truly submit to. The majority of people in the world today fall into this category. They believe God exists, but live like He doesn’t. Or as Jesus said of the Pharisees, “This people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.” (Mark 7:6) Let me further explain.
First of all, atheism is not natural because people are “hard-wired” to believe in God’s existence. According to the Bible, atheism is inexcusable due to the overwhelming amount of evidence that exists in nature alone: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 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.” (Romans 1:18-20)
In other words, man, in his natural condition can see the rain falling and the crops growing and know there is a God. Man’s conscience bothers him over what is morally right and wrong; and this conscience tells him there is a God. Man knows, instinctively that he is in danger of judgement for the evils that he has committed and thought. He knows instinctively that God will judge him one day. But the most irrational of men and women will “suppress this truth in unrighteousness” and pretend that no such God exists.
Ironically it is often the most educated who devolve into such irrationality. They consider themselves too intellectual to believe in a God, in light of so many scientific discoveries. Yet these repeated efforts of science to suppress God, only make His light shine that much brighter. The amazing order of our world and solar system scream for the existence of an all-knowing and all-powerful being who keeps the earth both spinning and rotating at a constant rate. When atheists decry the evils of war, or crime, or poverty; they are making moral judgements which scream for a Creator who has declared what is right and wrong. What is moral and immoral. Rightly has it been said, that an atheist cannot properly argue against God’s existence without using laws of logic, science, and nature that prove God DOES exist. An atheistic world would be a world without order. A world where laws of any kind are irrelevant. Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” cannot begin to explain the origins of life and the meticulous detail that exists in nature. Only a fool would declare “God is dead.” Which is why the Bible declares, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘there is no God.” (Psalm 53:1) Atheism is illogical and unnatural. No one is born an atheist. It typically takes decades of suppressing the truth, with the help of highly educated fools, in the educational system, to convince one to embrace the folly of atheism. Atheism is unnatural, but then again so is Christianity.
No one is born a Christian. According to Jesus they are “born again” as a Christian. So, interestingly enough, Christianity is also unnatural. Being born “dead in our trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) we have no natural inclination to submit to and follow the Triune God. We naturally know He exists. We know we are accountable to Him. We see evidence for Him all over the place. But will not follow Him in our natural condition. The sin curse which was inflicted on Adam in the garden, mars each one of us. It has dealt a fatal blow to every aspect of our being. Our mind, will, emotions, and even our bodies are affected by it. The Bible rightly says that, “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) Spiritually we are born dead. And physically we shall one day die as well. Christianity is not natural. What it is…..is SUPERNATURAL!
True Christians have experienced an amazing gift of God’s grace, whereby they have spiritually come to life and thus know, love, and obey Jesus Christ. This is why Jesus told the Jewish rabbi Nicodemus that “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) The spiritual blindness is two-fold. In one sense the unregenerate cannot “see” or perceive or understand the kingdom of God. And in yet another sense, the unregenerate cannot “see” as in “entering” the kingdom of God. Seeing Jesus for who He is and submitting to the Triune God requires a supernatural act of life granted BY GOD to the SINNER resulting in a newfound love and allegiance to the Son of God. People simply do not do this “naturally.” Only supernaturally.
You might argue that you were taught the truths of Christianity all of your life and when you were older you accepted them. Yet for every one person who accepts them, thousands were taught them and rejected them. Hell is running over with people who grew up hearing the truths of Christianity and rejected them. If you are a true believer, then it’s because of God’s supernatural grace bestowed upon you. Christianity isn’t natural. Its’s supernatural. Atheism isn’t natural either. Its unnatural. The only belief system that is natural is theistic unbelief. To which I now turn.
All people know God is there. And all people reject Him by nature. The Bible says, “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” (1 Corinthians 2:14 NASB) Apart from the Sprit granting life; and apart from the Spirit indwelling the Christian; we would know nothing of God. Not only would we know nothing, we would reject the things about Him that are obvious, calling them “foolishness.” The Apostle Paul echoes this same thought when he wrote, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” (1 Corinthians 1:18) Non-Christians hear the story of a man getting nailed to a cross 2000 years ago and they cannot perceive how this has anything to do with their eternal standing. The gospel seems foolish to the perishing. And the reason for this is obvious. It’s foolish to them because they are “dead in their sins” and thus have a natural hatred for God and His truth (see Colossians 1:21). Something supernatural must happen for their defiance to change. God must grant them life through regeneration. Or at least, this is what Jesus taught. Of course, Jesus also taught that all who came to Him, “he would surely not cast out.” (John 6:37) Which means if you have a desire to turn to Christ and follow Him with your life, He graciously beckons you to come. You WON’T come unless God has granted the supernatural gift of regeneration. But perhaps the very fact that you WANT to come is proof that God is working on you! So I beckon every unbeliever to do something crazy and unnatural. Come to Jesus and be saved!
As stated above, the only “natural” normal belief system is theistic unbelief. That is, the belief in God’s existence, but a rebellion against His right to rule your life. In this sense a person can be both a “believer” in that they acknowledge God is there. And also an “unbeliever” in that they are not a follower of His. And as stated above, this is the reality most people live with. Some of them think they are justified because they believe in God’s existence. But this won’t do, when the Son of God declares you “must be born again.” Some of them adhere to a different God than the one of the Bible. This won’t do either, and is in essence a subtle form of atheism. They have embraced an idolatrous version of God that is no God at all. And thus while they adhere to their conscience which screams to them that there is a God; they will not accept the God of the Bible. Instead of coming to the fountain of living waters, they have hewn for themselves cisterns, “broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)
And there it is in a nutshell. Three broad categories that tell us where everyone on the earth fits into. Atheism is unnatural. Christianity is supernatural. And theistic unbelief is both natural and condemning. If you, by God’s grace, have experienced the supernatural acceptance of Biblical Christianity then you should rejoice. You’ve been saved from your sins. You’ve been saved from God’s righteous wrath. You’ve been saved from a life of endless futility, leading to death.
If you have gone the route of atheism, you have embraced the most irrational of belief systems. While your colleagues and your professor might praise your enlightenment; deep down you know better. You know of the God who is there and you know you’ll one day give an account to Him. And no doubt this makes you angry. You’re angry at Him and you’re angry at me for telling you about Him. Nevertheless it’s not too late for you either. Repent and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if you fall into the category of theistic unbelief; then you are in the majority. But just remember that Jesus said, “The wide road leads to Hell.” (Matthew 7:13-14) Come to Christ in repentant faith. Believe on Him. Trust in Him. Forsake yourself and your life of sin. Follow Him and be saved.
When this world ends, as it one day will. The truth of what I’ve expressed today will be known to all. Scoffers may scoff today. One day soon the scoffing will end. Christ will be seen for the glorious king that He is. His followers will rejoice. He rejecters will suffer. But no one will have an excuse. If you are reading these words, you’ve been warned. And you’ve been told of the way that lead to life. Take it now, while you still can. Come to Christ and be saved.
Comments