The Matter of Irrationality – Part III

Dearest hijas and hijo,

Discussions with a non-Christian:

Non-Christian: Okay, so let’s assume I agree with you that personality can’t come from the chance impersonal and it is irrational to believe that absolutely Nothing produced everything. So what does God require of me then?

Christian: He requires your allegiance. The first of the ten commandments—God’s moral code and His standard for goodness— is “I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD…, YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME.” That’s allegiance. Not to a god of money, or pleasure, or power, or of doing your own thing. Not a god of yourself, or of your own making. Certainly not a god of Chance and a Chance metaphysic. It’s about honor and due respect for the one and only God who made everything that exists, including you. Remember, you are a culpable knower of who He is.

Non-Christian: Okay, let’s say I acknowledge that God exists, what then?

Christian: Acknowledgment and allegiance are not the same thing. Allegiance is a far stronger term that comes with expectations and requirements.

Non-Christian: Oh, right, is this where you tell me I’ve got to be a goody two-shoes and stop smoking and drinking and partying and living life the way I want? That now I’ve got to go to church and read my Bible every day and act like you people? What hypocrites.

Christian: The fact that you call Christians hypocrites is acknowledgement from your own mouth that there is a moral code you use to compare yourself against them. What moral code are you using? Where did it come from? Certainly not from a Chance universe. A Chance universe would be amoral. It wouldn’t produce a moral code of right and wrong at all. What you are using is the moral code of Judeo-Christian theism. And by using this code you slap yourself in the face as you yourself are a hypocrite in that you don’t even live up to the code you wish to judge the Christian by. Bottom line, we’re all hypocrites, the Christian no more or no less than you.

Inadvertently, you are making the case for sin. Sin is lack of conformity to, or transgression of, the law of God. You think that because you attempt to do good and not bother anyone, and go through life by loving your family, providing for them, taking care of them, and doing good deeds for others, should weigh the scale in your favor with God. But you are forgetting that God judges your thoughts as well as your actions. He says that our ‘good’ deeds are nothing more than filthy rags. Understandably, no one passes that test. Your unholy thoughts matter to God and He will hold you accountable for them. No one is good. but God alone.

Thus, we are all sinners. We all lack conformity to, and have transgressed the law of God. We’re all not good. An acknowledgment that you are a sinner and not good before a Holy God is then another crucial aspect of what God requires of you. How you acknowledge that is vitally important. It is by trusting in Jesus Christ and His death on a cross 2000 years ago back there in Jerusalem for the satisfaction to God of your sin that you are allegiantly declaring Him as Sovereign LORD and God. In other words, you are exhibiting to Him a true and genuine remorse for your sins—a Godly sorrow for breaking His law and a recognition that you are indeed culpable before Him. Scripture calls this ‘repentance’.

Non-Christian: What does his death on a cross 2000 years ago have to do with anything? Sure, He was a good moral teacher, but what does that have to do with me?

Christian: Jesus claimed to be God. He claimed to be God come down to earth. Being birthed in human flesh this God-man claimed He was not only God, but was the only answer to our sin problem. He willingly submitted Himself to death on a cross as payment and in satisfaction for what you and I rightly deserve for violating God’s law. Think of a court room where you have racked up a dozen major speeding violations and are facing serious jail time. On the day of trial someone steps in and pays your fines for you, and the judge is now free to release you from any and all consequences. In the same sense, you have violated God’s law and Jesus has stepped in paying the price for your infractions. The difference is that He had to die in order to pay that price for us. So, instead of swearing allegiance to yourself—a self-centered allegiance where you submit only to your own wishes and desires—God now requires of you to have a Christ-centered allegiance where you are submitting to Him and His Word as the proper and right way to live life and be in relationship to Him. As proof that you are to have no other gods before Him and that He was truly who He said He was, He raised Himself up from the dead after three days. In Scripture, this was the ‘Resurrection’. Believing that Christ was resurrected and is now alive and back in Heaven with the Father is another crucial element in what God requires of you.

Non-Christian: So, allegiance, repentance, and belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Is that what you’re saying?

Christian: Yes. The Scriptures say it better that I can: “THAT IF YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH JESUS AS LORD, AND BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART THAT GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD YOU SHALL BE SAVED. FOR WITH THE HEART MAN BELIEVES, RESULTING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND WITH THE MOUTH HE CONFESSES, RESULTING IN SALVATION” (Romans 10: 9-10).

The Psalmist King David, speaking for God, pleads with you in an open invitation: “TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD; HOW BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT TAKES REFUGE IN HIM” (Psalms 34:8).

You must weigh the alternatives in your mind. Either a metaphysic of chance where Being springs from non-Being and everything was produced by Nothing, including your own mind [irrationalism epitomized], or a metaphysic of God where God has created you in His own image, has created this universe that we live in; and thus meaning and purpose, and has invited you to trust and believe in Jesus Christ for the answer to the sin-problem you have and rebellion of God that you have exhibited your whole life. The time is now, for you are not guaranteed tomorrow. You won’t avoid the grave, my friend, but you can avoid what waits on the other side of the grave if you repent of your sin and call him LORD. Call upon the name of Jesus and beg Him for mercy; ask him to forgive your sins, for He will abundantly pardon and grant you a new heart and everlasting life in His kingdom.

All my love,

Dad

Vaya con Dios!