This article presents an exclusive view of Christianity. It is intended to fortify the faith of the believer, and to leave the unbeliever without excuse.

We will spend little time here addressing atheism. This column recently devoted a whole article to the subject. The Scripture offers this unflattering observation: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). The same passage adds the postscript of why: “They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” Thus, the fact that possibly ten to twenty million Americans would claim to be atheists is hardly surprising. In my ministry to prisoners, I find many who wish they didn’t have to believe in law officers, jails, courtrooms, judges, and prisons. However, that does not negate the facts.

The best they can hope for is to somehow elude justice. One young man, recently arrested, insisted emphatically, “I am not going to prison.” When I asked what the typical sentence is for his type of crime, he answered, “Up to forty years.” Who could blame him for wishing that prisons were invisible? His denial could then seem more plausible.

I would urge unbelievers to go through this life behaving toward God as though they could be mistaken about His nonexistence. What scenario could be worse, than at death, to fall into the hands of the living God? If they would truly seek Him with all their heart, they, too, would find Him (see Jeremiah 29:13).

What is less surprising than atheism in this politically correct society is that many are confused with all the religious confusion. That’s why we want to help.

There is no validity to the widespread acceptance of every stripe of religion with the idea that they all have a valid place (like different flavors of ice cream). There are several reasons why this cannot be so. Yes, we do like to be sensitive to the views of others. But it is no kindness to approve what is not so. As we shall see, wrong cannot equal right, and right must be abandoned when people accept wrong. Could we start with the common ground that the creation is the work of but one Creator?

First of all, acceptable religious belief could only be concocted by man if there is no Creator (in which case all would be equally invalid). However, if you have only a tiny glimpse of the marvels of this universe, you would know instantly that created people would sorely offend their Maker by presuming to “invent” religion. For example, imagine a family with six children, with every child inventing a different way to please the parents. Obviously, only the parents determine what pleases. This cannot be accomplished in six contradictory ways. How then shall we created beings foist man-made religion on the Creator? This must be especially offensive, since God has given the revelation of His will through the Scriptures. No one should expect to come to God except through Jesus Christ who was with God in the beginning.

One modern idea proposes different religions for different races. However, racial differences are strictly superficial. In essence, the human race is really but one. We have but one common ancestor, since all are sons of Adam. There is blood in common in the veins of all of us. (“[He] hath made of one blood all nations” — Acts 17:26). There are no races or people either more or less human than others are. Having one God who made us all causes the claim of different religions for different races to fall away useless.

The natural world works every day on the principle of equal absolutes for all people. The law of gravity is not activated (or deactivated) by personal preference. We don’t test people boarding airplanes to see whether the laws that govern flight will work for them. We have traffic crashes every day because people miscalculate the absolutes of time and distance. The laws of nature God instituted are stubbornly in place, showing preference or pity for no one.

Should we not then agree with the Biblical claim that what is seen in nature obligates all people everywhere to the unseen God and to moral absolutes? You don’t expect to jump out of a 10-story window without consequences. Why then expect to defy, without consequences, the commandments of the God of the Bible? Is lying, stealing, cursing, committing adultery, murder, and everything else contrary to godliness, wrong for some, but not for others?

Even the human conscience is programmed to divide actions into categories of right and wrong. Even those who claim otherwise are quick to make judgments of others when their own space is violated. Those who lie, feel violated when lied to. Those who live together unmarried, are frequently jealous for the “faithfulness” (?) of the live-in partner. These examples of conscience are valid evidence for God and for moral absolutes. The conscience also displays the truth of God, a beachhead in souls of otherwise incorrigible sinners. Guilt over wrongdoing is the key to the transformation of sinners.

However, we find that we are caught in a dilemma. We have a sense of what is right, but are stuck with a nature that wants to do what is wrong. No one, except Jesus, has ever lived without transgressing God’s law. This transgression of ours is called sin.

Now sin separates us from the God who made us. Sin is a violation of what God is like, and makes us unfit to be at peace with Him or for a place in heaven.

God is a God of love. However, that does not mean that He refrains from judging us, or that He finds some magical way to excuse us. For example, one is not a good businessman who does not consistently promote good business practices. If you are a good businessman, you will correct or expel an employee who undermines your success. If you did not, your own integrity as a businessman would be in jeopardy. So it is with God. He is a loving God, but because He is good, He will bring justice to all who oppose His goodness.

This then brings us to the conclusion of this case for Christianity and the embrace of saving faith:

1. We must face exposure to the law of God as revealed in the Bible.
2. We must be fully persuaded of the magnitude of our sin (see ourselves as God sees us).
3. We must humble ourselves in broken repentance before God, standing convicted and condemned by God’s Holy Spirit.
4. We must cast ourselves on the mercies of God, receiving the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, His Son, for forgiveness of sin. He then is our Saviour and our Master.
5. We must then receive baptism, and identify ourselves with the people of God. Having been born again, we will love and serve the One who died for us, telling others about Him.

-by Lester Troyer