The Apologetics Advertisement for Christianity
By Nathaniel Ashcroft
5 Claims
Now, many very strong arguments have been made here, some of the ones I find most compelling. They are supplied with ample evidence, but mostly I hope this gets you thinking. We have gone over meaning, creation, Pascal’s Wager, the fallacy of subjective truth when applied to religion, Atheism, the fallacy of a works-salvation religion, Biblical reliability, Jesus’s claims to divinity, and resurrection evidence. Next, I’m going to help shed some light on some common reasons non-believers do not believe in the Christian God.
Claim 2: Christianity is Unfair Because There Are People Who Have Never Heard of Jesus Condemned to Hell.
I don’t want to answer this question about the salvation of people who have never heard the gospel by giving scenario after scenario of possible situations in which someone could possibly be saved without direct knowledge of Jesus or theological education of any kind, because I don’t know anyone’s heart (and that would take forever). The Bible is clear that faith in Jesus saves, followed by a life dedicated to Him. Do we need to know the name “Jesus” to follow God and live how He wants us to in His saving grace? I don’t know. Some Bible verses would seem to insinuate that creation is enough (Romans 1:20). Some seem to say we need to know the name Jesus (Romans 10:13-15). One could argue, “we are all accountable due to creation, but still need to know the gospel and the name Jesus to be able to accept His saving work”; another could argue the opposite side and say, “creation is enough to believe and be saved, but to experience the fullness of the faith and the blessings of more grace, direct knowledge of the gospel is required.” If God wants someone to believe, they will. But I don’t think we need to know exactly the answer to this. God’s sovereignty is the greatest answer to questions such as these.
As Christians, we believe that the only way to heaven is through Christ and the sacrifice He made for us on the cross. We also believe that God is a good God and a just God. So there isn’t anybody that God will judge unjustly. Some will receive mercy, others will receive justice. No one will receive injustice. We see time and time again, testimony after testimony, of people being converted in unlikely places; God is still working through evangelists and other ways to bring people to faith. Paul’s conversion is a great example of this; a powerful and zealous Pharisee with a vendetta against the church, killing Christians without mercy, who encounters Christ on the road to Damascus and comes to faith. Paul wrote many of the letters in the New Testament. Take solace in the fact that
“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (NIV Psalm 103:8).
If we have considered the evidence and decided that Christianity is the most historically reliable and plausible religion, and therefore isn’t just a religion, but the Truth, then we can trust that God will do what is just and true. This argument doesn’t have bearing on the existence of God, it just offers an opinion on an existing dilemma. We as Christians can know God’s character through His word, and, from that, get an accurate picture of His goodness, allowing us to trust Him in all that goes on. Jesus makes it clear in the great commission, that we are to go and make disciples of all the nations, and the Bible is clear that God wants “all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (NIV 1 Timothy 2:4).
The Best Answer
Natural man’s inclinations are not for the things of God, but for the flesh. We are the image bearers of God, intended to be His holy reflections on this earth. Everytime we sin, we spit in God’s face and proclaim to the world that God is a sinner. Disgusting. Sin is disgusting. Psalm 53 shows us that there is none who seek God. Romans 3:11,
“no one seeks for God” (ESV Romans 3:11).
We are naturally God’s enemies. In our natural, sin-ruled state, if we had the opportunity to kill God, we would. I know that sounds jarring, but it’s true. Our sin nature hates God, despises Him. This should become clear as we examine that, when God became nothing and was incarnated down on earth, the world murdered Him. Jesus, the holiest and most righteous man to ever walk the earth, was mocked and killed by sinful humanity. If you do not find sin disgusting or understand how much we deserve hell, read Ezekiel 16.
If a judge on earth is just in condemning murderers to life sentences, so too the Judge in heaven is just if He were to send every single human to hell. We do not deserve mercy, as mercy cannot be deserved. We have become very comfortable and expectant of God’s grace and mercy. Without God we are incapable of choosing righteousness, according to the Bible. Genesis 8:21,
“every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood” (NIV Genesis 8:21).
We were ruled by sin, unable to fix our eyes on God, and it is only Christ’s work that can bring us out of this fog of death.
“Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ” (NIV Colossians 2:11).
Some will object to this and say, “unbelievers choose good all the time, surely that is not sinful?” This is an understandable reaction. The answer is simply this; God cares about the heart over outward action. Whatever ‘good’ the unbeliever does is not done from acknowledgment of God, from whom all good things flow. It is done without understanding the creator, who made kindness and goodness possible. As scripture tells us,
“the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel” (NIV Proverbs 12:10).
I know this is a hot topic, the head-turner (and head-spinner) word, but the doctrine of predestination is the best answer to this question. The doctrine of predestination is the idea that, in God’s control and foreknowledge, and the outworking of that control, God has already decided who will be in heaven and who will be in hell. This is expressed in Ephesians 1,
“For [H]e chose us in [H]im before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in [H]is sight. In love [H]e predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with [H]is pleasure and will” (NIV Ephesians 1:4-5).
Other scriptures in support of predestination include Ephesians 1:11-12, Ephesians 2:8-9, Isaiah 43:1;7;13, John 15:16, Philippians 1:29, Ephesians 2:4-5, Matthew 11:27, Revelation 17:14, Romans 8:29-30, Exodus 33:19, Romans 8:33, Romans 9, and more.
This is not an easy doctrine. But as I have learned more about it, it has only increased my admiration of God, and has brought about a wondrous assurance of adoption. We do not know who is elect (Biblical language for ‘chosen’) and who is not. The reality of God’s sovereign choice does not change how we proclaim the gospel, nor how we view others. What it does do is cement believers in their identity as Christ’s children, and offer hope to unbelievers.
If all God does is present humanity with the gospel, and gives us the responsibility to choose Him, no one would accept Him. That is not God’s fault, that is our sinful nature’s fault. The result of sin is enmity towards God and estrangement from His ways.
“You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel.” (ESV Isaiah 48:8).
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (NIV Romans 5:12).
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, we are capable of choosing God on our own, and God leaves it totally up to us. Personally, I think this raises a host of problems.
First, it means that you cannot pray for the salvation of your friends or family and have it answered by direct intervention. If God did answer such a prayer, and actively save someone you prayed for, He would be choosing them. Under the premise that it is up to us completely to choose God, He can’t answer this prayer. So, it’s better for God to choose.
Second, it means that the believer can send someone to hell by failing to evangelize adequately. If God will not directly intervene in someone’s response to the gospel, then it is entirely up to the believer to bring people to faith. It also means that the unbeliever who has never heard the gospel cannot be saved. There are many who have not heard the gospel.
Third, it removes the assurance of salvation for the believer. If we must look within ourselves for salvation, trying to figure out if our faith is genuine enough, we have no surety of heaven. If it is not God that enables saving faith, you will quickly find yourself tearing through the house of your mind, pleading to find faith that saves, ripping apart every couch, storage box, cupboard, and drawer, hoping to discover comfort. Salvation is not introspective, but instead is a looking to Christ and knowing you are saved.
Fourth, it’s not biblical.
Most Christians believe this doctrine even if they will not say they do. Common phrases that I hear from a person who does not believe in predestination when a skeptic or unbeliever does not convert after an attempt by a believer to bring them to Christ, is this; “The Holy Spirit needs to work in that person. The scales need to fall from their eyes. Their heart needs to be softened by the Holy Spirit.” All this person is saying is that God needs to intervene and choose the skeptical friend!
I hope that you can begin to understand that predestination is nothing to be scared of, and is the best Biblical answer to the claim I am responding to today. I am only scratching the surface of the information on this topic, from Paul, to Augustine, to Jonathan Edwards, to R.C. Sproul, to many more. Be relieved that you can just be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10; Exodus 14:14). Know that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Know that you are not in this alone. Know that your interest in Christianity is already a step towards Christ. Surrender yourself today and allow the Holy Spirit to begin to bring you home.
I hope you can find comfort and solace in this doctrine. Know this; if you are seeking after Christ with your heart readily to know Him, then you are following Christ’s call, and upon having saving faith, you cannot be plucked from His hand.
Have you heard the gospel? If not, click here.
View next week’s section to read about my response to the third common objection to Christianity.
Works Cited
NIV Quest Study Bible. Zondervan, 2011.
ESV Bible, The Premium Gift Edition. Crossway, 2016.