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Believing In God Will Never Be Compulsory

by Dr. Henderson Ward  
9/18/2014 / Christian Living

To most Christians, especially those who have a settled and robust commitment to Christ, the arguments emanating from the atheist movement make not the slightest difference to their walk of faith with God.

This is as it should be.

Many atheists, and the most famous one leading the movement is Richard Dawkins, are appalled and indignant that their evangelistic campaigns of harassment of religion have had zero effect on those who believe in God.

Many atheists are scratching their heads to understand why people still believe fervently in God, and show enormous abiding loyalty to their faith in the face of their crusades.

These atheists fail to understand, and people like Professor Dawkins have a measure of worldly intellect, that it is impossible to rock the foundation of the church, and hence the belief in God, by the throwing intellectual cotton wool at it.

People who are outside the dome of faith have no idea, apart from hearsay, of the visceral qualities to which the soul is imbued on entering the church, God's kingdom, via the new birth.

Many atheists were churchgoers, they went to Sunday school, may even have had a liking for church music and adored the social life and contacts, but they were never CONVERTED. People who go to church and take part in church life and never experienced the transforming power of the Holy Spirit are like a man who is deaf, blind and dumb sitting in a theatre full of people enjoying a classical music concert.

And here is one of the biggest tragedies in the modern church. Many of these same UNCONVERTED church-goers have gone on to become church ministers, and not once have they experienced the new birth.

These ministers are easy pickings for the atheist, and for modern heresies, and for a perverted lifestyle, and abuse of children and such like, because that old satanic, worldly, carnal nature has never been jettisoned. You have to put off the old before you can put on the new.

Jesus is adamant, forceful and abundantly clear about entry into his kingdom when he said to Nicodemus this: " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he CANNOT enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5)

Christians should not be surprised when they hear of church ministers performing same-sex marriages, or expressing doubts about God's existence, or co-habiting with an unmarried partner, or doing a raft on un-Christian, abominable things contrary to the spirit, and word, of the Bible. They are merely doing that which is compatible with their un-saved status.

What we can say with complete assurance, is that no one outside the church, no one that has not entered a meaningful and right relationship with God through Christ, can define, declare and express to us the reality and benefits that accrue to those who honour and believe in God.

The edifice of Christianity cannot be seriously assailed by throwing at it conjectures, invective, childish rumblings and intellectual flimflam. The hyena may think he is the king of the jungle, good for him to boost his inferior ego, but at least he knows better, unlike the clueless atheists, than to confront the true king.

I can make a forecast, in truth this is an easy call, that Christianity will be vibrant and effective in the world long after the atheist movement has been confined to the garbage bag of history.

There will always be atheists in the world, and that is to be expected. There will also be those who fear God and keep his commandment, even if their faith ebb and flow with the passage of time.

But organised atheism, like all man-made constructs, have a shelf life and no amount of wishful thinking will change that.

The number of man-made construct that have competed with, and tried to replace or do away with Christianity, or define and shape it, are plentiful.

The early church had to contend with:
Docetism: the concept that Jesus really did not possess, or inhabit a physical body, but only appeared to have a body
Gnosticism: the concept that through knowledge one can elevate himself to become eternal like God
Dynamic Monarchianism: the concept that Christ was a mere man who was made son of God by adoption
Antinomianism: the concept that there are no moral laws God expects Christians to obey.
Monophysitism: the concept that Christ has a single inseparable nature that is at once divine and human rather than having two distinct but unified natures

And these are just a handful of the many, all of which were popular at the time, but like all man-made creations, did not withstand the test of time.

So why is the belief in God still so strong?

First, because God created man in his own image.

The sceptics may sneer as much as they like, it is forever true that man will always exhibit characteristics of godliness that spring naturally from his innermost being. The most evil person will, at times, do some surprisingly nice things and that is why there is some good in the worst human being. And you must never doubt that!

Second, because God implanted in man the facility to reason.

True, man's reasoning can be deeply flawed, but nevertheless he has that reasoning ability, and it is doubtful if angels can be compared to a man in that respect.

Even so-called "savages" can gaze at the sky and observe the elements and reason out that something, or someone superior, has been at work, and deserve some respect. It is because of this, that primitive people, who never had contact with the "modern world", were observed worshipping images that they made; to represent their notion of god.

Of course, a more enlightened observation of the sky evoked a quite different response from King David, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." (Psalm 19:1)

The third reason is that God is not coercive.

When you think about this you really have to marvel. Can you imagine buying a couple of dogs and every chance they get they bite you. When you feed them, they try to bite you. When you bathe them, they try to bite you. Every chance they get, they slap a bite on your person. Truthfully, tell me what you would do?

How often do we, yes committed Christian and all, say things like; why is God allowing that to happen? If I was God, I will never tolerate that? God should do something here, for this is bare foolishness.

I put my hand up, because I know I am guilty of at least thinking like that sometimes.

But God is not about compulsion, even though he has the power to enforce his will.

Rather, He is about persuasion, and allowing us free choice. God will never force anyone to believe in him, and as a result, some will see compelling evidence for doing so, and still reject it and Him. The Bible pleads time and again, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Matthew 11:15) and whatever the response to truth and revelation no force will be used because believing in God will never be compulsory.

Enough said.

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Dr. Henderson Ward received his Doctor of Divinity in theology, with distinction, from Masters International School of Divinity, USA, where he is currently a post-doctoral fellow. Dr. Ward's career involved pastoring, evangelism, and teaching. Copyright 2017

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