I wrote yesterday about atheists, as if it's cut and dried. It is, as it turns out, not so clear. The truth, as it turns out, is that most of us tend toward atheism in some form or another. We all know about the atheist who affirms boldly, "There is no god at all." We also know about that agnostic who takes the easier route. "I don't know if there is a god, but I'm betting we can't tell and there probably isn't." And, of course, both of these operate on a spectrum from absolute certainty to shrugs and questions. But they're not the only type of atheists out there.
Atheists live their lives without regard to God's commands or perspectives. They substitute themselves as the god of their own lives. As it turns out, most of us do the same to varying degrees. Self-styled "Christians" will claim to believe in God and then proceed to tell you that He is definitely not the God the Bible makes Him out to be. Wrath? No way. Justice? Don't be silly. But even Bible-believing Christians can do this. "Yes, I know it says that God works all things together for good, but it sure doesn't seem that way right now." "Sure, the Bible says He is the only Sovereign" (1 Tim 6:15) "but that doesn't mean He's the only Sovereign. He's given us sovereignty, too." And beyond all this theoretical and doctrinal stuff there is the practical issue. We might all agree there is a God, but we absolutely do not live that way. Every sin we commit (and we all do) is done in the face of God, not in agreement with Him. We all, at times, act as if there is no God to our own shame and detriment. There are philosophical atheists, but we are all, at times, practical atheists ourselves.
Atheism, then, takes many forms. There is the blatant "There is no God" declaration and a life that supports it. There is the "I believe in God" declaration with beliefs that deny it. And there is the "I believe in God" declaration with a life that sometimes doesn't reflect it. Which only goes to show we humans have a problem. Fortunately the God we deny either directly or indirectly has solutions to that problem -- unearned salvation or well-earned damnation. Which solution do you want?
4 comments:
Sinning by Christians is in no way a sign of atheism. It's a sign we are indeed carnal creatures with sin natures. To believe in Christ as our Savior, sent to us for that very reason, is acknowledging God, not denying Him. We fall prey to our fallen selves...despite how much we pray...and yet believe, trust and put our hope in Him. A sign of belief, not atheism.
What do you mean by this: "He's given us sovereignty, too." Is this a reference to free will? Giving us free will doesn't diminish God's sovereignty. It isn't possible. I only ask because it's come up between us in the past.
I guess I don't communicate well. I thought I was saying there are different forms of atheism, some overt and some unconscious. A sinning Christian doesn't fall in the overt category; we fall in the "practical atheist" category -- unconscious. We believe, but we're acting like we don't.
And, no, I'm not talking about free will. If there is no free will at all, then we can't be held culpable for our choices (since they don't actually exist). I'm talking about Autonomy, about absolute free will.
If your free will can override God's Sovereign Will, then He isn't Sovereign.
"If your free will can override God's Sovereign Will, then He isn't Sovereign."
I don't know how this is even possible.
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