A buddy was telling me of a relative that is very unhappy and when an attempt was made to witness to them my friend received an agnostic response. Part of it went something like this: “I don’t believe all that Christian stuff. How could a good God send someone who isn’t all that bad to hell for eternity? I just don’t believe it!”
I was an atheist for a while and used to recite that same mantra, but after practicing witchcraft for a while and seeing it work time and again I became totally convinced that something was going on in the spiritual world that could not be explained any other way than demons exist. I deduced that if demons exist, then God probably did as well.
I suppose at that point I technically became an agnostic, because I no longer denied the existence of God. (An agnostic is somebody who believes that it is impossible to know whether or not God exists. They are doubters, uncertain, skeptical, and the antonym of a believer.)
I must admit that when I was in that category I didn’t spend a great deal of time thinking it through. I based my belief system on second hand information received largely through picking up bits and pieces of biblical doctrine here and there in my childhood. Admittedly my logic was twisted by hate, bitterness, anger, and resentment towards my personal situation and the world at large. I thought if there was a God He was responsible for my personal misery and therefore He was mean and I wanted nothing to do with Him.
Too, the religious people that I’d encountered in my life were to a person, self-righteous judgmental hypocrites who looked down on everyone and I had no desire to have what they were selling or to be like them in any shape, form, or fashion. I despised them and they despised me.
I’d never read the Bible and was only vaguely familiar with the Christian belief system As I look back on those days and consider the logic of sooner or later I was going to die and have to face whatever was coming, it seemed that I was rather flippant about what my eternal destiny might entail. Would it be like an on and off switch and when I breathed my last breath the lights would simply go out, or was it a case of the light switch that cannot be turned off and there would be an eternal existence that went on forever?
If so, what would that be like?
To settle that situation to my satisfaction, I decided to read the Bible and I had no doubt that I would disprove it. Instead I ended up believing it and I became a follower of Jesus Christ. I found the Bible to be entirely believable and Jesus, well, I found Him to be the most kind, compassionate, and loving person that I’d ever encountered, (and as an added bonus He didn’t like self-righteous hypocrites any more than I did).
The Bible and Jesus turned out to be nothing like my shallow knowledge of Him. Through Bible study I got the answers I needed to all of my “intellectual” questions like the creation, Garden of Eden, the arc and the flood, miracles, and the subject of how a loving God could separate those who have rejected His Son, (who died such a horrific death in order that we might live), from Himself.
I could write Words for the Day for another 15 years and never be capable of adequately explaining why I now believe the Bible. My suggestion to those who disbelieve or doubt is to read the Bible yourself before making a decision one way or the other.
We are all going to die. Then what? Do we become a lump of coal? Do we keep on living? Do we live eternally? Is there a heaven or hell? If so, how do we get to heaven?
Isn’t it worth the effort to take the necessary time to address this most important issue while there is yet time? What is more pressing in our lives than our eternal destiny? This life averages 77.9 years; eternity is forever! Isn’t it worth the effort to get serious about settling this issue before it’s too late?
Read a modern version of the Bible like the Living translation and begin reading in Romans. When finished go to Matthew and read through the entire New Testament. Stop often to reflect upon that which you’ve read. Listen to God; He will help you to understand. Skip over the parts you don’t understand for now and focus on those that are meaningful to you.
Many people including me set out to read the Bible to disprove it. The list is long and includes intellectual giants like C.S. Lewis who has written a bevy of books, world renowned scientist/cosmologist Hugh Ross who wrote his books from a scientific perspective, an investigative journalist Lee Strobel who wrote The Case for Christ from an investigative viewpoint.
God created us as free spirits. He didn’t want robots; He wanted us to follow Him because we love him because He first loved us. Make no mistake God will separate believers from unbelievers because He is holy and cannot tolerate sin or imperfection. Hell is a real place and it lasts forever. No one spoke more about its horrors than Jesus Christ Himself. It is a place of weeping, gnashing of teeth, and total darkness; a horror chamber of eternal damnation and separation from God and all that is good and righteous forever.
No one has to go there. All can go to heaven, but only if their sins have been forgiven and washed clean through the precious blood of Jesus. Heaven is the place where God lives and we will live with Him in peace, joy, and love. The Bible states that we cannot even comprehend its magnificence; (eye has not seen or ear heard the wonderful things in store for those who have accepted Jesus Christ for who He is, the resurrected living Son of God). When you kneel before God you will need Jesus as your advocate in order to be saved. The Bible tells us what God will do at the point that He sees the blood of Christ covering our sins:
Hebrews 8:12
And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”