James Kraft 74 year old retired pipeline worker

You can lead a horse to water, but you can not make him drink. There is nothing you can do. People believe what they want to believe, and unless they repent, and change their mind, we can do nothing. We can only pray for them that God will lead someone to them that will convince them of the truth. 

You can give them scripture after scripture, but if they will not believe it, then we have done all we can do. John 3:18 Unbelievers are under the wrath of God because they have not believed on the name of the Son of God.

July 05 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

I would agree that God does reveal Himself in nature from the standpoint of an expansive and orderly universe (Psalms 19:1-6; Romans 1:18-21). But that is not the only way He does so.

Another way is through what C. S. Lewis referred to as the "Law of Human Nature" (which was also referred to in former times simply as the "Law of Nature").

It was referred to as "the Law of Nature" because it was thought that all people (regardless of the time or culture in which they were born or lived) had an innate knowledge of it -- a way in which humans were supposed to behave and interact. Yet, despite this awareness, no humans were ever capable of perfectly conforming their behavior to it. (Paul made this same point in speaking of the inborn human conscience (Romans 2:12-16). And, as with any law (particularly in the case of one that God has instituted), there are consequences for violating it, which (in the case of humans) result in eternal separation from Him.)

However, as indicated in the Bible (yet another way in which He has revealed Himself), God in grace (undeserved favor) and mercy provided a means to escape those consequences. He did this through the incarnation of Christ, who was both fully, truly God and truly, fully human. He obeyed God's Law perfectly, and then took upon Himself the penalty for the disobedience of all the rest of humanity by His death, and proved that that action had been sufficient in God's eyes through His bodily resurrection from the dead. So anyone who places their faith in the redemption that He accomplished can now obtain the eternal life that He had achieved and vicariously gained for them.

I would recommend that your friend apply the same study and thought to God's presence and teachings through the way in which He has Himself revealed in the Bible (and particularly in the gospel accounts of Christ's life) as she currently does to His revelation in nature. I would also recommend that she read the short book Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, which is fully viewable/readable for free online at https://www.truthaccordingtoscripture.com/documents/apologetics/mere-christianity/Mere-Christianity.pdf

July 06 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report