Thoughts for the Unbeliever

Just sent to me from a friend...

THOUGHTS FOR THE UNBELIEVER
By the (late) Reverend James Montgomery Boice, Th.D.

1. If there is no God, then I am a law unto myself and can do as I please. But of course, life then has no more meaning than I can give to it, and there is nothing beyond. If there is a God, then I am made like Him and owe Him a corresponding allegiance and worship. My problem begins with the realization that I have not done that and must therefore be the object of His great displeasure.

2. If there is a God, that God has either revealed Himself or He has not. If He has not, I am back in the same place as if there was no God, for all practical purposes. On the other hand, if God has revealed Himself (as we have every right to expect He would do), then it is my duty to seek out that revelation and make my way to Him. My problem is compounded by that duty because I have not sought Him. On the contrary, I have run from Him and have tried every means to banish His presence and influence from my life.

3. Jesus may be just another religious teacher. If so, His teachings can be used or not, as they prove helpful or unhelpful. But if He is more than a religious teacher, if He is God come in human flesh, as He claimed, then His teachings demand more than just a casual perusal. They demand belief and obedience. I am in trouble here because I have not believed in Him or obeyed Him.

4. If Jesus is not God, then His death and His teachings about its meaning are unimportant, though they were obviously important to Him. But if he is God, then His death is of the utmost importance. He taught – and He must be believed if he is God – that no one will ever be saved who does not believe that he died in the his place to satisfy the just wrath of God against the sinner. That means that if I have not believed in Jesus as my Savior, I am doomed to suffer for my own sins when I eventually appear before God to give an accounting of all I have done or failed to do.5. If there is a heaven and a hell, it is only common sense and enlightened self-interest for me to do everything I can do to gain the former and avoid the latter.