About 4 minutes to read
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
John 3:19-20 (KJV)
That is the real objection. It is not that God has hidden himself. It is that we do not want to be seen, and that was once true of me. So set the arguments down and answer honestly. No one is watching but God.
I am a good person
You have lied, and no lie is too small for God to count. You have taken what was not yours, whether money or time or credit. Jesus said that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:28). John calls hatred murder (1 John 3:15), and you know whether you have hated. God’s name has been a curse in your mouth, or a word that meant nothing, and he will not hold that man guiltless (Exodus 20:7). And have you loved God with all your heart for a single hour? You have not even thanked him for the breath you argue with.
Perhaps you hope the good you have done will outweigh the bad. It will not. Whoever keeps the whole law and yet breaks it in one point is guilty of all (James 2:10), because the God who said do not commit adultery also said do not kill (James 2:11). Break his law at any point and you have defied the one who gave all of it.
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Romans 3:19 (KJV)
Jesus said that evil thoughts, adulteries, murders, thefts and deceit come from within, out of the heart (Mark 7:21-23). Ask yourself whether you want to be free of your sins, or only free of what they cost you. There are some you would keep if you could keep them without the judgment, and that is what it means to love darkness. You are not a good man with a few faults and some questions. You are a sinner by nature and by choice. You were born that way, a child of Adam, and Paul says we were all by nature the children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). I do not say it from above you. The same law shut my mouth.
Then what hope is there for me?
Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
Luke 15:1-2 (KJV)
His enemies meant it as a charge, and it is the best news you will ever hear. Christ came for sinners exactly like you. He kept the law you have broken, and on the cross he bore its curse for everyone who trusts him, and God raised him from the dead. The gospel page tells it in full.
So the call is the one Jesus preached. Repent, and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15). Turn your back on your sin, and rest on Christ alone, not your own record, to answer for you before God. You do not have to settle every question on these pages first.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isaiah 55:7 (KJV)
The unrighteous man must forsake his thoughts as well as his way, and some of those thoughts may be the objections you brought here. Leave them with the rest, and take the pardon.
- Call on him. You do not need fine words. A tax collector asked God to be merciful to him as a sinner, and Jesus said he went home justified (Luke 18:13-14).
- Read the Gospel of John. A chapter a day is enough. John wrote it so that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ and have life through his name (John 20:31).
- Hear the Word preached. Go to a faithful church this Sunday. Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), and no one has to believe anything to walk in and listen.
- Write to me. If an objection is still standing in your way, tell me what it is.