Question of the Week: How do I respond to someone who claims they believe Jesus is God and died for our sins, but rejects the Bible?
The best response to statements and beliefs that aren’t entirely thought through is to ask the individual to explain how they came to that conclusion. If they believe Jesus existed, then the question to ask is where they found out about Him. If they believe Jesus died in a particular way for a particular reason, the question to ask is how they got ahold of that information. If they believe Jesus is God, the question is what exactly they mean by God. If the answer to all of these questions is that they have personally decided these things are true, then there’s only one question left to ask. Can the Jesus you made up save you? If they’re being honest, the answer is going to be no. If they refuse to answer, then they’ve demonstrated one thing about their beliefs. Truth doesn’t matter. At that point, there’s nothing you can do apart from pray for them. Until God softens their hearts and they are willing to acknowledge the truth, you can present it to them all day and it won’t make any difference. God doesn’t force someone to believe the truth if they don’t want to. He will allow them to believe a lie. We should follow that example until the individual decides that knowing the truth about God matters.
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NKJV)
If someone rejects the Bible, they are rejecting the only collection of documents that historically date to the culture, time, and setting that Jesus of Nazareth came from. When it comes to the kind of God Jesus claimed to be, you would only be settling for less if you rejected the four biographies written about His life and teachings known as the Gospels. When it comes to the historical death of Jesus, you wouldn’t find a better record of how and why He died then the eyewitnesses that reported it first-hand. If you reject the Bible, you’re rejecting a historical record centered around the person of Jesus Christ. Anyone who wants to know anything about Him will always start there. Anyone who rejects the most reliable records we have about His life isn’t interested in who Jesus was. They are simply attaching the name and actions of Jesus to an image in their minds. A fake Jesus can’t save you. The Jesus of History is willing to do so if you ask.
A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson
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