12/10/23

Atheists, Gnostics, Backsliders

What is an atheist? An atheist is someone who does not believe in the existence of God or any intelligent Supreme Being.

Gnosticism came about in the first century. The men who formed this cult were a group of philosophers who gave the impression that they alone had a proper knowledge of the Christian religion. From these men came a system of religion that agreed with the philosophy of Plato and Pythagoreans. Using these two false belief systems as a foundation, they adjusted, adapted, and applied their interpretations to the Scriptures.

They hold that nature is the agent, creator, author, and producer of all things and is the power that produced them. They argue that all of man’s intelligence, understanding, and all the materials or substance of matter by which anything is made were derived from a steady flow, source, substance, or body of nature.

Backsliders are those who have studied God’s word, understand it, and make a conscious decision to reject it. They believe in a supreme power and accept God’s plan of salvation but choose to follow after sin. In time, their sin becomes their god. As cancer slowly eats away at a person’s body, so will their sin. They bow their knee to the things of this world, unseen things, everything, anything or anyone but Jesus Christ.

All men have an awareness of God,

Romans 2:15, “The law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness.”

All men have some light of the true God. When we decide to follow God, we will begin to walk forward, gaining new light and blessings; those who oppose God will remain in darkness.

Question: What about those who live in a remote place who have never heard of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Are these people lost? How can God judge these people, find them guilty, and send them to hell? If God does this, what kind of a God is He?

What about these questions?

Let’s ask the fundamental question concerning this matter. Does God judge these people, or do these people judge themselves?

Romans 1:18-20, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest (is apparent) in them (the ungodly,) for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things = (things not seen by the eye) of Him (God) from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made (the creation), even His (God’s) eternal power and Godhead (God’s divine nature); so that they (atheists, Gnostics, and backsliders) are without excuse.”

Let’s take a closer look.

Because of the universal corruption of humanity, “God’s anger is revealed from heaven.” This corruption kindled God’s judgment, and He called for the punishment of the world from the time of Adam.

Genesis 3:17-18-19, “— In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it was thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

1. God has declared all people to be corrupt.

Gen.6:5, “The wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

1 John 1:10, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him (God) a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Don’t think for a moment man has changed. If anything, humanity has grown more violent and intolerable as human life is believed to be nothing.

2. God has shown that even the Jews, having been given a special blessing, were far more wicked than the pagan Gentile nations.

3. Because God has shown that all men are wicked and can not be saved by their works, nor by the law, they need a Savior.

Our Judge, Jesus Christ, has two witnesses to be called against those who have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of these two witnesses, those who have never heard of Jesus’, or the Gospel will be without excuse. So, who are these two witnesses?

The first witness is the creation itself.

When you look at a house, you know there was an architect, a builder, laborers, etc. The place did not come together by itself. Everyone will admit to this. But when we talk of a system a million times more complex, the same people will deny the hand of the Almighty, rejecting His magnificent work. The cause of the creation is Jesus Christ; the effect is fire, earth, water, life, space, time, and matter.

Colossians 1:16, “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible.” With,

Hebrews 1:3, Jesus, “Upholding all things by the word of His power.”

Not only do atheists and Gnostics say the things of the universe came together by chance, but they also state that non-life produced life, non-intelligence produced intelligence, and nothing produced feeling, emotions, love, music, etc.

Can these brilliant men be right that nothing produced everything? Nonsense!

Romans 1:19, “That which may be known of God is manifest (evident) in them (sinners); for God hath shewed it unto them.”

How were sinners shown the evidence of God?

Rom.1:20, “For the invisible things of Him (God) from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His (God’s) eternal power and Godhead (Divine nature); so that they (sinners) are without excuse.”

Granted, people in these remote places have never had a written revelation of Jesus Christ or the Gospel. But God has shown Himself to them through His Creation. This is God’s first witness. The visible beauty, order, and operations are all observable in the constitution and parts of this world.

To say there is no Creator, Architect, Designer, or Intelligence that fashioned this complex system would be to say that this earth, man, and nature itself are not real but a figment of our imaginations.

My reply is, “If man and nature are not real, imagination cannot exist. And if this were true, how can one imagine having an imagination?

The outward creation (nature) is not the parent or that which produced the creation but the interpreter of God. In other words, the creation or nature itself becomes an intelligible and articulate proof that there was and is a Creator God.

Therefore, the unseen things of God are seen in his finished work of the visible creation; this is the first witness, the outward witness against all who do not acknowledge a Supreme God.

Mark 16:16, “He that believeth not shall be damned = (condemned.)”

The Second Witness:

Man’s conscience is the second witness, the inward witness to our spirit.

Romans 2:13-14-15, “The doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles (people other than Jews) which have not the law, (Mosaic law) do by nature (a person’s moral sense) the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean (between themselves) while accusing or else excusing one another.”

Some Christians understand that they have been favored with Divine revelation from the Holy Spirit. Others believe that those without any revelation of God’s saving grace shall perish; this is not a true statement.

Because we can observe God’s creation everywhere, and because all men have a conscience (which acts as a law unto men), and where God has provided law, He requires obedience.

Man is to honor God in things seen. They are to judge by their conscience concerning right and wrong and observe the law given to them. Only those who live righteously and according to the light given them and the privileges granted them shall be justified.

We can read about this in Hebrews 11. The following are saved by the faith and the things they have received from God. They had never heard of Jesus Christ or the Gospel but believed God in the things revealed to them. Examples follow.

1. Abel offered God a more excellent sacrifice, witnessing his righteousness.

2. Enoch was taken into heaven before he died, never seeing death. Why? Because he pleased God. Enoch believed God, as we must all do. We must believe that “God is, and that He (God) is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

3. “Noah, being warned by God of the coming flood, moved with fear, prepared an ark, and he and his family were all saved.

4. Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave his home and go to a strange land. He traveled to a land God promised him and was given the land as an inheritance. His sons and their sons inherited the promises made to Abraham for all time.

5. Rahab, the harlot, heard how the Jews had crossed the Red Sea and defeated two great kings; she believed from her having heard. Rahab was not an eyewitness but only listened to what the Lord had done for the Jews, and she believed. For this faith, Rahab was saved by God.

These are but a few of the Biblical characters who were saved by faith in the things that God had given them. Jesus, His works, and His Gospel were yet future. Therefore, from the time of Christ to this very day, anyone who has NOT heard of Jesus Christ or His Gospel will be judged by the things that have been revealed, either through the creation or their conscience. Some will still doubt and ask, “How could this be?”

Revelation 13:8, Jesus Christ was “The lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” which came from the Father’s eternal counsels. Also,

I Peter 1:20, Jesus Christ, “Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest (revealed) in these last times for you (Christians).”

We needed a Savior before the foundations of the world were laid; this was the foreknowledge of God. He is never surprised or bewildered by our deeds, thoughts, or actions. Why? Because He is, All in All, knowing all things.

These O.T. believers understood what Jehovah had promised. In the Garden of Eden, God promised a Savior, a Messiah who would eventually defeat death and hell.

Genesis 3:14-15, “It (Christ, the promised Savior) shall bruise thy (Satan’s) head.”

Hebrews 11:1, we read, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for.”

Coupled with obedience, faith is, was, and always will be accepted and rewarded. All righteousness, all obedience, all faith became effectual by the blood of Jesus Christ. When you believe in God, you have His promises.

Romans 2:14, “When the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law.”

Although Gentiles had not yet been given a revelation from God, He had given them a certain amount of truth written in their hearts.

If they act according to justice, mercy, temperance, and truth, the doing of which the revealed law so powerfully orders and directs, these people have become a law unto themselves. They are not accountable to any other law and are not to be judged by any dispensation different from that under which they live. So, they are a law unto themselves.

They will then reason with one another, either accusing lawbreakers or answering various civil and moral law points. If their conduct in the civil affairs of their community is correct and a form of natural justice in their deliberations in both their courts of law and in their written compositions on morality, then this would serve as evidence that God has not left them without any light.

Seeing they have a correct idea of right and wrong and act appropriately, they would be accountable in these areas and point to God for their conduct.

But after having seen the wonders of the creation, they still reject a Creator and are without a conscience concerning proper morality; it is written,

Romans 1:22, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”

Those who profess to be wise can be seen in every nation and all religious systems. Man has invented many forms of religion, ways to worship, and objects or people to honor. Hinduism has its’ gurus. Philosophers abound in all civilized countries. People of science, men of war, men of peace, wise men, soothsayers, people of magic, dynamic people, political people, and others having hidden arts with their specialized form of deception are honored and followed.

2 Timothy 3:15, “From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

The apostle says that knowledge of the Scriptures will make men wise concerning the salvation set before them through faith in Jesus Christ. The Jews knew the Scriptures concerning the law from childhood, yet because they rejected Jesus, they were lost. Why? Because Jesus is the end of their law to justify all that believe.

Receiving God:

Light or truth obeyed increases light and truth. The creation and man’s conscience only bring us to the threshold of God. We must yet enter into His Kingdom. Many bear witness to God’s creation and deal with a conscience, yet they choose not to receive the saving grace of Jesus Christ, not being interested in His ways. They become vain in their imaginations refusing the light, and by refusing light, darkness will increase.

When we put the truth we have to good use, God will feed us more truths. His comes from a burning desire to know more about God, to hear Him, and to be obedient to His will.

So many churches have become wells without water. What’s lacking is the knowledge and understanding of saving faith.

Jesus said, Rev.3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup (dine) with him, and he with me.” — “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” So, what is our answer?

If you hunger to know more about Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit, His Gifts, and the promise of eternal salvation, you have triggered the reception factor. We must obey and surrender to His will.

The Answerable Factor: 

How will men be judged? Will it be by the sins we have committed or by the light and the truth we have received or rejected? The answer is found in Romans.

Romans 2:1, “Thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judge:”

Romans 2:5-6, “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasure up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God: Who will render to every man according to his deeds.”

Romans 2:9-11, “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil… but glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good. For there is no respect of persons with God.”

On that great day of judgment, when many stand before God, the two witnesses, nature and conscience, will be brought forth to testify for or against us.

The answer to the question is this: Worry not about those in some remote place of the world who have never heard of the Gospel. Concern yourself with yourself. We have been given much here in Alabama and America. Bibles and churches abound. Pastors, teachers, and Bible study classes abound. We are surrounded by the things God has provided for us.

So ask yourself, “What are you doing with the gifts you have given you so plentifully?” If you refuse or neglect these gifts, “What will be the consequences?”

Luke 12:48, Jesus said, “But he that knew NOT, and did commit things (sins) worthy of stripes (punishment), shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”

All the evidence we need can be found in the creation. Our consciences give each a sense of right and wrong; ignorance is no excuse. Why? Because to every person, God has given some light, His instruction written in our hearts.

For those who neglect or reject the word, the Judge of this world will deal out to each his righteous punishment in proportion to the neglected blessings they had received.

Those who have been given a little light and have had only a few means of improving will suffer few stripes and be judged only for abusing the knowledge they possess.

Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com