One of our readers made the following point in the form of a parable…

“Here is something to think about. A man robbed someone and left the person to die. He asks God for forgiveness and he does the same crime again. He remains being a thief until he dies, always asking to be forgiven [and goes to Heaven]. This is why just asking to be forgiven is injustice.”

Of course, there is Christian theology that can be countered to this illustration by quoting verses about repeated sin, a lack of change in one’s life that demonstrates the Holy Spirit’s activity, etc. But, in the end, the Biblical Christian is forced to admit that we remain sinners throughout our lives, and there are those weaknesses each of us have in certain areas that both our sin nature and Satan take advantage of. Sanctification is a process of drawing closer to God over time, but never reaching perfection. Finally, the wise agnostic can always throw the unmerited salvation of the thief on the cross as an example of God’s ways being different from our ways, as a form of injustice. So… my response to this long time reader was to double down…

I Responded…

Let me offer you an illustration…. Billions of people are born, live a full life and die, go to Hell for eternity never having heard the name “Jesus” in their lives…. To me, as a man, that is even more “injustice”, by God. Yet, I have faith that there is a reason for this reality because the Bible also presents the reality that God sent His Son to die on the cross to offer a release of sin for all those who hear and believe, by faith. I can neither explain why God will forgive sin seven times seven, nor can I explain why God allows billions to live without hearing the eternal truth about His Son. Again, its all about faith. 

Theology

Part of my testimony is that I was drawn to Christ through apologetics (head knowledge) but was saved through faith (heart knowledge). That is the way I approach evangelism.

There are, of course, “Sunday School” answers to the conundrum(s) brought out in this short article. However, unless you are a seeker, and God is drawing you to Himself in an active way, it is difficult to logically respond to atheists and agnostics who don’t see a loving, compassionate God when viewing Him through the lens of a logic-based, purely human perspective.