I Believe in God, Just Not Jesus
Why Jesus?
In our final post of the year and on our study of Christology, I don’t want to answer a particular question but address those who believe in God, just not in Jesus. In essence, this is an open letter, presenting what I believe to be the best arguments for why all theists should be Christians. On the exact topic of why people who believe in God should believe the God of the Bible, Dr. William Lane Craig states, “Becasue it’s the truth. That’s the bottom line. If this is really the truth, then you should believe in it. If it’s false, then you shouldn’t.” I couldn’t think of a better quote to use to begin this post. My goal in having you believe the God of the Bible is not because of some heritage or a certain way in which you were raised. It’s not even because of the popularity that Christianity has in America above all other countries. My sole reason for having you believe in the God of the Bible is because I believe it to be 100% true. I’m not trying to persuade you to accept my opinion on something over someone else’s, I’m trying to get you to see the truth. And when all is said and done, the truth that I believe to be so crystal clear is that the God revealed to us in scripture, is the one true God of the universe. With that, let’s dive in.
The Bible & The Prophets
To start, I think it will come as a surprise to nobody that my biggest argument for believing in the God of the Bible is because the Bible says so. Right away you might be thinking that this isn’t a fair standard to use because not everyone who believes in God believes in the Bible being His word. And at first, you’d be right to have those precautions. However, when we look at when and how the Bible was written, I think that this book is a huge piece of evidence that reveals why the Christian God is to be believed becasue of the reliability of the Bible itself. According to ICR.org, “The Bible has proven to be more historically and archaeologically accurate than any other ancient book. It has been subjected to the minutest scientific textual analysis possible to humanity and has been proven to be authentic in every way.” It is these types of tests that God’s Word has passed time and time again, and with results like this, it’s easy to see why you should at least give some thought to the validity of scripture over other religious documents. There’s a reason why in this book alone we find that the scriptures reveal themselves to be all-sufficient in truth. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us, “16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” If the Bible has withstood the test of time and proven to be historically accurate in all its writings, then we can see that God inspired all of these words and passages, which lead us straight to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The reason that scripture points us to Jesus Himself being the promised Messiah is because this is simply what God wanted to show and reveal to His people. It is no accident that the gospels are the center and foundation of all the scriptures. God has intended from the beginning, that Christ would be the mediator for our sin, and the means by which we can achieve salvation.
Furthermore, one of the best reasons and answers that I give for believing in Christ as the Son of God is because of the prophecies made about Him. I’ve addressed in earlier posts what the chances are that Jesus would fulfill just a few of the prophecies made about Him, not even all 300, and the numbers are just staggering. When we look at the timeframe of when the books of the major and minor prophets were written, we see that these prophecies took place hundreds of years before the birth of Christ ever took place. This means, that the prophecies that all of these men wrote down from God not only were written way before Jesus was born but that these prophecies were all in agreement with one another as well. Think about this for a second, 16 prophets wrote down specific prophecies about the coming Messiah and all that He will fulfill. Not one of these prophecies disagreed with or countered another. There were prophecies on the name of this Messiah, how He would die, what He would say, the miracles He would perform, and even the location of His birth. And not one of these prophets contradicted another. This should lead many to at least consider the God that communicated to these prophets to be the God of the universe. While there are plenty of religions out there that believe in a god but not in Christ, these religions must believe that all these prophets were false prophets or that all of these prophecies have yet to be fulfilled. And as we have seen clearly through this series, that is a very shaky foundation to build your house on, to say the least. This is why Peter so clearly mentions in 2 Peter 1:21 “21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
The Grace Of God
Finally, the last and yet most overlooked reason I have for believing in Jesus as the Son of God, is because of the grace of God. I can already sense the confusion on this one. ‘Don’t all religions view their God as gracious? What does grace have to do with the God of the Bible that separates itself from every other god?’ While these are valid questions and the arguments can certainly be made, the grace of God is seen in its fullest capacity when viewed through the sacrifice of Christ. Almost every other religion that believes in an afterlife believes that you get there through some sort of good works by your own merit. As long as you do more good than bad with your life, you can expect to be in heaven someday with your god. This is the way of almost every religion outside of Christianity. If you want to experience a good afterlife, do good with the majority of your life. Christianity on the other hand does not uphold this view. Sure, the Bible commands us to do good, but it is not by our good works that we achieve salvation. God knew from the beginning of time, that if salvation was left up to mankind and their ability to do good, no one would be saved. The sacrifice of Christ was not made for the few who just couldn’t be good enough to enter heaven, it was made for everyone because we all fall short of achieving salvation. This view gives an entirely different perspective of the grace of God that no other viewpoint has. It’s one thing to say your God is gracious because He gave you a chance to get to heaven, it’s another thing to say that your God is gracious because even when He knew you couldn’t be saved, He did what was necessary to save you Himself. That’s why Ephesians 2:8 tells us, “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;” That is some powerful, loving, all-sufficient grace right there. When all is said and done, I believe that when held to the flame against all other views of theism, Christianity is the most accurate and true viewpoint to observe the triune God of the universe. When put to the test, I believe the grace of God, the prophets of God, and the very Word of God show us that following Christ is not just a popular religion, but rather, it is a lifestyle that is followed simply because it is true.
Sources
[1] “Access Your Bible from Anywhere.” BibleGateway.Com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages., www.biblegateway.com/. Accessed 2023.
[2] drcraigvideos. (2013, August 20). William Lane Craig Q&A: Why should I believe in Christianity? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NbPb2AcDJk
[3] Historical Accuracy | The Institute for Creation Research. (n.d.). https://www.icr.org/biblical-record
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