I’ll bet there are folks out there who see this meme (helpfully supplied by an internet atheist community) and think “ya, why not just our forgive sins?” Maybe you’re one of those people.
First of all, I can confidently write that God is NOT trying to impress anyone. When you’re the creator of time, space and the universe, trying to impress anyone (even Himself) is just silly.
Second, this quote (by one of the world’s best-known atheists) displays a blatant ignorance — or outright rejection — of who God is.
Is God merciful? Yes. Does God want to forgive us for all the wrong things we’ve done and right things we’ve failed to do? Absolutely.
But God is also something else: perfect. And that’s His baseline standard for everything, whether we like it or not.
So why doesn’t He just forgive us? Well, why do we have courts? Why can’t we just ignore the dude who killed that guy in a bar fight? Why don’t we just overlook how she faked having cancer in order to bilk people out of thousands of dollars?
If these examples offend your sense of justice, then imagine how our creator feels about our greed, our self-centredness, our violence, our willful ignorance and our cultural belief that we “deserve” the good life.
Is God judge and jury? You bet He is. Execution victim? Yes, that too.
If that last point seems strange, then understand that this is how it goes with those who follow Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God): Knowing that we could never do enough or be enough to earn our way into Heaven, God paved the way for us. That way is through believing in and following Jesus.
One of Jesus’s followers describes Him this way: “He never sinned, and he never told a lie”. This is important and you’ll soon read why.
Jesus spent three years traveling around the Middle East with a band of followers, telling people the Kingdom of God (represented by Him) was near. He proved it by healing diseases, raising people from the dead and preaching revolutionary ideas like loving your enemies, refusing to retaliate when a wrong has been done to you and praying for those who hate you.
Then Jesus allowed conniving religious authorities to arrest him on trumped-up charges and convince political leaders to hand Him the ultimate punishment: death on a cross.
What they didn’t realize is that this death would pave the way to Heaven for anyone who believes in and follows Jesus. He paid the price that we should be paying.
Now, when God sees any Jesus follower, He doesn’t see the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we’ve failed to do. He only sees perfection. It’s like Jesus transferred His perfection onto anyone who believes in Him and follows Him.
There. I’ve done my best to explain why God doesn’t just forgive our sins. As you can see, He goes even further than that — sacrificing His Son for everyone who believes in Jesus.
Does this make sense? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.
Frank's Cottage 
That’s a great explanation! Quite simple and easy to get, and quite factual and Biblical. What many fail to get is that God has more than just one attribute. He is love, just, judge, all of that. Our problem is we don’t get it so we assume it must not be true. Good post.
Oh mean to ask. Do you object to your posts being shared?
Hi Wally: PLEASE share! These blogs are meant for Christians to use for evangelism. 👍😊
You’ve explained it perfectly here, Frank! So beautiful, I have to share! Thank you for the inspiration!
That’s the idea, Martha. Share so your non-Christian friends will see it! 😊👍😊👍
[…] First of all, I can confidently write that God is NOT trying to impress anyone. When you’re the creator of time, space and the universe, trying to impress anyone (even Himself) is just silly…….read the rest of the post here: JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTION VICTIM | Frank’s Cottage […]
Thank you for writing this. 😉
Great post!
[…] JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTION VICTIM […]
No. Sorry. To an atheist it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. In fact it sounds nonsense to me.
Perhaps you could explain why a brutal execution was necessary without the dogma?
Thanks
Sadly, nothing I ever write about this will make sense to athiests. My experiences have suggested they are usually blind to any way of thinking other than their own.
More importantly, this blog is not aimed at atheists. While they are, of course, welcome to read it, Frank’s Cottage is aimed at people who are open to spirituality. I truly, truly hope that one day, YOU will be one of those people. 🙂
If I said was open to spirituality, what exactly do I have to do to avail myself of it?
Start by believing you have a soul. Then believe there has to be *something* behind all we see and experience.
And why do you think I should believe I have a soul? Based upon evidence or simply accept the word of one such as you?
And once again what is this something and where is the evidence for it?
Then don’t believe it. There will NEVER be empirical evidence to satisfy atheists. NEVER. And it grieves deeply me that atheists are open to nothing but empirical evidence. 😦
Then how on earth do you know what you believe is true?
It’s a mixture of evidence and faith. But surely you know that already.
Okay, this I accept. Let’s start with evidence. Tell me.
I’m not going to run through all the evidence here. That would be an entire series of blogs and that’s NOT what Frank’s Cottage is about. Please consult the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (www.CARM.org) for that.
Carm is a fundamentalist organisation run by matt slick, and does not discuss any verifiable evidence.
You said you were convinced by evidence, Frank. You have stated as much when discussing how you followed Jesus while the rest of your family did not.
Tell me about this evidence.
I’ve already answered question. If you don’t like where I’ve referred you, there are many, many other websites you could visit. For example, try www.http://rzim.org/
No, Frank, all you are doing is like you always do.
Why are you so afraid to engage?
The truth is not afraid.
Tell me what evidence convinced you. This is all I ask.
I’m just not interested in engaging with atheists who believe I’m a deluded idiot. And Frank’s Cottage is not meant for atheists, it’s meant for people who are open to spirituality. It saddens me that I must repeatedly tell you that.
Who says I’m not? This is one reason I continually ask what convinced you.
I don’t think you are a deluded idiot and I have never called you one.
You are convinced of the veracity of what you believe and continually state your belief is a mixture of faith and evidence. So for my sake, let’s start with the evidence.
Please tell me what was the evidence that convinced you.
How difficult can that be, for goodness’ sake?
http://wp.me/p2wzRb-iZ
http://wp.me/p2wzRb-ix
http://wp.me/p2wzRb-go
I discuss evidence in these blogs.
Thank you . I shall go and look in a minute. I do hope this is genuine stuff and not simply more Christian apologetic stuff, Frank.
In the end, whether atheists like what I write or not simply cannot concern me. Frank’s Cottage is meant for people who are open to spirituality. That’s what I’m called to do and I am doing my imperfect best to answer that calling.
No, no no! This is not evidence of the god you worship. This is a worldview based on a presuppositional belief begun by men thousands of years ago with nothing whatsoever to back their claims. Nothing!
”The universe is evidence of God”
Where, how and WHAT god?
Even if this were the case, that a deity was responsible how do you know it
is the deity you worship?
What evidence do you have for his humongous claim?
Tell me, Frank. Please.
It saddens me greatly that you’re interpreting things though an atheist mindset — a mindset that doesn’t appear open to change or open to spirituality. So, unfortunately, there’s no reason to continue this conversation. Goodbye.