Why believe in a god?

Why believe in a god? Just be good, for “Goodness” sake!”

INDEED! What’s all the “big deal” about believing in god? What are we, after all? Spiritual beings? Some kind of “goodie-to-shoes” kind of men and women who cannot think for ourselves or something! Why should we expose ourselves to the ridicule of the general public over a belief that we cannot put our hands on? Constantly made fun of, laughed at, criticized because of a god we cannot produce!

Maybe this atheist that created these advertisements on the side of a bus is right! You don’t have to believe in a god! Just be good. Yeah, that should do it. Just be as good as you can and the fruits of your goodness will fall down from heaven like sap down a tree trunk. Or is the “sap” YOU; for buying into that philosophy?

Okay, so we are just going to be good, for “goodness” sake! Well, after almost 30 years of studying God’s Word and trying very hard to understand all of the implications, I have come to understand “goodness” in a very different light.

In order to understand “just being good” we need to understand what “Salvation” as described in the Bible means. First of all, salvation presupposes the Fall. There is no need to restore perfection unless we no longer have it (no sin; no need to be saved from it). Therefore, salvation begins where the Fall ends; salvation is not a single event but an overarching process beginning in Genesis 3 (at paradise lost) and continues through Revelation 22 (with paradise regained). Salvation includes an Old Testament anticipation and a New Testament realization.

Salvation includes three spectacular events:
1. The official victory over sin by the Cross;
2. The practical victory over sin within believers;
3. The final victory over sin at the Second Coming.

The first benefit of salvation is “Justification” (which saves us from the penalty of sin). Then comes sanctification (being rescued from the power of sin) and finally glorification (by which we are delivered from the very presence of sin). According to scripture passages all over the Bible, salvation is a VERY big part of our earthly life. In fact, Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3 “…unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” So I guess that means that “salvation” is very much a part of being “good for goodness sake”.

Here’s the bottom line (for those who still want to appease the “world”). Jesus said, “Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again?” (Mark 9:50a) So, if we are JUST good, and we lose our “goodness”, with what will we make ourselves good again? Does that make sense? Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I’m a sinner; you’re a sinner. And all the goodness in the world will not wash away the sin in or lives. God IS the goodness we need in our lives. You know what I think when I read that a notable “atheist” has made a statement like this? I think…”Well, he’s obviously been reading someone else’s mail”. You cannot be “good enough” to obtain the salvation talked about above.

Why believe in God? BECAUSE EVERY SECOND OF YOUR ETERNITY DEPENDS ON IT, THAT’S WHY! Don’t believe me? That’s fine. Just be good, for goodness sake and see where you end up in God’s plan. You know, someone once said to me, “You know, its alright to believe you came from a monkey but I choose to believe that I was created in the image of God. Anyway, if I believe I came from God and at the end of life, find out I was wrong, all I’ve done is tried to live an “upstanding” moral life, based on God’s Word whereas if you believe you came from a monkey and turn out to be wrong…

Dave