Introduction
Why do some people believe in God and others don’t. Why do some believe in a ‘higher power’, but don’t attempt to figure out what (or who) that higher power is? These are interesting questions with a variety of answers. In this post I provide scriptural answers to these questions, focusing on the necessity of the Holy Spirit to have belief in God.
Scripture 1 – Romans 8:7
Let’s look at the first passage of scripture, Romans 8:7 (NIV) – The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
According to this verse, an unbeliever’s mind is hostile to God. Therefore, it is impossible for an unbeliever to please God. The verse also states that an unbeliever does not submit to God’s law. Why not? Because it cannot – he/she is unable to follow God’s law. The writer of Hebrews says: And without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6 NIV).
What are the implications of this? Clearly, since an unbeliever is unable to submit to God’s law, the unbeliever cannot put their faith in God. As a result, they cannot please God. This is a sobering spiritual truth. If a person dies as an unbeliever, they can never please God. They are dead in their sins, resulting in eternal separation from the living God.
What enables a person to submit to God? The next scripture will answer this question.
Scripture 2 – 1 Corinthians 2:14
1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV) reads as follows: The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them.
The first scripture informs us that a mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God. Such a mind cannot submit to God and can therefore never please God. This second scripture explains how a person can submit and obey God – by having the spirit of God in them. It is a necessity for a person to have the spirit of God to be able submit to God. Without the Holy Spirit in a person’s life, they are hostile to God. This hostility does not necessarily mean they are evil, rather that they do not want to submit to God.
Just a couple of days ago a good friend of mine in the UK said he was happy “I had found something to believe in, but it wasn’t for him.” I had briefly shared my testimony and my wife’s testimony. (She was a Muslim until she asked God to show her who he was and she had a transformational vision of Jesus in our home!). But he was not interested. A person without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. The more I share with people, the more this scripture rings true. An unbeliever does not have the spirit of God. Thus, the gospel is foolish and they cannot understand things from the Spirit of God.
Scripture 3 – 2 Corinthians 4:4
A key reason for a person having a hostile mind to God is spiritual warfare. 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV) says: In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
This verse introduces the god of this world as blinding the minds of the unbelievers. Unbelief seems to be a two-edged sword: Our sinful nature resists God and is hostile to Him. Moreover, Satan (the god of this world) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. Hence, is it any wonder that so many people seem to reject God? The mind governed by the flesh (focused on worldly, material matters) is indeed hostile to God. God is spirit. A person needs to be born from above (by the spirit of God – many translations say be born again) in order to be granted eternal life.
Conclusion
It is clear from scripture that an unbeliever does not and cannot submit to God’s law. His/her mind is by nature hostile to God. Satan is also actively seeking to blind the minds of unbelievers. So how does an unbeliever become a believer? How did I, a former atheist, become a believer? Was it because I used my mind and intellect to overcome and objections? After all, I did embark on an intensive 5-month period of research on this topic. The answer is no. It is true I did use my mind and intellect, but it was the Holy Spirit who drew me to Him. He got my attention, although I didn’t realize it at the time. Perhaps most importantly though, I was open to the truth. I didn’t like where the research was leading me, but it is foolish to ignore the evidence, not matter how you feel about it. That’s why in December 2015 I reluctantly said to Jesus “Alright, you win.”
How to Deal With Unbelievers?
Being a vocal witness to people in our sphere of influence is, therefore, important. After all, all believers are called to be fishers of men and to make disciples. This requires intentional relationship building. For some reason, we are called to participate in bringing people into the kingdom of heaven. We all have a role in this, whether we realize it or not, whether we like it or not. But we must always be gentle and with respect. If a person is not interested in the gospel, then respect that. Everyone is responsible for their responses to the drawing of the Holy Spirit. If they continually spurn His advances, we must respect that. We are never instructed to try and force someone to believe. In these instances, all we can do is build and maintain loving and respectful relationships and pray for them.
Read more Undoubting God posts here: https://undoubtinggod.com/blog/
Read this article about the role of the Holy Spirit: https://www.gotquestions.org/Spirit-today.html
