BY GOD’S DESIGN, UNBELIEF MUST BE AN OPTION    By David E. Bishop       Sometimes after presenting all this evidence to someone, they still object “well if there is really that much evidence then why don’t more people believe it?”  This is an innuendo that something must still be wrong, and that you are exaggerating the case because there are still people who don’t believe.  But is it because of a lack of evidence people do not believe?  If that were the case why wouldn’t God give more evidence? After all, if God is not willing that any should perish, and He knows there is a lot of confusion in the world, and if He is really all-powerful, why doesn’t  God make special appearances to people who are really seeking after the truth?  God could quite easily appear to a person, groups of people, or a whole nation in a blazing display of His presence, casting lightening bolts, dazzling all to instant belief.  If He really wants us to believe in Him, why allow any confusion at all?      The reason has to do with the fact that it is God’s design  for unbelief to be an option. Many people never consider the fact that God desires unbelief to be possible.  God created man with the ability to freely love or reject the God who created him.  The Scriptures say God desires the love and fellowship of man, but God does not force this upon him.  He gives man the privilege of choice.  For the love and relationship to be real and genuine, the ability to accept or reject must be present.  Would there be any fellowship worth having with a robot, an android automaton with a programmed response?  Obviously not.       God, being Omnipotent, yet desiring to preserve His reason for making us free moral creatures, had to use care in His methods of dealing with us so as not to ruin that free choice.  This is plainly apparent during the public ministry of Christ.  Often He would do a miracle, which not only had the purpose of relieving suffering, but authenticated His identity and message.  Shortly thereafter we see the reaction, “and many believed in Him.”  Yet very frequently we have Jesus warning a person not to say anything!  After cleansing a leper (Mark 1:43-45) “He sternly warned him... ‘See that you say nothing to anyone...’” Nevertheless, “he went out and began to proclaim it... to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city...” (also Mark 3:12; 5:43; 7:36).  Jesus began to get a following not because of a seeking Him as Savior or out of a desire to have a relationship with God, but to have their mental sight dazzled by a miracle.  Jesus did not desire a following merely because of His power; if that were the case His Omnipotence has always made that option available.       This is brought out another way in John 6:26.  After the miraculous feeding of the 5000, Jesus answered a multitude who had been seeking Him, “you seek me not because you saw signs...” which indicate who He is as Savior, “but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”  They followed Him merely for the physical benefit of a free meal, not because they were interested in Him.      In Matthew 16:1, Jesus just completed a series of miracles culminating in a miraculous feeding of 4000 people.  Shortly afterwards, the Pharisees, who were negative toward Him, came up to Jesus and asked for a sign from Heaven.  Jesus refused to give them a sign.  Why not?  Why did not Jesus ask them to pick up a rock, pass it around, then turn it into a loaf of bread?  Or have a lightening bolt come out of a cloudless sky and blast a huge crevasse in the ground?  For that matter, when Jesus was being crucified and they mocked Him saying, “if you are really the Son of God, come down from the cross...” why didn’t He?  The fact that He could have done so needs no argument.  He demonstrated His Omnipotent power on many occasions. Plainly, had He done any of these things, the Pharisees would have had to believe, and God’s whole purpose in creating us as free moral creatures in the first place would have been nullified.     But notice that in Matthew 16 the Pharisees already had more than enough evidence available by the signs Jesus already accomplished.   It was enough for others; why not them?   This can be answered by looking at another Scripture.  In John 7:40-52, it describes the various reactions to Jesus.  Some think he is the Messiah, and others object: Others were saying, “this is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”  So there arose a division in the multitude because of Him.      How ironic!  They use for objections the very credentials that authenticate Him!      The information to determine that Christ was from the offspring of David, and that He was born in Bethlehem was so easily available! Many of Christ’s followers knew this, and all they had to do was ask them.   But they didn’t need to depend on those sources, they could have verified it themselves.  The genealogical documents of family lines and birthplaces were matters of public record, as land ownership and so many other things were determined on this basis.  That information was available.  Why did they not avail themselves of it as others did?       So we see that it is by God’s design to have both options.  He gives enough evidence and has enough information available, that those who have a positive heart will be more than satisfied;  but on the other hand, not have it so overwhelming that people do not have a choice in the matter.  There will always be room for some doubt if someone wanted to latch on to it.     This also answers the question sometimes asked today, “if  the historical evidences that  prove the events of Christianity are really there, and are easily available for people to research, why are there still skeptics, many of whom are scholarly educated people? Consider again the Scriptures, “Many therefore of the Jews...  beheld what He had done, believed in Him.” But others, “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come... and take away our place...” (John 11:45,48).  Same evidence, but different reactions.  Human nature is ever the same, and God desires unbelief to be an option for people today too, just as for those in the first century.                                <<<Previous chapter              Next chapter>>> (Christianity compared with other religions)             (Fulfilled Bible Prophecy)                                        HOME: Christian Truth and its Defense                                                          Contact Us!