The Angst of the Unbeliever
The unbeliever is in a bad spot. He may not believe his plight in sin is real. He scoffs at the prospect of sin and its consequences. It is easier to blame the God of the Bible, who he says he does not believe in because of all of the problems in the world.
The unbeliever is unstable in all of his views because the basis of his opinions is always shifting. He believes in almost every new fear-mongering tactic the devil promotes in his world system. The unbeliever will believe in many things, but the devil is not one of them. In fact, the unbeliever will believe just about anything except what the Bible presents to him.
Unbelievers deny the claims of the Bible, including the self-revelation of the Scripture to be the Word of God. The Bible presents a worldview from God’s viewpoint. God does not hide His viewpoint from anyone, yet the unbeliever is never inclined to seek the wisdom of God from the Word of God. The devil blinds the mind of the unbeliever so he or she cannot know, understand, or have faith in what God has revealed (2 Cor 4:4).
Satan is a liar and people outside of Christ are liars by nature. It is a world of lies in which we live. Daily, people are cast into hell, having been deceived their whole lives. As a resident in the domain of darkness, the Bible reveals that unbelievers love the darkness and endeavor to avoid the Light, who is Christ Jesus our Lord, the Light of the world (Jn 3:19; 8:12).
There is not just an avoidance of Light from God, the unbeliever hates the light God has provided by giving His Law to humanity. When Christ came into the world, the Light of God shone even brighter. Jesus was the Man who kept God’s Law and was without sin. In God’s predetermined plan, a sinless Savior would represent those God intended to save from His eternal wrath in the outer darkness of the lake of fire (Rev 20:14–15).
The unbeliever hates the doctrine predestination and election. He angrily inquires, “What do you mean God chose some people to be saved and chose for others to suffer the full consequences of their innumerable sins against Him? My god would never be so unfair as that.”
The unbeliever hates the doctrine of particular redemption. He angrily inquires, “What do you mean that Christ only shed His blood for some people but not everyone, everywhere, and at all times? My Jesus loves everyone, and He died for everyone.”
The unbeliever hates the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and God’s plan of salvation, “What do you mean that God only sends His Spirit to some people He chose and redeemed but not to all people everywhere? My god is a god of chances and those who are lucky enough to hear can make up their own minds whether they will allow Jesus to save them or not.”
As seen here, unbelievers can be atheists, or they can be people in the church with errant theology. Either way, they are people who do not have the Spirit of truth indwelling them and enlightening them with the Word of truth. The exclusivity of Christianity is a provocation to anger, even bitterness toward Christians who preach the truth and the truth of God, who is Christ the Lord of all.
For this reason, in their ongoing angst, the unbelievers are notorious for suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. They sin. The promote sin. They spur on others in their sinful behavior. All of this is rebellion against the God they hate. This not only exposes the sorry state of man in sin, but it exposes the false teaching — that people are seeking God and only have to choose Christ in their free will. The plight of the unbeliever is far worse than the Universalist or Arminian believes or preaches.
Unwilling to come to Christ for salvation because they are utterly unable to do so, means that God must act if the unbeliever is to be converted to become a believer. In this, God is glorified in both saving some and not saving others. God is not obligated to save any, except He has made a covenant of grace in which He promises to do everything to ensure the salvation of His elect, redeemed, regenerated people. These people He will glorify, body and soul, on the day of resurrection (Jn 5:28–29; 1 Cor 15).
The unbeliever continues in unbelief. No one will or can deliver him or her from God’s wrath to come (Mt 3:7; Lk 3:7). He mocks Christ and His followers for being naïve, silly fools. The unbeliever, however, has no solution for his or her plight of sin. There is no savior for the unbeliever. There is no hope because he is without God in the world. The unbeliever dies in sin, enters the hell for souls and is resurrected from that prison and sent into the eternal fiery hell, body and soul, to pay for sins against the infinite majesty of the one true and Holy God who is glorified for executing perfect justice for sinners. In this, their angst will turn to anguish…forever.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
August 10, 2021
