Man or Rabbit?

This article is about the question ‘can we lead a good life without being a Christian?’  Lewis points out right away that the person who is asking this question is really saying that “ I don’t care whether Christianity is true or not.  I am not interested in finding out.  I just want to lead a good life while I am here on earth.”  I believe that when a person says this, they are acknowledging that Christianity is something better that they don’t have right now. 

We cannot lead a good life without Christianity.  One quote that I really liked from this article is :

 

“ All right, Christianity will do you good - a great deal more

good than you ever wanted or expected. And the first bit of

good it will do you is to hammer into your head (you won't

enjoy that!) the fact that what you have hitherto called 'good'

- all that about 'leading a decent life' and 'being kind'-

isn't quite the magnificent and all-important affair you sup-

posed. It will teach you that in fact you can't be 'good' (not

for twenty-four hours) on your own moral efforts. And then

it will teach you that even if you were, you still wouldn't

have achieved the purpose for which you were created.”

 

This quote is telling us that we won’t know what is a good life until we find Christianity.  We need the Holy Spirit in our hearts to do any good.  Apart from Christ, there is no good.

A discussion came up in class concerning the salvation of those who have never heard of Christ.  These people are left without excuse.  God shows Himself in all of His creation.  These people are able to see God in that, they are just ignorant of it. 

Another point that I would like to make is that when God saves someone, He will provide a way of doing it.  We don’t know how God does this because God has His ways of saving people.  If that person is predestinated to be saved, then he or she will be saved.

Also, I think that we are asking the wrong question concerning this.  Instead of asking,  “Why doesn’t God save them?” This implies that they live “good” lives and are somehow deserving of salvation.  Instead, we should be asking, “ Why did God save us?”  This clarifies that no one deserves salvation; it is only by God’s good pleasure that He has chosen to save his elect.