How the moral argument for God's existence exposes the fallacy of atheism

Romans 1:19  "because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them."

Introduction:

In yesterday's post, we labored to demonstrate that objective morality by its nature imposes itself on our obligation to carry out moral duties. This idea of "oughtness" implies a will or the ability to make a choice. To put it another way - the objective standards of right and wrong are not arbitrary - but are intentional. Hence, the Absolute Standard of Good cannot be just merely an abstract principle of morality - but an absolute Intelligence. Moreover, the concept of duty to these values means that you and I have a responsibility to excercise justice, fairness and to ensure that children do not get hurt nor thieves get away with stealing. The Absolute Standard of Good is One to Whom all human beings are accountable. Hence, there is only One Person who can fit the criteria: God. 

Philosopher and Theologian Dr. William Lane Craig has crafted a sound and valid moral argument for the existence of God that aids in bridging the reality of objective moral values/duties to the existence of an All-Good (and thus Holy) God: 

1. If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist

2. Objective moral values and duties do exist

3. Therefore, God exists.

The objective morality that we are contending for in today's post cannot be avoided. Truth by its very nature is defined as that quality which corresponds to reality. Hence, the world/universe in which we live is most accurately described by such values and duties. Chance and mere material reality could not had produced such morality. Natural selection, herd-mentality and other mechanisms typically cited by humanists and athiests cannot account for why we feel obligated to carry out moral duties. 

How the moral argument for God's existence shows the fallacy of athiesm

Only a theistic worldview - that is to say - only a worldview that asserts believe in the existence of an All-Powerful God that is by His very nature All-Good (i.e "Holy") can account for why there are such objective moral duties. 

As the first premise asserts: if God did not exist, then such values and duties would not exist. Notice, I am not saying that someone who denies God's existence cannot be a moral person. Quite the contrary. There are examples that I have seen of Atheists acting better in some cases than professing Christians. 

Now here is what I am saying: why ought athiests, or believers in Jesus Christ - exercise moral duties? On atheism, there is no reason to be moral - since the world per Athiesm is nothing more than a random collection of atoms and material objects, spawned by chance and heading toward an eventual cold and dark cosmic oblivion. And yet, Athiests do moral things. They may say that as human beings we ought to be leaving the world a better place than when we found it. But why? 

I would contend that the first premise knocks out the Atheistic worldview's contention that there is no God, being that there is indeed objective moral values and duties. The second premise asserts the reality of objective moral values and duties, with the third premise following logically and conclusively from the soundness of the first two premises, namely: "God exists".

How Objective Morality and Duties point to the existence of God

Romans 2:14-15 "For when Gentiles who do not have the Law doinstinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them."

Introduction:

When it comes to describing our universe and world in which we live - two general features can be noted. First, we live in a physical world/universe. All the relevant laws discovered by science and the mathematical equations indicate that there is indeed a physical world outside of ourselves. Furthermore, this physical universe/world is one with which we can interract, gather information and interpret with incredible precision. Almost no one disputes this first feature of our world. 

The second feature of our universe/world is that it has objective moral laws and duties - i.e a moral universe. Philosophers and much of contemporary culture will debate whether or not there are such things as objective moral laws and duties undergirding all of reality. In C.S Lewis' book: "Mere Christianity", we note the following observation about the undeniability of objective moral laws - or what Lewis calls "The Law of Nature":

"These then are the two points I want to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in."

Lewis' point of what we "ought" to do drives to the heart of what we are talking about when it comes to objective moral values. Whether human beings like it or not - there are unalterable ethical principles that are true across all cultures; cutting across ethnic, geographical and language barriers. 

Illustrating why no-one can avoid the reality of objective moral values and standards of right and wrong

Whenever a typical so-called "post-modern" professor or college student balks at the idea of such objective standards - a simple test can be administered to prove that objective moral standards do exist. For the student, have the professor mark an "F" on all of their tests and assignments no matter the quality or effort they may had invested. Immediately the student will cry "foul" and say "that's not fair". The idea of "fairness" and "justness" is covered under the moral lawcode of the ten commandments and is innately resident in all human hearts. In like manner, watch what happens when the professor who insists on no such thing as objective morality discover the unpleasant experience of being "unsalaried" (a nice way of saying "fired"). They will lodge a complaint to the university administration for "unfair" treatment. 

C.S Lewis in his book "Mere Christianity" echoes what we noted in the above illustrations with this thought: "But the most remarkable thing is this. Whenever you find a man who says he does not believe in a real Right and Wrong, you will find the same man going back on this a moment later. He may break his promise to you, but if you try breaking one to him he will be complaining 'It's not fair'.

What objective moral values have to do with God's existence

The above short discussion served to show the absurdity of denying objective moral values. To say for instance that there is such a thing as a "evil act" assumes there to be an "Ultimate Good". So then, what is that "Ultimate Good"? Objective morality by its nature carries with it the fact that the values themselves are ones that we "ought" to do. This idea of "oughtness" implies a will or the ability to make a choice. To put it another way - the objective standards of right and wrong are not arbitrary - but are intentional. Hence, the Absolute Standard of Good cannot be just merely an abstract principle of morality - but an absolute Intelligence. Moreover, the concept of duty to these values means that you and I have a responsibility to exercise justice, fairness and to ensure that children do not get hurt nor thieves get away with stealing. 

The Absolute Standard of Good is One to Whom all human beings are accountable. Hence, there is only One Person who can fit the criteria: God. 

Philosopher and Theologian Dr. William Lane Craig has crafted a sound and valid moral argument for the existence of God that aids in bringing together all we have discussed in today's post:

1. If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist

2. Objective moral values and duties do exist

3. Therefore, God exists.

Why establishing local churches is so important

1 Thessalonians 1:6-8 "You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything."

Introduction:

Just as reaching outside of ourselves to share Jesus with other people results in spiritual benefits; church-wide this same principle holds with regards to churches. Paul’s opening remarks in 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10 expresses how one church’s spiritual growth can serve to be a witness and encouragement to others. Paul requested that the Colossian church pray for him in his continuing efforts to bring the gospel to the frontiers of the mission fields. 

Whenever we look at Paul’s missionary efforts in the book of Acts (13-14; 16-18; 18-21; 22-28); we find the establishing of local churches to be the key in expanding the boundaries of God’s Kingdom work. As Paul would revisit the churches he planted, he would encourage those churches and pastors to train elders who in turn would be ready to assume leadership roles (such as he did with Titus in Crete or the Ephesians Elders). Whether by church planting, encouraging other Bible believing churches in the same city or equipping Christians with a Kingdom vision in one's own church, the need for establishing local churches has never been more urgent. If such convictions can ever be a part of local churches – the kingdom vision that is so needed in church congregations will be attainable. 

How evangelism edifies Christian growth

2 Corinthians 5:18-20  "Now all these things are from God,who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

Introduction:
When we look at scripture, we discover that only the Holy Spirit of God as God can convince, persuade sinners to trust in Christ. Thus the measure of success is not on how many souls are won. Rather, the measure of success is: have you and I shared the Gospel? Every time you and I share the Gospel, we are achieving 100% success. God's blessing, joy and glory is the measure of success. These confidences are why evangelism proves to be so edifying. 

To illustrate, in as much as a pond is kept refreshed by having both a stream to feed it and an outlet; Christians need to be both taking in God’s Word and sharing Jesus. Stagnation results when there is no outflow, and so it is with the Christian. Unless we are sharing our faith, the ability to experience consistent edification will be greatly hampered.

The importance of corporate worship, prayer and fellowship in the local church

Acts 2:46-47  "Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved."

Introduction:

Why are corporate worship, prayer and fellowship vital to the local church? In today's post we will offer some brief reflections in answer to this question. 

1. First, corporate worship is important for the local church due to its aim in ascribing "worthship" to God by way of singing and preaching. Worship is rooted in grace and is aimed towards giving glory to God. Where is it that worship aims? Worship is vertical in its heavenward focus on the Triune God and it is outward focused in energizing people to share Jesus in missions.

2. Secondly, as worship is vital to local church-life, so is the closely related activity of prayer. Worship’s overall expression in the local church is intensified to the degree the local church emphasizes prayer. Jesus in the course of His earthly ministry expressed the following pattern of prayer for His people in Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17 and Luke 19:46 as them coming together at the "house of prayer". God has so ordained that prayer and intercession be one of the chief ways in which He will come alongside us and in us to strengthen and grow the church. 

As a beginning pattern that had been ordained from the days of the tabernacle and temple, Jesus demonstrated that such a pattern was to also mark the New Covenant church. It would also be suggested by this author that the set pattern of Jesus greatly informed the practice of the New Testament church. As those apostles and early statesmen led the church under the Holy Spirit's leading, they taught the church the primacy of prayer in both the church's life and individual Christian life.

3. So we’ve seen that worship and prayer are vital due to the way in which they provide a vertical focus to local church life. But now what about the third essential element – fellowship? Without fellowship, the necessary horizontal – or interpersonal - dimension of church life would be impossible. When you walk through Acts 2:43-46, you discover just how joyful and loving the early church must have been. These people were "feeling a sense of awe" (2:43); "who had believed were together and had all things in common" (2:44); "were sharing" (2:45); "one mind" (2:46); "taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart" (2:46). 

One writer has noted that the Biblical mandate for the church's fellowship is two-fold: "temple courts" or large group worship and "house to house" or small group fellowship. Thus the local church must needs have both preaching services whereby God's people can worship in song and word as well as have occasion to come together in small groups, whether in Sunday School on Sunday Mornings or in other arranged times. Both patterns engender loving fellowship in God's church.

P2 - God's Provisions - Matthew 9

Matthew 9:36-38 "Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them,because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples,“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.38 Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Introduction:

Yesterday we began considering some of God's provisions in Matthew 9 - namely God's provision of forgiveness and His provision for discipleship. Today we will close out our study of Matthew 9 and God's provisions. Notice how God provides....

God's Provision of healing. Matt 9:18-35

The Lord God near the beginning of the Old Testament identified Himself as "The Lord who Heals" (Jehovah Rapha) in Exodus 15:26. Equally significant is the fact that the Old Testament revelation closed out by predicting the 2nd coming of the Messiah with "healing in His wings" in Malachi 3:2. Clearly Jesus' ability to heal body, soul and most importantly the human spirit demonstrated His identity as God in human flesh. Jesus opens up His public ministry in His first coming by referencing a prophecy pertaining to His ability to heal. By the power of the Holy Spirit today Jesus still offers various remedies, with the first (spiritual healing) and last type of medicine (scripture) being His chief remedies that govern the other three.

Jesus' healing power deals with four major sicknesses that were chronic and severe. The first was most severe - raising a girl from the dead (Matthew 9:18-19; 23-26). The second miracle of healing addressed a long-standing blood hemorrhage (Matthew 9:20-22). The third miracle performed by Jesus was the curing of blindness (Matthew 9:23-26). Then finally, Jesus would perform an exorcism (Matthew 9:27-35). We notice that Jesus' methods varied from direct laying on of hands in the raising of Jarius' daughter and curing blindness to having the hem of His garment touched by the woman with issue of blood. Matthew doesn't say how Jesus did the exorcism, however other Gospel texts often portray Jesus commanding demons to flee. God's provision of healing is always available - albeit He may dispense such gradually or delay for the sake of God's glory (compare Mark 8:24-25; John 11:40). The purpose and power of God is what effects healing. The presence of faith - even faith the size of a mustard seed - acts as a container to receive God's provision of healing. Faith cannot affect healing nor do the healing - just as an unplugged electrical cord is ineffective to deliver electricity to a given appliance. The father of of the girl expressed faith in Jesus power to heal (Matthew 9:18); as well as the woman with issue of blood (9:22) and the blind men (9:28). These observations serve to show how Jesus acted as God in human flesh to provide healing to all who came to Him. Notice one more provision...   

God's Provision in evangelism. Matt 9:36-38

Jesus makes the comment regarding the fields being white with harvest - referencing the amount of people needing to hear the Gospel. The Geneva Study Bible has this note under a similar statement from John 4:35 - "When the spiritual corn is ripe, we must not linger, for so the children of this world would condemn us." What does Jesus mean when he says "the fields are ripe"? Several commentaries on both this text in Matthew 9 and Jesus' use of this imagery in John 4:35 suggest either the ripening of a grain field or corn field. As a boy growing up in rural Pennsylvania, our home was adjacent to a field that would alternate every other year with either wheat or corn. The wheat would be harvested in the late spring/ early summer and the corn by later summer. We knew that the corn was ready by the little "tassels" that grew atop. One could peer across those oceans of waving light yellow tassels and expect to hear the whine of a farm tractor gathering the harvest. 


Jesus' point in these images was to convey the fact that in the natural realm, people discern the timing of natural processes. The Creator God is the One Who gives the plants life and the farmer wisdom to know how to plant and harvest the field (Mark 4:26-29). In like manner, the supernatural process of bring people to saving faith requires similar discernment. God equips His people with the Holy Spirit and the Gospel and provides what is needed to fulfill the Great commission and gathering of souls. 

Closing thoughts
Today's message has aimed to consider God's provisions as spelled out by Jesus here in Matthew 9. In this study we have considered four of them:

1). God's provision for forgiveness
2). God's provision for discipleship
3). God's provision for healing
4). God's provision for evangelism

P1 - God's Provisions - Matthew 9

Matthew 9:36-38 "Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them,because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples,“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.38 Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Introduction:

Two phrases occupy my attention as we begin today's post. The first is where Matthew describes how Jesus "felt compassion". Quite literally, it was if Jesus suddenly paused long enough to drink in the human predicament and at the core of His being identified with the crowds as a shepherd would His flock. The second phrase of interest in the above text is where Matthew records Jesus telling His disciples to prayer to "the Lord of the Harvest". The size of the field of souls was immense, and thus required more workers. 

The Lord Jesus is intensely interested in providing whatever is needed to accomplish the callings He gives to us. His own heart and will drives the mission to reach as many souls as possible. Today, I want us to consider some the ways the Lord provides for His people. Matthew 9 will be our text and in it, Jesus lays out the ways in which the Lord provides. Notice how God provides....

1. God's Provision of forgiveness. Matt 9:1-8

Matthew 9:2 reads - "And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” What follows from this pronouncement is the charge of blasphemy by the Pharisees against Jesus. In their minds, Jesus had crossed the line. From their perspective, Jesus was nothing more than a mere mortal man. Mark 2:7 provides a parallel summary of their thinking: “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus then follows up with a statement in Matthew 9:6a "But so that you may know thatthe Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”. We must understand that what Jesus was claiming to be in His authority was nothing less than God. From a Jewish perspective, such charges of blasphemy would had - on the surface - contained plausible grounds. The Old Testament repeats throughout that Yahweh, Jehovah God, was the Only One who could forgive sin (Psalm 25:18; 79:9; Isaiah 43:10). The problem with their charges were that they were wrong. Jesus was exercising very appropriate behavior - being that He was and is God in human flesh (John 1:14; Colossians 2:9). Moreover, with Jesus being both God and man, anything He achieved on the cross and from the empty tomb results in forgiveness for anyone who receives such by faith (Ephesians 1:7; John 3:16). This is the first provision. Now notice a second closely related provision...   

2. God's Provision in discipleship. Matt 9:9-17

We read of Jesus' call to Matthew in Matthew 9:9 "As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him,“Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him." Matthew was into his career, his life. He was making money. Christ’s call to Matthew seemed like an interruption, an inconvenience. Yet when Christ’s voice cut through the air, it penetrated Matthew’s ears straight into his heart. Suddenly the clinking of coinage and the rustling of bills were over-powered by the voice of the One who was now laying claim on Matthew. The Call of discipleship, in the timing of God, arrived to rescue Matthew out of the poverty of his sinful condition to begin the journey of following the King of Kings. This was a voice that was unlike any voice he had ever heard. 

Two words were said that spoke volumes into His heart: "Follow Me". What comes next is as shocking as it is unexpected - Matthew, the man of means, the man of money, was touched by Divine Grace. The same voice which created all life and through whom came the entire universe was now through human vocal cords penetrating the dark heart of Matthew. The command to follow Jesus is backed up by the grace of God. Paul spells out this provision most clearly in Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

More tomorrow.......