[S I M T A N]

Hello SimTan.

Christian theologians like Dr. William Craig will use logic when arguing with atheists on the existence of God. His famous book on the Kalam argument uses logic.

In logical thinking, we are governed by the law of non-contradiction. As I've shown you recently, the Bible gives us contradicting teachings, like Sola Fide where Paul said yes and James said no. They both cannot be right but Christians must accept both as truth. 

Can you see the problem?

There's only so much a proselytizer can do when communicating the truth to the likes of avowed atheists and agnostics. Using logic, argumentation or well-reasoned rhetoric won't come in helpful, particularly when it comes to faith or spiritual matters. There's something we can learn from the following passage about how God opens people's hearts to receive His Word: "And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul (Acts 16:14).

Notice that phrase "...a certain woman...whose heart the Lord opened ..." How does God open people's hearts? God opens people's hearts with His Word. When the Word is preached, it'll open people's hearts if they'll listen to it and be receptive to it. But if they reject the truth of the Word, it won't have free course in their hearts. You see, we each have a will of our own. We can choose to close the door of our heart or to open it. In one sense the mind is the door to the heart.

This is exactly what the Bible says. When your mind isn't open to the truth of God's Word, your heart is hindered from receiving. "But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is real, the veil is upon their heart" (2Cor 3:14,15).

The Bible refers to the relationship between the mind and the heart. When a person's mind is closed, it's hard for him to believe the truth of God's Word in his heart. On the other hand, it was the Word that opened the door of Lydia's heart and she attended unto Paul's words and accepted God's Word. The word "attended" means to listen, to hear, and to heed. Then by an act of her will, she accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into her heart.

Jesus Himself declared that He stands at the door of a person's heart, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev 3:20). It isn't just God's Word working alone that opens a person's heart. Man works in cooperation with God by yielding to God's Word.

Why was Lydia's heart open and others' hearts were not open or receptive? Someone once said, "The same sun that melts wax will harden clay." In other words, the same gospel that will open some people's hearts will shut the hearts of others because they refuse to accept the truth they're hearing. It's not God's fault that some people persist in keeping their minds and hearts closed to the truth they hear anymore than it is the sun's fault for melting wax or hardening clay.

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Acts 16:16).