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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman Practical
Atheism An
atheist is one who does not believe in the existence of any kind of god.
For all practical purposes, one can claim to believe in a god yet
his actions deny his claim of belief.
Can someone, then, who claims to be a Christian, be a practical
atheist? Yes, he can.
According to Jesus, in all practicalities, those living in the
first-century, Greco-Roman city of Laodicea
who claimed faith in Jesus, were practical atheists.
Revelation 3:17 reads: "You
say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But
you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and
naked.'" The
so-called believers in Laodicea
claimed belief in Jesus, but their self-sufficient lives apart from
Jesus denied their claim. In
fact, they were practical atheists.
They had left Jesus standing outside of their lives.
Their god was their wealth, the work of their own hands.
For this reason, Jesus would vomit these hedonistic claimers of
faith out of His mouth, but not
before inviting individuals in this community of practical atheists to
Himself, as seen in Revelation 3:20.
"Here
I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens
the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with
me." If
you think God would never spit those claiming faith in Him out of His
mouth, you think wrong. In
722 BC, God via Assyria, destroyed the ten northern tribes of Israel. In 586 BC, God via Among
all of the so-called prophetic words now being prophesied, what Paul
wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:5 applies for those claiming faith in Jesus
today. "Examine
yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you
not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail
the test?" Not
all that is called church is church.
Not all who call themselves Christians are Christians.
Practical atheism is a present-day reality, yet despite this
reality, Jesus invites individuals to Himself.
He will have His remnant of true believers in the midst of
practical atheism. Examine
yourself to see if you are in the faith.
Can your claim of faith be verified by a life of repentance and
true trust in Jesus? Are you
being transformed by God's Spirit or have you given into a life of
practical atheism?
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