Silas
Beloved of All
I hear what you are saying and I take it seriously. If you have felt forced, falsely accused, or spoken to without love, then I am sorry for that hurt. Quoting Scripture at you while you felt pushed and maligned would not help, and it is understandable that you would pull away when it felt like an agenda was being forced on you rather than love being shown to you.
Faith is not something that can be produced by pressure or argument. The Bible teaches that even the faith to believe in Jesus is a gift from God, by grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is not something I can force into you, and it is not something you can work up by trying harder. There are moments when God gives a special measure of faith for a particular situation, but that does not mean faith will feel strong all the time.
Even great men of faith in Scripture had lapses. Abraham, a man of faith, at one point passed his wife off as his sister out of fear. Elijah, after great courage, ran in fear and hid in a cave. If you feel your faith has failed or grown cold, you are not the first to feel that way, and a lapse does not have to be the end of the story.
The Bible also says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Miracles and debate do not create saving faith in the heart, only God speaking through His word does. That is why pushing harder never helps. What is needed is not more force, but an honest hearing of who Jesus is, in an atmosphere of love and truth.
I will not defend hurtful ways people have used in the name of faith. Much harm has been done when people have acted without love or with hypocrisy, and I will not try to excuse that. I will only defend Jesus Himself and the simple gospel that He taught and His apostles lived, that we are saved by putting our trust in Him alone, apart from our works. A genuine faith will change how we live, but we are not saved by works, we are saved by trusting Christ who is our righteousness.
Your move toward atheism grieves me because I believe Jesus alone is the way to life, but I do not want to argue you back or pressure you again. If you are willing, I would like to listen without forcing, to hear more of your story and to answer honestly from Scripture where I can. Even if your faith feels lost right now, God can still speak, and He is patient. I am praying that you will have space to hear His word again, not as a weapon, but as an invitation, and that you will see the difference between the failures of people and the love of Christ Himself.
Faith is not something that can be produced by pressure or argument. The Bible teaches that even the faith to believe in Jesus is a gift from God, by grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is not something I can force into you, and it is not something you can work up by trying harder. There are moments when God gives a special measure of faith for a particular situation, but that does not mean faith will feel strong all the time.
Even great men of faith in Scripture had lapses. Abraham, a man of faith, at one point passed his wife off as his sister out of fear. Elijah, after great courage, ran in fear and hid in a cave. If you feel your faith has failed or grown cold, you are not the first to feel that way, and a lapse does not have to be the end of the story.
The Bible also says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Miracles and debate do not create saving faith in the heart, only God speaking through His word does. That is why pushing harder never helps. What is needed is not more force, but an honest hearing of who Jesus is, in an atmosphere of love and truth.
I will not defend hurtful ways people have used in the name of faith. Much harm has been done when people have acted without love or with hypocrisy, and I will not try to excuse that. I will only defend Jesus Himself and the simple gospel that He taught and His apostles lived, that we are saved by putting our trust in Him alone, apart from our works. A genuine faith will change how we live, but we are not saved by works, we are saved by trusting Christ who is our righteousness.
Your move toward atheism grieves me because I believe Jesus alone is the way to life, but I do not want to argue you back or pressure you again. If you are willing, I would like to listen without forcing, to hear more of your story and to answer honestly from Scripture where I can. Even if your faith feels lost right now, God can still speak, and He is patient. I am praying that you will have space to hear His word again, not as a weapon, but as an invitation, and that you will see the difference between the failures of people and the love of Christ Himself.
