The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is going through the book The Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel. A Christian Atheist is someone who believes in God but lives as if He doesn't exist. If you are courageous enough to admit that sometimes you act like a Christian Atheist along with us we can shed some of our hypocrisy and live a life that truly brings glory to Christ.
A Christian Atheist might sound like someone who’s got a faith problem or perhaps at least a spiritual confusion issue. But the core problem for the Christian Atheist Isn't belief; it’s intimacy. The Christian Atheist doesn’t really know God very well.
These are the notes to Session 2.
To hear the audio of the study group session, click on the YouTube Thumbnail
To get your copy of the book click this LINK or the image of the book at the end of my notes for the study.
We ended last week by saying knowing God requires that we obey His commandments.
Level 1: I believe in God, but I don’t know him
Level 2: I believe in God, but I don’t know him well.
Level 3: I believe in God, know him intimately, and serve him wholeheartedly.
Obedience Unlocks God’s Power
By Rick Warren
“Let the Spirit change your way of thinking.” Ephesians 4:23 (CEV)
Over and over again, the Bible illustrates this important truth: The Holy Spirit releases his power the moment you take a step of faith.
When Joshua faced a seemingly impassible barrier, the floodwaters of the Jordan River receded—but only after the leaders stepped into the rushing current in obedience and faith. Obedience unlocks God’s power.
In these situations, God’s power follows your action. But you don’t have to wait until you feel powerful or confident. Just move ahead in your weakness; do the right thing, despite your fears and feelings. This is how you cooperate with the Holy Spirit; it’s how your character develops and how you grow spiritually.
The Bible compares spiritual growth to a seed, a building, and a child growing up. Each metaphor requires active participation: Seeds must be planted and cultivated, buildings must be built—they don’t just appear—and children must eat and exercise to grow.
Effort has nothing to do with your salvation—but effort is essential to your spiritual growth. At least seven times the New Testament tells you to “make every effort” in your growth toward becoming like Jesus. I want to look at four.
Luke 13:24-25 NIV “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
Romans 14:19-21 NIV Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.
Ephesians 4:3-6 NIV Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
2 Peter 3:14 NIV So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.
You can’t just sit around and wait for it to happen. You need to act.
Paul explains in Ephesians 4 your three responsibilities in becoming like Christ.
First, choose to let go of old ways of acting.
Ephesians 4:22 NIV You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
Your new life is based on God’s truth and living according to his Word. That means there may be some behaviors you need to change in your life.
Second, change the way you think.
Ephesians 4:23 NIV to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
The Bible says at
Romans 12:2 NIV Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The Greek word for “transformed” is metamorphosis. It’s used today to describe the amazing change a caterpillar goes through in becoming a butterfly. It is a beautiful picture of what happens spiritually when you allow God to direct your thoughts. You’re changed from the inside out. You become more beautiful, and you’re set free to soar to new heights.
Third, put on the character of Christ by developing new, godly habits. Your character is essentially the sum of your habits; it’s how you habitually act. The Bible says,
Ephesians 4:24 NIV and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Don’t just sit around and wait for spiritual growth to happen—it never will on its own. Instead, be obedient so that you can unlock God’s power in your life!
When You Believe In God But Don't Really Know Him
I hope that you have at least read the Introduction and chapter one. “When You Believe In God But Don't Really Know Him”
Let’s first go back and look at some terms:
THEISM belief in the existence of God
ATHEISM disbelief in the existence of God
PRACTICAL ATHEISM acting with apathy, disregard, or lack of interest toward belief in God
CHRISTIAN one who professes belief in the teachings of Christ
CHRISTIAN ATHEISM believing in Christ but living as if he doesn’t exist
Three levels of knowing God
A Christian Atheist might sound like someone who’s got a faith problem or perhaps at least a spiritual confusion issue. But the core problem for the Christian Atheist Isn't belief; it’s intimacy. The Christian Atheist doesn’t really know God very well.
One of the things that I said last week is what you call a person says a lot about how much you know a person.
Psalms 9:10 NKJV And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord , have not forsaken those who seek You.
What do you call God? The Big Guy in the Sky? The Man Upstairs? Dear eight-pound, six-ounce Baby Jesus? Then you don’t know him. Those titles may be clever or funny, but they certainly aren’t intimate.
What are some of the things or names we call God?
Father
Savior
Lord
Provider
Shepherd
El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty)
El Elyon (The Most High God)
Adonai (Lord, Master)
Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah)
Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner)
Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd)
Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals)
Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There)
Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)
Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies You)
El Olam (The Everlasting God)
Elohim (God)
Qanna (Jealous)
Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)
Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace)
Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts)
Knowing God can lead to a positive lifestyle, but the reverse isn’t true. Our outward actions alone don’t prove that we enjoy an inward relationship with God. Just because we do good doesn’t mean we know the One who is good.
Knowing God requires more of us than simply believing God exists
James 2:19 ERV You believe there is one God. That’s good, but even the demons believe that! And they shake with fear.
And it requires more of us than dutiful adherence to Christian rules
Galatians 4:6-11 NIV Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “ Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces ? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
Knowing God requires loving obedience, an obedience that comes from the heart.
1 John 2:3-6 NIV We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
Briefly review the following list of statements and place a checkmark next to those you feel are true for you.
I believe God loves everyone, but I sometimes struggle to believe that God loves me.
I often feel disconnected from God.
I pray when I need help, but I don’t routinely spend time with God.
I feel trapped in a cycle of shame about my past.
I don’t feel much need or desire to read the Bible.
I sincerely believe in God, but I can’t say I prioritize my life around him.
I don’t feel the same devotion to God as I did when I first became a Christian.
There are some things about me that I know aren’t what they should be, but I don't
know if I can ever really change.
My belief in God doesn’t seem to keep me from worrying a lot.
My lifestyle, actions, and decisions don’t always line up with what I say I believe about God.
I don’t talk about my faith with people who don’t believe in God.
I don’t experience worship or express praise to God in my daily life.
I find it difficult to forgive people who have hurt me.
My sense of security is impacted more by how I am doing financially than by how I am doing spiritually.
I believe in God, but I’m not so big on the church.
I’m not sure my heart breaks for the things that break the heart of God.
I tend to diminish or overlook my sins and failures rather than grieving them.
I don’t often experience a passionate desire to please God.
It feels like a long time since I’ve heard God’s voice or experienced God’s leading in my life.
I sometimes feel God is not fair.
It’s rare for me to feel completely surrendered to God.
Sometimes I’m not even sure I want to be.
What two or three statements on the checklist best describe where you're at spiritually right now. Or maybe there is something that is not here.
Based on your responses from the checklist which level are you at now.
Level 1: I believe in God, but I don’t know him
Level 2: I believe in God, but I don’t know him well.
Level 3: I believe in God, know him intimately, and serve him wholeheartedly.
Here’s what some theologians have said about showing love through obedience
If we are to be new people in Christ, then we must show our newness to the world. If we are to follow Christ, it must be in the way we spend each day. WILLIAM LAWA
Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life - Fine feelings, new insights, greater interest in “religion” mean nothing unless they make our actual behavior better; just as in an illness “feeling better” is not much good if the thermometer shows that your temperature is still going up. C. S. LEWIS Mere Christianity
The word obedient comes from the Latin word audire, which means “listening” … Jesus’ life was a life of obedience …. Jesus was “all ear.” HENRI J. M. NOUWEN Making All Things New
How about you?
If we affirm that failures to obey God are sin, the next challenge is how to overcome those failures in our lives.
In Surrender to Love, author David Benner describes the role of God’s love in helping us move from disobedience to obedience:
My attachment to sinful ways of being is much too strong to ever be undone by mere willpower…. Genuine transformation requires vulnerability. It is not the fact of being loved
unconditionally that is life-changing. It is the risky experience of allowing myself to be loved unconditionally.
If genuine transformation requires vulnerability, do you think disobedience could be described as a refusal to be vulnerable with God? Why or why not?
There is only one way to love God: to take not a single step without him, and to follow with a brave heart wherever he leads. FRANÇOIS FÉNELON Christian Perfection
What [God] desires is reverential intimacy. He wants us close enough to him that we know his heart—close enough to hear his heartbeat. He wants to look into our eyes, and he wants us to look into his. DAVID G. BENNER Surrender to Love
As you get to know him better, you will change. - The Christian Atheist, page 43
God is in the transformation business. The more we get to know him, the more his love changes us. He brings healing and wholeness that enables us to rest in his love and to follow him wholeheartedly. Here is how the prophet Ezekiel described God’s heart-changing promise:
Ezekiel 11:19-20 NIV I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
Getting to know God isn’t difficult, and it isn’t about a bunch of rules. Yes, God Wants your obedience, but he wants your heart even more. He loves you so much. Surrender Yourself to that love, and it will be a certain death for Christian Atheism — a death that will lead to a whole new life of knowing God.
Read 3, 4,,5, and 6 and what we are going to talk about is Believing in God but Don’t Think He Loves You.
Something from chapter 3 to whet your appetite page 65.
A friend of mine listed all the categories of people God loves, beginning with the letter A.
God loves artists, astronauts, and aerospace engineers. He loves accordion players, ankle biters, animal rights activists, airplane pilots. He also loves athletes, acrobats, and accountants—even during tax season. God loves people from Alabama, Alaska, Africa, and Albania. God loves absent-minded people; awkward people; assertive, authoritarian people; antisocial people; and aggravating people.
How about the B’s? God loves babies, babes, boys, bankers, and band leaders. He loves ballerinas, Bible readers, biology teachers, bird watchers, bus drivers—including the bad ones. God loves bookworms, bachelors, botanists, bowlers, baby boomers, and boomerang throwers. He loves beekeepers, BBC watchers, blondes, brunettes, and even people with blue hair.
God also loves bores, the beat up, and the burned out. God loves bosses, braggarts, bag ladies, bartenders, brats, people with braces, Bushmen, and Baptists.
In short, there’s nothing we can do to earn God’s love. We are already and always loved simply because God made us and he loves each and every one of his creations. There’s nothing we can do to get God to love us more, and there’s nothing we can do to cause God to love us less.
Bible Study Audio
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