This week Angie and I had a friend over. We've known this young man for sometime and have become quite good friends. He came into our apartment, sat down, and read the sign we have in our apartment, "Jesus Christ is Lord." This sparked a discussion that lasted nearly three hours. This is not the first of a discussion like this. He basically said that it was not logical to believe how I believed. Some of his complaints about my logic were as follows:
1. The Bible is God's Word and cannot be changed.
He said that God cannot change, but that man changed verses in the Bible to make them say what they wanted. This is a pretty standard statement among Muslims. I responded by saying that his holy book(Koran)says that the Bible is God's Word. It also says that God's Word cannot be changed. Surah 50:29,"The Word does not change before Me, and I do not do the least injustice to My servants." Surah 18:27, "And recite (and teach) what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord: none can change His Words, an none will you find as a refuge other than him. So if the Bible, God's Word, can be changed then it would follow that the Koran(what he says is God's Word) can be changed.
2. Jesus Can't be God.
With this point, my friend said that man's body cannot contain God, and God cannot limit Himself to man's body. To this I just reminded him that he believes that God can do whatever He wants. God is all-powerful. I also had the opportunity to explain why it was necessary for Jesus to come as a man and live a perfect life. Still my friend thought it illogical. I'm given you the short version, as I stated our conversation lasted quite some time.
3. Jesus died for our sins.
My friend doesn't see the reason for this, nor do I. Why would Jesus die for peoples sins? He believes that every Muslim will spend some time in Hell to pay for their wrongs, but eventually they will make it to heaven. During this point Angie and I tried to focus on God's love. We explained to him that we don't understand why Jesus would die for our sins. My friend was having a real problem with the fact that we are born in sin. See Muslims believe that they are all born clean.
There is much more we could say about this conversation but what we've written is enough. The Bible doesn't make sense to unsaved people. I tried to explain to my friend that He is trying to understand an all-knowing God, which he himself says is impossible. Our brains can't comprehend why or how God does everything. This is the beauty of the Gospel, which I explained to my friend. The hand of God is in the Gospel message. Look at every other religion in the world and they say, "Do this, this, and this, and you can go to Heaven." The Bible way says there is only one way to heaven and that's through Jesus. We explained this to our friend. My friend even said that maybe his mind is closed. We are praying that God would open his mind and heart. I told him when God saves him he can come live with me. He comes from a country where he could be killed for becoming a believer in Christ.
In the end, it's not about putting points on the board for who won which argument. It's not whether you can understand it or explain it perfectly. It's about planting seeds that God can develop and grow. Please pray for our friend. He's heard the gospel on several occasions. Pray Angie and I can be instruments that God would use to be a witness in his life.
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