Every Believer Confident, Part 4
April 25, 2025 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
Understanding Unbelievers
This is a multi-part series interacting with Mark J. Farnham’s new book, Every Believer Confident: Apologetics for the Ordinary Christian. Farnham is the founder and director of Apologetics for the Church and professor of apologetics at Lancaster Bible College and Capital Seminary. He states, “The purpose of this book is to help you to know, appreciate, firmly grasp, proclaim, and defend the Christian faith. My ultimate goal is to strengthen your faith, so you can confidently and effectively persuade unbelievers to believe in Jesus Christ” (p. 16). Let’s dig into the book together and see how our faith might be strengthened.
You might be wondering why I am using this space to present summaries of this book, Every Believer Confident. I have two primary reasons: one is pastoral, and one is selfish. As a pastor, Jesus calls me to “equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Eph. 4:12). Every Christian needs to be equipped for evangelism. I find this book to be an excellent resource for equipping us for sharing our faith. The selfish reason… writing each week for Touchpoint holds me accountable to keep working through the book. Writing also pushes me to think through the material on a deeper level. I pray that we all would benefit from this study and God would strengthen us for sharing our faith.
Mark Farnham contends that one way to overcome the fear of sharing Christ with unbelievers is understanding the nature of unbelievers. In this chapter, he brings his readers to Romans 1, which, he says, “provides a detailed description of God’s view of the inner workings of unregenerate human hearts” (p. 67). Paul writes in verses 18-20, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”
Farnham draws out several truths about unbelievers from this passage.
First, “Every unbeliever already knows that God exists and knows some things about him” (p. 67). As Paul says, “what can be known about God is plain to them.” Even the “wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness.” Farnham summarizes, “All unbelievers we talk to, whether they admit it or not, know that God exists and that they are guilty before him” (p. 68).
Second, unbelievers “‘suppress’ the truth unrighteously… such suppression happens in a thousand ways” (p. 69). This is what Paul teaches in Romans 1:18. Farnham outlets some ways people “suppress” the truth: other religions, constant distractions, the abuse of creation, and denial of evidence. He explains, “[Unbelievers] misuse drugs, alcohol, food, sex, television, internet, sleep, music, and other substances—many of which are good things that can be enjoyed within the bounds of God’s commandments—to satisfy physically what is wrong with them spiritually” (p. 70). Unbelievers ultimately, “reject God because they do not want to be accountable to him” (p. 71).
Third, the consequence of suppression is self-deception, irrationality, and idolatry. Paul says in Romans 1:21, “They became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Farnham says idolatry is “the height of self-deception and irrationality” (p. 73). He explains that idolatry is seeking to find significance or security in anything other than God. This is irrational because nothing can satisfy those needs like God.
Fourth, unbelievers persist in the irrationality of idolatry because of three exchanges. Farnham draws there out from Romans 1. First, unbelievers exchange the glory of God for fallen creation (1:23). Unbelievers celebrate so many things that are less glorious than God. Second, unbelievers exchange the truth for a lie (1:25). Farnham states, “In the case of unbelief, the exchange of truth for a lie is rooted in rebellion. Unbelievers will accept anything other than the Christian God” (p. 78). Third, unbelievers exchange the natural for the unnatural (1:26). In other words, they reject God’s designs. Farnham says, “All unbelief results in some form of unnatural behavior… unnatural behavior is a hallmark of someone who is severely suppressing the truth” (p. 79).
Fifth, the consequence for these unbelieving exchanges is judgment. Three times Paul says, “God gave them up…” (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28). Farnham explains this judgment, “God hands over unbelievers to impurity and disgrace” (p. 80).
In conclusion, “Things are far worse for unbelievers than they ever imagine…only by being convicted of their rebellion and idolatry will unbelievers be able to see the beauty and rationality of the gospel” (p. 81). May we out of compassion seek to uncover the irrationality of unbelief in order to help unbelievers come to see the beauty of Christ.
