Questions and Objections

<< I am learning so much about atheism, but it makes me wonder... Can you appeal to the conscience if it is seared? >>
The answer is “Definitely.” This is why. A “seared” conscience is not a “dead” conscience. In Scripture the conscience is called “weak” (1 Cor. 8:7-12), “good” (1 Timothy 1:5), “pure” (1 Timothy 3:9), “defiled” (Titus 1:15), and “evil” (Hebrews 10:22), but it’s never called “dead.” In John 8:9 one would think that the accusing self-righteous Pharisees would have had dead consciences, but we are told that when Jesus spoke of their sin, “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.” Not one of them escape the accusatory voice of the conscience. It was Romans 2:15 in action “Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.” However, I suspect that you are actually asking about casting our “pearls before swine.” When do we stop offering the gospel to the hardened unsaved? Perhaps a clue is given in the word “swine.” The Scriptures use a pig to the describe someone who makes a profession of faith, but goes back to the world (2 Peter 2:22). It’s an appropriate analogy as the pig is considered an unclean animal. But the reason it wallows in filth is to cool its flesh. And that’s the reason a false convert goes back to the filth of sin. His “conversion” is spurious and it’s only a matter of time until he has to go back to the filth of the world to cool his flesh. We often call these people “backsliders,” but they are in reality “false converts,” and most of us would agree that they are the hardest to reach with the true gospel. This is because they usually say that they were “born again,” read the Bible, went to church, witnessed, sang praise songs, etc., but then they saw the error of being a Christian. However, each of us need to make the call ourselves as to whether or not to stop witnessing to such a person. If we do stop, that doesn’t mean we give up on them. God forbid. We may stop sharing the gospel, because they are contentious, but we should never stop praying for their salvation, until the day death seizes them. Then, and only then is the battle over.