What you’ve offered here is a theological gumbo—lots of ingredients tossed in, some of them edible, but the whole pot smells off. Let’s try to untangle it.
First, on free will: yes, unbelievers “do what they please.” But that’s the problem—they please to sin. You can certainly choose chocolate or vanilla, to rob the bank on Thursday instead of Friday, but what you cannot do is choose righteousness apart from Christ. The will is free in the same way a drunk is free to pick which bar he’ll stagger into. He still winds up drunk. Scripture calls this slavery to sin, not independence with a side of options (Romans 6:16–20).
Second, on “goodness.” Sure, an atheist can dive into a lake and save a drowning child. Praise God for common grace. But that’s not the kind of “good” God counts as righteousness. Isaiah calls our “righteousnesses” filthy rags, not slightly smudged tea towels. When an unbeliever does something “good,” it may benefit us, but it doesn’t earn them merit with God because it doesn’t spring from faith (Romans 14:23). Without faith, it’s like writing a check from an account with no money. It might look impressive, but it bounces in heaven.
Third, about God creating good and evil. You’ll want to be careful there. God is not the author of evil. He ordains all things, yes, but He does not sin, nor does He tempt us to sin (James 1:13). Saying “God created evil” is like blaming the author of a murder mystery for the actions of his villain. Yes, the author wrote it, but he’s not a murderer.
Fourth, on punishments and “times changing.” God’s law is not a pair of bell bottoms that went out of style in the seventies. The general equity of the law remains. Kidnapping deserves death because it assaults the image of God in man. Jesus did not contradict that; He exposed the Pharisees for using “eye for an eye” as an excuse for petty vendettas. His point was: don’t take God’s just law and turn it into a personal grudge match. The standard of justice still stands, but your personal slap-fights are not the arena to apply it.
Finally, your note about “old generations” is a bit of a tell. Truth doesn’t gray with age. If an “older generation” taught you that the wages of sin is death and that Christ alone saves, then the older generation was right. What changes with time is not God’s word, but our cultural allergies to it.
So, in short: unbelievers don’t have free will to choose righteousness, “good works” apart from Christ don’t reconcile you to God, and God’s law is timeless because it reflects His character. Christ doesn’t come along to correct Moses like an editor cleaning up a rough draft. He fulfills it.
Or to put it in simpler terms: if your theology leaves you with a God who changes, sinners who save themselves, and laws that expire like coupons, then you’ve mistaken a knockoff for the real deal.
It's quite simple gods plan and everything is of its own doing, our minds are not capable of comprehending nor understanding it, I only attempt pathetically to try to understand.
What you’ve offered here is a theological gumbo—lots of ingredients tossed in, some of them edible, but the whole pot smells off. Let’s try to untangle it.
First, on free will: yes, unbelievers “do what they please.” But that’s the problem—they please to sin. You can certainly choose chocolate or vanilla, to rob the bank on Thursday instead of Friday, but what you cannot do is choose righteousness apart from Christ. The will is free in the same way a drunk is free to pick which bar he’ll stagger into. He still winds up drunk. Scripture calls this slavery to sin, not independence with a side of options (Romans 6:16–20).
Second, on “goodness.” Sure, an atheist can dive into a lake and save a drowning child. Praise God for common grace. But that’s not the kind of “good” God counts as righteousness. Isaiah calls our “righteousnesses” filthy rags, not slightly smudged tea towels. When an unbeliever does something “good,” it may benefit us, but it doesn’t earn them merit with God because it doesn’t spring from faith (Romans 14:23). Without faith, it’s like writing a check from an account with no money. It might look impressive, but it bounces in heaven.
Third, about God creating good and evil. You’ll want to be careful there. God is not the author of evil. He ordains all things, yes, but He does not sin, nor does He tempt us to sin (James 1:13). Saying “God created evil” is like blaming the author of a murder mystery for the actions of his villain. Yes, the author wrote it, but he’s not a murderer.
Fourth, on punishments and “times changing.” God’s law is not a pair of bell bottoms that went out of style in the seventies. The general equity of the law remains. Kidnapping deserves death because it assaults the image of God in man. Jesus did not contradict that; He exposed the Pharisees for using “eye for an eye” as an excuse for petty vendettas. His point was: don’t take God’s just law and turn it into a personal grudge match. The standard of justice still stands, but your personal slap-fights are not the arena to apply it.
Finally, your note about “old generations” is a bit of a tell. Truth doesn’t gray with age. If an “older generation” taught you that the wages of sin is death and that Christ alone saves, then the older generation was right. What changes with time is not God’s word, but our cultural allergies to it.
So, in short: unbelievers don’t have free will to choose righteousness, “good works” apart from Christ don’t reconcile you to God, and God’s law is timeless because it reflects His character. Christ doesn’t come along to correct Moses like an editor cleaning up a rough draft. He fulfills it.
Or to put it in simpler terms: if your theology leaves you with a God who changes, sinners who save themselves, and laws that expire like coupons, then you’ve mistaken a knockoff for the real deal.
It's quite simple gods plan and everything is of its own doing, our minds are not capable of comprehending nor understanding it, I only attempt pathetically to try to understand.
Excellent. Thank you!