It’s often claimed by non-Christians of various belief-systems that the place of forgiveness in Christianity allows believers to do anything they desire and then pray to receive forgiveness for it. Thus, it would seem that justice is never truly satisfied. Someone I was in conversation with recently quoted Keira Knightley, an actress who said the following:

“If only I wasn’t an atheist, I could get away with anything. You’d just ask for forgiveness and then you’d be forgiven. It sounds much better than having to live with guilt.”

Clearly, there are some major misrepresentations of Christianity in this assertion. Namely that there are no conditions for forgiveness and that Christians seek forgiveness to avoid remorse. As Scripture teaches, forgiveness of sins is not universal. It is only administered to those who have repented and placed their faith in God.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).

Forgiveness is a blessing to those who are in Christ. It is an expression of the filial love of God to all who have been adopted into His family. And though we are forgiven, justice is upheld by the atoning death of Christ upon whom our sins have been imputed. Additionally, true Christians do have remorse for their sin, even though they know that the Lord has forgiven them. Christians should not condemn themselves for their sin, as that would be an insult to the work of Christ, but Scripture teaches that God chastises His children and that the Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin. Any man who lives willfully and unrepentantly in sin yet prays for forgiveness will die in and for his sin.

Now that these inaccuracies have been addressed, let’s take a look at how atheism would deal with these issues. Atheism cannot account for moral absolutes, that is clear. In fact, the majority of atheists admittedly adhere to relativist or (more consistently with atheism) nihilist views of morality. It seems silly for this to even be a challenge, given that out outside of Christianity there is nothing to “get away with.” Even if we grant for the sake of argument that atheism can supply a founded and meaningful moral system, what force of justice can reliably and infallibly uphold this such that nobody gets away with their wrongdoing? There is no God to judge the actions of men; there is no afterlife in which men would suffer. There is no Sovereign Creator guiding history to administer recompense, either.

The only appeal which can be made, and the one which is commonly made, is that the state is to be the “judge” who holds people responsible for their wrongdoings. However, the state is not an infallible judge. We don’t even have reason to believe that the state is a reliable judge. If we are to learn from the past, oppression is much more likely to be found in governments than any sort of justice. There is a fundamental reversal of justice, wherein the evil are not punished, and the innocent are made to be criminals. And so we find that the state is actually the means by which many have “gotten away with it” in the past, at least in the view of most today. Slavery. Genocide. Rape. Greed. The list is long of crimes that the governments of history have not only enabled but often endorsed. How can anyone expect the state to be the righteous judge we seek? When one compounds this with the previous issue referenced, that of atheism being unable to supply any meaningful moral system, it’s clear that justice cannot be delivered in the atheistic worldview. Nor can justice even be accounted for. For further reading on the infirmity of the state to govern justly and righteously, see this article.

This objection, then, is a shallow one. It only rests upon a fundamental misrepresentation of Christianity. Yet, like all arguments against Christianity ultimately do, it must presuppose the truth of the Triune God of Scripture in order to account for the very ideas which it charges Christianity with failing to satisfy.

Grace and Peace