Consider Jesus’ Relationship to Unbelievers
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I’m not entirely convinced, though. John 9:31 may be no more than a reflection of the prevailing view of Jesus’ day. Scripture does not necessarily give a stamp of approval or disapproval upon this man’s statement.
Likewise, many of the texts, like Isaiah 59:2, deal more with relational fractures. It has to do with the dynamic of a relationship more than a settled principle. Are all of those Scriptures that MacArthur uses teaching that God under no circumstance will answer the prayer of someone who has sin in their life? Will he never answer the prayer of someone who is violent? Will he always turn a deaf ear to the cry of the poor?
Or are these more like Proverbs—general principles about what kind of heart we should have, and what kind of lifestyle puts one in a beneficial relationship with God? I tend to believe they are not meant to be read in such a rigid fashion so as to come to the conclusion that if you are an unbeliever, God is deaf to your cries.
Consider the way that Jesus interacted with unbelievers. How does he respond to the Gentile woman in Mark 7:24-30? How does he respond to the pleas of Jairus? Did he only feed the 5,000 when they expressed belief?
Consider the story of the ten lepers. In Luke 17, ten men with leprosy approached him and “lifted up their voices” (that’s the language of prayer) and asked Jesus to have mercy upon them. But they do not mean this in a salvific sense, it is clear from the context. They are begging Jesus to relieve them of the temporal suffering of leprosy.
What does Jesus do? He hears their cry. He heals all ten of them. Only one of them, a foreigner, returns to give thanks. But the text does not lead us to believe that suddenly the others were struck by leprosy again. No, he heals even unbelievers.
This does not, however, mean that God always hears the prayer of unbelievers with a view to answering them. I only mention this to remind us of God's loving and gracious disposition. I’m not sure we gain much apologetically by telling unbelievers that God is deaf to the cry for mercy.
Is it not better to say that God is merciful, good, and gracious? But to also remind an unbeliever (or even a believer) that God is never obligated to answer our prayers and do what we ask. And to use this as a bridge to consider the more pressing question of whether or not we are in a right relationship with God.
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