DOCTRINE OF GOD CONSCIOUSNESS

A. Definition.

1. God consciousness is defined as the point at which a person becomes aware of the existence of God. It may also be classified as the point of accountability. a. If any member of the human race, regardless of geographical or linguistic barrier, desires relationship with God after reaching God consciousness, then God will provide the necessary information (the gospel message) through which that person can believe in Christ for eternal salvation. Every unbeliever has equal opportunity. If any person at the point of God consciousness does not desire to know God, then 2 Cor 4:3-4 applies. 2 Cor 4:3-4 says, “And even if your gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving.” Rejection of the truth produces a vacuum in the soul resulting in the infiltration of the satanic lie. This does not prevent evangelization of the human race in every generation of human history, even the most isolated places on earth and the most difficult language barriers to overcome.

b. Scripture documents the fact that the gospel has been presented throughout the world, Acts 17:6; Col 1:6; 1 Tim 3:16.

2. In a pristine culture, the point of accountability may not occur until a person is twenty or twenty-five years old. In a civilized culture, it can occur as early as three, four, or five years old.

3. God consciousness is the result of the internal function of reason in at least five different categories. You become aware of the existence of God through the function of your own thought in any of five categories.

B. The Mechanics of God Consciousness. There are five ways in which any normal human being can attain an awareness of God. These five ways are called in theology theistic arguments for the existence of God. Theism is a science which depends on proven facts based on the assumption that human thought is real and that rational conclusions of the mind are trustworthy. The science of theism demands that the intellect of the finite man move out of the sphere of material things and beyond the range of human experience to contemplate the infinite creator. Therefore, theism is the only reasonable and rational background for morality, government, philosophy, and science. The five theistic arguments for the existence of God form the mechanics for mankind attaining God consciousness.

1. The Religious Argument. The religious argument contends that God exists because mankind universally believe in His existence. Creatures do not crave what does not exist, and men seek after God. Even religious instincts indicate the reality of a Supreme Being. The concept of man seeking God is found in Jer 29:13, Jn 17:17, and Acts 17:27.

2. The Moral or Anthropological Argument. This argument says that to a greater or lesser degree man’s soul possesses both volition and conscience with an urge to choose right over wrong. The structure of human society is based on the recognition of virtue and truth. This phenomena has no explanation apart from the existence and influence of a Supreme Being with perfect and eternal holiness or integrity. A material, ungoverned universe can know nothing of moral values apart from the absolute righteousness of a Supreme Being. Acknowledging the existence of virtue and truth eventuates in becoming aware of the source of virtue and truth. Jesus said, “I am the truth...no man comes unto the Father but by Me.”

3. The Ontological Argument. Ontological reasoning says that since the human mind possesses the idea of a perfect and absolute being, such a being must exist. Apart from the religious and moral tendencies, the existence of God is a necessary idea to the human intellect, and beyond the relative which mankind measures there is the absolute which gives value and character to the relative.

4. The Teleological Argument. This argument is the fact that the universe, by its telescopic and microscopic wonders, always form arrangement, purpose, and adaptation, which connotes a designer. Structure in the universe demands a designer. The more we discover about the perfect structure of the universe in science, the more we recognize the need for a designer. Rom 1:20. The order of the universe can no more be accidental than the shuffling of twenty-six letters of the alphabet into a beautiful poem. The chemical contents of the human body are never accidentally combined to form man.

5. The Cosmological Argument. This reasoning states that the intuitive law of cause and effect demands the existence of God as the initial cause. Order in the universe demands both a creator and a preserver. The universe presents an overwhelming demand for belief in the existence of God. Jn 1:3, speaking of Jesus Christ as eternal God, says, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” Col 1:16-17 teaches that Jesus Christ is not only the creator of the universe, but that He also holds it together for the perpetuation of human history until the end of the Millennium, “For by Him were all things created both in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or empires or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through Him and for Him. He has existed prior to all things and by Him all things hold together.” Heb 1:10, “In the beginning, O Lord [Jesus Christ], You laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the workmanship of Your hands.” Heb 1:3, “He upholds all things by the word of His power.”

C. Heathenism and Negative Volition.

1. Heathenism is the result of negative volition either at God consciousness or Gospel hearing or sometimes both. People do not believe the lie until they have rejected the truth. Just as every believer has equal opportunity to fulfill the protocol plan for the Church, so every unbeliever in history has equal opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ for eternal life. To protect mankind from self-destruction, all the evil Satan seeks to perpetuate on humanity, and equal opportunity for salvation God provided both language separation and national boundaries. God also created a new racial species (the Jew) to provide gospel information to the human race.

2. Heathen are heathen not because the Gospel has never been presented in their geographical area, but because they were negative at God consciousness and again at Gospel hearing.

3. The unbeliever who is negative at either God consciousness or Gospel hearing or both enters gate number two of cosmic two and all too often remains under the influence of antagonistic negative volition toward the truth. This is described in 2 Cor 4:3-4, “But if our Gospel is hidden [veiled], it is hidden to those who are lost [unbelievers], in whose case the god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers [negative volition to the Gospel at God consciousness and Gospel hearing], that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.”

4. Negative volition at God consciousness is described in some detail in Rom 1:18-20. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all negative godliness [negative volition at God consciousness] and unrighteousness of men who suppress truth through all unrighteousness. Because that which may be known about God is evident within themselves [God consciousness], for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes [eternal power, divine nature] have been clearly seen, being understood through that which has been made [observation], so that they [unbelievers] are without excuse.” The unbeliever suppresses truth through his own negative volition, which causes heathenism. This occurs in the cosmic system, especially at gate number two of cosmic two.

5. When this same unbeliever with negative volition at God consciousness is exposed to the Gospel, his negative volition recurs. When this unbeliever is exposed to the Gospel through some form of evangelism, he rejects Jesus Christ as Savior and again becomes entangled in the cosmic system, including gate #2 of cosmic two where he is antagonistic toward the Gospel and doctrine. So if an unbeliever who is already in the cosmic system is exposed to the Gospel, his mind is blinded, and he rejects Jesus Christ as Savior (2 Cor 4:3-4).

6. Involvement in the cosmic system and its consequences is the subject of 2 Pet 2:20-22.

a. Verse 20, “For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the cosmic system by knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again involved in them and are overcome [by the cosmic system], the latter state [rejecting the Gospel resulting in blackout of the soul] has become worse for them than the first.”

(1) The decision to remain in the cosmic system causes the blackout of the soul.

(2) At first, they had the chance to accept the Gospel. In the latter state they had no chance because having already rejected the Gospel, blackout of the soul has occurred.

b. Verse 21, “For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness then, having known it, to turn away from the holy mandate delivered to them. The holy mandate is: `This is the will of God: that we believe on His Son, Jesus Christ.’”

(1) Negative volition at God consciousness results in the entrance to gate #2 of cosmic two where the unbeliever suffers from blackout of the soul.

(2) When you reject the Gospel, negative volition blinds you through cosmic involvement.

(3) So negative volition at God consciousness results in living in the cosmic system. Then if there is Gospel hearing, the way of righteousness is now understood. Having understood it yet rejecting it again, the unbeliever goes back into cosmic involvement, but this time with blackout of the soul eventuating in scar tissue of the soul.

c. Verse 22, “It has happened to them according to the true proverb [Prov 26:11], `A dog returns to his own vomit, and a sow after washing returns to wallowing in the mire.’” In effect, the one who was negative at God consciousness comes out of the cosmic system long enough to hear the Gospel. But once he rejects it, he goes right back into the cosmic system; i.e., the vomit or the mire. So this refers to the blackout of the soul or the blindness of the mind caused by negative volition at God consciousness returning to the mire when he has negative volition at Gospel hearing.

d. When the unbeliever attains God consciousness and becomes negative, he enters the cosmic system of Satan. When his mind is blinded under the principle of the blackout of the soul, that’s it; that’s the latter state being worse than the first.

e. When the unbeliever hears the presentation of the Gospel in some form of evangelism, the Holy Spirit under common grace takes the unbeliever out of the cosmic system so that he can hear and understand the issue of the Gospel.

f. But once he says no to the Gospel and rejects Jesus Christ, he returns to the cosmic system where he regards the Gospel under the principle of 1 Cor 1:18, which says, “The doctrine of the cross is foolish to those who are perishing, but unto us who are saved it is the power of God.” Rom 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.”

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