Light of Christ and faith in Christ

[laronius]

Quick question. Feel free to expound on your answer should you so choose.

When an atheist acts upon the light of Christ within them and obeys a commandment of God, is he/she unknowingly exercising faith in Christ?

[Fether]

52 minutes ago, laronius said:

When an atheist acts upon the light of Christ within them and obeys a commandment of God, is he/she unknowingly exercising faith in Christ?

Christ is the only thing we can have faith “in”. What atheists are doing is they have faith THAT this particular good action will make them feel good or that it will benefit it them in the future.

[Anddenex]

5 hours ago, laronius said:

When an atheist acts upon the light of Christ within them and obeys a commandment of God, is he/she unknowingly exercising faith in Christ?

My first thought was "yes," but the more I think about it my answer would be "no." Faith is a choice and a gift. When we exercise faith we are "acting" for ourselves and not being acted upon. In this case, an atheists is being "acted upon" by the "light of Christ" without them even knowing it.

 

Edited June 17, 2021 by Anddenex

[Traveler]

On 6/16/2021 at 6:12 PM, laronius said:

Quick question. Feel free to expound on your answer should you so choose.

When an atheist acts upon the light of Christ within them and obeys a commandment of God, is he/she unknowingly exercising faith in Christ?

Some years ago I had a public debate with a prominent atheist concerning the existence of G-d.  I discovered that my atheist friend had a false concept of G-d that I could not believe in any more than he did.  The problem, for me, was frustrated because I could not convince him that his concept of G-d was false.  But this frustration, for me, is not just with atheist but with many religious types - especially those that espouse the Trinity doctrine of G-d (which was what my atheist friend thought was the proper understand of G-d).

Jesus taught that no one can know G-d the Father without knowing his Son (the Messiah and Christ) that was sent to redeem mankind.  I am convinced that there can be a disconnect in our understanding of the Son of G-d that can lead many to have a false faith in the Messiah and the Suzerain of Heaven that is G-d the Father.  What I believe we ought to understand is that the light of Christ draws us towards Christ but that we cannot know him except through covenant - and the first such covenant is Baptism for the remission of sins so that we can receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by someone with authority.   Unless and until we covenant with G-d we cannot exercise faith in Christ.

 

The Traveler

[laronius]

To quote Lectures on Faith: "For faith could not center in a being of whose existence we had no idea; because the idea of his existence in the first instance is essential to the exercise of faith in him." 

So no an atheist cannot exercise faith in God/Jesus Christ. But while the answer to my question is pretty straight forward in reality it was really secondary in terms of what I wanted to discuss which was the relationship between acting on the light of Christ and developing faith in Christ. So I appreciate everyone's comments.

The three elements necessary for faith, according to LOF, are:

First, The idea that he actually exists.

Secondly, A correct idea of his character, perfections and attributes.

Thirdly, An actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing, is according to his will.

Having an "idea" that God exists surely implies a willingness to even consider the possibility where as an atheist has altogether rejected that notion, though it may be because, as @Traveler pointed out, they do not possess the second necessary requirement. But it's the third requirement I find most interesting and I think where the light of Christ comes into play. As someone begins to entertain the possibility of their being a God and learns of His divine attributes the Holy Ghost can begin to work on that person to the convincing of their truthfulness. But the ability for the Holy Ghost to do this is, I believe, is directly tied to a person's willingness to abide by the light of Christ. Responding to the light of Christ is, at least in a limited fashion, living according to the will of God, a necessary prerequisite to faith.  Also, a person who has smothered the light of Christ in the choices they make are going to discover it nearly impossible for the Holy Ghost to reach them in any meaningful manner. So while responding to the light of Christ is not yet acting in faith I do believe it is necessary preparation for the development of that faith.