A Universe From Nothing?

A staple claim from theists is that nothing can come from nothing, therefore there must have been something to create the universe. It cannot have come from nothing. The claim attempts to appeal to the laws of conservation of energy (energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed), in which they say energy cannot have come from nothing, therefore God must be the initial energy source (which is inconsistent with the doctrine of creation ex nihilo); and of cause and effect i.e. every effect (the effect being the universe) requires a cause (the first cause being God). When faced with the question “what caused God” the Christian will assert, the answer is that cause and effect only applies to and within the natural, created universe and since God is the creator He is not subject to the laws which He created. Now here is my argument, and it draws on the very support for God not needing a cause. Imagine, for example that the laws of conservation of energy and of cause and effect are only applicable within the natural universe (as is what we can observe). This means that within the universe, nothing can come from nothing. So then theists are correct! Woah wait on a minute; I said what if the laws that we can observe only apply within the natural universe. What if cause and effect only applies within the universe. That could mean that prior to the universe, since these laws did not exist, the creation of the universe was not subject to these laws and could have, theoretically come from nothing.

To summarize if nothing can come from nothing only within our universe (which is not the case, as has been seen with sub-atomic particles) then the universe itself is not subject to the same laws and could have theoretically come from nothing.