All have Sinned (Except for the Man on the Middle Cross)!
All have Sinned (Except for the Man on the Middle Cross)!
1 Peter 2:23 Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.
What is God really like?
Wouldn’t it be nice if we who claim to be Christians were all Christ-like in our lives and attitudes? Wouldn’t it be nice if we never reviled, that is, we never spoke with contempt or abusive language?
I have been having trouble explaining to some of my friends who study the Bible with me, how God can be as vengeful as He seems to be in the Old Testament. He also seems to be vengeful in the book of the Revelation from chapter six on to chapter 20. One of my friends told me that the God of the book of Revelation was “criminal.” I have explained to these friends that while I do think that the “wrath of God” is real and literal, God has worked in different ways during different dispensations or administrations of His rule on this earth. We live in a day when we know God through Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ exhibits mercy and love in this dispensation. He died for us in order to save us. He does not ask us to die for Him in order to be saved although many have died for Him because they are saved. He loves us even when we don’t love Him. Even in the Old Testament, He shows mercy unto thousands of those who love Him and guard His Word (Exodus 20:6). Mercy has always been one of God’s graces, but we who live in this present dispensation are particularly blessed by it. We have seen and experienced the love of God through His Son Jesus Christ. But we also know that those who reject this love and mercy will be exposed to God’s wrath. As I have said before, one of the reasons I preach the Gospel is that I believe in the wrath of God against unbelievers and I don’t want anyone to experience it.
What should mark a Christian?
While I have trouble explaining some aspects of God’s personality to my friends, I have just as much trouble explaining the attitudes of those who call themselves Christians to my friends. They see Christians as judgmental, hypocritical and cruel. By judging Christ by some so-called Christians, many have no desire to be identified with a movement that in many cases is very unChrist-like. Many of the articles that have been written by Christians on the current LGBT controversy have been confrontational and divisive. The language has been that of a reviler. Many who are against gay marriage on Biblical grounds as they ought to be don’t seem to be too concerned with lying and cheating at business, or with heterosexuals living together without marriage, or with slandering people that they do not like, or with not showing respect to governmental authority, and I could go on. Couples that have gotten pregnant before marriage are often congratulated rather than being admonished.
As Christians, shouldn’t all of these moral issues be important to us? But it is quite obvious that many so-called Christians pick and choose which parts of the Bible they want to accept and which parts they want to reject. Many Christians want to distinguish between the major doctrines of the Bible and the minor ones and they are willing to ignore the minor ones. The only problem is, the minor doctrines wouldn’t have to be labeled minor if we were all willing to believe that the whole Bible is divinely inspired and that God meant what He said. I am wondering under this framework, how we know that the LGBT issues are major rather than minor issues with God? Even though God says the practice of a gay lifestyle is sin, he also says that we have ALL sinned. Perhaps we have not all sinned in the same way, but certainly we have sinned in ways that are major in God’s eyes.
The blessing of living in the day of grace
I am glad that I live in the day of God’s grace. I am glad that I have been delivered from “the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1: 10).” I am glad that my God is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). I am NOT glad that those who reject God’s grace and mercy as shown through the sacrificial death of Christ will perish, but perish they will! I am also glad that Christianity should not be judged by me or my life, or by many Christians who down through the years have not been very Christ-like in my personal opinion. Christianity should be judged by the humility and sacrificial love of Christ. And again, I quote, “Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.”
We need to remember that it is possible to sin in trying to remedy what many of us consider to be a great sin. Let God do the remedying. After all He is the one who is being offended. Let those of us who preach the Gospel preach about all sin, not just one sin. Let us make sure that we are being criticized for our good behavior and not because we have become filled with pride in our own supposed morality.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of June 28, 2015