All bible quotes not otherwise marked are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016)
There is a lot of sin in this world these days and it seems to me like many Christians ate hating it with great intensity. Are they forgetting to love the sinner though?
If you remember from a previous post, I talked a good bit about loving our enemies and praying for those who treat you badly. That is really hard. What about those people who are minding their own business but are doing things we think are really bad? Sometimes the temptation is to hate them because of what they represent.
You see we get ideas into our heads that we have a Christian nation. I’m doubtful that even what passes for the church in America is really Christian let alone all those people who don’t claim Christ. This world is ruled by the prince of the power of the air.
Ephesians 2:2-3
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
This prince is Satan. The accuser. He rules the world and the world is consumed with his ideas about morality. These people are all damned and going to Hell. Why are we sitting around shocked that sinners are going to sin? Jesus, a perfect man without sin, was crucified by this world. That is what they think of your faith.
Yet we persist in thinking that our nation is a nation of believers. Yet we are at each others throats. The people wage war night and day on social media. They are killing each other left and right. Babies are being ripped out of their mother’s wombs at nine months and killed. Pornography is playing in the vast majority of homes in America.
What are we to do? Are we to take the reins of government and try to force everyone to be good by threatening them with the sword? Is that the great commission? Can they be good out of fear?
Here is what righteous people do.
Galatians 5:14
14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
They love their neighbors. They let them see a difference. They lead lost people to Christ who is the only one who can change them. You can’t change them. Repeat. You can’t change them. Only Christ can change them.
Someone cared about your soul enough to lead you towards Christ. Someone preached the word to you. You didn’t deserve it. You didn’t deserve it any more than anyone on this planet.
Isaiah 64:6
And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Is 64:6.
These rags are not the rags used to wipe up the dinner table or wash the dishes. In the old testament they didn’t have feminine products like we do today. People just used rags. That is the sort of rags God is talking about here. Women in this state were considered unclean in the old testament. Merely touching them could make a priest unclean. So what is our righteousness like? It’s like a rag drenched in all this uncleanness.
We need to shake off the idea that anyone is unworthy to be saved. We need to embrace the idea that we all were unworthy but Christ commands we seek out them all. Did the thief on the cross deserve to go to heaven? He did not.
Luke 23:40-43
Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The man admitted he was justly crucified. How bad do you have to be to be justly crucified? He probably murdered people. This man hanging on the cross was not a good man. He threw himself on the mercy of Christ and Christ delivered him from his sins.
I think Christians sometimes forget that the thief on the cross was likely a hardened criminal guilty of murder. If he were merely a rebel fighting Rome, he would never have said he deserved to die.
So when you meet that person with tattoos, nose rings, shaved heads, needle marks up and down their arms, realize that Jesus Christ loves them. When you meet that ruthless businessman who overworks his employees and steals from them every chance he gets, realize that Jesus Christ loves him. When you see that dead eyed prostitute standing on the street corner stoned out of her mind, realize that Jesus Christ loves her.
Okay go read that previous paragraph again. Let it sink into your mind. We are all people saved by grace. Grace is unmerited favor. God gave us something we didn’t deserve. We received mercy which means we didn’t get what we deserved. If you struggle with mercy and forgiveness go back and read that entire post.
So let’s return to hating the sin. Are we just to sit around feeling anger about sin? God is angered by sin but Jesus took all that anger on the cross. How is our anger concerning sin supposed to manifest itself? Are we to call out sinners? Are we to focus on particular sins over others? There is no doubt in the modern church some sins are worse than others.
When I was growing up smoking and drinking were the two greatest sins. I remember reading a churches rules about being a deacon and they listed two sins you were explicitly supposed to never do. Smoking and drinking. I remember thinking at the time as a lost person where were the other sins and why was smoking and drinking the most important sins that they had to be listed?
I don’t think all sins are equal. They are all equally damning. If you murder someone that is worse than gossiping about them. Both though make you completely one hundred percent unacceptable to God. We can’t cherry pick our sins and say some are okay and others are not. God sees all. God is not deceived nor mocked. We all need to be on our knees praying for God to forgive our sins and we need to forgive others.
Luke 11:4
and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
The Lord’s prayer where he teaches us the right way to think about sin says we are to seek forgiveness for all of our sins and we are to forgive others.
Matthew 18:35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Want to know why your prayers are going unanswered? You won’t forgive and God won’t forgive you and thus you aren’t on speaking terms. You’ve separated yourself from God’s fellowship. You are still His child but you are estranged and He is going to start chastening soon enough.
1 Peter 3:7
Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
Peter here speaks of hindered prayer. If we do not show honor to our wives, our prayers will be hindered.
So in closing, let’s focus on the point of today’s post. We must stop hating. We must go outside our comfortable bubble to reach others. Our mission here is to seek out the lost and lead them to Christ after which we disciple them to take on their own mission. God can save anyone. Jesus hanging on that cross forgave those who crucified Him. We can forgive. We can realize that sin is sin. We must have the heart and compassion for others. If we were still lost in our sins would we not want someone to reach out to us? Of course we would!
Thank you for reading. There will be more God willing. I love you all. I pray God blesses your mission.
Lol. When I engaged you after you trolled me on Twitter, and you couldn’t back up scripturally your insane statements, you blocked me. Classic leftist reaction. Here’s a link for you to learn from: https://youtu.be/lp7S3e_-jP0