Hate the sin, love the sinner...

"If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also." 1 John 4;20-21 NKJV I am on my soapbox again about political correctness. Much is said these days about "tolerance" & to the point it becomes nauseating. I say this because Christians are told we must be tolerant of any & everything the world throws at us. I'm not sure tolerance is a correct term. Tolerate, according to my much-referenced Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means "a: to allow to be or to be done without prohibition, hindrance, or contradiction b: to put up with." I've stated my dislike (many times) for preachers & ministries who preach GOD as only a loving GOD who would never sentence any soul to Hell because it is against His Holy Character. Truth is, GOD is a GOD of love--but He is also a GOD of righteousness & judgment. As Christians, we are called to love & accept others--to look past their sin & love them in spite of the ugliness of the choices they have made. We are still to use the wisdom & discernment GOD gives us to judge sin as sin, but we are not to judge the soul of the person---only their behavior. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." Prior to our salvation, each of us walked in sin. We all made poor choices. Still, GOD looked past that & loved us. We were--and are--sinners, but we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ our Lord. If we truly love our fellow man, rather than demean & belittle them, we should look back at where we came from. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb & the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). We cannot point people towards GOD if our life does not reflect the love of GOD. We should make them aware of the penalty of sin, but love them and help direct them towards salvation. But not for the people GOD put in my life through the years, I'd still be lost--were I still alive at all. Worse yet, had I died during my period of rebellion against GOD--my soul would now be burning in Hell for all eternity. GOD loved me enough to guard me through that period of my life & continually give me additional chances to know His love. During a time when I was steeped in alcohol, drugs & a promiscuous lifestyle--or in simple terms, SIN--GOD still loved me & desired to restore me to a right relationship with Him so I could fulfill the plans He had for my life. He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). Some Christians & churches are exclusive--they don't want to dirty their saintly hands with the things of the world. But, how can we be effective in ministry if we don't reach out to people where they are? Jesus went to the sinners. He walked where they walked & in doing so, He called them out of darkness & into the light of GOD's love. Referring back to 1 Corinthians 6, it says "and such were some of you". Someone came to where we were, someone took a chance on dirtying themselves with the filth of the world in order to reach out to us. Because He loves us, we are to love others. We cannot profess Christianity if we don't love people. GOD help us to not think so highly of ourselves that we fail in our mission to reach out to others. To love them, we must accept them as they are--we must be "inclusive". Accept (once again according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary) means "to receive willingly", that sounds so much better than "tolerate". I'm reminded of the old altar call hymn, "Just as I am". GOD accepts & receives people just as they are. We should too. We should hate the sin, but love the sinner. Blessings! Tony

Our sins have been absorbed...

"And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." 1 John 1b-2 NKJV According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the word "propitiate" means to appease & "propitiation" means something that propitiates; specifically: an atoning sacrifice. Think about that--Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. It is difficult for me to imagine a love so deep, a love so pure, a love so sacrificial that it would compel someone to give Himself to death in order to save others. Yet, Jesus willingly gave Himself to do just that. It gives me reason to be thankful for the fact that GOD loved me so much that He sent His only begotten Son to, in effect, serve as a sponge and absorb my sin. Just as a sponge absorbs liquids, Jesus Christ came to soak up the sins of the world--my sins, your sins, everyone's sins. One man, one sinless man, served as the substitute & took the penalty for the sins of the entire world. As His precious blood drained from His tortured & tormented body, hanging there on the cross of Calvary--it covered our sins and as the earth soaked up that blood, our sins were totally & completely done away with. Logically, it is hard to wrap one's mind around that fact. However, logic plays no part in faith. Faith calls us to believe that which seems illogical. Hebrews 11:1 tells us, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Therefore, we have hope. Lamentations 3:21-24 affirms that saying, "This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!" All we have to do is accept His free gift of forgiveness & surrender our lives to Him. Why do so many refuse that gift? Why do so many despair? Why are so many fighting addictions, joining gangs, living in torturous torment at the hands of the devil? They are lost, dead in their sins because they have not allowed the Jesus of the cross to take those sins from them. As Christians, it is our responsibility, our duty & GOD's expectation of us to reach out to them--to tell them about the Jesus who died to atone for those sins, to show them the way of reconciliation & the hope they have in GOD. I am well aware of my shortcomings in witnessing for the Lord & I pray daily for boldness to speak openly of GOD's faithfulness & the forgiveness that is available through Him. He has delivered me from so much. Without Him, I am nothing. I desire that my life is a mirror that reflects the love & mercy of GOD & tells those I come in contact with that Jesus is the sponge that absorbs the sins of the world--theirs included. What are your thoughts? Blessings! Tony