A Witness so Effective

One of the expressions of Christian-speak disturbing me in this time of increasing evil is: “God loves the sinner, but He hates the sin.” It rolls off the mouth of Christians so easily. When preachers express it they’ll also use the most famous Scripture to back it up: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall should not perish but have everlasting life John 3:16. “Jesus didn’t come to condemn you,” they’ll say in their evangelistic messages. Correct … John 3:17 confirms that too. But what his or her listeners don’t hear from Jesus is: ……but he who does not believe (Jesus) is condemned already……. John 3:18.

In evangelistic messages, sinners need to be told that they are condemned already, which means God has already passed judgment upon them and the sentence is eternal damnation if they don’t turn from their God-defiance and rebellion. God calls that wickedness and although He does love the sinner, God is a just Judge and He is angry with the wicked everyday Psalm 7:11. When a parent is angry with a child for disobedience or belligerence, that doesn’t mean they don’t love them! Sinners need to be told in no uncertain terms that it’s not the sin God sends to hell, it is the sinner. Sinners are children of disobedience who need to be told the wrath of God is coming upon them Colossians 3:6 unless they have a change of heart.

Sinners give the appearance of being unafraid of the wrath of God, but for the most part, an appearance is all it is. If you talk to them about it they’ll quickly want to shut you up or change the subject. What’s that if it’s not being afraid? They must be told, nevertheless. The Good News of Christ the Redeemer is much less appreciated when the Bad News of Christ the Judge is glossed over or ignored. What we’ve been saved from is just as important to proclaim as what we’ve been saved to! Christians failing to grasp that truth are much less effective in their witnessing for Christ. I learned on You Tube recently, two men came into a church and told the pastor that what drove them to the gospel was the realization that they were on their way to hell.

Messengers of the gospel, just like the apostle Paul, must give sinners the whole counsel of God Acts 20:27. Paul spoke of the terror of the Lord 2 Corinthians 5:11. He knew that terror and so must we. It was an experience of the terror of the Lord that drove those two men to Christ and it’s that same experience that will drive others there. What doesn’t drive any to the gospel are those watered down, cowardly, spiritually anemic messages coming from men in pulpits today. Yes, they get many “decisions” for Christ, but they don’t get many “conversions” to Christ. Christ is not interested in decisions, He’s only interested in conversions. Even Judas Iscariot made a decision for Him!

A sinner stopped me on the street last week and within less than a minute he started in on my beliefs. When asked he give evidence for his beliefs, he switched to, “You Christians are not very good at demonstrating compassion. You’re not showing much interest in helping those in need.” He knew he’d made a foolish accusation when I suggested he might do something about it. He told me the Bible is nothing more than a story book. “A His-story book, ” I said, “God’s story! His name is Jesus. And when you stand before Him in judgment to give an account of your life, the Bible is the book He’ll be holding in His hand.” His strained laugh was all the evidence I needed to know that those words had struck him. His manner changed as did his speech.

Later he shared that he had been reflecting on his life “for quite a while now” and, “you know, more than once I should have been killed. I feel I’ve been spared from many disasters over the years, so perhaps there is a God or angels, or something. I’m 71 and still going.” He was surprised when learning of my similar experiences. He thought he was the only one. Too, he believed others would think him mad if he mentioned it. I told him God is seeking his attention, “Don’t discount Jesus!” This time he did not sneer or ridicule. He mentioned he’d been talking to a Hindu friend. I informed him Hinduism is a religion and religion is a system whereby people strive to reach God. Christianity is Jesus Christ reaching down to us. “Your move!”

He expressed anger at the destruction Roman Catholicism has brought to people’s lives, informing me his wife was brought up in that system. That’s a major reason why people are antagonistic towards Christians and the true things of God. They see the hypocrisy and think Catholicism and biblical Christianity are one and the same, when they are not. I reminded him of the differences explained earlier about religion and Christianity. I left him with the challenge of going to the gospel of John to discover the truth of Jesus Christ for himself.” Will he do that? I don’t know. What I do know, he’s been given another chance to humble himself before the Lord and ask for forgiveness and salvation. God would much rather this than damnation.

But if he does not, upon his death he will experience this truth: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Hebrews 10:31. He will not experience the love of God at that time and he will know it was because he rejected it when it was freely offered to him when living on earth. That is the fate of a Christ-rejector. “How dreadful to have the displeasure of an eternal, almighty Being to rest on the soul forever!” Adam Clarke. Two friends of mine died recently. Each one was a Christ-rejector for years and although both of them turned back to their religion before they died, it was a false religion to begin with. As false religions do, they spoke of another Jesus and another gospel 2 Corinthians 11:4. How sad that dying people flock back to those!

Although it is structured as a balanced expression, “God loves the sinner, but He hates the sin” has caused today’s Christianity to over-focus on God’s love and under-focus on God’s hatred of sin. God’s call for holiness and righteousness in His people is being over-looked. That’s why sexual perversion is not being seen for what it is in the church today. That’s why you can go into a tongue-talking church (I’m not against the gift of spiritual language) and see people all jumping up and down during praise and worship, yet observe them later speaking the language of the world on Facebook, in the work place, or wherever! They know no different because they’re not taught it and, it seems, neither are they seeking it.

Unless God’s people begin now to kick the practices and systems of the world to the curb (all of it a stench in God’s nostrils) and get doubly serious for the commands of God, they are not going to survive the days ahead. When the pressure hits, multitudes will fall over like nine-pins! A “spiritual” house built on the sand of the world and its foolishness is appointed to sink Matthew 7:24-27. An over-focus on God’s love won’t stop us from sinking; what will stop us is an equal focus on God’s hatred of sin. An equal focus will get you off the sand and onto rock. That’s what God is looking for – rock-solid, balanced people. Nine-pins give the appearance of being balanced but when you hit them hard enough over they go!

Watchman Nee said, “The Blood (of Jesus) procures my pardon for what I have done. The Cross (of Jesus) procures my deliverance from what I am……the Blood disposes of our sins, while the Cross strikes at the root of our capacity to sin.” There it is … God’s love for the sinner; God’s hatred of sin. That’s why He’s given us the Holy Spirit, that’s why He’s given us the Holy Scriptures. God’s expectation now is that we seek Him daily in prayer, praise and worship, then let the Scriptures shine in on our heart. While we’re in that process, holiness and righteousness will develop, carelessness and foolishness will diminish! After a few months of that practice, you’ll begin to see Christ the Redeemer and Christ the Judge in a whole new light and you will deeply respect both.

This Christian God deeply respects in return. Is this a perfect Christian? No. But he/she is a holy and righteous Christian because he/she loves what God loves and hates what God hates. That is all that God is looking for. This is the only Christian to give an effective witness to the truth that, “God loves the sinner, but He hates the sin.” It is a witness so effective, both redeemed sinners and unredeemed sinners alike know it without a shadow of doubt. It draws them to Christ or it draws them away from Him. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life 2 Corinthians 2:15-16.