Life Matters - November 29, 2023
A religion cannot as accurately be understood by observing those who “name it and claim it” as it can be understood by its teachings and by the results of those teachings in the lives of its most faithful adherents who are inspired by a sincere desire to understand and to live by those teachings.
For the Christian this means he or she must first of all love God and His teachings, or doctrine, from which God cannot be separated, for God and His doctrine are one. God is good and His commandments are just and good.
The fear of God springs from an understanding of this “just” goodness. It is God’s impartial goodness that causes us much consternation when we mistrust Him and much consolation when we do trust Him. We either fear Him with mistrust or we fear Him from a place of trust. We either struggle against and fight Him with a desperate fear or we surrender to Him with a reverent, submissive fear. God is holy and just and good “and the commandment holy, just, and good.” (Romans 7:12) it is this reverential fear that initially cracks open the door of our hearts and minds to accept God and His Word and it is this reverent fear of God that puts a check in our spirit when our heart and mind would draw us aside to lusting after evil things as some of them also lusted “and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.” (I Corinthians 10:6-8)
Christianity is about being sanctified from the inside out. It puts a much needed check on the outer man. Carnal reactions and feelings are no longer trusted, carnal lusts and desires are given over to God, pleasures are sifted through the screen of His Word. Then God does not leave us “empty, swept and garnished,” He infills us with His spirit, with His love. While God’s judgements in the Old Testament and His prophesied judgement at the end of this age are undeniably harsh yet He has extended us a way out. Wherein “mercy rejoices against judgement.” (James 2:13, Psalms 85:10) Jesus Christ being merciful, taking our judgement upon himself, died in our stead and satisfied the debt we owed for our sin. It is this claim of being “the only mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5) this claim of being the only way to heaven, that incites, that infuriates the adherents of false religions and the irreligious together, is it not? The devil’s fury has also been poured out upon God’s people of the Old Testament that we today refer to as the Jews. It is worthy of note that Islam, in its religious expression, provides no avenue, no pathway, to a peaceful co-existence. If and when they are powerful enough to do something about it.
Peacefully leaving Islam is not an option either for those connected to ‘’the faithful.” I encountered one such “connected” whom I had the privilege of becoming acquainted with during our two week visit to Israel in 2000. The young man waited tables at the establishment where we got in the habit of eating breakfast while we were there. As I also have an incurable habit of wanting others to experience a living relationship with Jesus, I brought up that sacred subject in the course of our conversation. His sober face lit up, his dark eyes sparkled and he wanted to talk. I don’t know what happened to my healthy Mediterranean food, but I likely swallowed it as we conversed, as we fellowshipped around our common faith in Christ. His background was Muslim and in his somewhat limited English he continued sharing his story with me periodically in the remaining days we were there. It followed a common refrain that I’ve heard and read many times before and since. That of being raised believing that his works were being weighed in a balance with good works on one side and bad works on the other and that his eternal destination depended on which side outweighed the other side. He shared his joy at the discovery that his sins were covered by the blood of Jesus!
Sometime in our conversations this young man shared his estrangement from his family and relatives. So when I perceived that he had not as yet shared Christ with them, I asked him what would happen if he did? He raised an extended forefinger to his neck, drew it across his throat and with a dry soberness said, “I be dead.” To Islam, his “bad” works, (loving Jesus) outweighed his “good” works (loving Mohammad) and therefore there was no possible reconciliation. No mediator. Only his own death could satisfy the “wrath of God.” But, this young man had found THE MEDIATOR, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
Life Matters!