The Scourge Of Racism
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Released January 5, 2024
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As the Lord led in last week’s post, we saw how representing God, Jesus Christ by His own testimony came into the world as part of His mission “to bear witness to the truth,” (John18:37, NKJV). As God in eternal unity with the Father and Holy Spirit, He is “truth” and ‘“the truth’” as it concerns the message of salvation He was also sent into the world by the Father to proclaim (Deuteronomy 32:3-4; John 8:13-30, 14:6, NKJV). It is in the context of salvation that He asserts by remaining in His ‘“word’” believers in Him would truly be His ‘“disciples,’” ‘“know’” Him ‘“the truth’” and they become ‘“free,’” (John 8:31-32, NKJV). Only Christ in the Gospel can set men free from sin!1
‘“…the truth shall make you free’” is one of a number of words and phrases lifted from the Bible and corrupted by misapplication while being used in many ways by professed Christians and rank unbelievers (John 8:32b, NKJV). Though it is true having knowledge of the truth in a matter can be very liberating, this is not what the Lord Jesus is speaking of when He makes His statement to the Jewish listeners who had believed on Him. Indeed, they got their hackles up in offense right away at the statement because they did not receive it from Christ as something beneficial. But they correctly heard in the Lord’s statement that they were in some kind of bondage.
In smugly refuting the Lord’s statement they cited their connection to Abraham and did not tell the truth in saying they “have never been in bondage to anyone” since God reveals to him his descendants would be slaves for over four hundred years as they were in Egypt (Genesis 15:12-16; Exodus 12:40-42; John 8:33, NKJV).2 This was followed by localized oppressions in the land as well as the major Assyrian and Babylonian captivities in which they were removed from it (Nehemiah 9:36-37). Following those days, though they were not enslaved, the Medo-Persians, Greeks and currently Rome oppressed them. Even so, the Lord spoke of a deeper form of bondage that is spiritual.
He said, ‘“Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin,’” (John 8:34, NKJV).3 Human slavery to sin began when the first man, Adam, yielded to it in Eden and brought upon him and his progeny the promised divine penalty (Genesis 3:1-11, 17-19, 22-24, 4:1-7; Romans 5:12-14). Rooted in the body, sin exerts such power, influence and control in the desires, thinking, attitudes, words and deeds of its hosts that they can be described accurately as nothing but slaves. Sin in presence and its works originating in the heart also spiritually pollute or “defile” a man before the holy God who has no fellowship with it whatsoever (Isaiah 59:1-8; Mark 7:14-23, NKJV).
However, back in Eden God showed how He could cope with sin in man on a temporary basis by shedding the blood of an animal; taking its life instead of man’s (Genesis 3:21). He developed this in the Law given to Israel which when done right gave the people an annual temporary atonement for and release from their sins (Leviticus 16). All along though, God’s plan called for eventually setting willing men free eternally from sin’s penalty, power, presence and pollution as He intimated at another of the great feast days of Israel, Passover (Exodus 12:1-14). What the Jews who believed on Christ yet disputed with Him that day did not realize is He was God’s Passover Lamb (John 1:29-34)!
Christ goes on to instruct His would be Jewish followers the slaves of men do not have a permanent place in the house of their masters, but a son does (John 8:35). They stood in the presence of the only begotten Son of God with an eternal standing in His Father’s house. If He as the Son of God therefore, set them free from bondage to sin through the truth of His finished work in the Gospel, they would “be free indeed,” (John 8:36; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Hebrews 9:22-10:18, NKJV). For it was Christ alone who enabled the Father to remove sin’s penalty through forgiveness; who broke its power, made a way for eternal freedom from its presence and pollution through His cross (Romans 3:21-26, 5:1-8, 6, 7:7-8:17)!
Thus, by remaining in His word, we as those Jewish believers should have been, are to be earnestly seeking to know the truth better and deeper rather than arguing with Him.4 Then we would understand more fully and “rejoice” in all that Christ accomplished for us (Romans 5:9-11; Colossians 1:3-14; 2 Peter 1:1-11, NKJV). This includes having access to God’s forgiveness of our sins through confession and repentance as often as needed (1 John 1:5-2:2). Then too, we will have eternal freedom not only from sin as sons made gloriously immortal, but every evil and hurtful thing that would enslave us; living and reigning with Christ “forever and ever,” (1 Corinthians 15:47-57; Revelation 21-22:5, NKJV)!
1 Read the April 7, 2024 post, Suffering For The Truth, under the category, Glory To God!
2 Many professed American Christians also falsely believe themselves to be grandfathered into salvation because of heritage or parents that were Christians. If you are one of them please take heed and realize you can only be saved by making a personal decision to repent of your sins which like everyone else you have and believe the Gos- pel of Christ. Watch this Ministry’s Strong Man Of God Online Rally, Reconciled To God, on our YouTube channel.
3 Committing sin is the evidence we are slaves to it! Among the sins many white conservative evangelical Christians commit daily is the practice of racism. Learn more by getting my book, The Scourge Of Racism. It is available at your favorite internet book seller and in the Strong Man Store. The E-Book version is also available at major E-Book sellers. Also, please watch another Strong Man Of God Online Rally, Return To The Lord, on our YouTube channel to hear Christ’s call for you, O professed Chris- tian, to turn back to Him in obedience and faithfulness to His Word.
4 This is the heart of every aspiring strong man and great woman of God in Christ’s image I write about in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. It too, is avail- able at your favorite internet book seller and in the Strong Man Store. The E-Book is also available at major E-Book sellers.
Picking up where I left off at the end of last week’s post,1 it is very sad indeed, that the Lord Jesus Christ must bring severe judgment upon His Church to punish sin including that of racism. Concerning racism, His end as well during the course of His judgment is to potentially move proud and stubborn professed Christian conservative white evangelical men to love their brethren of color and vice versa as He has commanded in His Word (John 13:34-35).2 The love Christ commands is not any old kind of human origin, but unique to the Triune God and apparent when displayed (1 John 4:7-16)! Born again Christians are equipped with God’s love and only fail in it through sin.
As is widely known, we sinful human beings are creatures of conditioning and habit. Despite the plainly written commandment of Christ repeated by Him and His apostles that those of us who become His “born again” followers are to love each other as He set the example (John 3:1-8, 15:12, 17; 1 John 4:20-21, NKJV), coming to salvation in freewill just as we are it is easy to resist being transformed by the mind “renewing” work and “regeneration” “of the Holy Spirit” comfortably clinging to the way we have always operated in culturally conditioned and habitual sinful thinking, attitudes, manner of speaking as well as deeds (Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 5:16-26; Titus 3:1-8, NKJV).
The foregoing would have certainly been the experience of any number of authentic European Christian colonists that came to this land with the culturally ingrained arrogance of racial superiority along with those in largest number practicing a counterfeit manmade form of Christianity that embraced and fostered it toward the indigenous peoples they encountered and later, West Africans brought in. This would help to explain how loveless racism so easily manifested itself and remained intact in toleration and practice by the vast majority of professed white American Christians for over four centuries to this hour including among those identifying as conservative evangelicals.
Bitterness as a reaction in the truly saved objects of white racial bigotry and discrimination can and do offer up the same resistance to the Holy Spirit’s renewing work bringing Him grief as well (Ephesians 4:30-32). All of this suggests intentionality to abandon one’s own sinful way however derived to fully submit to the will of Christ taught in Scripture and empowered by the Holy Spirit as a matter of new conditioning and habit (Romans 8:1-14, 12:9-21; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, 5:17)! When we submit to the Holy Spirit, now, the unique and awesome love of God is able to display, fill and be the controlling influence in our hearts; enabling us to love God and one another as Christ wills.
As the apostle Paul makes plain, the love of God is the uppermost Christian inner quality and outworking motive for service (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). It is infinitely superior to and better than sin tainted, naturally selfish human love. He teaches the love originating from God “suffers long and is kind;” it “does not envy” nor “parade itself” (as in narcissistic exhibitionism), “is not puffed up” (arrogant), “does not behave rudely” or “seek its own.” God’s love “is not provoked (easily incited), thinks no evil” (keeps score as grudges); “does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.” It also “bears,” “believes,” “hopes” and “endures all things;” “never fails…,” (1 Corinthians 13:4-13, NKJV).
If it is true “love never fails” as the great apostle writes, then, the allowing of loveless racism to arise, take root and endure centuries within the American Church is the failure to love with God’s love of guilty professed white Christians as the original fathers, embittered objects and the descendants of both until now! For far too long professed Christians from every stripe have couched racism mostly in terms of rights, privileges, advantages and opportunities granted or denied in discrimination.3 But Christ too, from the beginning and consistent with His New Testament teaching frames racism as the failure to love as He exemplified in all disobedience and sin requiring repentance for His forgiveness!4
Thus, conservative white evangelicals in the lead can keep on making racism mainly about acts of discrimination supposedly slowly diminishing as evidence of progress or understand Christ is concerned first and foremost about the blatant disobedience to His command for Christians to love each other as God displayed in Him (Romans 5:6-8).5 The same goes for Christians of color as objects of racial bigotry and discrimination who cultivate bitterness as their chosen response rather than forgiveness with loving rebuke if the opportunity presents itself (Matthew 18:15-35). However, destruction awaits either party since loving one another as Christ loved us is not optional; an entering “by the narrow gate” and “difficult” “way” leading to “life” “few” “find,” (Matthew 7:13-14, NKJV).6
1 Read the November 5, 2023 post, The Little Book, under the category, Bible Prophecy.
2 See the September 24, 2023 post, Racism In Christ’s Church A No-No, under the category, Instruction.
3 Flying in the face of God’s love the apostle Paul describes, this explains why guilty selfish hearted professed white Christians are not eager to engage with their brothers of color in Christ because of the fear of having and unwillingness to share. I write about this reality keeping it real with young black Americans in a November 29, 2015 post, When The Glory Comes, under the category, Glory To God!
4 Here is where the rubber meets the road as far as biblical Christianity centered in the love of God through relationship with Him is concerned versus the dead efforts and works of counterfeit manmade Christianity as religion. The love of God the apostle Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 cannot, has not and will not be displayed by spiritually dead Christian religionists because it is actualized by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). If you do not have the love of God in you as a professed Christian, the Lord calls you to repent to be saved or return to Him. Watch our ongoing Strong Man Of God Online Rally, Return To The Lord, on YouTube to learn more.
5 As I write in The Scourge Of Racism, loving each other as Christians in the Self-denying example of Christ is exceedingly more than toleration (see book pages 47 and 59)! Also, with a “fervent love” for each other, acts of discrimination that harms a brother in Christ are quickly reduced (1 Peter 4:8, NKJV). The book can be purchased in this Ministry’s Web Site Stores including the Strong Man Store, all major internet booksellers and brick and mortar bookstores. View the short book trailer.
6 Among this few are aspiring strong men of God in the image of Christ I am blessed of the Lord to write about in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. It is available in the Hard or Soft Cover or E-Book Editions in the Strong Man Store, all major internet booksellers and brick and mortar bookstores.
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