Strong Man Of God Blog

          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.