Today, I am really troubled by some posts people make on FB or Twitter, or whatever means of communicating on the Internet one has.
I am talking specifically about the observation that certain people are evil. The Bible does say that we all are evil. But what I am seeing is a trend that seems to divide up people into different groups of evil.
For instance, some would think that Trump is evil. According to the Bible, Trump is evil. But according to the Bible, I also have an evil heart, left to myself.
The question really isn't 'are we evil?'. We already know the answer to that question. Instead, it should be, have we responded to the Gospel? Have we received a new heart from God? Did we truly come to Christ?
What I notice about this response that Trump or Obama being evil, is that it seems to imply that we aren't evil. Didn't Jesus die for evil people? Or did Jesus only die for people who were a little bad?
Does Trump need God's grace? Can we extend God's grace to him? Some would say that Trump doesn't deserve God's grace. Do you and I deserve God's grace? Or did God look down on us and see how hard we were trying to reach Him and credit us with that?
The Bible says that no one seeks God on his or her own. The reason we came to Christ, if we do indeed know Him, is because He revealed Himself to us, and we saw our sins in the light of God's holiness, which resulted in our seeing a need for a Savior. We turned to Him in repentance and faith, and He saved us.
If we came to know the Lord on the basis of our sins being like mistakes, or if we really do not think that we are not that bad, then we need to be concerned. Did we really understand the Gospel message? Did we truly see the seriousness of our sin before a holy God? Do we really believe God can save those who are terrible sinners, or do we think that people have to prove themselves to God before He will accept them and give them His grace?
Think about this please. If you think that Obama is too hard for God to redeem, please consider the fact that, in God's eyes, you and I are just as hard for God to save. If Jesus died only for those who were not bad sinners, then there would be little hope for those who are in the depths of sin. Grace would not be amazing to us, and we would be hypocrites for singing 'Amazing Grace' in our church services (or anywhere else). If we are little sinners, and Jesus paid an extremely high price to pay for our sins, do we credit ourselves partly for our salvation?
One last thought: If Trump did have a genuine conversion in his life, he will bear fruit for God's glory. But remember, bearing fruit is not necessarily something we see in great proportions immediately. If he did come to Christ, we will begin to see evidence of it, over a period of time. He will not be perfect though, and will probably make decisions we won't agree with.
We look at people like Trump and Obama and doubt that they would ever be saved. Well, they will never come to Christ on their own. But is God's arm too short for Him to save wretch, wicked people like Obama or Trump (or you and I, for that matter)? Maybe if we prayed for people to come to Christ, God would save more people. But even more than that, we need to have faith and believe that God can save wicked people and stop doubting what God can do, especially in situations that look impossible to us. We need to stop believing that wicked people will never get saved.
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