No condemnation?
Christ is often portrayed by humanists as this loving and forgiving person who never condemns: sin away my lad, everything will be fine in the end; in fact it is even doubtful if sin is a real concept to them. It was Joseph Kruth who said, “Logic is the art of going wrong with confidence.” Many humanists seem to embody that statement so well.
It is true that Christ accepts people as they are; but what our humanist friends forget, is that he does not leave people as they are. He did not condemn the woman caught in adultery, but he did not condone here behaviour either. “Go now and leave your life of sin” was his dictum.
Christ also pointed out that not to believe in him was a sin. If we are serious about the respect we ascribe to him, this point is especially worth thinking about. He told his disciples that the Holy Spirit “will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin because men do not believe in me.”
“As true as John 3:16” is an oft quoted phrase, but what Jesus says afterwards is even more important. He added, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Can we want it any clearer?
God is love. He is forgiving. But one of the characteristics of love is that it “rejoices in the truth”. The truth is, Christ said we would obey him if we loved him. We can obey him by doing the work of God, which is this: “To believe in the one he has sent.” Nothing more, nothing less.
It is true that Christ accepts people as they are; but what our humanist friends forget, is that he does not leave people as they are. He did not condemn the woman caught in adultery, but he did not condone here behaviour either. “Go now and leave your life of sin” was his dictum.
Christ also pointed out that not to believe in him was a sin. If we are serious about the respect we ascribe to him, this point is especially worth thinking about. He told his disciples that the Holy Spirit “will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin because men do not believe in me.”
“As true as John 3:16” is an oft quoted phrase, but what Jesus says afterwards is even more important. He added, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Can we want it any clearer?
God is love. He is forgiving. But one of the characteristics of love is that it “rejoices in the truth”. The truth is, Christ said we would obey him if we loved him. We can obey him by doing the work of God, which is this: “To believe in the one he has sent.” Nothing more, nothing less.
