October 21st, 2006
Judgment and Grace
I am a Christian. If you are not, you may assume that I am judgmental of you and the lifestyle you choose because it differs from mine. I do not judge you. I do not expect people to adhere to my way of living if they do not adhere to my beliefs. In fact, if we differ in belief, I have nothing but love for you. Just because I refrain from certain things (like getting drunk, getting naked, etc), it doesn’t mean I’m automatically judging you – no more than it means that you’re judging me for abstaining from these things. I feel that you should be true to what you believe.
The other side to that coin is that I think you should know the truth – I do not judge you, but this is the truth:
In your unbelief of God (and of Jesus Christ), you have offended God – another way to say that is that you’ve “sinned” against God (Sin is basically defined as doing something that is offensive to God). Because God is perfect in every way and because you are not, you have sinned against God. The fact is, every human has sinned against God, it’s part of our nature – I am no different.
Because of God’s perfection, He does not tolerate imperfection. This is where Heaven and Hell come in. If you have sinned, and everyone has, you are doomed to spend eternity in Hell, separated from God, because God is in Heaven. Before Christ this was the fate of all human beings – we were all doomed to Hell because of our sin.
However, in God’s infinite love and compassion He sent His son Jesus Christ to become a human, be born of a virgin (Mary – his birth is why we celebrate Christmas), live a *sinless* life, get sacrificed/murdered on our behalf, lay in a grave for 3 days, rise again and ascend to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. Because this was done, because Christ lived a sinless life and died on our behalf, a sacrifice to God, you may claim the blood of Christ as a covering for your sin. That to say, if you believe in Jesus Christ as our savior, as one who died to save you from the righteous wrath of God, all your sins will be washed away in God’s sight and you may, after you die, spend eternity in Heaven with God rather than in Hell with Satan.
Believing all of this is the only way to escape God’s judgment. And God’s judgment is beyond me, I am not the one who judges you, I am only telling you the truth as a warning – if you do not believe the things above, you will be judged. No amount of “being good” can cover your sins. Only the blood of Jesus Christ serves as a sacrifice.
Honestly, at this point you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by believing this truth – this is grace, this is “The Gospel of Christ”, offered to you. Even if you are still skeptical, please tell God these things (aloud or in your head, this is called “prayer”):
God, I believe in you. I believe you are perfect and in my imperfection and disbelief I have offended you. But I also believe that Jesus Christ died on my behalf, in my place, so that I would be saved from the consequences of my sin, from eternity in Hell. Please forgive me of my sins and accept Jesus’ sacrifice on my behalf. Thank you for your love. I ask that you reveal yourself to me – I want to know you personally.
If you said these things, asked these things of God, God will respond to you. He will have mercy on you and love you. If you said these things, tell a Christian you know. If you don’t know anyone else, you can tell me – I’d love to help you know what to do next.
Please know that what I have said is the truth, and I do not share it in judgment, but out of love for you. I care about you soul, your eternity. I want you to join us for the party in Heaven.
I love you. Seriously.
God bless,
-Philip