In our world today it has become “hip” to insult Christians and make sport of Christian beliefs. What does the Bible say about all this? Let’s look at 2 Peter 3 beginning in verse 2 (using the New Century Version): 2“I want you to think about the words the holy prophets spoke in the past, and remember the command our Lord and Savior gave us through your apostles. 3It is most important for you to understand what will happen in the last days. People will laugh at you. They will live doing the evil things they want to do. 4They will say, “Jesus promised to come again. Where is He? Our fathers have died but the world continues the way it has been since it was made. 5But they do not want to remember what happened long ago. By the word of God heaven was made, and the earth was made from water and with water. 6Then the world was flooded and destroyed with water. 7And that same word of God is keeping heaven and earth that we now have in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the Judgment Day and the destruction of all who are against God.
8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: To the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. 9The Lord is not slow in doing what He promised – the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be lost, but He wants all people to change their hearts and lives.
10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The skies will disappear with a loud noise. Everything in them will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be burned up. 11In that way everything will be destroyed. So what kind of people should you be? You should live holy lives and serve God.
Christians are NOT perfect, they are not “better than you”, nor are they without sin. Christians are human and do stupid things, make mistakes, and suffer the horrible effects of sin every day. The Apostle Paul, unquestionably a champion for the cause of Christ said it best in Romans 7: “14We know that the law is spiritual, but I am not spiritual since sin rules me as if I were its slave. 15I do not understand the things I do. I do not do what I want to do, and I do the things I hate.” And in verse 18: “Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me – I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them. 19I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do.” Why? Because Paul, like all humans, had sin living in him and constantly battled against it. Sin must be dealt with for us to be acceptable to God. Simply put, Christians have been redeemed and their inward desires are toward God and Godly things – despite the fleshly battles they constantly fight against the sinful nature that we all have. In Romans 3:23 it says: “All have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory, 24and all need to be made right with God by His grace, which is a free gift.” In the end Christians have been bought with a price and their sins forgiven through the free gift of God’s grace. Christians, ultimately, have total victory over sin through their relationship with Christ.
Make no mistake friends – the Master of the universe and our Maker will not be mocked and literally there will be eternal hell to pay for those who refuse to accept Him. But He is longsuffering and loved us so much that He provided us a way to defeat our lives of sin and wickedness: Jesus. Jesus died for all of our sins and by doing so He paid the price for our eternal salvation. While we were still sinners Jesus died for us and God allowed Jesus’ death to pay for our sins – free – it is called grace. It may sound foolish to you but I urge you to ask questions and to seek Him out and to accept His free gift of eternal life!
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