“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
John 3:17
Jesus Christ did not present condemnation to the world around Him as the Pharisees were declaring during His Incarnation. Jesus presented Love, Mercy, and Grace through the Word of God to a people in dire need of a Savior. The Teachings of Christ were a beacon of hope for the hopeless whom the Pharisees had written off as a lost cause. While the Pharisees were pushing people away from God, Jesus was leading them to God. Are we saving as Jesus, or are we condemning as the Pharisees? Are we using our tools of Salvation to draw people closer to God or pushing them away?
The Pharisees twisted Theology to condemn and discourage others to make themselves feel good about their wrong way of living. Like the Pharisees, so many people us the Bible as a hammer to beat others down to lift their own religious egos. God left us His Word to lead others into correct doctrine and admonish one another. The Lord did not provide us with the Scriptures to twist Theology into “me-ology.”
As Christians, we need to use the Word of God as an elevating tool that lifts the lost to a Resurrected Savior who is ready to deliver them from fallen and broken to risen and whole. Our separation as a sanctified people is supposed to be a guiding light for a world wandering blindly in the dark. The Light of Christ that shines within us is to draw those into Salvation and away from sin and condemnation. It is our life and example that should resemble the Life of Christ full of love, compassion, forgiveness, and patience to both the lost and our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Let the Word of God through us become a voice of Salvation that gives the lost a lively hope that leads them to Jesus Christ. Let the Life of the Son of God and the Holy Spirit draw the world around us to Salvation and not push them away further into darkness. The loved are to love, the forgiven are to forgive, the enlightened are to enlighten, and the blessed are to be a blessing. This is how we as Christians can set the trend in our daily environment from worldly to Godly, and the attitude of condemnation to Salvation.
