Does God look upon Sin?
It is said that God cannot look upon sin thus, is not where sin is. If that were the case He would not be omnipresent! We see in Christ, the exact representation of God, and we see that Jesus was and went where sin was. He walked through the streets where pain and degradation was present and filled with death and loneliness, he associated and was know as a friend of sinners. God was in Christ on the cross when Jesus paid the price for sin.
As a result of this wrong picture of God's justice and character that we have been taught, we tend to develop a schizophrenic approach in presenting God to the world. Jesus was an exact representation of God’s character and from Him we know that God is loving. When we expect Him to react harshly He surprises us with compassion, kindness and forgiveness. Paul said "It is your kindness that leads us to repentance". This unconditional love of God is what should propel us to love people into His Kingdom. But because of our religious misunderstanding of God's character, when we tell non-Christians about God we present a God who cannot leave sin unpunished, who loves justice, who seems by our description to be unfair and hateful. We project that Christ’s sacrifice was insufficient. We try to scare the Hell out of people, rather than believing that God meant it when He said that it is kindness that leads us to repentance.
Out of fear and urgency we try to help God out, we try to speed up the process by assuming the role of the Holy Spirit. But fear is always a bad motivation. Love is patient. Love always hopes, always waits, always trusts, always believes, and though it's hard to take...love hurries for no one. We are not the Holy Spirit. Salvation is God's responsibility not ours, our responsibility is to show compassion, forgiveness and love. Anything we do for God outside the context of love, is polluted and another gospel that is nothing but a tinkling symbol that is not the Gospel. We help the needy, we love people around us, not as a bait for salvation, but simply because it is Godly and because it is loving.
Contrary to popular opinion, the end do not justify the means, rather the means determine the end. The means of manipulation, condemnation, or dishonesty will reap what it sows, regardless of the end in mind. Do not focus on the end result, but on the right means, and the right result will follow. Our means is love, and loving is never a waste of time.
As a result of this wrong picture of God's justice and character that we have been taught, we tend to develop a schizophrenic approach in presenting God to the world. Jesus was an exact representation of God’s character and from Him we know that God is loving. When we expect Him to react harshly He surprises us with compassion, kindness and forgiveness. Paul said "It is your kindness that leads us to repentance". This unconditional love of God is what should propel us to love people into His Kingdom. But because of our religious misunderstanding of God's character, when we tell non-Christians about God we present a God who cannot leave sin unpunished, who loves justice, who seems by our description to be unfair and hateful. We project that Christ’s sacrifice was insufficient. We try to scare the Hell out of people, rather than believing that God meant it when He said that it is kindness that leads us to repentance.
Out of fear and urgency we try to help God out, we try to speed up the process by assuming the role of the Holy Spirit. But fear is always a bad motivation. Love is patient. Love always hopes, always waits, always trusts, always believes, and though it's hard to take...love hurries for no one. We are not the Holy Spirit. Salvation is God's responsibility not ours, our responsibility is to show compassion, forgiveness and love. Anything we do for God outside the context of love, is polluted and another gospel that is nothing but a tinkling symbol that is not the Gospel. We help the needy, we love people around us, not as a bait for salvation, but simply because it is Godly and because it is loving.
Contrary to popular opinion, the end do not justify the means, rather the means determine the end. The means of manipulation, condemnation, or dishonesty will reap what it sows, regardless of the end in mind. Do not focus on the end result, but on the right means, and the right result will follow. Our means is love, and loving is never a waste of time.
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