Another Ninety-Five

T H E S I S # 89

Failure of christians does not make Christ and His gospel less authentic.

Abraham’s descendents, “the children of Israel”, were to be a light to the nations. They were not. Other peoples were supposed to see the advantages of being connected to God through a covenant relationship. Didn’t often happen.

Deuteronomy 7:6: “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.”

The moral record of God’s chosen people was worse than dismal; it was abhorrent.

Deuteronomy 4:7: “What great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?”

The answer to this question: none. And yet….

Jeremiah 2:11 (NLT): “Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols.”

Though His “holy people” were treacherous in betrayal over many centuries, God has remained steadfast in His holiness, in His perfection, in His justice, in His mercy. God always was, and God was always the same. God always will be, and God always will be the same. “I am the Lord; I do not change.”

Though misrepresented, His promises to His “stiff-necked” people never lost authenticity, not a smidgen.

Christians live under a better covenant than the “childen of Israel”, with far better promises, paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Our claim is that God loves mankind so much He actually became a man for the purpose of becoming an acceptable sacrificial Lamb as payment for a complete and total salvation – which includes an eternity of bliss and rapture beyond human ability to describe. Yes, we actually believe God, “very God of very God” (as expressed in the Nicene Creed), entered the human race to rescue us from sin and Satan.

It is natural for non-believers to peruse Christ’s people to determine if Christ and His gospel are believable. In this regard we often fail them (and Lord Jesus). Another 95 reveals some of our weaknesses, but not most.

Yet each of us has undergone a major transformation when first “born of the Spirit”. The gospel is true, though we often are not true to the One who redeemed us. Sad.