We Warn

Along with the Good News, we must tell them the bad.

The Sword of the Spirit (7)

“I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13.3

Hard truth
Jesus’ response to the question put to Him, about people who were slain or who died in a tragedy, can seem somewhat uncaring and hard.

Hard, yes. Uncaring, never.

Jesus is the embodiment of God’s love. Nothing He ever spoke was intended to do anything other than to further the cause of the truth and love of God. Even when He spoke hard words to His enemies, He longed for them to know the truth. In the account in Luke 13, the truth of the matter is that everyone is going to die, and if they do not repent and turn to the truth of God, their death will be as much a tragedy as any they could imagine.

Our job, in wielding the Sword of the Spirit, is to explain to people the consequences of rejecting God’s truth. That can be hard, but it need not be uncaring. We must do so on the authority of God’s Word, giving the Spirit free rein to work with that Word as He sees fit.

Fear of dying
Every human being carries around a mindfulness of death. We know it is inevitable, and at least two aspects of death cause some amount of consternation: the manner of our dying, and what will become of us after we die.

For those who have been born again into the Kingdom of God, the first of these concerns lingers, although we do not dwell on it, resting in the strength of the Lord to endure whatever we must. The last, the question of our ultimate disposition, has been resolved, and we rejoice in the hope of knowing God in His glory forever (Rom. 5.1, 2; Rom. 8.1).

For those who do not know the Lord, death hovers over them like a specter (Heb. 2.15). Consider the many ways that people try to euphemize or postpone death. The fear of death runs deep, and justly so, for human beings are not meant for death, but for life, the life which God offers in His Word. Those who reject the Word of God and prefer the Lie of unbelief need to know that, according to the Scriptures, they have no hope of ever realizing the life for which they have been created, apart from faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus did not hesitate to warn people of the tragedy of unbelief – the tragedy of eternal death. Can we do anything less?

A warning to unbelievers
As we are wielding the Sword of the Spirit, talking with people about the things of the Lord, and urging them to consider Jesus and the Kingdom of God, we will reach a point with some when they will make it clear they do not want to hear any more about such matters. Before we back off completely from our spoken witness however, we need to make sure such people understand three important teachings of the Gospel.

First, by rejecting the Gospel and the Word of God, they are still in their sins (2 Cor. 13.5).Nothing, apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ, can deliver people from their sins or relieve them of the guilt and shame which, though they suppress them, necessarily accompany a sinful way of life. All who reject the free offer of the Gospel are thus still in their sins.

Second, sin is an ever-worsening condition, as Paul makes clear in Romans 1.18-32. Sin is a kind of spiritual cancer that grows and increases, corrupting our thoughts, affections, values, and actions. People who continue in their sins are likely to find, over time, that their lives are changing such that moral compromise with the spirit of the age undermines their preferred values, frustrates their noblest thoughts and intentions, and causes them to become, increasingly, a reflection of the social and cultural temper of the times.

Finally, as Jesus indicated, those who persist in this condition will die in their sins, without hope of ever knowing the life for which they were created.

We do not expect those with whom we share this Word to accept it. That’s not the point. The point is that we must make sure they understand what the Word of truth teaches concerning where they stand in relation to Christ, His truth, and His Kingdom.

Such a witness for truth may be hard, but it need not be uncaring. Love for our neighbors demands that we tell them the whole story of the work of Christ, and this warning of wrath to come is certainly not to be excluded.

For reflection
1.  What does it mean to tell people “hard truth” in loving and caring ways? What does this require of us?

2.  Summarize the three conditions that describe where people are who have not obeyed the Gospel.

3.  Suggest some things to pray for those in your life who have not received Christ and His Good News:

Next steps – Preparation: Talk with a Christian friend about the wrath of God and the coming judgment. What can your friend suggest about an effective and gracious way of incorporating this truth into your presentation of the Gospel?

T. M. Moore

You can learn more about God’s covenant and why it’s so important by ordering T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store (click here). For a deeper study of God’s covenant, order the workbook, God’s Covenant, from our online store (click here).

To learn how God’s covenant defines the shape of Scripture, and guides our approach to understanding and using the Bible, enroll in the course, Introduction to Biblical Theology. It’s free and online, and you can study at your own pace or with friends. To learn more and to register, click here. This week’s study is Part 2 of a series on The Word of God, and is available as a free download by clicking here.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.