Thanks for the question. 



In the past I have addressed simply the question of 1) homosexuality as sin, and 2) whether a Christian can also be a homosexual.

So this allows for me to respond to two issues 1) how should Christians view their role within the government and the government’s role as a ‘secular’ agent, 2) how should Christians respond to homosexuality (and other immorality) in the world. That’s a lot to tease out, so thanks for challenging me!

I will be honest, I don’t yet know fully how Christians should act as both good, concerned citizens. This issue is particularly difficult for me, but I know that through scripture we can find some guidelines.

- Do not put your hope in the government.
There is only ONE hope, and that is the hope of our calling from the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:4). This guideline is most often ignored, but most valuable – all other hopes are crumbling and perishing, they blind us and make our hearts dark and our minds futile – however the Hope of Christ illuminates for us those things that remain unseen and produces a certainty of these promises and their coming glory. The government is an unreliable source of power and security, and if you build upon this cracking foundation, prepare for destruction. Furthermore, you have a Heavenly City, your true home, Ruled by King Jesus to long for. You are a sojourner, a stranger and a slave in a foreign land.

- Defer to the government.
Romans 13 is exceedingly clear: obey the government. Christians are certainly bound to the higher moral law of God in cases where the government might command a sinful action, however in matters of taste, preference, monetary policy, etc we should obey the government; this means we must give respect to those in leadership, even if we disagree with their decisions. Understand: mudslinging is strictly off limits. Again, civil disobedience would be permitted in the event of government infractions they impose sinful laws upon a Christian (i.e., if the government asks you to brutalize a child; if the government forces you to worship another god).

- Expect immorality.
The government, specifically in the U.S., is a vehicle of administration “of the people, by the people, for the people” (side note: disturbingly enough, Lincoln finished his Gettysburg address saying this type of government would “not perish from the earth” – but what does Jesus tell us?) – my point is, what does the Christian know about people? They are sinful. Their hearts know nothing but evil, continually. They worship the created instead of the Creator. They deserve hell. All humans deserve hell. They are slaves to sin, and they will never have victory over Satan even through all their own slaving to earn righteous merit. (Thank the Father for sending His Son the Risen Lamb who paid the Debt!) So why then would we expect mankind’s government to uphold the law of God? Not only do they reject these laws, but they have no capacity to honor them. Christian, you are in the world but not of the world. The world will behave as if they do not know the living God. “What have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges.”

Let’s take these guidelines and nuance them, let us not be afraid of the tension between our time on earth now and the Earth to come: Our government in the United States is, in fact, a secular government. Drop your fairy tales of godly founders and parallels between the bill of rights and the 10 commandments at the door. The government of the United States is not Christian in any orthodox meaning of the word, however it shares these two features with the Christian faith: 1) it assumes that men are, for some mysterious reason, valuable and thus life’s liberty should be guarded (do not force any ‘imago dei’ parallels here, the Constitution will NOT hold up to the holiness you want to ascribe it), and 2) it assumes men will often fail to be perfectly just in their natural state, and so we must create a social contract that will effectively administer some form of justice. Sharing features does NOT make something Christian, if so, we could go ahead and count every major religion as Christian because ALL religions and man made institutions share some Christian themes.

So the government is ‘secular’ yet, an agent of God! The government, corrupt and disorderly is also called “God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer (Rom 13).” This is a humble reminder of God’s complete sovereignty, what humans often mean for evil, He uses for good and no injustice is beyond His control. He can use the government, an organization that seems so often beyond His guidance, to exact earthly justice upon the unrighteous. The human, flawed lawcourt sometimes serves as a great shadow for what will happen in God’s lawcourt at the end of days. Wartime can sometimes demonstrate how King Jesus will conquer the unrighteous.

What does this mean for North Carolina?
We should have expected homosexual marriage to be legalized, we should not put hope that the corrupt state government will uphold the law of God, and we should defer without hate. Realize that just because gay marriage was not legalized, doesn’t mean the kingdom of heaven is advancing – keeping the “law” without faith is nothing. The Kingdom of Heaven advances when people come to Christ through faith and repentance. In short: just because you don’t allow a homosexual to marry doesn’t mean they are any less in danger of hell than if they would be if they were married.

What about the definition of marriage?
I affirm, first and foremost, that marriage is God’s creation, His institution, He has set the definition of it in His perfect will: one man, one woman, given to each other, they become one til death – a mystery so profound that it is a shadow of the Gospel, a man who lays down his life and agenda for his wife’s holiness and good, and a woman, a bride, who cheerfully responds and obeys and follows her bridegroom. However, we must also realize that like every other good thing God has created, man’s sin has infiltrated and distorted it beyond recognition.

And so marriage has become an institution for men, distorted by men, interested only in the affairs of mankind and not the Gospel of God – how do I know for a fact that “marriage” is now a man-made institution? It is only a legal matter in the world. With pre-nuptials, divorce laws, alimony, etc it has been transformed into simply a financial contract between two people that have a strong affection for each other. Furthermore, man’s “marriage” has nothing to do with the Gospel: most American marriages, I’m willing to say, are between nonbelievers (this includes “nominal Christians”) – is it possible for two married atheists to reflect the Trinitarian beauty, to accurately reflect gender roles, to give glory to the Gospel?

If gay marriage is about protecting the Gospel’s reflection, why are Christians not equally as inflamed over divorce and thus attempting to eradicate divorce laws? Why do Christians not pursue banning marriage for the unsaved? Or outlawing the marriage of those “unequally yoked?” These are important questions to consider when we see Christians who are desperate to defend the sanctity of marriage against homosexuals for the sake of the Gospel, but see no crusade to be waged upon divorce and other sinful distortions of marriage’s intent. 

But, true, Godly, and Gospel reflecting marriage does exist! Where? In the church, amongst believers. I suggest more churches take up the practice of church discipline for those that practice divorce, adultery, homosexuality, etc within the body of the saints rather than chasing down the lost and rebuking them for their sin, which they have no victory over – as Paul writes, God will judge those outside the church, we saints are to judge those within the church.

This is not to say we become weak on sin, or embrace the culture’s lust for corruption, rather it is to say we should protect the sharp division between church and culture – let the world define marriage as it wants, but let the church stand firm. I pray earnestly that all churches in America that seek to “embrace” homosexuality will repent from this disgusting infraction.

That’s a lot, and there’s still more to say, I’ve hardly even scratched the surface of the multitude of issues beneath the surface here, so please feel free to ask further questions.

Hey friend,

I gave my most comprehensive view on homosexuality [here], I highly suggest you read it first and then we’ll go from there - it is pretty much the basics from my worldview on this issue. 

To build from that previous assessment, friend, I must confess to you that ALL of humanity is, by nature, under God’s wrath because ALL have gone astray, none are righteous, none understand, none seek for God, we all worship the created rather than the Creator who is Blessed forever, because of this, the Righteous Lord has given us over to the sin we desire, and in this common wrath that He pours out, our relationships are scarred and our intellectual capacities are futile and our minds have been darkened and our hearts are hard. We are ALL, heterosexual or homosexual, by nature, children of WRATH. We have effectively earned Hell for ourselves.

BUT GOD, at the right time, sent His Son, the God-Man Christ, an unblemished Lamb, to die for those that are helpless in their sin - both heterosexual and homosexual.

So, for those that have received, by Grace (unmerited favor), the free gift of Salvation through the cleansing and healing Blood of Christ, we repent of our abominations - both heterosexual and homosexual and every other sin - and turn to the Risen King who’s perfect love can change our stone hearts into hearts of flesh.

Reading through the narrative of the Old Testament, “but God” has by far become my favorite phrase. Every time it appears, expect God’s exceptional character to shine, whether His glory is expressed in His abundant mercy or His exact justice.

Such that,

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

[check it out]

Thanks for this question - despite its seemingly obvious answer, it really forced me to dig deep into the Character of God and my own hatred and pride.

First, we all have moral intuitions (Romans 2, the conscience) and for most humans Westboro Baptist Church raises a HUGE ethical flag.

Please understand me - these people yelling “Thank God for dead soldiers” are wrong.

However, do I agree that America is not “God’s country?” Yes.
Do I agree that the Lord sees homosexuality as a sin? Yes.
Do I agree that Christ Jesus is the only salvation for men? Yes.
Do I believe that God is capable of Wrath? Jealousy? Hate? Yes. It is part of His righteous Character.

The scary thing about Satan is how he masterfully works Truth into sickness and thus causes people to harden their hearts towards the Gospel and God’s Word. So, by using the radical hate of this “church” and scary “Jesus camps” and thieving T.V. “pastors,” Satan casts doubts on all of Scripture and Truth by associating it with these people and institutions. But still, yes, Christians should condemn sin.

But Scripture tells us: Do all things in Love. (1 Corinthians 16:14)

& Scripture says: Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person.

& But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

& Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him.

& Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.

And yes, it is a paradox of sorts to preach hate but believe in your own justification before God - Scripture speaks clearly on this matter. Those who are truly forgiven, they forgive. Those who have received Grace, give Grace. Those who were once unsaved, love the unsaved. Those who were lost, well, they march forward to find others.

Jesus wasn’t here to save the righteous, He came for the sinners! It is not the healthy man who is in need of a doctor! If the Westboro Baptist Church members wish to cling to their own righteousness, they will be judged by their own righteousness - which is nothing compared to the Perfection of God. For this reason, we must all claim the Perfect Merit of Lord Jesus.

But, we must be humble and vigilant. We must pray for these people and for others caught in “religion” without Christ. For not all that say “Lord, Lord! I have Prophesied in Your name!” will enter the Kingdom on that day. In fact, Christ will lock the gates for some, declaring, “depart from Me, I never knew you.”

Of course my political opinions have changed!

For me, as a secular humanist, I believed that any form of progress (i.e. humanist ‘salvation’) would come through political systems. As man’s own genius was paramount, I knew man could and would eventually rescue mankind.

Now, as a Follower of Christ, I know salvation is only available through the One who has been given all authority in Heaven and on Earth.

meaning,

you may craft a policy to provide healthcare, but policy can never heal the human soul. you can increase educational funding, but you’ll never redeem the depraved mind of man. you can spend your life fighting for equality, but you’ll never wash society of its murderous desires.

this does not mean healthcare, education, or equality are bad things - only that policy won’t change hearts – it will never fix the problem. Securing these things displays a little bit of God’s common grace to mankind (or, grace extended to all, even nonbelievers, daily on earth), because mankind deserves to perish in their immoral, unrighteous, selfishness, yet God allows them semi-order and protection from more violent sins through the government.

That said, politics is an unbelievably difficult topic for me because of my sin. I lust after the idolatry of keeping up with CNN and providing my arrogant commentary to every issue and judging others on their political preference – my God, please LORD deliver me from my pride, my ego burns my zeal for YOUR Glory! 

Thus the topic of politics is nuanced for me, partially because I understand the implications of some issues in a very detailed way which creates grey area, but most of this “nuance-ing” is because of my sin: I don’t want to give up my political agenda and WORSHIP God – I don’t want to seem unknowledgeable – I want to be well spoken and respected and so I spend enormous amounts of time in my mind working out how I can hold on to my sin and still claim to love God, but the reality is this,

No one can serve two masters.
He will hate one and love the other.

I cannot love the world and love God. If I attempt, there will be consequences.

So, let me proclaim this now: If anyone is a Christian and places their trust and hope in politics or anything of this world – STOP. Spiritual maturity is not a game, and the LORD will discipline those who claim His name and yet are unfaithful, for He is jealous and He is righteous and He loves those who He ransomed and called, but most of all – He owns you – you, saint of the church, you are blood purchased, so stop branding yourself as either a liberal or conservative, a republican or a democrat and START identifying with the LORD OF ALL.
I say this because my heart breaks because of my own sin in this realm.

That said, I have opinions on current candidates – but most of my thoughts are sinful. This is all I think I can share, which isn’t very interesting. I was surprised Newt won the primary here, and I don’t think he’s a very energizing candidate for the republican ticket. I will most likely vote for Obama in the general election.

I’m prayerful that God will help me curb my worldly attitude in the election season. You can pray for me regarding that, if you are a brother or sister in Christ.

Hey friend,

Thank you for this question so, so much. I know the courage that it takes to seek answers on this matter, especially when these answers may grate against our flesh and reject the world’s culture. So, thank you for seeking Biblical answers on an issue so important in your daily life. Keep seeking friend. I will provide you with Scripture and Truth, but continue to seek God’s ultimate authority on a minute to minute basis – because this is a fight in which you will need His daily Grace. Rest assured that He promises to provide you the strength and comfort necessary to win this battle.

Now, to answer some questions:

Are homosexual acts sinful?
Yes. The standard is clear in the Law of the Old Testament and in the design of man and woman in Genesis. Roll through the New Testament, and the standard is the same. Check out Romans 1 for a depiction of the fall of man. One of the first things it says man does with his sin nature is engage in homosexual acts. Interestingly enough, for shock value, Paul writes first that women engaged in lesbian attractions – why is this shocking? In society, women are regarded as pure, their virginity is treasure and a commodity, yet even these women succumb to sexual immorality.

Are homosexual thoughts sinful?
Yes. This is a difficult pill to swallow for many because it seems that these thoughts may plague a believer struggling with homosexuality, but know that just because a desire is constant and strong doesn’t make it right. Thoughts are just as much sinful as action. Jesus calls this out explicitly: “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment,” and “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” So not only is the standard of the Old Testament the same, but Jesus brings the conviction up a notch by now declaring that people are not judged solely by their actions, but also by their thoughts and disposition. And Christ takes sin seriously, “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”

Is homosexuality inborn?
Now, the world says. “How can one be told to resist how they were born? That is unnatural and unhuman.” They could not be more correct in this instance. Although, I believe sexuality is exceedingly complicated - a spectrum of variables accounts for an individual’s ability to be attracted to the same sex – I do think that some of those variables are nature rather than nurture. However, this is not an excuse. As a believer one is freed from all sin: generational, genetic, inborn, natural, or conscious. Still they may struggle with addiction, anger, codependency, depression, lust, etc – but they are ultimately a slave to righteousness and must labor for the Lord. All were born sinful, so the argument “I was born this way” is irrelevant for the believer. Sin is the most natural of all responses for the fallen man, so comfort and nature are no longer excuses. What is more human than lust, hate, strife, desire? We are not striving to be human or of this world. The believer is a Saint, with citizenship in Heaven, an adopted son of the Most Holy! What use does the believer have with things of this world? “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Sure, it will be hard. It will be one of the most difficult challenges. You will have to crucify your flesh daily, but Christ is with you. “For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin.” Trust that in hardship, He is with you. He is sanctifying you. You are being conformed to His image.

Do I think it is possible for someone with homosexual desires and who has acted out these attractions to be washed by the blood of Christ and receive Salvation?
My answer is a RESOUNDING YES. Christ died for all, and the LORD’s love is not restricted to those that would seem to be perfect – for all have fallen short of the Glory of God. Christ Jesus was nailed to the Cross for me, you, for the prostitute, the drug dealer, the divorced, the abused, the abuser, and the child raised in the church. This is the Kingdom of God, our King rules in equity, and all are welcome to receive grace. Jesus came to pay the debt of those mired in homosexuality, He came to set them free.

Is it possible that a saved believer can fall into homosexual sin?
Yes. Of course. Although we are free from sin, we are not immune to temptation. A believer could stumble and act out a homosexual desire just like many brothers and sisters struggle to keep their heterosexual desires pure, or struggle with pornography. Believer are often tempted into sexual sin, whether that is masturbation, premarital sex, or serious attraction to a nonbeliever. You only have to read the New Testament to see how even the saved will be tempted by sex. However, those sinners made saints by Christ’s merit are expected to repent, hate sin, and turn away from it. Saints run the race in the name of God’s glory, not their own gratification – thus they are expected to put all hindrances on the altar.


With that foundation, friend, the Bible is clear that homosexuality is disobedience. If you submit to this sin, you are making the Cross a mockery saying, “Sure Christ, you paid my ransom, you purchased me from the master that was death, sin, and Satan – You redeemed me and called me Your own, but I choose not to work for you. Even though You bought me out of slavery to make me Your servant, I will run after my old master.”

My friend, this is hard. Pray for healing – and I don’t necessarily mean the healing of being “turned” straight or anything like that, I mean seek God. Seek the Kingdom. Seek Peace and His Comfort and His Love and His Strength. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
And in those moments, pray. Long for Heaven, when we will be given new bodies and new minds. Pray earnestly to be delivered – the Lord will hear you. Long for the things of Heaven. Long for His Return. Long for full restoration. Long for the beautiful marriage between the Church and Christ.

Sin such as this causes me to cry out to the Lord, “Please! Come soon!”

“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.”

Thanks for the encouragement friend! There’s no reason to remain anonymous - let’s hang out sometime!

Hello, 

Thanks for the question - the concept that many atheists/skeptics uphold that “belief is not a choice” is one I’m quite familiar with and love to discuss.

There are several layers to this question that I think I can address.

First, I think there is a there is a misunderstanding in how the Ravi quote was read and I hope by juxtaposing this with the thesis of the article you’ve presented we can tease this out.

Now, you didn’t specify the article – I looked it up, but there are several by different authors. In the past I’ve read many articles asserting this particular claim. I will use one taken from the secularists’ blog, Laïcité. The author claims,

Belief is not a choice, because the word “choice” implies that there are alternative options. It is impossible to choose to believe in something knowing that it is false, just as it is impossible to reject a true belief. Belief is something we have no control over; it is simply a stance taken by our brains after having considered the available evidence.

So belief is what our brains perceive to be true based on the evidence we have been given - like a computer, with certain input there is only one output available. I can grant this, to an extent - the example in the article involves staring at a red ball and being told you must believe it is blue… you can say “the ball is blue” but that doesn’t mean you believe it. This is certainly true. This is major flaw in the idiotic argument of Pascal’s wager: simply claiming a view doesn’t necessarily mean you believe it, and it certainly doesn’t necessitate that the claim you’ve spoken permeates your being and regenerates you daily.

That said, i think the idea of belief is far more complex that this article allows for, and although i understand the analogy of the red/blue ball, i don’t think it is accurate in explaining religious beliefs. The analogy of the red/blue ball assumes the human judge has perfect knowledge of what red and blue are and how they are represented and that the environment is not obscuring his judgment.

The red/blue ball on it’s simplest terms is a black or white issue - the person seeing the ball has no trouble in distinguishing the colors, there’s no question of “maybe that’s actually purple?”, the lighting isn’t throwing off the discernment of colors, the person viewing the ball isn’t colorblind.

When the data gets muddy, we see people frequently “choose” to believe things that might not be true or that we KNOW for a fact aren’t true. Is this how we make mistakes in judgment most frequently, whether ethical or economical, we believe something falsely and thus suffer the consequences of our mistaken belief: “this will make me happy” in reality, the relationship destroys you, or “this is a good deal” turns out to be a sham.

This would be like showing a red ball under a purely blue light and then asking what color the ball is - the ball will appear black. Or, a personal handicap: the person in charge of discerning the color is colorblind. Despite these problems, is the ball still red? Yes.

And to the person aware that the red light will distort the color or aware that they are colorblind – should they trust and believe that the ball is not red despite the fact that they know the world and their own judgment is deceptive?

I hesitate to put much faith in this illustration, because at some level all analogies break down, however I use it to demonstrate that belief is only not a choice when the believer or nonbeliever has FULL, UNCORRUPTED knowledge of a subject. Hypothetically speaking, the only people that have this knowledge of God are dead in Christ.

But in the question of belief in God, and even more so in the question of to follow Christ, these hindrances exist. 1) The environment of a finite, physical, fallen world disguises God, and 2) The depraved, spiritually blind race of Adam cannot fully grasp Divine Truths.

So Ravi said,

A man rejects God neither because of intellectual demands nor because of the scarcity of evidence. A man rejects God because of a moral resistance that refuses to admit his need for God.

You would agree, even if you are an Atheist, I assume, that the jury is still out about the question of God. Even if you find it unlikely and nearly impossible to believe God, you do not have full knowledge of the situation and thus cannot make a definite claim on the matter. I can say this only because as a staunch atheist, in order to be consistent and rational I had to concede that there was still a chance, a mere possibility of God.

I would argue, of course, that there is ample evidence to support the existence of God – but that’s a different story.

Here’s what we know: You are lacking. You have great need. You are not perfect, nor will you ever be. Your body is weak and frail. Your mind is not always sound, and frequently bends to the whim of emotion. And, in moments of sober-reality you can see yourself for what you really are: selfish, stern, unloving, uncharitable, unforgiving, and judgment.

And it isn’t just you who is built this way, all of mankind is.

I am. Trust me. I rely on fickle emotion to make decisions, I demand my rights rather than live a life of self-sacrifice, I claim to love men and further their causes but in reality I hate them, I lust, I give in, I despair – praise Jesus who delivers me daily from these and many other evils.

So, the verdict is this: something is wrong with mankind. Man is flawed. No exceptions. Most, if not all religions agree with this, the difference is how they intend to fix it. Most consistent secular philosophies acknowledge it and seek to capitalize on it, such as egoism.

And this is ravi’s claim: Man knows he is broken, but refuses this painful truth. Man chooses to dodge his depravity. I know, because I did until I was brought down swiftly by the Lord – as a humanist I would say, “men are good, or can be good!” despite all the evidence that declared otherwise.

So men refuse to understand the first concept they need to learn in order to truly navigate this world. This concept: “I am broken; I am blind; I am bankrupt. I am not the ultimate authority. There must be a Good and a Bad, but I cannot distinguish them always. In fact, I am often mistaken!”

This is the colorblind man saying, “I know there is a difference between Red and Blue, but I am not equipped to make this judgment! What I think is wrong, will someone please help me make the right call?”

 Repent.

Die to yourself.

Submit to the Father’s authority in teaching you;

Cling to Christ’s offer of healing you – He gives the blind new sight;

Accept the Holy Spirit in enabling you to discern between the Holy and Profane.

This conversation can definitely keep going, I have much to say on the subject and more importantly God has a lot to say on the subject. Here’s my first response. Feel free to continue to ask.

And, if you’re a Clemson student: Ravi is actually coming to littlejohn coliseum on March 8^th. 

Hey friend,

1) Yes. I believe in God. Specifically I believe in Elohim the creator, also named YHWH the rescuer, who sent His Son Jesus to be our redeemer, and then freely gave those redeemed the Holy Spirit, our counselor. 

2) No. Salvation is eternal, and now that I have been covered in the blood of Christ and God sees me as redeemed - He sees Christ’s merit when He looks at me - that His grace will enable me to persevere for the sake of righteousness so that I may glorify Him.

Thanks for the questions.

For those of you reading this, it is referencing this post: [the antidote]

Anonymous,

First, of course you don’t have this magic antidote. It was a metaphor used for illustrative purposes. However, you gave me the answer most thinking humans would if they were truly caring for the woman in the story: if given the chance, they would offer her complete restoration rather than a temporary fix.

Religion is the opiate of the masses.

Let me state that boldly and clearly, for the sake of the Gospel. Religion is the opiate of the masses. Let everyone resting contently in their church pews, dressing up in “good works,” saying uniform grace before meals, attending each and every Bible study they can get in to feel shaken to their core. Wake up! Your good works are a sham, a temporary fix.

All are damned. All are walking in destruction. All are hateful. All fall short of the Glory of God. There is none righteous! Not even one! All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none that does good. All the world is guilty. All are condemned in God’s righteous judgment. God’s Law shows us our flaws so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.

However, religion claims that if we try hard enough… if we dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’ in the spiritual checklist, we can be righteous. If we stop cursing, and give 10% of our income, and feed the homeless, and save ourselves til marriage, and attend church on both sunday and wednesday then God will be impressed with us. Religion claims (no differently than secular humanism) that salvation can come through mankind’s action.

If you believe that your good works can save you, repent of your arrogance and pride and trust in Christ’s merit ALONE.

The Gospel is the inverse of religion because it slaps prideful man in the face, declaring: You are not enough. You cannot make yourself better. All your achievements and progress are vanity. Even your good deeds are born of a black heart. God cannot accept you unless you are righteous, but you can never be righteous.

So Jesus, God in the Flesh, came down to earth. He served God’s will perfectly. He never sinned. He was righteous. 

But here’s the kicker, this man was so righteous - He willingly submitted to be slaughtered. His blood, it paid the wage of sin: death. His pain manifested the separation of God and sin… the Son of God didn’t just die for me, but He BECAME my sin on the Cross. I had a debt to pay that I couldn’t even begin to write a check for, and He CANCELED my debt and the record against me was nailed to the Cross and covered in blood.

What’s more, my debt wasn’t just canceled, but God CREDITED me (note, I wasn’t owed a wage i had earned - I was credited, which is a gift) with Christ’s righteousness. 

From Romans:

What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness — for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

So, religion is the opiate of the masses. But, to Trust in Christ is to face stark REALITY of man’s sin and inability to do anything other than evil.

To say realizing one’s own depravity “distracts” from life demonstrates that you do not know the extent and pain of full repentance. Your unsupported, overly-generalized claim about addicts reveals your ignorance: facing sin isn’t an intoxicating high, it is heart-breaking. 

The life of a disciple of Christ is difficult. They are promised suffering for their obedience. The Loving Father disciplines them now that they are heirs to His Kingdom and reveals their sin, thus sanctifying them. The ungodly will become saints, with the minds of Christ, but it is a slow and meticulous and excruciating experience. Yet, we rejoice in Christ’s merit, in His victory won, in the day when we will be restored in Him - we plead in our pain and in our witness to the dying, destructive world, “Lord! Come soon!” 

In the words of C.S. Lewis,

“Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand.”