In our society, the religious views I hold are considered by the majority to be hateful and intolerant. Words like bigot, misogynist, legalist, homophobe, Islamophobe and worse are used to describe me simply because I hold to a Christian worldview that is informed by the holy scriptures. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont senator recently stated that an individual who held such values to be true, “is really not someone who is what this country is supposed to be about.”
I am not a bigot. I do not hate women. I do not seek to bind my own views on others. I do not hate homosexuals. I do not hate Muslims. I do not hate anybody. I do NOT preach hate! Here is why that is so…
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Sin is the enemy of all mankind! Sin does not differentiate regarding gender, race or creed. All men are tempted to sin, and all at one point or another succumb to that temptation. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin enslaves all humans, “Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin’” (John 8:34). Sin brings eternal death and destruction, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Perhaps people think that convicting people of sin is hateful because they do not understand or believe just how heinous an enemy it truly is?
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God is the omnipotent sovereign of the universe! He is the singular, self-existent Being that created all things. “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,’ says the Lord, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty’” (Revelation 1:8). He and He alone will determine whether we will spend an eternity in bliss or an eternity in torment. “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). Perhaps people are not aware just how important it is to please God? They may not know or believe just how horrific it will be to spend an eternity in hellfire.
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Jesus Christ is the one and only way to heaven! He said as much in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Peter affirmed that truth, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Perhaps people do not understand or believe that the only way they will go to heaven is by accepting Jesus as their Savior?
So, some may respond, “I don’t accept your worldview!” That is irrelevant. It is irrelevant to whether this is truth. If it is true, your unwillingness to accept it does not in any way invalidate it. It is irrelevant to my claim that I do not preach hate. If I believe the above to be true, (and I do), my love for the souls of man requires that I:
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Convict them of their sin
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Call upon them to submit to the God of Heaven
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Tell them about Jesus.
My desire is not to bend you to my worldview. What I think is no better than what you think. What matters is what God thinks! I have no right to require you to believe as I do. My efforts are, and can be, only persuasive. My effort is to warn you about the consequence of disobedience to God. I want to share with you the way God has ordained for you to be redeemed. I do not hate you, I love you. I do NOT preach hate!
