Forgiven, Not Thrown Under the Bus

By:  Dale Weckbacher

John 3:16-17

“For God so loved the world,^[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

(ESV)

One of the attributes of God that brings me the most joy as a Christian is that God is not a God of condemnation but a God of forgiveness (John 3:16-17).  The reason this brings me much joy is that I know I have sinned and missed Gods mark of perfection (Psalm 18:30) and deserve to be thrown under the bus by God but instead out of his love receive His forgiveness.  It is this simple yet powerful truth that separates Christianity from every other religion on earth. 

Unfortunately, however, the secular world tends to lump Christianity in with other religions and views Christians sharing their faith with others as trying to earn points with God at the expense of any enjoyment in their lives.  This belief represents a continuation of the deception from the devil that began in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-2).  Satan was successful in deceiving Adam and Eve into believing God had not been truthful with them and was depriving them of something.  Once this deception was in place, Adam and Eve disobeyed the one simple command of God (Genesis 2:16-17). 

In today’s pleasure obsessed society, Satan has succeeded in deceiving many into the belief that living for Christ means depriving themselves of any enjoyment in life.  For the most part, these individuals will just reject our attempts to share Christ with them and allow us to have our beliefs.  However, in our social media society, many will hide behind the anonymity of the keyboard and launch out in a vitriol of hatful speech at anyone attempting to share the Gospel with them and deprive them of their enjoyment. 

To combat this we as Christians must,

1)      Pray (James 5:16) – Prayer is an extremely powerful weapon in the hands of a believer.  In fact, after listing the spiritual weapons of our warfare (Ephesians 6:13-17), Paul admonishes us to pray earnestly for all the saints.  Our prayers should not only be for the lost but also for saints or fellow believers who may come under attack for their declaration of faith.  While we desire to be the one to lead our friend or loved one to Christ, we must also pray that God will send someone into their lives that can share the Gospel message of love with them.  We must also pray that somehow the hard shell of unbelief that surrounds their hearts is shattered by the loving and powerful truth of the Gospel message. 

2)      Be better at communicating the love of God in the message of the Gospel – Matthew 7:1-2 tells us not to judge warning us that we too will be judged with the same standard with which we judge others.  Unfortunately, many Christians do not heed this warning and lash out at unbelievers with personal condemnation.  Is it any wonder these nonbelievers lash back with condemnation, especially when they see the sin in our lives?  While homosexuality and abortion abhor us as believers, we must remember that we all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and that Jesus came not only to die for us but also for those engaging in these activities (Romans 5:8). 

3)       Be better at communicating the love and grace of God in how we live and what we say – When well-meaning believers lash out in condemnation at the abhorrent lifestyles of nonbelievers, we are telling them that to come to Christ they must stop the sin in their lives first.  In other words, we are, whether we know it or not, communicating a message of salvation by works instead of a message of salvation through the grace of God (Titus 3:5-7).  Instead of lashing out in condemnation let us begin to share the loving Gospel message of God becoming one of us and paying the death penalty for our sins (Romans 6:23), making it possible for us to enjoy eternal life (John 3:16).  This does not mean we are to condone the sins of nonbelievers but that there is a loving God in heaven that has provided a path to forgiveness for the sins of anyone that will call on God to forgive them (Romans 10:9-10, 1 John 1:9).  However, more than just saying it, nonbelievers need to also see us living, not sinless lives, but lives where we sin less. 

I am thankful that even though God could have thrown us under the bus for our sins, he chose instead to send His Son Jesus Christ to become one of us and suffer the death penalty.  It would be a dereliction of duty if I did not close this posting by extending an invitation to anyone reading this that does not know Jesus as their personal savior to do so now by praying with me,

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

The prayer you just prayed is not some magical prayer that means your life from this point forward will be perfect and free of trouble.  It also does not mean you will not mess up and sin from time to time.  What praying the above prayer means is that God has forgiven your sins because he deeply loves you and sent his only Son to suffer and die for your sins.  I encourage you now to respond out of love for God who has saved you by, with God’s help, striving to sin less and sharing the loving message of the Gospel with others that need Jesus’ salvation in their lives. 

May God bless everyone reading this.