Christianity and the Bible - Recovering the Foundation of the Christian Faith

For centuries upon centuries, Christianity has been at length mocked, ridiculed and disrespected by both religious and non-religious peoples. From physical to emotional to psychological persecution, one fact remains the same: Christians are persecuted. But one may ask, "Why?" Should it surprise Christians that the world does not accept them? A better question still: "What does the Bible say about Christians in this world?"

As Christians, we should not be surprised that we are persecuted in this world. According to John 15:18, it should be a logical repercussion of following after Jesus: "If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you". In fact, Christians are to embrace suffering in order that we may share in Christ's glory (Philippians 3:8-11) and grow in our faith (James 1:2-4). But why are we persecuted so rigorously?

I still point you back to John 15:18. The world hates not us as people, but rather the world hates the Jesus whom we serve, and thus we are hated in the aftermath. Why does the world have such disgust for Jesus and His ministry? As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:18, the Cross of Christ completely separates the world into two distinct people groups: those who find the cross as folly are perishing, and to those who are being saved it the power of God. Let's face it - people do not like being told that they are prideful, sinful people who have wronged a holy God and who have placed themselves as the object of worship rather than the God of the universe. But time and time again, this is the message we must proclaim, because God has chosen that the gospel of Jesus be the mechanism in which he brings people to salvation. We see the word "repent" used numerous times in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus (Matthew 4:17, Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19, etc.). We must as Christians tell people of their sin and call them to repentance in the name of Jesus, because it is very hard to understand the good news of Jesus if we do not understand our wretched helplessness without Jesus. And this is where the world shuns our message: the world says man is inherently good, but as the Bible tells us Ephesians 2:1-3, we were all once dead in our sins and trespasses and "by nature children of wrath". This utterly levels the playing field for all mankind when we realize that we were all once children of wrath, those who have been saved by grace and those who have not. However, we cannot leave the world hanging in the balance - we must share of the grace and mercy of God on helpless sinners (Romans 5:6-11) because there is no other way in which they can be saved.

This brings us back to the issue of persecution. According to the Bible, we as Christians will be persecuted for our message. But, because of the grace and mercy we have received from God who has brought us unto salvation (Ephesians 2:4-9), we no longer find our identity in the world and how it views us; rather, our identity is "hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3), and we now have compassion for those who are still under the condemnation of a holy God because we remember the past from which we were saved (Ephesians 2:12-14). Our message of hope lies within Jesus, and this is the only true way in which we love the world, for: love rejoices in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6), Jesus has declared that the Word of God is truth (John 17:17), and that the Word of God is indeed manifested by God himself (John 1:1-2, 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Therefore, we must proclaim the gospel of repentance and forgiveness for sins in Jesus, because as Romans 1:16 states, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also the Greek". Will this cause us persecution from the rest of the world? Yes, inevitably it will. But we must look to Jesus understanding that some will hear it and receive it, while others will mock it and scorn it. Just look at Jesus on the cross: the man on one side received his gospel, and the man on the other side mocked his gospel (Luke 23:39-43). Thus will be our life when sharing the gospel of Jesus. Christians must stand firm on the Bible and place their hope and trust in Jesus. Persecution and sorrow will come, but joy will always come in the morning.

May the love and word of Christ dwell in you richly!
Soli Deo Gloria