Who Is Deserving?
If you were a Christian during the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades of the medieval period, or in Germany during the late 1930’s and 40’s, you would have most likely suffered persecution. If you did not directly, your spirit would have been grieved by the persecution of others. You would have been among good company (eternally speaking) as many throughout the Church age suffered just as much, if not more. The Apostle Peter was one. He experienced severe suffering that included imprisonment, threats from religious leaders and ultimately martyrdom by the hand of an evil emperor. Paul was another Apostle that suffered extreme persecution at the hands of men, and ultimately, he too was martyred by Nero.
No one however suffered more than Jesus. Who came to the earth He created, to redeem ALL mankind, even the ones that would persecute and kill Him and His Church. From the Pharisees, Scribes, and Lawyers that continually harassed Him, Herod that beheaded His cousin John, Pilate that gave the order for Him to be crucified, the soldiers that whipped, mocked, and drove the nails into His hands.
John 3:16 NKJV
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
2 Peter 3:9 NKJV
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. One more example and then I want to pose a question. There was another ruler, a Godly one, that did evil things before the LORD. Remember David?
You might answer, “Yes, but David was the LORD’s chosen king, he was serving the LORD, and he did not do ALL the things these others did.”
It is true that David was the LORD’s chosen king. But he certainly was serving the LORD the night he committed adultery with Bathsheba or the day he had Uriah killed. And as far as “ALL” the things that “The others” did, does the Word of God say that we are ALL without sin. (Romans 3:23)
Took me all that to get to the question I want to pose. Would Pilate, Ciaphas, Nero, or Hitler have deserved redemption had they repented before they died? Be careful answering too quickly. You are answering this for yourself as well. God’s inviting words like, “Whosoever will” and “Everyone who calls” have become a hard sell to religious people, and even some Christians. Religious people, and even some Christians like to categorize sins. I have seen this towards those in the world, and those in the Body of Christ. To those that are lost and needing the redemption that the Lord Jesus provided for on the cross, it is as if they add a worthiness to the Great Commission. And to those in their churches, a “Table of Penalties” based on their own predetermined estimation of how bad someone’s behavior is.
I have heard terms like, small and simple to big and grievous when it comes to describing sins. Also, there is the use of words like mistake, indiscretion, or “having a problem.” It has been my observation that there is an underlying attitude of judgement when looking at someone else’s sins we often round up. But a sort of self-justification then in ours as we want to round down. Categorizing sin in others as having gone too far, is telling someone, “You go stand over there with Nero.”
That is what the older brother did in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. (Luke 15) This still happens in some churches today. I want to share something I saw several years ago along this line. A man came to our church one Sunday and sat quietly off in one of the side sections. His Aunt had attended our church for years. She was a gentle, sweet woman, and a teacher. She did a lot with the teens in our church. It seemed odd at the time that he was not sitting with her, but later it was revealed that he had just been released from prison and was considered a sex offender. Our Pastor asked an elder in our church to disciple him; he asked me and another brother to join him. We would go to his house as he was under certain restrictions on his parole.
Over several months we ministered to him on repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. It was when we talked to him about the two sides of righteousness that the Holy Spirit imparted into his heart that although he HAD sinned that his repentance was accepted by the Father. He told us that night, “I can for the first time celebrate being restored to my Father.”
But I began to see some things as he became more active in helping around the church. We had some “Older brothers and older sisters.” One even went as far as to criticize that he did not think that God could use him because he had spent time in prison. One sister complained to our Pastor that she did not think he should be allowed to come to our church since we had so many young women. My Pastor’s reply to her was better than my reply to the brother.
Why is it that in some circles we cannot be like the father and stable the ox, throw down the shovels and hoes, put on our party clothes and celebrate like they do in heaven when someone who is lost, comes home to the Father. We were all there at one point. We were in the crowd with Nero, one of the thieves on a cross next to Jesus, or like the “Prodigal Son” we are in relationship with the Father but may have ran off for a time. The Truth is that God desires everyone to be redeemed. (1Timothy 2:4) Everyone or All means just what He said, ALL. Whether an evil ruler, that rank sinner that lives next door, or you and me.
WE SHOULD ALL BE THANKFUL THAT GOD IS THIS WAY!