RACISM, THE WORLD & THE BIBLE: Part 6: Love and Forgiveness

Posted on November 18, 2016 by .....

***This is part 6 of a 6 part blog series on Racism, the World & the Bible***

LOVE AND FORGIVENESS

LOVE AND FORGIVENESS – Racism and prejudices can cause a lot of hurt both emotional and physically. All forms of racism, prejudice, and discrimination are affronts to the work of Christ on the cross. Racism and racial pride go contrary to God’s word. No one can justify racism from the Bible and no one can say the Bible is racist once an objective examination of the Bible, in its context, is done. The Bible commands us to love our neighbors. We need to work on loving all of mankind as the Bible teaches us regardless of where they come from, how they look or what color they are. Those that have been affected and hurt by prejudices and racism need to seek God’s help and practice forgiveness of those who hurt them. (Luke 6:37 – Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:)

God loves us without conditions, He loves us with impartiality. We too need to love others with the same standard, we need to not judge, not look down at people, not feel superior to people, we need to treat them with the same high respect and standard as God does us. Jesus teaches us that whatsoever we do to the least of our fellow brothers on earth we do to Him. Think about that statement. I would not want to intentionally miss treat anyone; knowing that by doing so I am also mistreating Christ. When you are mistreating someone you are mistreating someone made in the image of Christ and who He died for. (Matthew 25:41-46 – Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.)
Racism has been plaguing mankind for centuries. Those that are victims of it need to forgive the perpetrators of it. (Ephesians 4:32– And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.) The racist person may not deserve your forgiveness but you need to give it just the same.

CONCLUSION: Let’s keep in mind what Galatians 3:28 says “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” We need to recognize the Bible does not teach racism. The Old Testament marriage commandments were not racist they were basically the same as the New Testament commandment of not being unequally yoked. It could be said one of the main purveyors of racist thought and promotion of a superior race and inferior races in the 1800’s and early 1900’s was Charles Darwin with his books, the very title of one is racist in and of itself. The Bible is the exact opposite of racism. The Bible teaches us that all mankind is made in the image of God. The Bible teaches us that all are of equal value to God, equally loved By God and equally died for by Jesus on the Cross.