This is an open call to kill racism in you and others. John Owen said this, “Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.”
In this article I will be writing some statements that until recently I honestly did not believe would need to be written. There are some things that are so plain, that they should not need to be spelled out in our day and age. I have lived in an apparent bubble. One that was swiftly popped.
A young man was murdered recently. Guilty of no apparent crime but the color of his skin. The takers of his life were nothing but cowards, who took a life that they had no right to take. A father and son duo who thought another humans life so cheap, that it could be stolen. These men are robbers. They have robbed a young man of life. They have robbed a family of a son, and a brother. A community has lost a citizen. He might have changed the world. But like a candle snuffed out too soon, the light of his life was extinguished, and only the Almighty knows what was possible for him.
The murderers are guilty. Justice needs to come swiftly. The state beareth not the sword in vain, and it is this author’s belief that the sword of swift justice should be unsheathed. This might have been prevented, if the sin in these murderers hearts had been mortified. If the sin of racism had been purged from their souls, there would be at least three lives drastically changed for the better and perhaps many more.
I never knew that in the year of our Lord 2020, that racism was so alive and well. In my insulated world, I believed that particular sin to be nearly dead, hanging on to the last moments of life support, by no more than some crazy fringe fanatics. But recent events have showed me that we must offer a response. As Christians we need to mortify racism. We must preach the gospel. We must say what shouldn’t need to be said, yet so obviously does. The following words will be just that.
Racism is evil and wrong. Hatred for any reason makes you a murderer.
“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
I John 3:14-15 NKJV
Here is some bad news to get you to the good news. If you hate anyone, especially because they are different from you, you don’t yet know the Lord. Love is the proof of eternal life abiding in your soul. Hate is the opposite of love. Would hate not be the evidence then, of eternal death in the soul?
God is the God of the whole world. He is Lord over all nations, and He made all people in His image. All human life has deeply significant value. From pre-born to last breath, the human race matters, and life should be honored and protected. Jesus died and rose again so that God would redeem Himself a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation in the world. Therefore the sin of racism is the most anti-God sentiment you can have. If you hate people, you hate God. You cannot be close to the Father and hate his children.
I write these next statements as a white man. Many who read this will not know me or what I look like. I have always been happy to be a white man because God is God and he knows what He is doing. And I believe this gives me particular insight and authority to say what I’m saying next. If you believe that the Bible is a book about white people, you are sadly mistaken. The Bible is full of many different races, colors, and ethnicities. White people came very late in the game. So fellow white person who may or may not be struggling with racism, you can’t use the Bible to justify racism.
If you feel yourself to be superior to others based on your race, it is high time for you to repent. The kingdom has no room for pride. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Mortify that racism by humbling yourself under God’s mighty hand. You need grace.
It is time to flee that racism. Is does not matter if grandpa, or the person you deeply respected was racist. It’s time for you to let it go. Perhaps in previous generations that could be overlooked, but no longer,
“Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.””
Acts 17:29-31 NKJV
The time has come to lay down the idol of racism, and return to God. It is time to repent, or change your mind, and embrace the love of God. Jesus died for the whole world. It’s time for you to embrace that. Leave the hate, receive the Gospel. If you have sin in your heart, there is only one hope for you. That hope is Jesus. Through His perfect life lived for you, and His death on the cross to pay for your sins, and His resurrection to give you justification, you can be changed and transformed. God can give you a new heart.
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
Ezekiel 36:25-27 NKJV
My hope and prayer is that if you struggle with inner hatred and racism, that you will lay it down at the foot of the cross. Let God remove that sin from your heart. God will give you a new heart. A heart of love and compassion for others. When God puts His Spirit within you, you will love other people, even the ones who are different from you. It is time to let that sin go and embrace the transformation by grace.
Remember Christian, it is up to you to speak now. I have not had adequate words, but I sincerely hope this is something that will help someone. Mortify that racism. Let it die. Kill the racism before it kills you, or even worse before you kill someone else.
#mortifythatracism
If you don’t know Jesus, I want to give you the opportunity to trust Him for your salvation and receive His finished work by faith. If you want to make Jesus the Lord of your life, simply pray this in your heart, as a way to put your faith in Him. Say, “ Jesus, I make you the Lord of my life. I know I’m a sinner, but I believe. I believe that You are the Son of God. I believe You died on the cross for my sins, and I believe that You rose on the third day for my justification. I ask you to save me now. I receive you by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen”
Refreshing Grace 