Man by nature tends to take pride in the color of his skin. And this dangerous mindset even leads some people to assume that their race is supreme. A beautiful alternative to such arrogance is to receive Christ’s love and forgiveness into your heart. Disciples of Jesus soon discover that Christ’s supremacy conquers white supremacy, not to mention every other form of prejudice.
It all depends upon whether you “live according to the sinful nature,” or “live in accordance with the Spirit.” (Romans 8:5)
The sinful nature stirs up pride, prejudice, anger, and hatred, whereas the Holy Spirit produces compassion, love, joy, and peace in the hearts of Christ followers. And anyone who hates others is certainly not a Christ follower.
In fact, “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.” (1 John 1:9)
While dark souls tend to hate others, Christ-centered souls tend to love others. No surprise there, right? After all, who has ever demonstrated more love than Jesus? And once you receive Christ as your Savior through faith, (John 1:12) the supernatural love of God begins to flow within your soul.
This doesn’t mean that everyone who claims to be a Christian is the genuine article. The new birth must take place in order for a person to actually know God. (John 3:3-7) Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” (John 10:14)
Spiritual conversion always brings God’s love into a person’s heart. And Jesus put an exclamation mark on that point when He said, “All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” (John 13:35) Apart from Christ’s love within your soul, there is only spiritual darkness.
Here is a simple way to test yourself to see if your soul is in a dark place. Ask yourself this question: “Is my race superior to any other race?” Think about it for a moment before you answer.
Well, how did you do? If you do not think that every race on earth is equal, then there is plenty of darkness in your soul. Thankfully, Jesus is in the business of transforming racism into love. And yes, it requires a supernatural work of God on the inside of man.
When Christ is supreme in your life, there is no room in your heart for hate, pride, and prejudice. When you come to realize how much God has done to rescue you for eternity, you don’t look down on others. How could you? Not if Christ is in you.
The apostle Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20) Whatever racial prejudice existed on the inside of Saul before he was saved, this ugliness was crucified with Christ when Saul was converted. When Christ came into Saul’s life, prejudice was replaced with the Savior’s love as this hater was transformed by God’s power into the apostle Paul.
Prior to his conversion, Saul despised Christians and fiercely persecuted them. Instead of white supremacy, you could say that Saul was practicing “Jewish supremacy.” And this bigoted mindset filled Saul’s heart with hate. “Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” (Acts 8:3)
And anyone today who subscribes to white supremacy or black supremacy harbors something just as repulsive in his heart. Prejudice stems from man’s sinful rebellion against God, and every racist needs what Saul needed; namely, a new heart.
Jesus is more than able to supply this new heart to man. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17)
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SOURCE: The Christian Post – Dan Delzell is the pastor of Wellspring Church in Papillion, Neb.
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