Yesterday, we’ve seen that the way we categorize people and things has a great influence on how we approach them. God thinks in certain categories. With God, the most important categories are spiritual or moral. Today I'll be giving you an example of a spiritual category that is decisive with God. Tomorrow I'll give you an example of some moral categories.
The basic, spiritual category, I believe, in Scripture, is this: It's faith or unbelief. Now most people today with the current world outlook don't think in those terms. They say, "He's a nice man," or "He's a clever man," or "He's a sincere man." But they're not talking in terms of faith or unbelief. But that I believe is God's basic view of the human race. He categorizes the human race in a different way from that which most of us would do. Let me give you some clear and simple examples of the categorization of God into these two categories: faith, or unbelief - the person who believes and the person who does not believe.
My first example is taken from John 3, verse 18, where John the Baptist is speaking about our relationship with Jesus and he says this:
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (NKJ)
There's the basic category. Believing, which sets us free from condemnation; failing to believe, which bring us under condemnation. So God doesn't categorize people primarily by race or by color or even by religious denomination. His basic category is much more simple - he who believes, or he who does not believe.
Again, in John 3:36:
“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (NKJ)
There again, we have two, simple, basic categories - he who believes and he has everlasting life; he who does not believe who's under the wrath of God. This applies not merely to believing in the person of Jesus, but in the message of the gospel. When Jesus commissioned His apostles to go forth at the end of Mark's Gospel, with the gospel message to all creation, He told them this in Mark l6, verses 15 through 16:
“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ‘He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.’’” (NKJ)
That's the dividing line between salvation and condemnation - he who believes, he who does not believe. Let’s give thanks to God for His grace of saving faith!
Lord, thank You for not categorizing me according to human standards such as race, intelligence or social status, but that I may belong to the category of those who believe. Thank you for the promise of Your eternal life, and help me, by my example, to point others in Your direction too. Amen.
