If anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become
new. —2 Corinthians 5:17
{CHAMBERS} “Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices— He is directly
opposed to them and puts them to death. […] we must
learn that God accepts nothing of the old life! […] God pays no respect to
anything we bring to Him. There is only
one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.[…] Our
old gloomy outlook disappears, as does our old attitude toward things, and “all
things are of God” (2 Corinthians 5:18). How are we going to get a life that
has no lust, no self-interest, and is not sensitive to the ridicule of others?
How will we have the type of love that “is kind…is not provoked, [and] thinks
no evil”? (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). The only way is by allowing nothing of the
old life to remain, and by having only simple, perfect trust in God— such a
trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want God Himself. Have
we come to the point where God can withdraw His blessings from us without our trust
in Him being affected?”
{ELGIN} In today’s culture when someone says “Prejudice”, the narrow
definition is racial prejudice or bias.
Actually the root of the word has to do with having an opinion about
something. That could be a dislike, even
hatred, of people of other races. That
is one of the prejudices that is part of our old nature. Let’s use that as an example. Men have argued for years that one race is
superior to another. Typically it is the
majority race that holds that view. It
is part of the old nature. So what does
the Bible say? Well, man was created in God’s image. (Genesis 1:26) Genesis does not say only white or red or black or
yellow or brown. So God must not have
been referring to skin color or national origin. Paul wrote “there is neither Jew nor Greek,
slave nor free, male nor female” (Galatians
3:8) in the Body of Christ. Jesus prayed
“That they may be as one, as we are one" (John 17:11). John wrote “If you
say you love God and hate your Brother, you are a liar and the Truth is not in
you.” (1 John 4:20)
We try to justify our prejudices
– the opinions born out of our old nature – by turning to those who think like
us to seek affirmation … and we will always find approval from those who have
the same prejudices we do or at least are tolerant of our prejudices lest we
fail to accept theirs. If you want someone to say your sin is OK ask
another sinner. When drowning, why
would you seek help from someone who is drowning beside you? The Word is the place you go to know what is
Truth. The Spirit is the one that
affirms and confirms what is right and what is wrong … the Spirit convicts us
of our sins. (John16:8) I know a good number of Christians that hold
on to opinions – prejudices that were born out of their old nature. I am one, come to think of it. So what to do. It’s actually a simple solution that is
impossible to accomplish by wishing it so …. it requires faith not will
power. We must surrender our prejudices –
our old nature – to God. Offering
ourselves, daily, as a sacrifice.
Confessing our sins, daily. (1
John 1:9) As you develop your spiritual acuity, (one day you will have
20-20 spiritual vision) you will see those opinions or prejudices for what they
are and abandon them by faith and through the power of the blood of Jesus. “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the
blood of Jesus. What can make me whole
again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
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