…in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
1 Thessalonians 2:16 NIV
Hindered from Speaking
Freedom of expression in Canada is not absolute; section 1 of the Charter allows the government to pass laws that limit free expression so long as the limits are “reasonable and can be justified in a free and democratic society.” According to University of Alberta Sociology Professor Dominique Clement, “Limits on speech were incorporated in the criminal code in relation to treason, sedition, blasphemous and defamatory libel, disruption of religious worship, hate propaganda, spreading false news, public mischief, obscenity, indecency and other form.”
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Have you ever thought about someone, “There is no sense sharing the Gospel with him or her. They are beyond redemption.” Well, in the early days of the Church, that was the thought of some of the Jewish followers of Jesus about the Gentiles. Paul says this about that in 1 Thessalonians 2:16: “…in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.” We need to be careful when we think that someone is beyond God’s love and so cannot possibly be saved. The love of God for the whole world sent Jesus to be Redeemer to even the most reprobate. If slave ship owner John Newton, the author of the beloved hymn Amazing Grace, could experience and be transformed by the redemptive grace provided by Jesus’ death on the cross, there is no one outside of God’s redemption. The sharing of the Gospel is never wasted. Once we share Jesus with someone else, the Holy Spirit begins His work in their hearts.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley