Unsaved People Are Doing What They're Supposed To Do

Ephesians 4:17-24, “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

At church yesterday my Baptist pastor said something that I often forget. He said that when we see and hear shocking things in the news, we shouldn't be shocked. Unsaved people are just doing what they are supposed to do. He is right! Oh, how this dark sinful world needs Jesus!

I went to a local grocery store yesterday after church. A black man was sitting on one of the pylons in the parking lot. He asked me for a couple dollars. I was feeling happy after church, so I kindly told him to wait a moment. I went back to my car and grabbed a Gospel of John. I had been saving my spare one and five dollars bills over the months. I grabbed the small wad of money (about $40) and handed it to him. I said, “Here you go my friend, and I pat him on the shoulder.” I had expected the man to be very thankful, but he didn't even thank me. Instead he asked me to additionally go buy him some soda and chips.

I didn't say it, but I thought in my heart: “What an ingrate!” I pointed out that I had just handed him about $40, but my words went unnoticed. He again asked me to go buy him some munchies. I kindly refused (because he now had enough money to buy whatever he wanted in the store) and then I walked away. I don't know if he is mentally ill, but he was mumbling even as I walked into the store. I admit that I went to the front isle of the store, to check my vehicle to see if he was throwing a brick through my windshield...lol. I remembered what my pastor had said about the world, that they are just being sinners. That is what they are. We ought not be shocked that lost sinners behave as sinners. They only have a sin nature.

Then I bought some groceries and left to go home. As I was driving down the street in my neighborhood, I saw a young black woman walking on the right sidewalk. She was looking at my vehicle. I had my windows down a few inches. As I very often do, I lifted a couple fingers off my steering wheel just to say, “Hello.” People living in the country in rural areas greet each other that way all the time. She started cursing me at the top of her lungs, yelling obscenities as I drove by. I don't know this woman. I had never scene her before. I thought in my heart, “Wow, what a bit*h!” Clearly she was not in her right mind. Then I remembered what my pastor had said yesterday in his sermon, that the world are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. They don't know the precious Savior.

I went home and prayed for those black folks. I'll tell you, there's a lot of racism in the south, from both whites and blacks. I had never felt racial tension before until I moved to Pensacola. When I first moved to Pensacola in 2021 and needed to rent a motel room, the black woman in front of me was required by management to undergo a criminal background check (which they said she failed). Nobody ever asked me for one, they just gave me a room. Many blacks (especially among the black youth) are angry at white people. This world can be such an ugly place because of sin.

I thought today about the ten lepers whom Jesus miraculously healed, but only one bothered to return to thank Him. Luke 17:17-18, “And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.” I can hear some religious churchgoing Pharisee now, “Oh Jesus, you're so negative, let's stay positive!” Even our dear Savior and Lord felt hurt by the horrible way that people treat each other. I believe that one leper who returned got saved, because we read about his faith in Luke 17:19, “And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” I don't think Jesus is speaking here about the healing of the man's leprosy; but rather, the redeeming of his soul.

The Sinful Lost World Needs Jesus Christ

I am saddened day by day as I hear the death toll ever rising in Palestine. The Jews hate the Palestinian people so much, that they open fired on hungry people just trying to get some food to survive. Where is justice? Many years ago I bought some intriguing books from Christian author Salem Kirban (1925-2010). I saw a photo and caption in one of his books that has stuck with me over the years. It was a photo from the early 1970's during the protests across the country during the time of the Vietnam War. The photos showed a police officer beating a long-haired young man with a Billy Club. The caption asked the question: Do you see a young punk getting what he deserves, or do you see a police officer abusing his power of authority? If you are a Christian, you should see two people who desperately need Jesus Christ.

With that truth in mind, my humble perspective on the Middle East is that both the Jews and the Arabs desperately need Jesus Christ. It is utter wickedness for churches all across the United States to blindly side with Israel, when in truth there are no more Christians in Israel today than there are in Palestine!!! Both places are 99% heathen! I hate and reject the falsehood of Zionism, which idolizes manmade Israel while hating Arabs people. I want no part of that demonic unbiblical insanity!

I try not to listen to too much news because it is depressing and so negative. The old adage is true: If it bleeds, it leads. I sometimes I like to watch crime shows like Forensic Files and Cold Case Files, to learn as a Baptist preacher what little sins and unwise decisions in people's lives often led them into life destroying behavior and demonic chaos. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. (1883-1968) was right: Behind every tragedy in human character is a slow process of wicked thinking. However, I cannot watch too much of such creepy crime shows because it disturbs my soul. I admit that I have often felt shocked by the evils that humans are capable of, and their utter lack of respect or compassion for life. I was disturbed to learn that there are now over 2,000 crime shows made for television.

The world are doing what they are supposed to be doing. Why should we be shocked that sinners sin? I mean, is it shocking that a pig would run for the mudhole and bathe in the mud? You can remove a pig from a farm and fancy him up. You can give the pig a bath to make him clean. You can put some cologne and nice clothes tailored just for a pig, to make him look gentlemanly for the lady pigs. You can try to refine Mr. Pig all you want. However, the moment that you release him back onto the farm to run free, he's going to head for the nearest mudhole and do what pigs do best, get dirty! The same is true of sinful human beings.

Christians Must Be Transformed In Our Thinking

This is why the Holy Bible teaches that as believers our mind must be TRASNFORMED. Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” That is why I listen to lots of Bible preaching, to have my mind transformed. When a lost sinner gets saved by trusting in Jesus Christ, the ONLY thing that they get is God's gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (1st John 3:24; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9). Getting saved (born again) doesn't change a person's character one bit! You just now have the Holy Spirit living inside you, and He will begin to attempt to change you.

The unsaved person doesn't have, know or even see the Holy Spirit. John 14:17, “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” I got saved at the young age if 13, thankfully. So I didn't have many years of darkness in my life before I was saved. I am so grateful to God for that! Looking back in hindsight, before I was saved at age 13, there is no memory of God. There is only darkness in my mind. It feels quite frightening to be honest, to have no recollection of God's presence at all in my life as a child. Albeit, since the glorious day that God saved me in 1980 (it could have been 1979), I do not remember), by faith alone in His only begotten Son, I have felt the sweet abiding presence of God's wonderful blessed Holy Spirit in me.

We ought not feel shocked when we read horrifying news. People are just being people! Even the best Christ is still a dirty rotten sinner. You may be a saved and Heavenbound sinner, but you are still a sinner by nature and by choice (and so am I). All we can do as God's children is to walk closely with Jesus, and pray for God to help us live righteously by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 2:20). The Christian life is lived by faith, not by sight (2nd Corinthians 5:7).

By the way, please notice in Romans 12:1 that presenting our body as a living sacrifice to God is our “reasonable service.” That is, God purchased us from eternal damnation with His blood (Acts 20:28; 1st Peter 1:18-19; 1st Corinthians 6:20). Jesus laid down His life on Calvary's cross as a sacrificial Lamb, to die for our sin debt. The least reasonable thing we can do for Him (although it is not required to get to Heaven) is to offer up our body as a living sacrifice to live for Christ. Jesus gladly died for us, so we should gladly live for Him.

I like something that my ministry friend Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold said in a sermon:

“Christ paid for my sins. If He paid for my sins, why would I have to go to Hell to pay for my sins? All He wanted me to do was believe that He did it all for me. That is the greatest news in all the world! And no man, no preacher, has the authority to change the Gospel message. Just because you don't see how it works, or understand how it works—you don't have to know, it ain't none of our business; but God says there is a Heaven and a Hell, and if you want to go to Heaven this is what you do, and your opinion don't count.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, “Legalistic Judaism is Today's Calvinism”

Oh, how the world needs Jesus! When this short earthly life is over, nothing else will matter except Jesus. Did you trust Him to save you? For those who are saved, did you live for Him? How many lost sinners did you share the Gospel with? Did the dying world see Christ's unconditional love in you? What did YOU do for Jesus with your earthly life? Thank you for reading.

Lead Me To Calvary