CHRISTIANS AND LOVE / DEBATE WITH WRONG PEOPLE
Christians must love according to God’s Truth, not according to anyone’s opinion, whether it is our own opinion or the opinion of the world, society, or the era in which we live.
Although God wants Christians to preach about God’s love and call people to return to Him to repent and surrender to God so that they can receive salvation in the future, there are important truths that Christians need to base our preaching about God’s love on.
The first is preaching without arguing or debating.
Arguing or debating does not change people’s minds, but only makes them more resentful, bitter, and angry if they lose such arguments or debates.
On the contrary, if unbelievers win arguments with Christians about morality, truth, and goodness, they will be proud to continue to engage in sin and wrongful acts.
That is why the word of God warns against arguing or debating with sinners and wrongdoers, as it is written in…
PROVERBS 29:9 – If a wise man contends with a fool, whether he rages or laughs, there is no peace.
The anger and laughter in the above verse can be applied to both sides because the words carry the meaning of winning or losing in the argument or debate.
When Christians win, we will certainly feel happy because we have defended the right and have won over the views of the wrong and the guilty. But when we lose in such debates, Christians will be angry, not at others, but at ourselves because we were not good enough to defend the right cause. Thus, Christians will feel remorse and sadness because we see that we have caused the right cause of God to be defeated. As for those who are wrong and love sin, when they win in debates, they will certainly be happy to continue to err. Their deliberate actions in this way will influence many people, sometimes even attracting weak people to imitate them.
On the contrary, if the wrong person is defeated in the debate, he will become angry and hateful towards the person who made him lose in front of the crowd and made him lose face. Such anger and hatred will be dangerous for Christians, if not in this respect, then in another.
Christians need to understand that in this world there are two races of people, one created by God and the other came from the devil, which Jesus Christ compared to wheat and tares, and which science has proven to be prehistoric people descended from apes. These two races have lived together and over thousands of years have become indistinguishable. But the main difference between the two races is that those created by God, even if they sin, will eventually repent and turn away from sin. But those came from Satan will never turn away from sin, but will instead cling to it even more.
That is why the word of the Lord clearly says…
MATTHEW 13:30 – Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.
The Lord’s words mean that when Christians preach about God’s love and righteousness, they should preach to everyone without arguing or debating to try to convince the wicked to believe. Let them continue to live in sin until the day of judgment.
That is why Jesus Christ said that…
REVELATION 22:11 – He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; he that is holy, let him be holy still!
This saying of the Lord means that the wheat will remain wheat, and the tares will continue to remain tares until the harvest.
This is the second truth regarding arguing or debating with those who are erring and want to sin.
The Word of God also affirms the above truth in…
PROVERBS 24:16 – For though the righteous fall seven times, he will rise again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
This verse means that although humans, those who created by God, are weak and sometimes make mistakes or sinned, they will one day repent and turn from their sins. But those who came from Satan will continue to commit evil until the day when they are severely punished by God’s judgment.
For this reason the word of God in the Scriptures advises Christians to avoid arguing or debating with evildoers, because it is of no benefit, as it is written in…
TITUDES 3:8-11 – 8 This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to insist on it, so that those who have believed in God may devote themselves to good works, which are good and profitable to everyone. 9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and quarrels and arguments about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 A heretic after a first and second admonition, avoid him, 11 because you know that such a person has turned away and is sinning, and is self-condemned.
(to be continued)