Jesus Convicted All

What Did Jesus Do?

“...do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others...?”
Luke 13.4

One of the most disturbing statements I ever heard a Presbyterian elder make was, “Well, after all, we are all basically good people.” I suppose that statement might not sound particularly disturbing to most people, who probably think of themselves as basically good. But the truth is far from it, and for a Presbyterian elder to believe and teach that anyone is basically good, much less a Presbyterian, is pernicious. It sounds good to us, but it is deadly to believe it. Unless we all get the message that we are sinners who need to repent, well, a future in eternity's smoking section awaits us.

The Bible doesn't tell us much about the people in Luke 13 who came to Jesus with a report about a group of Galileans whom Pilate had put to the sword, but it sounds like they probably considered themselves basically good, or at the very least, better than the unfortunate Galileans. Jesus quickly disabused them of any such self-deception. The Galileans who were executed were no worse sinners than other Galileans. More to the point, the people who came to Jesus with the report needed to know that they themselves would suffer a similar fate if they did not repent.

Lest they think He was making some kind of political statement about amending any rebellious thoughts against Rome, Jesus spoke of some Jerusalemites who died quite by accident when a tower collapsed on them. Those who were crushed were no worse sinners than anyone else living in Jerusalem. So, again, His hearers needed to understand that unless they themselves repented, they would all likewise perish (Luke 13.5)

So, what do you think Jesus would have to say today to a group of Presbyterian elders who imagined themselves basically good? How about to a group of missionaries? What about volunteers helping to rebuild homes along the Gulf Coast? What would He say to me? What would He say to you? That we are all basically good, or that we, exactly like the folks who came to Him in Luke 13, have an urgent need to repent?

The next time you hear someone extolling their basic goodness, or the basic goodness of someone else, or of a particular group, may I suggest that you point out what Jesus had to say in Luke 13.1-5? It might be a conversation worth having with the person in the mirror as well. For any to be saved all must be convicted. Without being convicted why would anyone come to the cross? Only at the cross can the convicted find forgiveness. That's what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4