A Hard Answer

"What would happen to me if I didn't want God's forgiveness?"

I had a great conversation recently with a couple of guys that I am discipling. We were talking about God's forgiveness and how accepting Jesus as our savior is the only way to accept that forgiveness (John 3:34-35).

And that’s the question I was asked. (The context of this question was he felt like he didn't deserved God's forgiveness, not that he didn't need it.)

It’s the kind of question that brings a certain reality to the situation. Suddenly we aren’t talking in generalities or using "you" in the plural ambiguous sense.

So how would you respond to a question like this?

Would you side-step the issue, and simply continue to emphatically pronounce the goodness of God and his desire to forgive us all?

That doesn't answer the question.

Would you speak of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross as a substitution of punishment for all of our sin?

That doesn't answer the question.

Would you talk of the resurrection and the hope that we all have access to since Jesus has conquered death?

THAT DOESN'T ANSWER THE QUESTION!

A friend just asked me one of the most important questions he will ever ask anyone.

I chose to respond.

I told him, "First, I want to give you a direct answer to your question." And then I quoted John 3:36, which says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them." I continued to tell him that when his physical body died his soul will go to a place where there will never be any forgiveness; there will never be any hope, no joy, and no happiness. I told him that in this place his guilt will never go away and his conscience will never be appeased, and many people believe there will also be a sort of physical torture (Matt 25:46).

As he stared down at the table thinking about the weight of the words I just spoke, I looked at him in the eye and said, "I don't want that for you."

After giving him a few seconds to process what I had just said, I asked him this question with the most gentle and caring inflection I could produce:

"If you believe that God is holy, righteous, good, and forgiving; and you believe that you are unholy, unrighteous, not good, and unforgiving; then what gives you the right to reject God's forgiveness?"

...

He took another few seconds to think, and then replied with a lump in his throat, "Nothing."

My challenge to you is to give hard answers. Ensure that these answers are rooted in truth and are delivered with the warmest heart and the most gentle spirit, but don't soften what God has made firm.

"Crush the boxes, break the frames, dance off rhythm, don't be tamed"
(Thank you to evolveministry.com for editorial contributions)