Tolerance

“Suppose someone secretly entices you—even your brother, your son or daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend—and says, ‘Let us go worship other gods’—gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known. They might suggest that you worship the gods of peoples who live nearby or who come from the ends of the earth. But do not give in or listen. Have no pity, and do not spare or protect them. You must put them to death! Strike the first blow yourself, and then all the people must join in. Stone the guilty ones to death because they have tried to draw you away from the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery. Then all Israel will hear about it and be afraid, and no one will act so wickedly again. [Deuteronomy 13.6-12]

Here is just one example of tolerance found in the Bible. Well, perhaps not!

Tolerance is not really an Old Testament principle. As a matter of fact, it is no Biblical principle at all! To the contrary, the Bible teaches that anyone guilty of promoting the worship of false gods should be put to death.

Now, before we get too involved in bloodshed, let us recall that Jesus suffered death on behalf of all. His death fulfilled the death requirement for all - past, present, and future. Because our God is eternal and not bound to time and space, the death of His Son serves eternal purpose. Consequently, the death requirement for all our sins is met in Jesus' purposeful death on the cross.

There is only one small catch. For any person to reap the benefit of Jesus' substitutionary death, that person must repent and believe. Like Jesus' purposeful visit to the cross, so we must also purposefully commit ourselves to Him - it's only fair. If Jesus went out of His way to visit the cross, should we not also go out of our way to visit Him?

In simple terms, we must acknowledge that what God says is wrong is wrong. In so doing, we must also acknowledge that our participation in that wrong makes us guilty and deserving of death. It is here then that we may believe in Jesus' work on our behalf! We are given the privilege of looking upon Jesus' death as the payment for our death penalty. This action is faith and pleases God more than anything else we could ever do.

So, intolerance is not really about hate - it is very much about love - the love of God in sending His Son to suffer violent punishment in our place. 

To promote tolerance is to promote Godlessness. To promote tolerance is to say there is no penalty for wrongdoing. To promote tolerance is to say anything goes.

To promote Jesus is to promote Godliness. To promote Jesus is to say there is in fact just penalty for wrongdoing. To promote Jesus is to say even the slightest sin is a gross offense that Jesus suffered the intolerant justice of God for.

The old saying, "nothing is free..." is on perfect display in God's justice and Jesus' death in our place. 

God does not tolerate sin - He never has, nor ever will. He dealt with it eternally - once and for all in Jesus.

Father, thank You for dealing with my sin on the cross of Jesus Christ!