The Bad News(The Bible’s Answer for Racism, Part 5)
By Ben Quine
Do you believe in things you can’t see?
I hope so, because there is an abundance of real things we experience in the physical world that we cannot see. Take a minute and think of a few of them. What did you come up with? Some examples are the wind, radio waves, and the force of gravity. But there is another part of life, a whole dimension past the physical, that we cannot see or smell or feel, and yet it is the most real part of life. It’s the spiritual realm.
In previous articles we‘ve seen that, according to the Bible, the sin of racism is the unequal treatment of people because of their skin color, or the devaluing of someone or some group because of physical characteristics. God is very careful to instruct His people not to favor the poor or the rich, the powerful or the powerless, and He wants equal justice to be shown to all without favoritism (Leviticus 19:15). Biblical justice requires everyone to be treated equally under the law. Racism is inherently unjust because it insists on giving some people special treatment while intentionally holding back or punishing others, (e.g. Jim Crow Laws, Modern Social Justice, Critical Race Theory, and “Anti-Racism”).
To understand racism and God’s plan for healing, we must look beyond the physical world and the people we can see, to the spiritual realm.
And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)
God did not create multiple races, He created one human race. In fact, He created a perfectly harmonious world that was “very good.” But we don’t often experience that perfect unity in our lives today, do we?
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:15-17)
…So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)
Adam and Eve disobeyed God, ate the fruit, and suffered both immediate spiritual death and eventual physical death. As a result of this disobedience (“sin”), the harmony of the world was shattered. Relationships were torn apart and death came into the world. Adam blamed Eve. The earth was cursed. Cain killed Abel.
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:5-7)
Consider how far humanity had fallen from “very good” to “I am sorry that I have made them”! Consider the pervasive nature of the depravity of sin on display here: every thought was only evil, continually. But you’re probably thinking, “Well, those people were really bad, but I’m not that bad.” But according to the Bible, we’re all guilty:
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. …all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:10-20, 23)
Every one of Adam and Eve’s children have, like their parents, sinned against God. Sin is now baked into our DNA – we are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. We are guilty even from birth, because we are born of Adam and Eve.
For the wages of sin is death… (Romans 6:23)
The death that comes from sin isn’t just physical death, though that is one of the consequences. It is the most real and tragic death of all: eternal separation from God. God’s holiness requires that all sin must be removed, since He cannot allow evil in His presence. The consequence of sin is separation from God, which is death. Adam and Eve were torn apart from God when they sinned, and like them, we are all stained by sin and unable to be with the One who made us and who loves us and who brings life.
All humans have value because we are all created in the image of God. But all humans are also guilty of following in our first parents’ footsteps of disobedience to God, now facing wrath, judgement, death, and eternal separation from God. We are all guilty of hurting those around us, of putting ourselves first, and of disobeying God’s commands. The truest thing about someone is what God says about them, so whether you feel guilty or not, you truly are, because God says you are. There is no room for pride here because sin and death are the great equalizers. We are all equal because we are all guilty. (Yes, this is no fun to talk about, but if we don’t understand how bad sin is, we can never understand the solution!)
God’s Word teaches clearly that in the unseen spiritual world — the most real world — we are all equal, that our problem is a sin problem, and that we cannot say we are less guilty than anyone else, even if we consider ourselves a “good person.” And tragically, there is no way that sinful people can truly make things right in our individual lives, in our relationships, or in our society (the Bible describes unredeemed people as “wicked, foolish, evildoers,” and “dead”).
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. (Romans 7:18)
Wow, this is depressing, fire-and-brimstone stuff! But don’t stop here – there is good news! Glorious, wonderful, life-giving news: God didn’t leave us to suffer the justice we deserve – He didn’t leave us without the ability to carry out the good we want to do. He made a way for us to be forgiven, reconciled to Himself, and given a new heart that can love others with His love.
We can’t see gravity, but its power effects us every minute of the day. Sin and the destruction it brings impacts us even more profoundly than gravity. Racism is sin, which is a spiritual problem, and a spiritual solution is required. God has made a way forward, and we’ll talk about that in the next post.
Check out our Christians Engaged Store to purchase all 4 of the books - Answers for Difficult Days. (4-Book Bundle $40 , shipping not included).
ABOUT BEN
Connect with him at Cornerstone Curriculum
Ben Quine, the second son of David and Shirley Quine, was blessed to grow up with a Charlotte Mason/Dr. Schaeffer/Biblical Worldview education -- a tremendous gift! Through the years, Ben has served as a Cornerstone consultant, assistant, and co-author. He has written several Bible studies for the Answers for Difficult Days series, which equips churches to address the issues our culture is wrestling with today, from the foundation of Scripture. Ben is also the editor of The Worldview Library, editions of classical literature with student helps that afford the reader a deeper understanding of the concepts presented in each work.
Trained as a classical pianist and instructor, Ben is committed to inspiring his students with the love of great music and equipping them with the tools to perform at the highest level. This training has resulted in his students' successful performances from local festivals and competitions to Carnegie Hall.
Ben loves Shakespeare, Dickens, photography, listening to recordings of "the great pianists", running, biking, and spending time with his wife Julie and their three sons.