We continue to pray for our country and our community for unity among racial and ethnic groups. This Sunday evening, IBC was scheduled to host Destiny Baptist Church for a joint communion service. The leadership at Destiny asked to postpone the event due to health concerns about meeting away from their church facility during the pandemic. We look forward to rescheduling.
Bible-believing leaders like Dr. Don Carson and others have posted a helpful overview of what the Bible says about applying the Gospel to racism. You can read more at:
Here is the main statement with supportive biblical references.
A Statement on Racism and the Gospel
“Today’s situation requires more than a statement, but certainly no less than a statement. As evangelical academic voices, we condemn racism as contrary to Scripture and to the evangelical gospel. Evangelical history includes positively many voices for justice and pioneers of abolitionism, such as William Wilberforce, but also negatively those who assimilated the values of their surrounding unjust culture. Yet the basis of evangelical faith is Scripture, climaxing in the good news of Jesus Christ.
In this gospel, everyone must come to God on the same terms (Rom 1:16; 3:22-24; 10:12-13; Gal 3:28; Rev 5:9; 7:9), and become one body in Christ (Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor 12:12-13; Eph 4:4; Col 3:15).
In reconciling Jew and Gentile in Christ (Eph 2:16), surmounting a barrier that God himself once established, God in Christ summons us to surmount every barrier erected merely by human sinfulness.
Scripture does not discriminate by color, and, on the most common understanding of Acts 8, the first Gentile convert may have been Black and from Africa.
Jesus, both by his example and by his teaching, summons us to serve and love fellow believers to the point of laying down our lives for them (John 13:14-17, 34-35; 1 John 3:16-18), and to love all our neighbors as ourselves (Lev 19:18; Mark 12:31; Rom 13:8-10; Gal 5:14).
This invites us to be swifter to listen to others than to speak (Eph 4:29; Jms 1:19), to mourn with those who suffer (Rom 12:15), and to join them in acting for justice on their behalf (Isa 1:17; Luke 11:42; Jms 1:27).”
This week I also listened to Dr. John MacArthur’s sermon on “Whose to Blame for the Riots?” He teaches through Romans 3 and Romans 1 to show that the sinful human heart apart from Christ, is to blame for this and all kinds of sinful actions.
In addition, I have gathered a few of my sermons on what the Bible says on Racial Harmony on our website.
Racism is sin. Many people have been hurt by it. The Gospel is the answer. We need to apply the Gospel to all issues, including this one. May the Lord allow us to be His ministers of reconciliation demonstrating His love and justice to all.