America has never been divided like this before. Matt Walsh, a speaker of the Daily Wire, states that America is currently more divided than it was during the American Civil War. At the end of May, 450 protests were held in major cities across America. The breaking point was due to the death of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, who was later charged with second-degree murder. Now, solving the racial division in America is not an easy task. However, this article will show how the gospel offers a solution to the racial issues in America.
1. Eternal life does not discriminate.
In John 3, Nicodemus came to speak to Jesus privately and secretly. Then, Jesus presented to him the gospel that offers eternal life. In John 3:14, Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Immediately following the conversation with Nicodemus, in John 4, Jesus presented the gospel to the Samaritan woman at the well.
In John 4, you will notice racial discrimination between the Jews and the Samaritans. In fact, racial discrimination was so intense that the Samaritan woman could not come to draw water at the same time with the Jews. It was so fierce that the Jews could not ask the Samaritans for a drink. However, Jesus disregarded the racial discrimination and presented to the Samaritan woman the same gospel that He offered to Nicodemus. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for both Jews and Greeks. Therefore, it is for all people, regardless of their race and nationality.
2. The gospel offers reconciliation.
Dr. MacArthur, the chancellor of the Master’s Seminary, states that the root of all the riots and unrest is the sinfulness of the human heart. In Matthew 15:18, Jesus says, “What comes out of the mount proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person,” and in verse 19, Jesus states that murder and evil thoughts are the products of the sinful heart. The death of George Floyd, the death of many police officers, and the deaths of millions of innocent Jews in World War II has nothing to do with skin color, race, or nationality but everything with the sinfulness of the human heart. We sin against each other because we are sinful.
Therefore, The Black Lives Matter movement cannot solve racial discrimination because the BLM activists only look at the surface and not the real problem. In fact, the Black Lives Matter movement causes even more division between the people and the police officers. For example, if all black lives matter, then why did the retired St. Louis police captain David Dorn get shot by the BLM protesters, and he was black? Furthermore, the BLM movement does not offer forgiveness or reconciliation. There is no intention of forgiveness and reconciliation on their sites.
On the contrary, the gospel is the only solution because it offers forgiveness and reconciliation. In 2 Corinthians 5:18, Paul states, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” Because we are sinful and God is holy, we are the enemies of God. Our sins separate us from Him and make us his enemies. However, in Romans 5:10, Paul says, “Even if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”
On the cross, Jesus took our sin upon Himself, satisfying God’s wrath. Now we become His friends and brothers and sisters. Through faith, we have been justified. Our sin will not be counted against us. We are reconciled to Him.
Because we are reconciled to Him, we are reconciled to one another. Because we are forgiven, we can forgive each other. In Ephesians 4:32, Paul writes, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ in God forgave you.” You forgive because God has forgiven you in Christ, and thus, we can be reconciled to each other.
Moreover, when we are in Christ, we are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Therefore, there is neither Jews nor Greeks, neither slave nor free, neither males nor females, neither white nor black, and all Christians are one in Christ (Galatians, chapter 3 verse 28).
Because we are one in Christ, there will be no racial discrimination and segregation. We don’t see each other as black, white, Asian, or Hispanic, but as the one in Christ. We will love each other as Christ has loved us. In Christ, there is unity in diversity, and that is the beauty of the gospel