Luke 2:10-11 says, "And the angel said unto them, fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."
The Biblical accounts of the birth of Jesus in the books of Matthew and Luke have so much theology tied into them. We could study the birth of Christ for an entire year, possibly longer, and still not fully exegete the theology that is contained in those verses.
The phrase I would like to focus on is, "Which shall be to all people."
The good tidings of great joy were for ALL people. Those tidings were that Christ, the Savior, was born in Bethlehem (verse 11). The birth of Christ meant the forgiveness of sins, the redemption, the restoration of God's people, the keeping of God's Old Testament promises, the incarnation of God into a man who would walk with the people, and so on. These were great tidings of great joy. These tidings were for ALL people.
Isn't it amazing that the birth of Christ was announced to the shepherds before it was announced to the royalty and clergy of the day? This shows that that God includes ALL people in His plan of salvation, no matter how poor or humble. (The wise men announced His birth to the royalty and clergy, showing that God's salvation was available to ALL people, no matter how rich and pious).
But the main thing is that ALL means ALL. If there were one person in all of the world, past, present or future, that God would reject upon his repentance and faith, ALL would not mean ALL. Thus, Luke 2:10 would be illogical and thus a false verse.
No, God's salvation is available to ALL who will repent and trust Jesus Christ as their Savior. God did not pre-select those who are worthy, nor did He pre-reject those He didn't like. God so loved THE WORLD that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
The Gospel, how Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the scriptures, is meant to be shared with ALL people.
Matthew 28:19-20 "Go ye therefore and teach ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe whatsoever things I have commanded you."
"Nations" in verse 19 means "tribes" or "ethnicities."
Brethren, there are churches who have agreed to end services the second someone of a different race walks in the door. There are schools that teach against integrated churches. They refuse to admit students of different ethnicities. There are churches that will not baptize or disciple people of different ethnicities that come forward. I have heard of pastors going door-knocking with insurance policies in their back pocket should a person of a different ethnicity open the door. (They would pretend to be insurance salesmen). All of this is done under the guise of "Godly seperation," but is actually in violation of the "good tidings of great joy to ALL people." It constitutes failure to "teach ALL nations." It is in contradiction to Galatians 3:28, and fails to follow the example of the church at Antioch.
Those who defend this practice claim they are avoiding strife and contention that comes with the mixing of the cultures. This argument is shallow at best and holds no scriptural backing.
Churches, seminaries, pastors and laymen who subscribe to the afore-descibed theology of "Godly seperation" are in open rebellion of what God has commanded us and taught us in the scriptures.
And I don't care how much $upport this post will cost me. The scriptures teach we are to make disciples, baptize and teach people of all colors, cultures, and backgrounds. That is what I aim to do. Those who wish to oppose me have no defense in the scriptures, and will reveal to me what kind of people they really are. Repentance here is the only choice.
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