There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22-23).
Only a biblical worldview permits us to unravel the bewildering riddle that is humanity. We are capable of both selfless acts of compassion and horrifying acts of cruelty. We can laugh together with sweet-spirited joy, and we can belittle one another with mean-spirited judgmentalism. We can care for one another from the heart, and we can heartlessly ignore one another. We can nurture life, and we can smother life. We can love, and we can hate. How can we explain these extremes?
Secular anthropology fails to solve the puzzle because it simultaneously makes too little of human beings and too much of human beings. On the one hand, it posits we are nothing more than highly evolved animals. It assumes we are purely material beings such that any tendency toward altruism can be explained on the basis of evolutionary development and neurotransmitters. On the other hand, it sees human beings as the pinnacle of the natural world such that we’re entitled to conceive of ourselves as, in effect, “gods” who are only limited by what we can gain by force, by resourcefulness, or by agreed-upon social constructs (families, business, government, laws, etc.).
Against this background, the biblical worldview presents us with a stark contrast. On the one hand, Scripture teaches we are created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27) and have been made “a little lower than the angels” (Psalm 8:5). Although our physical bodies are integral to our identities, we are so much more than our bodies. God has given us the capacity to know him and to reflect him in how we live. On the other hand, Scripture teaches that our depravity before a holy God is total: “There is no one righteous, not even one; no one understands; no one seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; no does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). In other words, the Word of God leads us to take a high view of human beings and a low view of human nature.
Consequently, every single human being—from conception to natural death—is worthy of our wholehearted respect and protection. What is more, we can see why we desperately need the gospel and why we owe every single human being the free offer of the gospel. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him might not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). These convictions should steer us away from cheap views of human life that would define value based on appearances or by what someone can or cannot contribute to society. At the same time, they should impress upon us the absolute necessity for everyone—Jew and Gentile alike—to repent from sin and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. How can we claim to love our neighbor if we withhold from them the only name “under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:13)?
May we repent of any ways we’ve failed to love our fellow image-bearers, and may we eagerly look forward to the day when there will be “a great multitude that no one can count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9).
Your Pastor,
Dane
