I was reading the WBC blog again, and came across another entry I had to respond to. So here's my fifth letter. Wow... Five already?
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Mrs. Roper,
You know, you and your church amaze me. And I have to admit, it's very rarely in a good way. I was reading your blog again when I came across the entry entitled "We Have A Hope," your reply to Caitlin's letter. As is the case when I read most of your other blog entries, I came away from this one with more questions than I had when I started reading it, but this particular case was more extreme.
When Caitlin mentioned the fact that none of us deserve mercy, you replied that you and the congregation of WBC "give all diligence to make our calling and election sure... [Because] we see mercy, and we have impulses upon our hearts to RUN to please our Great King, we have a hope. " But I get the feeling you're leaving out a couple very important verses. First, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." When Christ died on the cross, He took, not just our sins, but our sin nature, upon Himself. Yes, we still sin, but sin is no longer our master: God is. This means that, when we believe in Christ, we are freed from the chains of sin and added to the family of our Lord and Savior: "the elect." You say that obedience is the only way to be saved. I agree partially, but that's a very near-sighted view of the Way to heaven. Jesus says, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Jesus is the only Way to heaven. Yes, obedience has a part in salvation because Jesus obeyed the entire Law perfectly, and we have to accept His sacrifice, but our personal fulfillment of the Law has no effect on our redemption. When a mother calls her child into the house after playing outside, the child continues playing and returns to the house an hour later; the fact that he returned makes no difference to the fact that he disobeyed by not immediately coming inside. It's the same with the Law of Moses: obeying the Ten Commandments now, after we've broken them many times in our past, will not make us any more righteous than we were before. The only way we can be saved is through reliance on Christ. Romans 8:3-4 says, "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." Christ fulfilled the Law, and when we put our faith in Him—note: only faith is required, not strict adherence to the Law—God replaces our sinfulness with Christ's righteousness. Christ fulfilled the Law so that we wouldn't have to, so that our inability to fulfill the Law wouldn't condemn us.
Romans 10:4 says, "Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." Because Christ fulfilled the Law, the Law no longer has any power over us, whether we obey it or not. That is not to say that we shouldn't strive to keep the Law, but failure to keep the whole Law DOES NOT RESULT IN JUDGMENT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE PUT THEIR TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST. (Sorry for the caps lock, but I figure that, if you, as God's chosen people, can use it, then I should be able to use it without being judged for it.)
"Dude, shut up about us. It is NOT about us." Well, your response to Caitlin's letter seems to indicate otherwise: "Therefore, we must give all diligence to make [OUR] calling and election sure." What about everyone else? "But because [WE] see mercy... [WE] have a hope." Again, what about everyone else? "Get to the place God put his name and where he meets with HIS people!" Maybe I'm just crazy, but it sounds to me like you're claiming that WBC, and only WBC, is where God meets His people. Nowhere else, and with nobody else. That sounds pretty self-centered to me. Doesn't Jesus Himself say that His people will no longer worship in a specific place, but that they will worship "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:20-24)? I'm pretty sure you attend Westboro Baptist Church, not The Temple of God In Spirit and In Truth. Spirit and truth are present all over the world; therefore, God meets with His people all over the world. (Think of it this way: are you able to worship God while you are on the streets picketing, away from your church? By your logic, any worship you give to God while you are away from WBC should not even be considered as true worship. That's the claim you are making against the rest of the world for not attending WBC. That just doesn't make sense, now does it?)
Have you ever heard it said that a half-truth is no better than a lie? Then don't avoid giving a straight answer. Paul says in Colossians 4:6, "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." So please, kindly answer Caitlin's question(s): "Have you ever tried reading the Bible with an open mind? Tried wiping all beliefs from your thoughts and read it like any other book you might read? Or do you have special scriptures? Only speaking of God’s "Hate" for America and His creations?" Like Caitlin, I'm curious to know as well. Have you ever read the Bible as someone who has never even heard the name of Jesus before? Have you ever tried going back to the time when you first committed your life to Christ and tried to read through the Bible as if you were back where you started? I'm positive you would see the Bible in a different way if you did. You constantly tell your audience to "READ THE BIBLE" and "OBEY." But if you can't read with an open mind—willing to look for, find, test, and accept new ideas—that's really not any better than not reading at all. After all, it's not like you're learning anything you haven't heard already. The point of reading is to learn, wouldn't you agree?
Anyway, that's all I have to say this time around. But be prepared for more letters in the future. You can be sure that my last five letters (found here) will be followed by many more like them.
Thank you for your time. I apologize for anything I said that may have offended you. I look forward to hearing back from you to see what you have to say about the thoughts I have presented (more accurately, the thoughts I believe God has given me to present to you).
Again, thank you for reading, and God bless!
Michael Watanabe
"You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to You. Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to You, for You will answer me." ~ Psalm 86:5-7
