In a time when division runs rampant—even in the church—and believers shred each other publicly for differing opinions, one man bravely steps out to call Christians to unity in the One who binds them all together—Jesus Christ. Author Dr. James W. Walraven dares to suggest that Christians make wiser choices, forgive one another, and mature in their faith.
Walraven, author of Will God Save Everyone, doesn’t shy away from tough topics. He suggests that though doctrines diverge, rather than separate over differences, Christians rally around the truth of the gospel—believers should treat others better than themselves. In a me-first, turbulent culture, the biblical call to love one another is almost a radical concept, but Walraven is convinced unity can be achieved.
“Spiritual maturity is critical when it comes to recognizing and resisting the many false teachings that are being promoted,” Walraven says. “As the world becomes increasingly hostile toward the Christian faith, the need for unity will be increasingly important.”
Dr. Walraven’s new book, One in Christ is written with strength through supporting Scriptures and other resources, yet with personal vulnerability, each chapter concludes with thought-provoking personal challenges designed to move believers closer to oneness in Christ.
Sitting in the seat of scoffers. The person has “progressed” from walking and then standing, to now sitting. By sitting in the seat of scoffers, their way has become set. While even in this state a person can confess sin and repent, doing so is far less likely. A scoffer not only practices sin, but ridicules anyone who says they should stop what they are dong and change. Most often—though in God’s mercy not always—a person has been given over to their sin.
The Hebrew word translated as scoffers means to mock, scorn, boast, or deride. By doing so, the speaker is expressing utter contempt. But to do so is an abomination, and contrary to God’s Law.
What does Scripture say about one who scoffs or mocks?
Concerning the arrogant, the wicked, Psalm 73:8–9 (ESV): “They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.”
Proverbs 13:1 (ESV): “A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”
Proverbs 14:9 (ESV): “Fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy acceptance.”
Proverbs 15:12 (ESV): “A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.”
Proverbs 21:24 (ESV): “‘Scoffer’ is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.”
Proverbs 22:10 (ESV): “Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease.”
Jude 1:17–19 (ESV): “But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.’ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.”
What do these verses tell us? Scoffers speak with malice, they speak against God, they refuse to listen to rebukes, they mock at the idea that they’re guilty of sin, they are prideful and arrogant, they follow their own ungodly passions, and are the source of quarrels. They do not have the Holy Spirit. As Romans 8 tells us, those who do not possess the Spirit are headed for eternal Hell.
Isaiah 29:20 confirms the ultimate end of the scoffer. It is a place of devastation, ruin, and failure.
Isaiah 29:20 (ESV): “For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off.”
As we’ve seen, when a person reaches the point of mocking and scoffing, the odds of them repenting are slim. They even mock at the idea of needing to repent Typically, they’re firmly attached to their sin, their anti-God ways.
Sadly, we see a great deal of that in our secular culture. We are awash with so-called “pride,” a celebration of sin. Per the woke culture, woe to anyone who doesn’t go along with that agenda. Everyone must bow the knee. The trouble is, doing that ends in eternal death. In the end God won’t be mocked.
Galatians 6:7 (NAU): “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”
We will reap what we sow, and if we continue to sow sin and death, that is what we will reap. That applies to individuals, communities, states, even nations. God promises that if we persist in it long enough, He will give us over to the sin that we crave (see for example, the last half of Romans 1).
What is the way out? How do we resist culture’s pressure? We’ll turn to those questions in the next post.
Standing in the way of sinners. Having spent time walking with and listening to the wicked, the person is no longer moving, but is now just standing there, going in the way of sinners. Having started by listening to the wicked, the person is now living in the way of sinners.
The Hebrew word “sinners” literally means sin or sinners. It describes those who are under the wrath of God, are under His judgment, facing eternal destruction. Although they are to be avoided, they are to be instructed in the way of righteousness in the hope that they’ll repent.
How do the Scriptures speak of “sinners”?
Proverbs 21:4 (ESV): “Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin.”
Ecclesiastes 9:18 (ESV): “Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.”
Isaiah 3:9 (ESV): “For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.”
Amos 9:10 (ESV): “All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’”
That is a sobering description, isn’t it? Sinners are haughty and proud, even one sinner destroys much good (think of what a nation of sinners will do). They proclaim their sin like Sodom and bring much evil upon themselves. What happens to them, the evil that follows, is a result of their own actions, of embracing sin. Included in the category are all who are sexually immoral (in whatever form–all means all), as well as those who commit perjury, and those who enslave (see 1 Timothy 1:9–10).* Sinners believe they’ll escape God’s notice, that disaster won’t overtake them, but the reality is that they’ll still die.
But hope remains for sinners:
Psalm 25:8 (ESV): “Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.”
Romans 5:7–8 (ESV): “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
While we were in this miserable state, Jesus died for us. Repentance remains a real possibility. But, the longer a person practices wickedness and sin, the less likely that person will repent (God remains merciful, and repentance still can happen). If a person takes the next step, becoming a mocker, their salvation becomes unlikely. We’ll look at the mocker/scoffer in the next post.
*Some insist that the New Testament approves of slavery. As half of the people under Rome were slaves, the New Testament includes verses that deal with that reality (literal slavery still exists today: its practice is still approved of in the Qur’an). The passage soundly condemns the practice. Those who kidnap people into slavery (unless they repent and come to faith in Christ) end up in Hell.
How do we avoid walking with the wicked, standing with sinners, or being seated with the scornful?
The answer is found in Psalm 1:2, by delighting in God and constantly meditating on His law day and night. For us, that translates to spending lots of time reading and thinking about the Scriptures.
What is the result? Psalm 1:3 tells us (ESV): “He is like ia tree planted by jstreams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”
We end up in a secure place, not having to fear what the wicked fear. No drought. We aren’t cast off, we don’t need to fear withering—think death—and our lives are biblical fruitful and prosperous.
As verses 4–5 tell us, the wicked aren’t so. Rather than being secure, they are like chaff, being driven away. They come to nothing, they are blown away like chaff, no more to be seen. They won’t survive the day of judgment; they won’t be found in the congregation of the righteous.
Do we really want to follow after the way of the wicked? Do we want to come under their eternal judgment? Do we want to be under God’s wrath? No.
If not, as Scripture tells us, now is the day of salvation. God is still giving us the opportunity to forsake our wicked ways, to repent, to ask God for forgiveness, to turn to Jesus Christ, to rely on His death on the cross for our salvation.
As individuals, as a nation, will we take that step? It is very late, and time is running out.
2 Peter 3:3–4 (ESV) warns us: “Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’”
Scoffers will deny that an end will come. As the passage continues, it states that they make the deliberate choice to forget that reality. Far better to repent now. For believers, better to deepen our relationship with God through Jesus Christ, now. Better to spend much more time reading the Scriptures now. Now is the time to prepare for the difficult days ahead.
God gives us the choice: sitting in the way of sinners/scoffers or delighting and walking in the way of the Lord. Which will we choose?