Concern over unjust discrimination has made its way into our news headlines frequently as I am writing. We all cringe hearing and reading the details of citizens and police officers of different races facing off and losing lives. Discrimination of most any kind is a cultural sin.
Historically, there has been discrimination between Jew and non-Jew (or Gentile). When the church came into being and Gentiles were accepted into the church on equal footing with Jews, the church leaders had to figure out how to handle these “outsiders.” Was this OK?
From God’s perspective, discrimination is primarily between those who have or will call on the name of the Lord to be saved and those who have not and will not call on the name of the Lord to be saved. Race, nationality, or lifestyle do not make one person more or less accepted than another. The Lord judges only on the basis of faith—those who believe the Gospel and those who do not. And, it is clear, anybody—no exceptions—who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.