(18.5) For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
1. Consider the difference between saved and lost. To the saved, God promises, “their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”[1] However, God will remember the sins of the unrepentant forever, and He will hold them against that person who refused to turn from sin and come to the Lord Jesus by faith.
2. As an aside, consider the oft-promoted practice of Christians taught to repent their sins and prayerfully ask God to forgive them. It seems strange to encourage believers to ask for God’s forgiveness in light of the passages that explicitly state that God will not remember the sins of His Own (Jeremiah 31.34; Hebrews 8.12; 10.17) but that He will remember the sins of the unsaved. The only place in the New Testament where someone is directed to pray for forgiveness was Simon Magus upon the Apostle Peter’s exposure of the former’s false hope, Acts 8.21-23. Ongoing repentance and the timely expression of sorrow for sins committed by believers seem to be the New Testament pattern, First John 1.9. It makes no sense for the believer to ask God for what one already has from God: forgiveness.
3. Remember that this Babylonian system of political power and commercial activity is an interconnected network of real people. These are people working in concert that are referred to. In addition, in their pursuit of money and power, they have willingly opposed the plan and purpose of God to satisfy their lust for power and wealth. For these sins and upon these people, God will pour out His wrath in judgment.
4. “O pastor, are you against free market capitalism?” No, I am against free market capitalists who will not be restrained from their pursuits by God’s expressed will. The economic system that we usually think of when we refer to capitalism is the most unrestricted and liberating approach to production and livelihood. Capitalism is what people naturally do to earn a living when you leave them alone and do not impose unnecessary government-mandated requirements upon them.
5. But what
happens when a man conducts his business so that his love for money overrides
his moral obligations and duties as a keeper of his fellow man? For example,
the British East India Company did everything they could to keep missionaries such
as William Carey out of
5. “Is it wrong for a Christian to go into business?” No! However, your responsibilities as a Christian should never give way to your obligations as a person in business. The term is Christian businessman, not businessman Christian. Being a Christian comes first.
6. What will
happen to commercial and political
[1] Hebrews 10.17
