“Let’s negotiate.” Whether or not, those are the exact words we use, we all have witnessed or have been a party to negotiations of one sort or another. The two opposing sides in the government of the USA present their ideas, argue their positions, weigh the relative values of the arguments of each side, give a little, take a little (or that is how it is intended to work) and negotiate their positions until compromises accommodate a settlement. Often the outcome becomes the law of the land.
Negotiations may involve international relations, management and workforce, or they may involve spouse with spouse, or children with parents. Negotiations are integral in the very warp and woof of our very existence on planet earth. Consider siblings fighting for space or property until a parent or older sibling intervenes and, acting as arbitrators, guide squabbling siblings into negotiating a compromise.
I remember a compromise between a dog and a little boy. When my son, Tim, was about eighteen months old, we bought him a six-month-old black poodle named Bateaux. They quickly became best friends. As Tim learned to walk, climb, and explore, he became especially attached to a maroon upholstered rocking chair in the family room and decisively claimed it as his own. Soon, Bateaux began favoring the same chair. At first, she moved whenever Tim tried to climb in, but trouble started when she refused to surrender her place. One day, I watched them compete for the seat. Bateaux, older in dog years than Tim, stretched across the chair as if asserting her seniority. Tim pushed to reclaim his spot, but she resisted. He finally squeezed in beside her, and each tried to crowd the other out. As he shoved against Bateaux, Tim appealed to his mother: “Mommy, Mommy, doggie… chair!” When neither parent intervened, the struggle continued, and Bateaux stretched out again to reclaim the space.
Before long, I saw them both easing up against each other, making accommodation, the one for the other. Without spoken words, they had negotiated. From that day, and hence forward, Tim had his side of the chair and Bateau had her side. You might say that they lived together happily ever after.
Negotiations and compromises are good and desirable human mechanisms for settling disputes or arriving at mutually acceptable outcomes, but when we are dealing with Almighty God, the basis for arriving at peace with God does not involve negotiating for a compromise.
An almost forgotten word in the world’s vocabulary is the little word sin. The bible teaches that sin separates us from our holy God. Sin is the transgression of the rules that God has laid down for us to live by. Sin is disobedience to the commands of God. Sin is setting ourselves, or some object or possession above God. The bible teaches that all have sinned. The bible also states that God is angry at all ungodliness and unrighteousness (sin). The bible says men and women hold the truth in unrighteousness. In other words, men push away the truth in rebellion against God. All of this is sin, and God hates it all. God has given each of us the capacity to know when we are acting in rebellion against Him. It manifests itself in an inward reality called our conscience.
That conscience which jolts us when you commit an act of wrong is a signal that we know right from wrong. The bible says that which may be known of God is manifest in us. In other words, the truth about God is known instinctively. God has placed this knowledge in our hearts. The truth is that everyone reading this story knows that God has placed a consciousness of sin in your hearts. At times one’s heart is tender toward this awareness, and we are ashamed of our behavior and we would like to negotiate with God for a better relationship with Him. The truth is that we can have a better relationship with God, but it is not through a negotiated settlement
God Himself has provided a way for sinful people like we are, to be reconciled to Him. The Bible teaches that God’s Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, awakening the inner discomfort we feel when confronted with our wrongdoing and directing us to God’s remedy. Yet this is not a negotiation. Negotiations assume that each party has something the other wants, but we have nothing God needs or wants. This brings us to the heart of God’s good news: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them.”
In support of that fact, the Bible clearly expresses God’s gracious gift of salvation from the guilt and penalty of sin. In John 3: 16, Jesus is quoted: “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” And then follows up in vers 17, declaring: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
So, you see, salvation is a gift from God. You cannot earn it. It’s not for sale. Besides that, there is no other way to have your sins forgiven. There is no other way into peace with God.
God does not negotiate! God does not compromise!
Someone might argue that Isaiah states that God invites us to reason with Him regarding sin and salvation: “Come now and let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though they be red as crimson, they shall be as white as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).
That is not the same as compromising to reach a negotiated settlement. We have nothing with which to impress God. In fact, the Bible states: “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)
What God offers is complete forgiveness of our sin and redemption from the consequences of our sin. God’s offer is based on the sacrifice that was made on our behalf. Again, we turn to the book of Isaiah to see that God developed, and is prepared to deliver, salvation without help from anyone. Isaiah tells the story: “And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor, therefore His own arm brought salvation unto Him; and his righteousness, it upheld Him.” (Isaiah 59:16)
The picture, as it emerges from God’s perspective, belies the abundance of religious philosophies that would have us believe that God is going to somehow, weigh the wrong we do against the good we do, and on the basis of a good majority balance, grant favor. Well intending people dupe themselves into thinking they can work their way into favor with God.
I remember the headmaster of my elementary school, Mr. Jarret, reading from the bible during devotional time and then telling the class that we should live to the best of our ability and on the Day of Judgment, God will determine whether our good outweighs our bad, and on that basis, we might enter heaven. The advice to do good deeds was certainly not a bad thing. In fact, it was very good advice for ten-year-old boys and girls. On the other hand, the statement about how God would work that out, stands in direct opposition to God’s declarations. The bible states clearly: “No one is righteous-not even one…all have turned away; all have become useless.” (Romans 310-12).
Jesus said that “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32). So, what is the truth of God? Jesus said that He is the truth. He is the way. He also said He would lay down His life for the sin of the whole world. He did. In dying and rising from the dead, Jesus paid the ransom that sin demanded. As a result of that, the righteousness of Jesus Christ is made available to all who believe. John writes in his epistle: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
You cannot negotiate a compromise, but you can receive full pardon. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter told the Jewish leaders, and everyone gathered in the town square, that salvation comes through Jesus alone.
Do you know that His truth is working in your heart right now? Perhaps you are still asking, “What is truth?” If you are, let me tell you about a discussion between Pilate and Jesus. Pilate was the Roman Governor who condemned Jesus to death. He asked Jesus, “what is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and said unto them, I find in him no fault at all” (John 18:38) Observe that Jesus did not respond to Pilate regarding “what” is truth? Jesus refused to answer because Jesus Christ who stood before Pilate was Himself the Truth
Truth that stood before Pilate’s judgment seat was Jesus Christ Himself. In that case, not “what?” but “who?” should have been Pilate’s question. Please do not miss this opportunity to begin your relationship with God, through Christ. There is a verse in the bible that invites: “Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace.” (Job 22:21)
Are you convinced that you have nothing with which to negotiate with God? Do you acknowledge that God loves you, but hates the sin that is controlling your life? Right now, right where you are, you can bow in repentance before God and by faith accept the pardon that is in Jesus Christ.
I urge you, I implore you, to make this life changing decision today. I invite you to pray something like the following prayer. If it is convenient, say this prayer audibly, but no matter how you do it, pray to God for His forgiveness and peace now.
Oh God, I confess that I am a sinner. I understand that I cannot save myself and that Jesus died for me. I now repent of my sin. I ask Jesus Christ into my life as my Lord and my Savior. From this day forward, I am yours. Thank you, Lord, for saving me right now, through Jesus Christ my Savior. Amen