Day 5: Changing What We Sow

5. Christ came to change what we reap by changing what we sow.

I belong to an online philosophy forum, which has a "philosophy of religion" section, frequented by many atheists and Christians. Most Christians that I have interacted with there have never given the Kingdom law of "reaping and sowing" any thought whatsoever. They know that somewhere the Bible talks about it, but not exactly where. All they seem to know for sure is that it sounds nice, but doesn’t really mean anything.

Galatians 6:7: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.

Pointing this verse out to them will get a universal "hear, hear!" as a response (as any quoted verse will). Press them a bit, and you will rapidly see that they don’t know what to do with it; it does not mesh with their theology. The sum of their position is as follows: You will reap what you sow...unless you are a Christian. To them, it’s just a nicer way of saying sinners will go to hell. Christians, on the other hand, can live however they want, and will go to heaven when they die, since we are "saved by grace." When pressed to provide more thorough scriptural support for their position, they will simply quote the "filthy rags" verse from Isaiah, and end the conversation. Any whiff of "works" causes them to curl up into the conversational equivalent of the fetal position.

The idea that all men, Christian and non-Christian alike, will reap what we sow is an offense to many Christians. The concept is simple, and as righteous and just as could be. What is more just than being rewarded according to your behavior, good or evil? It is simple cause and effect. No one gets away with anything, and no one is overlooked. The idea that you could sow weeds and reap roses is ridiculous, yet that is basically what these Christians at the forum advocate. "Try to live right, but ultimately we (Christians) all get the same reward (i.e. access to heaven)."

Sin is understood to be impossible to deal with, so Christ covers us with His blood until our life is over, and then we can join Him in Happyland. As long as we’re in this world , we have to sin...it isn’t optional. Sin is magically removed when we are "glorified" (though they don’t have a clue what that will entail).

The scriptures present a vastly different interpretation. The law of "reaping and sowing" is unchanged…if we sow weeds, we will reap weeds, period. The focus is on changing us so that we sow roses, and reap roses (so to speak):

Galatians 6:8: For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.