The truth of “God so loved the world…” is diminished if we add conditional clauses that limit the ability of the wind of the Spirit to blow wherever it chooses. In the same way we demean the sacrifice of “he gave his only Son” by insisting that the Spirit wind of God’s love must blow everywhere for everyone. We do not know the magnitude or the limitations of God’s mercy although to insist on a verbal confession of a personal relationship and a particular way of being baptized would seem to usurp God’s prerogative to do whatever God pleases. And if the life of Jesus gives us any clue it would seem that the only people who should be concerned are the very religious people – in Jesus’ day Pharisees and Sadducees and teachers of the law. The good news for those of us who are blessed to believe and those who do not is that the wind of the Spirit blows where it will and if the cross is any indication of God’s intent it will be a mighty merciful wind indeed.
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