If we call someone a fool, do we lose our salvation?
This question is motivated by the following passage in Matthew:
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. — Matthew 5:22 NIV
Jesus’ words can be quite harsh at times, and we are often wont to try to reimagine Jesus’ words in a nicer light, but the truth of the matter is that Jesus’ words here actually mean what they say.
Be Sure to Rank your Bad Words
The most common way people tend to think about the relationship of our words to the judgment of God is to say that there are some words that are “bad” words and there are other words that are okay.
In Jesus’ day, “Raca” was clearly a bad word. Saying the technical term “Raca” (which might have meant “good-for-nothing”) was something that would get you a date with the religious court of Jesus’ day. All the people of Jesus’ day might have considered that a bad word.
However, Jesus said that calling someone a fool puts you in danger of hell, so “Fool” must therefore be more naughty of a word than “Raca.” If you are keeping track of the bad word ranking, you need to avoid “Raca,” but you REALLY need to avoid “Fool.” Why even typing these four-letter words makes me shudder.
Not really.
You see, the point Jesus is making is almost the opposite. Remember that he is making this statement in the context of talking about anger resulting in judgment! The point Jesus is making is that even though human courts have technicalities, God’s court does not. When dealing with human courts, they will be concerned over which words you actually said to someone, but with God’s judgment, it is the condition of your heart that matters.
“Fool” is not a special word, and Jesus doesn’t care about how many letters your words have. He cares about the heart, and guess what? Angry people go to hell.
“Wait a minute!” you might say. “That seems pretty harsh!”
Yep.
That’s the point.
Jesus was trying to tell the people of his day that being angry with someone is proof of sin and a good enough reason for God to send you to hell when you die.
Is there any hope?
If the Bible ended with Matthew 5:22, the answer would be an emphatic “No!” but it doesn’t. The remainder of the New Testament confirms that even though we are hopeless sinners destined for hell, Christ paid the penalty for our sin on the cross and rose again to prove his victory.
(23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. — Romans 3:23-24 NIV
(1) What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? (2) By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (3) Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (4) We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. — Romans 6:1-4 NIV
Then, he gave us his Spirit to transform us on the inside:
(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (24) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (25) Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (26) Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. — Galatians 5:22-26 NIV
If you have become a true follower of Christ, then he has placed his Spirit into you and called you to walk accordingly, and if that’s the case, the likelihood of you feeling disdainful anger toward someone else should decrease over time.
So should I be afraid?
Well, I’ll put it this way. If anger and/or derogatory speech are a regular part of your life, then I wouldn’t wonder if you have lost your salvation, but I would be seriously concerned about whether you ever had it to begin with. If the Spirit is in you, he will convict you of such behaviors and will call you back to true repentance.
(9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. — 1 John 1:9 NIV
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