Worse Than an Unbeliever

 “Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.””

(Genesis 26:10 ESV)

Believers are often criticized for their hypocrisy. They are maligned for their failure to live according to their beliefs. And they’re condemned because their lives are seemingly no better than those of unbelievers.

And not only is this true. In many cases, the lives of unbelievers appear to be more righteous than those of believers. It seems that the unbelieving are better or more righteous than Christians.

We see an example of this in Genesis 26. After the death of Abraham, Isaac repeated a sin of his father. Fearing for his own life, he told those among whom he lived that Rebekah, his wife, was his sister. And he asked her to say the same.

When his lie was discovered, he was corrected. And he was corrected, in fact, by an unbeliever. It seems that this unbeliever was more concerned about righteous behavior than Isaac, who bore the promise of God.

Unfortunately, this is not uncommon in the least. We often find unbelievers who are more concerned about righteousness than believers. And we find unbelievers who appear to do more good than believers.

We must remember that we all bear the sinful nature. This is true of believers and unbelievers alike. And for this reason, even as Christians, we will commit acts of sin and struggle with sinful tendencies.

We, of course, must not condone the sin of any. And we must not dismiss someone’s sin simply because he professes faith in Jesus. But this reality does remind us of the source of our salvation. 

It reminds us that the blessing of God is not something we deserve, nor is it something we earn. It was provided for us by the death and resurrection of Jesus. And it’s received through faith in the promise of God.

In the case of Isaac, we’re looking at one sin. We don’t know if his life was truly more sinful than that of the unbeliever who called him to account. He may have lived a “better” life.

But, again, this isn’t what saved him. And it’s not what saves us. As those who have received the promise of God, we receive salvation as we believe God’s promise. This, Scripture says, is counted to us as righteousness.