Three Kinds of People

Back out on the high seas, but technology now provides the ability to connect to the world from here in our stateroom. Given a chance to open my unfinished book of Blaise Pascal’s Pensees, I share a portion of his insight and arguments for Christianity that rings true through all ages because our holy God never changes and the blessed Redeemer of mankind is the way, the truth and the life from our heavenly Father alone.

Ezekiel 33:10-12 “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’ 11 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die? “Son of man, give your people this message: The righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the wicked behavior of wicked people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins.”

I remember telling my co-worker, who was going to seminary at night to leave the company and become a preacher/pastor, “There are only two races of people on Earth.” Rev. Jack looked puzzled at me, until I said: “saved’ & “unsaved”. Blaise Pascal goes into great detail in writing that there are only three kinds of people in this world: Those who have found God and serve Him; those who are busy seeking God, but have not yet found him; and those who spend their lives without either seeking or finding Him. The first are reasonable and happy; the last are foolish and unhappy; and the middle group are those who are unhappy but reasonable. All our actions and thoughts will follow very different paths, according to whether there is hope of eternal blessing. We do not need to be high-minded to realize that there is no true and no solid satisfaction to be had in this world (apart from God). For all our pleasures are mere vanity, while our misfortunes are infinite. Death dogs us every moment. In a space of only a few years we will inevitably be brought face-to-face with the reality of eternity, which for those who have neglected it will be eternal damnation with no prospect of happiness. There is nothing more real than this, nor more terrible. Let people think what they like, but the only good in this life lies in the hope of another life. We are only happy in the measure to which we anticipate it, for there will be no misfortunes to those who are completely assured of eternal life. But there will be no happiness for those who have no knowledge of it. The Christian faith consists almost entirely in establishing these two truths: the corruption of the human nature, and its redemption through Jesus Christ. Nothing is of more importance to man than his state, nothing more fearful than eternity.

Faith imposes upon us an obligation always to have regard for those who go through life without knowing or seeking God, as long as they live, and as long as they are capable of receiving grace and enlightenment, and to believe that in a short time they may be filled with more faith than we are. Imagine a number of prisoners on death row, some of whom are killed each day in the sight of the others. The remaining ones see their condition is that if their fellows, and looking at each other with grief and despair, await their turn. This is the picture of the human condition ((apart from God). We only know God through Jesus Christ. Without his mediation there is no communication with God. Jesus Christ therefore is the true God of men. At the same time, however, we know our own wickedness, for this God is none other than the One who is our redeemer from wickedness. Thus we can know God properly only by recognizing our own iniquities. Accordingly, those who have (claimed to have) known God without knowing their sinfulness have glorified not God but themselves. The Christian faith teaches these two truths: There is a God whom men are capable of knowing, and they have a corrupt nature which makes them unworthy of him. It is equally important for man to know both of these points. It is equally dangerous for a man to know God without knowing his own sinfulness as it is for him to know about his sinfulness without knowing the Redeemer who can cure him. To know God without knowing our own wretchedness only makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes only for despair. Knowing Jesus Christ provides the balance, because he shows us both God and our own wretchedness. With Christ, man is freed from sin and wretchedness. Not only do we know God only through Jesus Christ, but we know ourselves only through Jesus Christ.”

Romans 3:21-24 “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all[a] who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

In Christ, Brian