When I was driving in Atlanta, it required a different way of thinking. To follow the speed limit was to risk life and limb. Obeying traffic laws could imperil you. To drive the way that I drove in Cincinnati would've been futile.
This letter is suggesting the same method to us. When we convert to being a Christian, we can't keep living like we did beforehand. We should see the world differently, and that should change the way we act. Our suffering should no longer lead us to despair, but rather we abide always in hope, for the time in which the passions of the flesh reigned has past, and we now live with Gospel hope in the Kingdom of God entwined deep in our hearts. Chasing worldly pleasures that lead us into places of division cannot satisfy, for we have heard whispered in the depths of our hearts the truth that will truly satisfy, and therefore the devil's empty promises ring hollow. We know they are lies, and because we have heard the truth, our appetites have changed.
We watch the world and wonder if things are really fair. They are not, fortunately, for we who deserve death are given life through Jesus Christ, thanks be to God. God alone is the judge, and we must entrust that the God who comes as judge is the same God who comes as Savior. What will happen to those who choose evil? We cannot know. Will they receive the blessed mercy that Christ offers? Will they see the error of their ways and repent? Will they know the truth and be set free by it? Will they perish, clutching at their empty idols?
We don't know. May we have the humility and wisdom to pray for all, and to trust in God.
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