Gandhi, the great Indian statesman said, "If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today." Gandhi, an admirer of the Lord Jesus, refused to become a Christian citing inconsistencies among the supposed followers of Christ. However, his rejection of Christ exposes him as a seriously flawed man! According to the very teachings of Jesus, Gandhi, by refusing the testimony of Christ, made God a liar.
In John 3: 33 we read, “He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true”
Faith receives the testimony of Christ and in doing so, declares that God has told the truth about Jesus.
But Gandhi was no man of faith! He wanted a different testimony of Christ than that which the Bible declares. Gandhi could not and would not believe that every time Jesus spoke, God spoke. Gandhi, a committed Hindu, rejected the truth of Jesus as the final and full revelation of God and thus made Jesus a liar! Of course Gandhi never went so far as to call Jesus a liar, but he made him one! Yet he insisted on showering the Lord Jesus with all manner of compliments.
I’ve met many like Gandhi. They say, "I believe in God, but I'm not sure about all this Jesus business.—-I think Jesus was great, but He was not God!” However, when folk believe in God, but won't accept Jesus Christ for who He is—this makes God a liar!
As John said, “he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.” 1John 5:10
So why didn’t Gandhi become a Christian? After all, he paid endless tributes to Jesus, hailing Him as a great man and wonderful teacher. Jesus gave us the answer when He said,
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" John 3:19
The cause of Gandhi’s unbelief was that he loved the darkness and hated the light! What a proof of his depravity! All unbelievers are like that———It is not just that they are in the dark, they love the darkness—they prefer ignorance, error and superstition to the light of the gospel. And, are you ready for this?—-- the reason why Gandhi loved the darkness and hated the light was because his deeds were evil.
“Oh no,” someone says, "Gandhi didn’t believe in Christ because of the hypocrisy of so-called Christians.” No sir! That was merely an excuse! The way Jesus taught it is that people don’t believe in Him because they love their sin. Unbelievers love spiritual darkness. They're just like a cockroach! Have you ever gone into a kitchen in the middle of the night and turned on the light? Look at those cockroaches run! They hate the light. Likewise, expose unbelievers to gospel light and they run for cover. They throw up smokescreens, excuses and denials, but all of this is a sure sign that Christ’s words are true—men love the darkness!
When we are sharing the gospel, we must remember that, according to Jesus, unbelievers love the darkness—they love their sin. I often tell people this when running into brick walls as I’m witnessing,——--“Now brother, don’t you think that it’s a wee bit rude to say that?” What me? Rude? I would never be rude. But Jesus would. He is rude enough and honest enough to expose all excuses. And He has every right to do so for He is the sovereign ruler of heaven and earth! He exposes the unregenerate human condition. He reveals that unregenerate, unsaved man loves his sin!
Humanly speaking, people do not want to become Christians for one reason and one reason only, and that is that they would rather stay in the dark than come to the light and admit and face who they really are. The unregenerate not only cannot see—they don’t want to see! This is the verdict. Light has come into the world, but men love darkness. This is why if we are to be saved it must be by the power of God!
Gandhi, in spite of all his platitudes about Jesus, loved darkness instead of Christ. He refused to acknowledge that he was a fallen, depraved, lost sinner, "without strength," and without a spark of spiritual life. He refused to acknowledge that he was utterly incapable of saving himself and of doing anything which could meet with the approval of the all-holy and sin-hating God. Gandhi, in his folly, welcomed Jesus the great teacher, but rejected Jesus the sacrificial Lamb! He could not accept Jesus as the only way to the Father. He rejected Jesus as the truth about the Father; he dismissed Jesus as being God manifest in the flesh and he would not accept Jesus as being man’s only hope. He despised the Gospel as being the revelation of pure grace and unmerited favor to lost hell-deserving sinners—he rejected the good news from heaven which offers everything to those who have nothing. Gandhi’s self-righteous heart could not tolerate this message!
There is something entirely amazing in the gospel—- God humbled Himself, became one of us and laid down His life for us—this is astonishing—-yet some people, like Gandhi, see nothing in it at all!
I’m reminded of the story of the curator of an art gallery. He was immensely proud of his collection of fine paintings, but was rather intolerant of the ‘cultural Philistines’ who sometimes came to view them. One day as he was walking through the gallery he heard a sightseer comment, 'Oh what an appalling picture! I can't understand why they should hang such a eyesore in public.' Incensed, the curator stepped forward, turned to the visitor and said, 'Sir, the merit of these paintings is not in question. It is those who view them who are on trial!'
Likewise, Gandhi’s conclusion about the ‘insufficiency of Christ’ put him on trial and declared him guilty. Gandhi’s verdict of Christ exposed him as a master of darkness. He wanted a Jesus who taught interesting, moral things, but wanted nothing to do with the exclusive revelation of God as found in Christ alone. He wanted nothing to do with the only savior who takes away sin. He rejected Christ as his substitute and chose rather to worship his million Hindu gods! And then he turned around and lectured Christians as to how they could find success for their message! What a cheek!
No thank you Mr. Gandhi. It is you who is on trial, not our Master and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!
And that’s the Gospel Truth!