Theological Musings on Garbage

The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.

Biden’s “Garbage” Remark and the Political Firestorm

Boy, Joe Biden just created quite the little political firestorm for himself and his vice president, Kamala Harris, didn't he? Welcome to the program, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Justin Peters. I hope that this finds you and your family doing well today.

I want to thank you so much for joining me. Joe Biden did indeed create quite the little firestorm. I'm recording this on October 31st, 2024. So I'd like to wish you and your family a very happy Reformation Day.

Not Halloween. We don't acknowledge that holiday in our house. It's Reformation Day. So happy Reformation Day to all of you out there. But at any rate, I digress. Yes, Joe Biden did indeed kick up quite the little dust storm the other day when he referred to Trump supporters as garbage.

So here is the full clip for context.

And just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. Well, let me tell you something. I don't know the Puerto Rican that I know or Puerto Rico where I'm in my home state of Delaware.

They're good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization is seen as unconscionable and it's un-American. It's totally contrary to everything we've done, everything we've been.

So there you have it, right out of the horse's own mouth. Now, despite people's attempts to try to clean that up, clean up on aisle nine and say, well, he didn't really mean that. You know, he didn't say what people think he said.

Well, yeah, he actually did say it. And I do think he did, in fact, mean it. So is President Biden right? Are Trump supporters garbage? No, no, he's not right. And this is not a political video. This is going to be a theological video.

The Image of God and Human Worth

No, Trump supporters are not garbage, but neither are Kamala Harris supporters garbage. In fact, no one who is a human is garbage because as humans, we are all made in the image of God, the Imago Dei.

We are made in the image of God. This is clearly taught all throughout Scripture, beginning in Genesis chapter one. We as human beings are the pinnacle of God's creation. We are the pinnacle of His creation.

And what it means to be made in the image of God is that as humans, we are separate from the animals and we have the potential, the capacity through a saving relationship with Jesus Christ to know God.

None of the other created order has that privilege and ability. And I am a, I like animals. Now, some animals I like on my plate, but I do like animals. I've always loved dogs. I grew up with dogs. I have a dog right now.

Her name is Mia. Some of you have seen Mia make little cameo appearances in some of my videos back when we lived in a different place and had a different setup and you could see the floor behind me. But anyway, a little bit different now.

But yeah, I love dogs. But you know what? Dogs are not created in God's image. Mia is not created in the image of God. She will never know God. That is what it means to be made in God's image. We have that potential capacity through Christ to know God.

It also means that as humans, we share in what theologians sometimes refer to as the communicable attributes of God. So basically, when you look at the attributes of God or the characteristics of God or the perfections of God, which is I kind of like prefer that term.

But when you look at God's attributes, they're generally divided into two categories, communicable and incommunicable. The incommunicable attributes are those attributes which God and God alone possesses.

Omniscience, only God knows everything. Omnipotence, only God has all power. Omnibenevolence, only God is all good. There's only one who is good, and that is God. Mark chapter 10, the words of Christ to the man that we often refer to as a rich young ruler.

So these are the omni attributes. So only God possesses these attributes, and there's some more. But anyway, for the purpose of this video, those are the incommunicable attributes. The communicable attributes are those attributes in which we do participate with God to a degree.

So God possesses all of his attributes in perfection. The communicable attributes, we can participate with God to a small degree. In other words, God has them in perfection, and we just kind of dip our toes in the waters just a little bit.

For example, faithfulness, only God is perfectly faithful, but we can be faithful to a degree. Patience, only God is perfectly patient, but we can be patient to a degree. Love, God is love. He is the perfection of love.

He's the embodiment of love. But we as humans, we can love others to a degree. But we can't love anyone to the degree that God loves us or that Christ loves the church. So we participate in love, but we just dip our toes in the waters just a little bit.

So those are the communicable attributes. So we as humans, we can participate in the communicable attributes of God. We can know God through Christ. That's what it means to be made in the image of God, to be image bearers the Imago Dei.

So in that sense, no one is worthless. We are all created in the image of God, both Trump supporters and Kamala Harris supporters. We are all made in the image of God. But there is a sense in which Biden was right, just not in the way in which he thought that he was, and this never even crossed his mind.

The only thing that is worthless about us is not our intrinsic value. It's not worthless, but our works are worthless apart from Christ. And spiritually speaking, we are worthless apart from Christ, apart from knowing Christ as Savior and Lord.

Human Sin, the Law of God, and the Need for Christ

Spiritually speaking, we are indeed worthless. And I don't care if you're a liberal or a staunch conservative. Apart from Christ, spiritually speaking, we are worthless. Let's go to the text. Romans 3, beginning of verse 10.

Paul says, What then? Are we better? Not at all. For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands.

There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. There is none who does good. There is not even one. So the Bible is very clear that apart from Christ, we are indeed worthless.

So the word there is not necessarily technically garbage, but outside of Christ, spiritually speaking, we are worthless. We have no hope. You see, dear ones, all of us are sinners. We have all broken the laws of God.

Go through the Ten Commandments. Look at God's standard of goodness, the moral law. The commandments say, Thou shalt not lie. Have you ever told a lie? Of course you have. Absolutely. So have I. So we are all liars.

Thou shalt not steal. If you have ever stolen something, if you have ever taken something that does not belong to you, you are a thief. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. If you have ever used God's name in an irreverent way, that is blasphemy.

And we have all done that. And by the way, taking God's name in vain does not simply mean saying something like, Oh my, fill in the blank, or using God's name as a profane word. It does include that. But taking God's name in vain is that and much more than that.

We take God's name in vain in word, in deed, and in thought. Even giving false prophecies is a way of taking God's name in vain. That is blasphemy as well. A lot of people don't think of blasphemy in those terms, but that's absolutely what it is.

Thou shalt not commit adultery. And don't let yourself off the hook too quickly because Jesus says, if you look at a woman with lust, you've committed adultery already in your heart. So if you have ever looked at another person with lust, guess what?

You're an adulterer. So all of us have broken God's laws. We have sinned against God in word, in deed, and in thought. We have sinned against God thousands upon thousands of times. And just like when we break laws on earth, there's a penalty to be paid.

How much more so when we break the laws of God. But because we have sinned against God who is eternal, the punishment of that sin is also eternal. And if we die in our sin, we will very rightly and very justly go to a very real place that the Bible calls hell, where the worm will not die.

The fire will not be quenched. There will be wailing, weeping, gnashing of teeth, and the full undiluted fury of the wrath of God will be poured out on you for day and night, for all of eternity. And it will never, ever end.

That's the bad news. And it gets worse. There's nothing you can do about it on your own. There are no amount of good works that you can do to somehow earn God's favor. You see, a lot of people, in fact, most people when pressed, they'll acknowledge, yeah, I've done some bad things.

They might even confess or be forced to admit that, yes, indeed, they have committed some sins. But, oh, but you say, yeah, I've committed some sins here and there. Sure, well, we all do that. But my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds, you see.

Because I've done more good things than bad things, you know, God will grade on a curve and He'll accept me. That is foreign to Scripture. The Bible says that our works are as filthy rags before a thrice holy God, Isaiah chapter 64.

Our works are as filthy rags. So Biden was right in that, apart from Christ, dear friends, your righteousness is worthless. You have no righteousness of your own. Your supposed good works are worthless.

And it doesn't matter if you are a liberal or a staunch conservative to the right of Rush Limbaugh. Apart from Christ, your works are worthless. There is no amount of good works that we can perform to somehow earn God's favor.

Salvation is a gift and gifts are not earned. We are not going to impress the one who spoke the universe into existence with our piddling good works. We're not going to impress the one who not only spoke the universe into existence, but upholds all things by the constant exertion of the word of His power.

We're not going to impress Him. We're not going to impress this great God whose holiness burns with the white hot intensity of a trillion suns. We're not going to impress Him with our piddling little good works, with working at the soup kitchen or helping little old ladies across the street.

That's not going to impress Him. And to think that we can somehow earn God's favor, that reflects a very inflated view of man and a very low view of sin and a very low view of God. So we all stand condemned.

We have no righteousness on our own. We are, in that sense, worthless. We must have the righteousness of someone else. And His name is Jesus. You see, dear ones, God has made a way for us to escape His wrath.

The Gospel: Christ, Repentance, Faith, and New Life

God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth. And Jesus lived a perfect life. He was the God-man, truly God, truly man, one person with two distinct natures. And as the God-man, Jesus lived a perfect life to the perfect pleasure and satisfaction of God the Father.

And then Jesus willingly gave His life on the cross. His life was not taken. He gave it. And on the cross, the sins of His people were imputed to Him, counted towards Him. And God treated Christ as though He were a sinner, even though He was not.

And the full undiluted fury of God's wrath was poured out on His Son. Jesus became, to use this big word, propitiation. He became the propitiation of our sins. The word propitiation simply means a wrath-removing sacrifice.

This perfect person, Jesus Christ, offered His perfect life as a perfect sacrifice to perfectly satisfy the perfect wrath of God. Died on the cross, and then on the third day, bodily raised from the dead, proving Himself to be who He said He was, God in human flesh.

And if you will repent of your sin, turn from your sin, and place your trust in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, He will save you. And some people really don't understand what repentance is. Well, how do I know if I've repented?

Dear friends, know this, that both faith and repentance are in and of themselves granted to us by God. God grants faith. God grants repentance. You cannot repent on your own. Trying to repent on your own, that's moralism.

Trying to change your behavior just through the exertion of your own will, that's moralism. That's not repentance. True repentance comes when God grants repentance. And when God grants repentance, yes, our minds are changed, but everything about us is changed.

Our desires are changed. Our affections are changed. The one who has repented is the one who begins to love what God loves and hate what God hates. Have you repented? Has God given you that gift? The Bible says examine yourself to see if you're in the faith.

And if you're not certain of where you stand with the Lord Jesus Christ, examine yourself. Ask yourself, has there been a change in my life? You see dear ones, if you've been saved, if you've been converted, if you've been made alive in Christ, there will be a change.

You can't go from being dead in trespasses and sins to alive in Christ and there be no change. Do you love what God loves? Do you hate what God hates? Do you desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Do you hate your own sin? That's one of the hallmarks of the new birth. You see, a Christian is one who has not only been convicted of his sin, but also someone who hates his sin because our sin is against God.

Our sin grieves God, Ephesians chapter 5, and we do not want to grieve Him. Does your sin grieve you? It is good and it is right. To want to flee from the wrath of God. It is good and it is right to want to flee the fires of hell.

But just as much as we should want a savior from hell, we should want a savior from our sin. It's not that Christians don't sin. We do as Christians. But here's the difference. A Christian stumbles into sin, but a Christian doesn't swim in it.

He doesn't relish sin. He doesn't look for opportunities to sin. He doesn't plan out his sin. When a Christian sins, it grieves him. It grieves her. Does your sin grieve you? If you're not certain of where you are in your relationship with Christ, I encourage you to confess your sins before Him.

Cry out to Him. Ask Him to grant you faith and repentance. Come to Christ empty-handed. And if you will come to Christ empty-handed, lay your worthless garbage works down. They will profit you nothing.

If you will lay those down and come to Christ empty-handed, seeking not only a savior from hell, but also a savior from sin, He will save you. Jesus says, the one who comes to me, I will in no wise cast out.

And Jesus Himself will one day be our reward. He is our reward now. But one day when this short vapor of a life is over, then we will see Him face to face and live with Him for all of eternity. And He is our reward.

That is the good news of the gospel, dear ones. You have no righteousness on your own, but you can have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Thank you very much for watching. Until our next time together, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all.