Human Rights and Salvation

Human right isn’t the right to be a human being. It’s the human being’s valuable experience of existence. Human rights are everyone’s right!

From the Bible, God created the human being in His own image and likeness (Gen. 1:26-27). Dominion was given to mankind over all of creation (Gen. 1:28). The human being could exercise power, authority, and freedom. Human beings are therefore made to be the executive of God’s order on Earth (Ps. 8:4-6). These values that confer numinous on human beings are the ontological endowments of divine grace and sacredness. The human being bears all the glory of God. By upholding these values, we characterise each human being with respect and dignity. On the contrary, if we deny to uphold these fundamental aspects of the human being, it could lead to an imperfect characterisation of the human being.

In God’s project of saving the world, the human being becomes the focus of salvation. John 3: 16 explains this concept:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3: 16 is one of the most popular statements of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. A closer look at the text underlines God’s attitude towards Human Rights and freewill.

The verse begins with a description of God’s benevolent love. He “loved” our world. The reason that calls for salvation is introduced as love. The Greek word for love here is agapē, and in this particular context, the word appears in the aorist tense. The Greek aorist may suggest a perfective action that is still valid. For example, “Christ died for my sins”. That means Christ’s death in the past is still efficacious unto this today. In the same manner, God’s love to save humanity extends to everyone and to every generation.

Love is a positive sentiment and if it becomes the basis of one’s psychosocial experience, positive results are always achieved. Love gives, cares, and protects. It waits for no paybacks. Love forgives and it consumes anger and hate. 1 Corinthians 13 pictures it in a clear language.

Because of love, God “gave” His one and only Son. The Son of God was given on the basis of God’s love for humanity. Christ was given without the merits of humanity. And He gave Him to everyone! That’s God’s distributive justice in the plan of salvation. This has always been the act of His benevolence. Jesus said:

“… that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Mathew 5:45).

Before the sight of God, all lives matter. He is the source of life, and all lives exist in Him. The human being is an embodiment of divine resources. Therefore, God cares for all human beings.

How does John 3: 16 define free will?

Free will is an integral aspect of the human being. It’s a person’s voluntary ability to make choices without any intervention of coercive agent or whatsoever. In the Garden of Eden, free will was endowed on mankind to make a choice (Gen. 2:16-17). John 3: 16 reveals humans’ free will when Jesus said, “that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

We may ask ourselves some questions: Why didn’t God force salvation on us if it’s a good thing? Why shouldn’t God destroy Satan and evil? Why do we have to believe in order to be saved? The questions are endless and may come with difficulty to provide answers. There is one truth, that is, God knows what He does. He has presented His gift of eternal life and left humanity to accept or reject it. He could have forced it on all human beings. However, freedom of choice need to be exercised by mankind. He did the same thing with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Though some Calvinistic theories may suggest predetermined factors or predestination in salvation, God’s self-revelation to humanity has always given place to free will.

In conclusion, God’s treatment of the human being in His plan of salvation should affect our treatment of each person. The value of the human being is inherently divine. The fact that mankind was created in the image and likeness of God should affect our anthropological thought process. Evil may be present in the world but its presence does not obliterate the essence of sacredness in the human being. If God would love this evil world to offer His Son to save it, why wouldn’t we love all men and uphold each person in high esteem? A human being will always be a human being, made in the image of God. God will always love him!