“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” Matthew 5:9
Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, died today at the age of 100. Carter had been living under home hospice care since February 20, 2023 after a series of hospital stays. Carter will go down in history as both the longest-living US President and one of the world’s most revered ambassadors and humanitarians. Elected in 1976, his four year tenure proved remarkably unpopular, and he lost in a landslide to Republican opponent Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Yet the 39th president will not be primarily remembered for this political failure. Rather, he will be remembered for his tireless work in helping the poor and brokering peace. His efforts to alleviate poverty and address injustice were grounded in his faith – a faith about which Carter was outspoken. Carter, the first Southern Baptist President of the United States, taught Sunday School for decades at Marantha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. His evangelical faith – a rarity among elite American politicians – was well-known, and crowds came to Plains for years to hear Carter’s teaching.
Unfortunately, Jimmy Carter was a theological liberal who ultimately rejected biblical positions on polarizing issues like abortion and human sexuality. After the conservative resurgence brought a commitment to scriptural innerancy back to the Southern Baptist Convention, Carter and his church instead embraced liberalism and left the SBC. Like many Southern Baptists before 1980, Carter was an advocate of reducing but not outlawing abortions. The Carter Center condemned the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade. In 2018, Jimmy Carter blasphemed God by claiming Jesus would approve of gay marriage.
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Despite all of his good works, Jimmy Carter was a false teacher. While he spent his life fighting for justice and advocating for the poor, he fought for social justice and advocated dangerous heresies that keep sinners enslaved in spiritual poverty. Because of Carter’s rejection of biblical teachings and outright blasphemous public testimony, he must not be remembered by Christ’s Church as a faithful Christian. Jimmy Carter may be remembered by the world for his innumerable God works, but he will ultimately be judged – not by the world, but by God.
Jimmy Carter is dead at 100. He believed he was a Christian. At the judgement God is going to let him know if he is truly saved.
Christians are saved not by their works but by God’s grace. By God’s grace, abortion, homosexuality, injustice, and even blasphemy are all forgivable sins. Before you meet your Maker, even if your believe (like Carter) that you are a Christian, deeply consider if what you live and preach reflects a truly biblical faith. If it doesn’t, seek God’s forgiveness while you still can.
*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced falls under the doctrine of fair use.
