Crossing the Frontier

W. Carl Ketcherside

[Page 13]

     All of us have read the personal stories of those in our day who are refugees from the tyranny of Communism. One of the sternest and most eloquent indictments of this evil system which conceives of man as a mere cog in the Machine of State, is found in the number of people who plan and plot to escape into the protection of the free world. Literally thousands have asked for asylum in neighboring countries where the sanctity of individual rights is a cardinal feature of political concepts.

     Many of the escapees gain their freedom only after enduring almost intolerable suffering. To such there can be, on this earth, no greater relief than that which comes when, perhaps in the darkness of the night, they suddenly realize they have crossed the frontier. Behind them lies a world of persecution and privation, ahead there looms up a future of freedom and opportunity.

     The Christian is also one who has escaped from enslavement and terror. His life was once haunted by fear and failure. The heavy links of the fetters of sin chafed his spirit, until every movement became a dread, and existence became an agony within itself. Guarded by the watchdogs of Satan, surrounded by the barbed wire of sin, his state seemed hopeless. But then came the Good News that one could escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. How can such a person be sure when he has crossed the line into friendly territory? How can he be certain that he is in that area where spiritual asylum awaits his jaded soul?

     J. B. Phillips, in his translation, has a happy rendering of 1 John 3:14. "We know that we have crossed the frontier

[Page 14]

from death to life because we do love the brothers." The other side of the frontier is the death side. It is filled with desolate swamps of selfishness, giving off a miasma of hate. Here each man seeks his own welfare, oblivious to and unconcerned about the needs of others. It is a black belt of greed. It is a region of death. "The man without love for his brother is living in death already."

     When the heart overflows with love for the brethren one has crossed the frontier. Some settle down too close to the border and are again captured and returned to slavery. We beg of you who have escaped to go on unto perfection. Do not camp too close to the frontier.