1 John 1:9-10 NKJV “⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

In the earliest months of the GOP primary race, Donald Trump was asked if he’d ever asked God for forgiveness, as he sat onstage in Ames, Iowa, for the Family Leadership Summit. The answer he gave then, and in several subsequent interviews was that he’d never asked God for forgiveness, because he’d never done anything to need forgiveness for.

Please refer to the attached verse.

Somewhere along the way, he was told that that probably wasn’t the best answer, and he arranged to have a host of televangelists meet in his Trump Tower office (along with a photographer), resulting in a very uncomfortable portrait of a man who had no idea what the people around him were talking about.

It was apparently enough to sell some who identify, at least in polls, as evangelicals, as they insisted that was enough and rushed to vote for him.

Because of a photo-op, Trump was deemed a Christian brother, when his own words reveal him to be in opposition to the Word of God.

Maybe something has changed since the early months of the campaign?

From an interview with Cal Thomas, released today:

CT: Every president has called upon God at some point. Lincoln spoke of not being able to hold the office of the presidency without spending time on his knees. You have confessed that you are a Christian …

DT: And I have also won much evangelical support.

CT: Yes, I know that. You have said you never felt the need to ask for God’s forgiveness, and yet repentance for one’s sins is a precondition to salvation. I ask you the question Jesus asked of Peter: Who do you say He is?

DT: I will be asking for forgiveness, but hopefully I won’t have to be asking for much forgiveness. As you know, I am Presbyterian and Protestant. I’ve had great relationships and developed even greater relationships with ministers. We have tremendous support from the clergy. I think I will be doing very well during the election with evangelicals and with Christians. In the Middle East — and this is prior to the migration — you had almost no chance of coming into the United States. Christians from Syria, of which there were many, many of their heads … chopped off. If you were a Muslim from Syria, it was one of the easiest places to come in (to the U.S.). I thought that was deplorable. I’m going to treat my religion, which is Christian, with great respect and care.

CT: Who do you say Jesus is?

DT: Jesus to me is somebody I can think about for security and confidence. Somebody I can revere in terms of bravery and in terms of courage and, because I consider the Christian religion so important, somebody I can totally rely on in my own mind.

The emphasis there is mine. Just a cue to the “Trump is Christian” crowd: “I will be asking for forgiveness, but hopefully I won’t have to be asking for much forgiveness” is not a conversion statement.

As for who he says Jesus is…

Luke 9:19-20 AMP “¹⁹ They answered, “John the Baptist, and some say, Elijah; but others, that one of the ancient prophets has come back to life.” ²⁰ And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter replied, “The Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) of God!”

I would think someone who drinks the wine and eats the little cracker should have a more secure grasp on who the Savior of the world is, but, that’s just me.