Question:
I need to help my husband with this question and he
does not feel like he can go to our pastor with it. How can he feel
comfortable with the belief that when you accept Jesus Christ as your
savior you will get into heaven? I accept this belief, but he feels that
if a Jew leads a good life, gives of himself to others, follows the 10
commandments, can you really say that he will not be admitted into
heaven? That is our belief and he has a hard time reconciling that.
What can I give him to read or how can I help him with this question?
Answer:
This is a question I wrestled with before coming to
faith. The answer really boils down to one very important question:
Is
there anything I can do to earn my way into heaven? If
the answer is "yes," then Christianity becomes one of many
"ways" to heaven. For instance, I can have faith in Christ, or
I can perform these works to earn God's favor, or I can follow the Ten
Commandments, or I can live by the Five Pillars of Islam, etc.
However, if the answer to the above question is
"yes," then Christianity becomes useless as a faith system.
Why? Because Jesus said, "I am THE way, THE truth and THE
life. NO ONE comes to the Father except by Me."
Therefore, if there is something that we can do to get to heaven, then Jesus
was a liar--He is no longer THE way, THE truth, or THE life, but A way, or A
truth, or A life. Furthermore, if Jesus is a liar, then He isn't really
worthy of our praise and worship. And if that's the case, then Christianity
becomes a dead religion.
Now if the answer to the above question is
"no," (i.e., there is nothing we can do to earn our way into heaven)
then faith in Christ necessarily becomes the only option. Why?
Because Jesus Christ is the only person who did anything to please
God. Our faith in the person of Jesus Christ then allows God to apply
Christ's work to our lives and allows us to go to heaven when we die. The
important thing to remember is that Christianity is not a religion of works; it
is a relationship with God. Our sin offends God and severs our
relationship with Him. Unless God chooses to forgive us, there is nothing
we can do to restore the relationship. God sent His Son into the world to
restore the relationship. Our faith in Christ is the acceptance of God's
terms of reconciliation.
The Jews rejected Jesus not because He was a
heretic or because He was wrong. They rejected Him because He pointed out
the flaw in their religion. The Jews were still operating on the old
covenant. They believed that as long as they followed the rules, that God
would bless them. Now, that's basically true. When
The hard part comes when we see people who
genuinely lead good lives--they're kind, generous, polite, good citizens,
etc.--yet don't accept Christ as Lord and Savior. Yet, if we believe what
Jesus says, then these people are doomed just as much as the sociopathic serial
killer. Why? Because they are operating under the false assumption
that their generally good lifestyle is pleasing to God. But if we dig
down a little deeper, what do we find? If God says faith in Christ is the
only way to gain His favor, what does it say about the person who believes
that by being an essentially good person they'll earn God's favor? That
person, in essence, is saying, "You know God, that faith in Jesus thing is
pretty cool, but I think I'll take care of my own salvation, thank you very
much." They're in effect saying that God's plan for salvation isn't
good enough--i.e., they're rejecting God.
Let's dig even deeper. Why do relatively
decent people do "good" things? Some do them because they fear
retribution from the law (e.g., I don't rob banks because I don't want to get
put in jail). Some do them because they feel they'll get a favor in
return (e.g., If I'm nice to so-and-so, then they'll be nice to me). Some
people do nice things because they'll gain recognition by others (e.g., If I'm
nice to so-and-so, then people will think I'm a swell guy).
Some think (as we've been saying) that if they do nice things it will look
good on their "eternal balance sheet" (e.g., If I'm nice to so-and-so,
then God will reward me). I'm sure there are other reasons, but I think
I've covered the biggies. However, notice the selfish flavor to all of
these "good" acts (If I do "this," then I'll get
"that"). All of these so-called good acts are motivated by a
deep seated selfishness.
Christians do good acts, but the motivation is (or
should be) different. We do many of the same "good" acts, but
the motivation is to give glory to God and to show true love to others.
Christians are good citizens because that is what God wants us to be and not
because we fear the retribution of the law. Christians are kind to
others, not because of what we can get in return, or because we'll get
recognition, or because we'll earn God's favor, but because being kind to
others is expected and is a form of loving obedience toward God and an act of
love toward others. Christians shouldn't care if a favor given isn't
returned. Christians shouldn't care if a favor given doesn't change one's
opinion of us. Christians shouldn't try to earn God's favor by being nice
to others. Why? Because God already loves us infinitely, so there's
nothing we can do to make Him love us more (or less).
Bottom line: Every other religion is an attempt
to EARN one's way into heaven. Christianity says: Thank You God
for doing what You've done by sending Jesus Christ to die for my sins. In
gratitude, I offer myself to You in loving obedience.
Truthfully speaking, that's the biggest obstacle to having faith in Christ; the
part about "offering" ourselves. Most people are too proud to
say "I'm wrong." Once one gets over that hump, the rest is
basically downhill.