Thursday 16 November 2017

Am I Good Enough to Get to Heaven?



Taking a break from the Bridging the Gap series, I wanted to touch on something that was briefly mentioned in Ten Deadly Views that are Prevalent in Society.

I had a chat with an 82 year old man named John in the street today. He walked past my book table and was squinting to read the sign, presumably to find out what I was offering. I greeted him and, still at a distance, he said “Is it about religion?” I obviously told him that it was about Christianity. He waved his arms around in frustration and said that he didn’t want to know anything about religion. I suggested that it might be important, and he came over to talk to me.

John said that in the past, he had spent time in a Catholic church with nuns and also in a Church of England. He continued that he didn’t believe any of it now and didn’t go to church. He then began listing all of the good he had done in his life. He was trying to walk away from me the whole time he was speaking, partly because of the cold weather but also I sensed that he didn’t really want to hear what I had to say in response. I found the encounter interesting because it was cold and there was really no reason for him to even stop and talk to me. I hadn’t imposed myself on him and it wasn’t just a case of him politely listening to me, he obviously felt the need to converse on the subject, maybe even to reassure himself that he was on the right path.

I often pray during conversations like this not immediately knowing what to say to engage the person. I tried a basic Gospel explanation knowing I only had seconds before he left. In reply, John told me that he didn’t believe in an afterlife and that he would just be dead in the ground. He didn’t believe God was there and didn’t believe in Heaven or Hell. He laughed when I spoke about God having created us.

Yet, John, who claims not to believe in God or an afterlife, had spent most of the conversation telling me about all of the good he had done in his life. It begs the question, why bother if there is no God, no afterlife, no Judgement Day?

John is typical of many people who are suppressing the truth about God. We have been created with a conscience that knows right from wrong and we can see the hand of God in creation. This is why we feel guilt when we sin and why people who claim not to believe in God, like John, end up doing good works “just in case.” If we are honest, we know deep down that we are accountable for our sin because God has created us with that knowledge.

A staggering number of people, even professing Christians think that salvation and entrance into heaven is at least partly based on good deeds. These people usually also think that their good will be weighed against their bad and as long as they haven’t committed a serious crime (according to the definition of society e.g. murder, rape, child molestation,) then their good will outweigh their bad.

It amazes me that people are willing to risk their eternal destiny on something so subjective. It’s also incredible that more people aren’t wanting to know the definitive answer to the question: “Am I good enough to get to heaven?” They leave it until it’s too late to do anything about it when they have already died and are standing before God awaiting judgement.

The Open Air Mission has a tract with this question on the front. A lady was handed the leaflet and read the question aloud she then said ,“No, actually, I’m not.” I tried to engage her in conversation but she was off up the street continuing her shopping, apparently not concerned enough to give a few minutes of her time to find out how she could get to heaven.

The good news is that the Bible gives us the answer to this most important question. It tells us that none of us are good enough to get to heaven. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3 vs 23.) God’s standard is perfection and none of us are perfect.

Whilst talking to John I acknowledged that from what he had said, he had lived a pretty good life and done a lot of good things for people. I asked him whether he thought that was enough and whether God’s standard was the same as our standards as human beings. He admitted that he wasn’t perfect and quickly followed that up with the observation that no one is. It made me sad that this man at 82 was striving to lead a good, moral life yet was missing the mark and was unwilling to hear the solution. He refused a booklet and rushed off saying that he was cold. Please pray for him.

God knew that we could never live up to His standards because of our inclination to sin. He therefore sent His only Son Jesus to die on a cross in our place and for our sin. Jesus lived a perfect life with no sin of His own. Then, he literally stepped in and took the punishment that you and I deserve. Jesus bridged the gap between us in our sin and a Holy God. It is only through Jesus that we can approach God, have our sins forgiven and ultimately enter heaven.

So, the title question is really a trick one. The amount of sin we have committed is irrelevant because we have all sinned. Likewise the number of good deeds because we are not perfect. One small sin is enough to keep us out of heaven, forever and doing something good doesn’t cancel it out!

The answer will always be, no, we are not good enough to get to Heaven. However, if we trust Jesus, our sin can be replaced with His perfection and this is all that God requires for entrance to Heaven.

Here is the full verse, part of which I mentioned earlier;

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Romans 3 vs 23-24



Thursday 9 November 2017

Bridging the Gap by Using Words that People Understand



I want to continue looking at ways that we, as believers, can narrow the widening gap between ourselves and non-believers, in order to effectively present the Gospel message.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the language and words Christians use in general speech both within and outside the walls of the church. Also, the content of sermons and the hymns that we sing.

I’m sure we’ve all experienced the anxious wait to see who the speaker is having invited a new person to church. We pray that the message will be specifically relevant for our friend and at a level that they can understand. However, this isn’t really what I’m referring to because conviction of sin is a work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s heart. Therefore, any message can be used by God provided it is from the Bible. I may have mentioned before that I know someone who was saved when they heard a message on the dry bones in Ezekiel and realised it was referring to their lack of life as a non-believer!

Perhaps in some Christian circles there has been an over-reaction to the watering down of the Gospel message in modern times. One consequence might be that we cling on to the language of generations past for fear of inadvertently changing the message.  

To be fair to him, my pastor is very aware of this issue and often explains the meaning of words in hymns or in the Bible as they arise. However, I think we fail to appreciate the sheer number of words that we use as Christians that are now totally foreign to non-believers. This is partly due to the lack of church attendance by the majority and also the lack of Bible teaching in schools. Ignorance of church words and language is increasingly prevalent.

Having grown up in the church, I found myself recently examining the words of a hymn we were about to sing. I realised that I didn’t understand a lot of the words and that therefore the meaning was completely lost on me. I spent a while grappling with possible meanings before giving up and glancing around to see whether others were similarly perplexed. I ended up singing the words without understanding them which meant that for all intents and purposes my mind was unfruitful.

There is not much difference between me doing this and someone reciting a mantra or chant in a foreign language. Indeed, earlier this week, a friend quoted a Sikh prayer that he prays each day in an Indian language. I asked him what it meant and he asked me to wait whilst he looked it up in English on his Smart-phone! I pointed out that there wasn’t much point in reciting a ritualistic prayer to a god if he didn’t understand what he was saying. (Interestingly, when I did look at the prayer in English I recognised that a lot of it had come straight from the Bible, but that’s another subject….)

Words have also changed their meaning within our culture. We were studying Ephesians this week and the use of the word mystery. The point was made that, in the Bible, God and some of His works, are described as mysterious, meaning that they are incomprehensible to us. Whereas, society would see a mystery as a game, or puzzle, or something to be solved.

I’ve also made the mistake of using words that I thought were obvious during live-chat with people on Chatnow. I asked someone how they thought their Christian witness would be affected if they took a certain course of action. They simply replied, “what do you mean my witness?” A witness in society is someone who has seen a crime, not something to do with their faith. I then used the word testimony which they also didn’t understand, I wasn’t sure where to go from there but managed to simplify my language sufficiently in the end.

I joined a group for some Open Air ministry a few weeks ago. The enthusiastic team were from a church that uses the King James version of the Bible only. There came a point when the preacher was trying to engage a young man, probably of Middle Eastern nationality, in the crowd. The preacher had asked him if he knew why his faith was flagging. He didn’t know the answer so the preacher asked him whether he had “drawn nigh unto God.” The man looked bewildered but the preacher continued telling the man that if he “drew nigh unto God then God would draw nigh unto him.” Looking on, I knew that there was no way this man would have understood the word “nigh” yet this was the word being repeated to him over and over again. In this context, the question and instruction made no sense unless the person understood that key word. Would there have been any harm in updating the word to “near” or “close” to ensure the understanding of the lay person in the street?

When discussions arise about which version of the Bible to use, my answer tends to be that a person should use the most accurate translation that they can understand. For some, this might encourage laziness as they go with a paraphrase or something that reads like a children’s picture book when they are an adult. I’m not advocating this as we can all do with a careful study of the Bible and this usually involves stretching our minds. I also don’t recommend versions like The Message or The Street Bible. Personally, I prefer ESV for understanding and accuracy. I also sometimes use NASB and NIV. My church uses NKJV. I ended up reading aloud from a KJV at a Bible study recently and was forced to smother a laugh due to the dated language. Sorry if that offends anyone, I know that those who use KJV hold a sincere belief that it is right to do so!

There are numerous words that trip off our tongues as Christians but are we considering the person we are speaking to and attempting to engage. How often have you heard someone ask a preacher, or even a friend in conversation, “What does that word mean, I don’t know it?” People won’t ask because they don’t want to appear ignorant or embarrass themselves. They will just pretend they understand. Those really interested in the topic, or wanting to expand their vocabulary, might care enough to look it up later, but the majority won’t.

As society sadly slides towards widespread atheism, we need to be simplifying and explaining words that may, in the not too distant past, have been in common use. Most of us realise the need to explain words like sanctification, justification and substitutionary atonement, but are we thinking about words like fellowship, sin, the Lord’s Supper and outreach? Nearly every word that specifically, and probably exclusively, relates to Christians (and church) might now need to be explained in certain circumstances. We mustn’t assume even a basic level of knowledge unless we know the person.

There is also a case for updating the words of our hymns and songs so that they can be understood by everyone singing them. I’m not talking about changing the meaning, just cutting out the “thees, thys, deigns” and others.

Let’s make sure we are not placing unnecessary barriers in front of people by using words they don’t understand.