Quoting Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6 states, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Yesterday, my teacher (Dr. Gaston) said: Knowing the problem is half of the solution. Wow - how true that is, especially when it comes to salvation.
Many people believe they are "good enough" to go to heaven. From searching the scriptures, I see quite the opposite. To the best of my understanding, I interpret scripture to say, "The 'good' people are the ones who go to hell, and only those who see themselves as 'bad' will enter heaven."
There is none truly good "except God alone," (Mark 10:18) so any human claiming to be 'good' is deceived and full of pride. Although he/she may admit to being a 'sinner', that person does not recognize the sinfulness of his/her sin, and therefore can only have worldly sorrow, which results in death, and not godly sorrow, which produces a genuine repentance leading to salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10).
The Bible says that bad people go to heaven, but not all bad people go to heaven. Recognizing the sinfulness of your sin in light of God's absolute holiness is a MUST for salvation, but recognition is not enough. One must...
* RECOGNIZE, then...
* REPENT - turn away from sin and towards God, and...
* RELY on God - trust..not just believe...in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary.
When witnessing to a lost person, use the Law (the 10 commandments), as Jesus did, to make sure he/she understands the sinfulness of their sin before you present the Cross to them, because "the message of the cross if foolishness to those who are perishing" (1 Corinthians 1:18). For you, make sure you have not been tricked into thinking you are a "good person" who just needs (or needed) to "rededicate" or "straighten up" or follow some little pattern for salvation. Remember: Only bad people who repent will go to heaven; hell is full of "good" people...don't be one of them.
Check out this video from Mark Driscoll: Why I Hate Religion...
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Bad People go to Heaven, Good People go to Hell
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2 comments:
This is so true! I love the Recognize, Repent, and Rely. Sounds like a good Gospel tract message!
After studying 1 Corinthians 1 though, I have come to realize that that verse stating the cross as foolishness actually doesn't mean people consider it stupid until they hear the law. People will consider it stupid until God opens their heart to see it as the wisdom and power of God. When you take a look at verse 21, which states, "For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not {come to} know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." So this verse states that God was well-pleased with its foolishness because it further shows that it isn't by man's wisdom that he is saved, but by God's opening of the heart to believe. Also, verse 24 states, "but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." In light of this, it is absolutely true that the Holy Spirit opens people's hearts to understand the significance of their sin and the sufficiency of the cross of Christ and He does so by way of God's children preaching the gospel with them. We can strive day and night with people to see their sin and repent using the law and the Gospel, but we would all hopefully agree that God is the One who opens the door that no one can shut and shuts the door that no one can open (Rev. 3:7) It is also important to see that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, so we can place our confidence in the cross of Christ being the wisdom and power of God to people who believe, though it is still important for us to expose their sin in light of His holiness. The apostles may not have always gone through the 10 commandments when preaching the Gospel, though they did ALWAYS state that the people were sinners and why. I have discovered this to be true by reading through their sermons in Acts. Did you know 1/4 of Acts is sermons? Anyway, I thought it important to share that because it is God and God alone who saves (Psalm 3:8) and not man's wisdom after hearing a good explanation of the law and Gospel.
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