The True Christian Gospel

'Cause my humanity is my leprocy
I need a remedy for my disease
Wretched man I am, slave to sin
Someone in my condition needs the Great Physician
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"Remedy" by According to John

Walk down the street and ask people at random how they believe one gets into Heaven. I bet the most common answer you'll get is: "I'm a good person. I've never killed anybody. God will let me in." Some may try to get in based on their success. But as we know, God is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11; Acts 10:34, 35; Ephesians 6:9). God will accept anyone who calls on His name for salvation (Romans 10:9), and anyone who does not trust in Jesus for salvation will be condemned (Colossians 3:25), no matter who you are. Hell is a fearsome place, but this information should come as comfort to those of us the world looks down upon. You may be lowly or worthless to the world, but to God you mean more than the world. After all, the Scriptures are called the Gospel (Matthew 4:23; Matthew 9:35; Romans 1:1; Romans 1:16, et al). The word Gospel in the original Greek means "good news," and that's exactly what God's message is. Good news to those of us who are perishing. And all of us are perishing before coming to Christ (Hebrews 9:27).

Anyone who thinks they can earn their way into Heaven has no idea what this good news is. Paul makes it clear that works do not save us, only God's grace which comes through our faith. This is not from us, it comes from God; not of works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Works cannot save us, no matter how good we live our lives. Do you know why? Because God tells us that on our best days, we are as filthy rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6). Isaiah, himself, was even chosen to be God's prophet, to proclaim God's message to His people, and yet when faced with God himself Isaiah shouted out: "Woe is me for I am undone! I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips! For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." (Isaiah 6:4-6). No one could ever be good enough to enter into Heaven. Our good deeds could never outdo our bad deeds. The only way for us to be good enough to enter Heaven is to be forgiven of our sins and proverbially washed clean of them by the blood that Christ shed on the cross. Once this is done, God sees us as holy. He has forgiven and forgotten our sins and made us worthy to enter the Kingdom (Ephesians 2:13; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 1:18-19, et al).

But, then, what does James mean when he says, "But do you want to know, oh foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" (James 2:20). The answer to this is found a few verses down in James 2: (remember that in order to properly interpret Scripture, it must be accepted as a whole and not by picking and choosing a verse and taking it out of context): "You see then that a man is justified by by works, and not by faith only." We are justified by our works, but we are saved by our faith. James uses the example of Abraham, who was commaned by God to kill his only son, Isaac. This is a largely misunderstood passage by non-believers, and understandably so. They tend to over-react and look at this action as the action of a madman. But in reality, it was the action of a man who placed total faith in God and knew that God would not have him go through with killing his son (God supplied a ram instead). Anyway, James used the example of Abraham, who trusted God completely, and his works were accounted to him for righteousness. Abraham had been selected by God to be the father of His chosen nation, Israel. But this action displayed his faith in God and made him worthy to fulfill God's plan of fathering His chosen nation. He wasn't chosen because of his good deeds, but his good deeds resulted from his faith in God. He would not have taken Isaac to Moriah to be slain without faith in God. He had the faith first, and his works justified him.

In a previous verse, James 2:18: "But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works." The whole meaning of this passage, from verse 14 through 26, is that faith and works go hand in hand. We are saved by faith, not by works (Eph. 2:8-9), yet if we are truly saved our works will follow (James 2:18, 20). We are saved unto good works, not by our good works.

What, then, of 1 Peter 1:17, which says each man will be judged according to his works? For this, one needs to recognize that after death, there are two kinds of judgments. The first is the judgment of the unredeemed (those who never sought repentance and forgiveness from Jesus). We see this in Revelation 20:11-15, which is known as the Great White Throne Judgment (from the fact that God will be sitting on a great white throne -- naturally). In this, unbelievers will be judged according to how they lived their lives. And as I mentioned before, all our good deeds are as filthy rags before God. They can never overcome the evil that we do.

There is also another judgment. For those whose name is found in the Lamb's Book of Life (the redeemed), there is a trial by fire. Read 1 Corinthians 10:10-15. This is the judgment that the redeemed will have to endure. All of our works will be cast into a fire and we will receive reward or loss depending on which of our works endure the fire. But we will still be saved, regardless of how much reward or loss we suffer. This is the Christian's judgment, and in this way our works will be judged. Not to save us, but for our ultimate reward in Heaven.

So what does this mean? Since we are saved by faith and not by works, does this give us a license to sin? Certainly not! If there is a Christian who does not believe in doing good or does not feel compelled to do good, help others, love, etc., then that person may not be a Christian in the first place. When one is saved, the Holy Spirit dwells within him/her and guides that person. And as Christians, we have two purposes in life: That's to please God (by doing His will), and to proclaim His Gospel (aka the "good news") to those who are perishing. Those are the most important things that we, as Christians, are to do on our short time here on Earth. So my question to you: Is your faith dead, or do you seek to be justified by your works and be a pleasing witness for God here on earth?