With all of the books out there and all of the information that a person can obtain on the Internet, I have to admit that I'm flabbergasted by the fact that people are still lending an ear to the false doctrines that some of the major religions have been churning out for centuries.
Every time I think about some of their guidelines, I get the willies. No. Actually, I get upset; I'm terrified for the poor people who believe the madness that these churches have been pumping into the heads of their followers.
Which brings me to the point of this article: I'm writing this article with the hope that the truth—at least the truth about this particular false doctrine that I will be addressing—can be spread around so that certain people who have been misled can come back to the Lord before its too late.
Specifically, the false doctrine that I'm talking about here is the one that teaches that people must do something, or do a ton of somethings, to earn their way into heaven.
People say all the time, "I was raised such and such (whatever religion he or she was brought up to practice), but I’m not anymore," or, "My parents made me go to such and such church, but I don’t believe in God." Why do you suppose that might be? Because they weren't taught to know God. Because they weren't taught that believing in Jesus will make the difference between going to heaven or hell after he or she dies. They've been left feeling empty; they haven't learned that God loves them unconditionally… even if they haven't done anything to deserve it.
From the time that these people first stepped foot in certain churches they were taught to believe that if they're a good person who does good things for other people, all in the name of the Lord, then God will throw open the doorway to heaven for him or her. All that does is leave people with the feeling that they have to be perfect or God will cast them aside. They believe that God won't love them if they aren't good. And, since they've messed up once or twice, there's no reason to keep trying to have a relationship with God. Why? Because these churches aren't teaching them any differently.
I've got news for you: Nobody is good except God (Mark 10:18).
Now I don't want you to think for an instant that I'm saying that Christians shouldn't do kind things for others. Proverbs 3:27 tells us that it is a sin to withhold good from another when it's in our power to do so and James 2 tells us that our faith without works is dead. In other words, if we have real faith, we'll want to do good things for others.
Good works or acts of kindness are meaningless unless they're done out of love. You do good things for others because you love of the Lord and because you love your brother or sister and you want to help him or her. What good has ever come of doing something when the mere thought of doing it, even if it is in the name of the Lord, causes one to roll his or her eyes?
If thinking about doing something for another gives one a feeling of dread or extreme anxiety, then the inspiration hasn't come from God; it has come from the desire to please the flesh. It's coming from a yearning to please other men.
The desire to be helpful or do kind things for others is a fruit of the Spirit of God. Part of the joy of helping someone else is to see him or her smile; to make their day a bit easier. Heaven forbid anyone being denied the joy of being able to help someone else. But the joy of doing something kind for someone else is taken away when people are forced to do it in order to earn that golden ticket into heaven.
I've listed a few verses below that should prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we can only be saved by having faith in Christ Jesus:
"For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:40 (NIV) I don't see anything here that says that we have to do anything in particular to earn salvation, do you? All I'm seeing here is that whoever will believe in Jesus will have everlasting life. I hope you agree.
"For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee." Psalm 86:5 (KJV) This is saying that the Lord is merciful and ready to forgive all who call upon Him for salvation. It doesn't say anything about having to do anything in particular to become saved.
"And Jesus said to him,'Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.'" Luke 23:43 (NKJV) Notice that Jesus didn't say, "If you do this or that, then you can go to heaven with me"? Seriously, what could the man have done while he hung on the cross but believe?
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16 (NASB) I see nothing here either that says that we have to do anything to get into heaven, except believe in Christ Jesus.
"It is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:5 (NIV) And, verses 8-9 say, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Funny, I don't see that we have to DO anything to get to heaven here either. We are saved by grace.
"Who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time." 2 Timothy 1:9 (NIV) Need I say more?
To drive home the point completely: Nowhere in the Bible does it say that there's some kind of weird karma thing that God uses to determine whether or not we go to heaven and there's no way to purchase our way into heaven.
Again, what is it that makes a person worthy of going to heaven after he or she dies?
A person must believe in Christ Jesus as his or her Savior and repent from his or her sins in order to be saved. That's it. There's nothing more.
I repeat: Anyone who believes in Christ Jesus as his or her savior and has turned away from his or her sins is saved; he or she already stands justified before the Lord.
Next time, we'll talk about another false doctrine—Purgatory.
Copyright 2009 Sandra Purdue, A.K.A. The Bossy Church Lady. You can use whatever I write for whatever purposes as long as you don't take credit for what I've written.
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