Our Footsteps: Only ONE Way - More Gospel Thoughts for the Week

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Only ONE Way - More Gospel Thoughts for the Week

You would expect that non-Christians would think there is any number of ways to get to Heaven. What is amazing to me is that Christians who say they believe there is only one way on one hand, but then also say there are two ways. I can't count the number of times I have heard professing Christians say, 'there are two ways to heaven, by living a perfect life or by faith in Jesus Christ'. I think that this odd statement is sometimes said with good intentions, because usually they will go on to say 'well, none of us is perfect, so we really are saved by faith in Jesus Christ'.

But why even mention 'living a perfect life'? It just makes the message of the gospel unclear. In fact, saying 'there are two ways to heaven, by living a perfect life or by faith in Jesus Christ' is not only unclear, it's WRONG - it contradicts what the Bible says.

To live a perfect life, you would have to keep all of God's Law - that is, all of his commandments and statutes, Every single one of them - 24x7, 365. The Law was given to mankind to demonstrate our utter sinfulness and inability to be righteous. Romans 3 and 4 is one section of scripture that explains about the Law and about faith. Early in Romans 3, the Apostle Paul quotes the Old Testament by saying 'there is none righteous, not even one', and 'there are none who seek after God', and 'there is none who does good', and if we didn't get it yet, Paul removes any doubt and confusion by making the famous 3:23 statement that 'all have sinned'.

And even if you could live a perfect life, that doesn't save anyone. Romans 4:13-16a should further clear this matter up: "For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation. For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace."

If living a perfect life could save us and catapult us into heaven, then Christ died needlessly.

There IS only ONE way, not two.

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I Believe...

1). I believe that there is one God. I believe God consists of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
2). I believe that God is holy, righteous, loving, and just.
3). I believe that mankind is separated from God by sin; that sin entered the world through Adam and death through sin.
4). I believe that, because of sin, man is condemned. Because of God’s utter hatred for sin, there is an eternal conscious punishment in hell for all those who do not come to God on His terms, dealing with their sin.
5). I believe that confessing our sins and confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is the only way to properly deal with the sin that has infected everyone. Jesus Christ paid our sin debt on the cross; reconciliation by substitution. There is nothing we can do to add to the finished work of Christ.
6). I believe in the security of the believer, that once he is truly born-again, there is nothing that would cause him to lose his salvation.
7). I believe that upon the death of a true believer in Christ, that he is ushered immediately into the presence of the Lord, where he will live in everlasting joy in Heaven, experiencing eternal fellowship with God.
8). I believe in believer’s baptism by immersion. I don’t believe baptism is necessary for salvation, but it is a beautiful outward profession of an inward possession.
9). I believe in a literal 6-day creation where God created the heavens and the earth and then rested on the seventh day.
10). I believe that the words written in the Bible are truth. I believe that the Bible is inerrant in its parts and in its whole. I believe that the 66 books that make up the canon of scripture make the Bible complete and that God inspired the words written therein. The things that were written down in the Bible are sufficient for every need we have. Not only is God’s Word sufficient, but it is far superior to any other method of handling the problems that man faces, since He has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness.