CHRISTIANS DO NOT HAVE A MONOPOLY: THERE ARE THREE PATHS TO ETERNAL LIFE! Inspired by the Holy Spirit, written by Deirdre A reprint from [August 8, 2013 3:26PM EST] I put out a Bible Smarts™ question the other day, asking the meaning of Romans 2:12-16. I have to admit it was a trick question, because you have to look at Romans 2:12-16 in conjunction with Romans 2:6-7, James 2:18-24, Jeremiah 31:33-34 and Matthew 22:1-14 to really understand the meaning of Romans 2:12-16. SO LET ME BREAK IT DOWN …. First let’s refresh ourselves with Romans 2:12-16 ROMANS 2:12-16 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. For those who have eyes that see and ears that hear, Romans 2:12-16 teaches us that there are three paths to eternal life. The First Path is justification by Faith as demonstrated through works. The second and third paths are MOSAIC LAW and GOD’S LAW UNTO ITSELF, respectively, in which justification is determined by works. In order to receive eternal life, a victorious individual must emerge from one of the three paths above, meeting the criteria (established by the specific path) to be declared righteous. The only people that get into Heaven are the righteous. What many Christians often fail to do is to start living a righteous life after becoming saved, instead they attend Church 2 hours per week and after Church go back to living a secular life for the remaining 166 hours in the week. Living a secular life 166 hours per week, will NOT get you into heaven. Christians fail to understand that belief in Jesus Christ is not enough belief gives us a RIGHT, not a guarantee of eternal life. If you choose NOT to exercise the RIGHT that Jesus purchased with His blood because you prefer to live a secular life, then you will not receive eternal life. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the RIGHT to become children of God,” John 1:12 If a Christian fails to fulfill the righteousness criteria (obeying Jesus), He is NOT getting into Heaven: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not OBEY the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” John 3:36” For some reason people tend to read the first 8 words of John 3:36 and ignore the part about OBEYING the Son. The other thing to note is that in both Romans 2:6-7 and Romans 2:13 God is clear that righteousness is required for eternal life, and payment of eternal life is open to ‘each person’ or “those who obey the law” which includes Non-Christians and even atheists who obey the law. “God ‘will repay each person according to what they have done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. – Romans 2:6-7 “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous” – Roman 2:13 “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:20 (NIV) SO CLEARLY IN ROMANS 2:6-7, 2:13 and Matthew 5:20; GOD IS SAYING ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL BE DETERMINED BY WHAT YOU DO, NOT WHAT YOU SAY. SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? FOR CHRISTIANS: “All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law,” This means Christians will not be judged by the law because we are under grace. But, because we are under grace we are required to be righteous. If we are not righteous we will perish in accordance with Matthew 5:20. So, in other words if you say you are a Christian, but you only give lip service to Christianity, and have not actually picked up your cross and followed Jesus ( as evidenced by the fact that you STILL do things that Jesus would NOT do, or you FAIL to do things that Jesus would do) then you will NOT be declared righteous because your statements of faith alone are worthless, you have no works to prove that you really have faith. A STATEMENT OF FAITH GETS YOU NOWHERE, IT IS YOUR ACT OF FAITH THAT IS MEASURED. HOW FAITHFUL ARE YOU -- WHAT DO YOUR ACTIONS SAY ABOUT YOUR FAITH? “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. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” – James 2:18-24 WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR NON-CHRISTIANS WHO FOLLOW MOSAIC LAW? “and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.” This means that those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, but believe in Old Testament law will be judged by the laws in the Old Testament. If they are found righteous according to Old Testament laws, they will receive eternal life. This is where things get controversial for some, because many believe that ONLY Christians have the opportunity to receive eternal life; but the Bible does not state that. The belief is false and rooted in the assumption that NO human can be deemed righteous by Old Testament Law, that may be true, but only God knows if it’s really true or not. For all we know there could be a monk living somewhere who does not follow Christ, but is righteous according to Old Testament Law. And since I’m here, I’m going to open another door. You don’t have to have consciously (the operative word being “consciously”); you don’t have to have a conscious belief in God to receive eternal life. If you have an implicit belief in God, by believing and obeying God’s law, which is written into your hearts, you can be declared righteous simply (well it’s not so simple) but you can be declared righteous simply by following God’s law unto itself. What does this mean? It means that even atheists have an opportunity to receive eternal life if they have implicitly acknowledged God by obeying God’s law’s that is written in their hearts. The reality of it all, is that Jesus Christ is the judge who is going to determine who is righteous and who is not. So even if an atheist, did not consciously believe in God while he walked the earth, but unconsciously acknowledged God by obeying the law that God wrote into his heart, then Guess what? According to God, the atheist that followed His law has a right to eternal life. Now whether eternal life for an atheist is of the same quality as eternal life for a Christian, well we don’t know. However, God’s word does state that Heaven has many levels and The Father’s house has many rooms, so that is enough to speculate, but I don’t want to speculate, I just want to stick to what God’s word actually says. And what God’s word says is this: God is giving an opportunity to EVERYONE Christians and non-Christians alike to receive eternal life through 3 possible paths, each governed by its own laws. So we are familiar with the New Testament laws and the Old Testament laws, but what is this God’s law unto itself? GOD’S LAW UNTO ITSELF – In Jeremiah 31:33-34 God tells us that He has written His law directly in our hearts and minds. Romans 2:14-15 references and recognizes God’s Law Unto Itself as being a valid path for demonstrating righteousness and subsequent entry into Heaven. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” – Jeremiah 31:33-34 So people, this is NEWS …. ALL people, not just Christians will have an opportunity to enter Heaven. Now I am sure this will rattle a few biblical scholars and religious leaders, and some close-minded Christians, but the bottom line is that the Truth is the Truth, Christians do not have a monopoly on Heaven, you can accept it or reject it, but you can’t change it! In fact there is a lot more scripture that supports the fact that other than Christians will have an opportunity to enter Heaven. The Parable of the Wedding Feast is one such scripture. In the parable of the Wedding Feast, God calls the ‘bad’ as well as the good to the Wedding Feast, after the chosen have proven that they are NOT worthy. “So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” - Matthew 22:10 Now just because everyone was invited, does NOT mean everyone gets to stay, because the man who came in without a wedding garment, was bound hand and foot and tossed out into the darkness where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. Relevant Scripture is below for your own edification. James 2:14-26 New King James Version (NKJV) Faith Without Works Is Dead 14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your[a] works, and I will show you my faith by my[b] works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?[c] 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”[d] And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Matthew 22:1-14 New International Version (NIV) The Parable of the Wedding Banquet 22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. 4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ 5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. 13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 18:54:47 +0000
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