FAQ's @ GSLC:
"Will Unbelievers Who Help Others and Do Good Deeds Be Saved?"
Pastor Mike Anderson
Sunday, July 29, 2007 - GSLC-North
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Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our Frequently Asked Questions sermon series continues with a sermon topic today that is important, not only because we wonder about this question, but because it's a salvation issue. It's a question that is not just an intellectual pursuit or a curiosity, but a question that goes beyond this life to our life after we die. The question is this…
Will Unbelievers Who Help Others and Do Good Deeds Be Saved?
Well, like all good questions we have to try our best to answer them in a way that honors their underlying concerns and fears, and gives an honest answer from a scriptural basis. In your bulletin is a sermon notes page. On the front is space for you to take notes, and on the back are all the scripture verses I'm using today for your further study. So, here we go.
I think the concern and fear behind this question is this… Will the people I care about be in heaven? Will my family member, friend or co-worker who is not a Christian be saved? Why would God punish a good person? These are great God questions. And people have a number of ways of answering them.
One of the more popular ideas that we hear batted around is the concept of Universal Salvation, meaning, "Everyone goes to heaven no matter what" because God would never want anyone to be separated from Himself. That's the message we hear in
1 Timothy 2:4-6 NLT
4 [God] … wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 5 For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity-the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.
On the one hand, we can affirm that God does desire everyone to be saved, not just his chosen people, but Gentiles, literally everyone. But is it possible for everyone to be saved? Let's see…
There are several problems with the concept of Universal Salvation.
The first is about morality. If everyone gets a free pass to heaven, why would you want to do good to others or be a "righteous" person. If everyone goes, hey do as the Romans do, "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die." (Isaiah 22:13)
We know there are consequences for our actions, there is the reality of sin, or the mistakes we make, that separate us from God and one another. So Universal Salvation does not allow for a basic understanding of right and wrong, or morality to rule our lives or our society.
Secondly, the problem with Universal Salvation is that it does not honor someone saying NO to God. If someone says no to God, or outright rejects God - which according to freewill we have the ability to do - God is going to honor that NO, that rejection. God is not going to drag someone, against their will into heaven. Yes, we can affirm God does desire everyone to be saved, but not if they don't want to share eternity with God.
So, how are people saved, or how are people reconciled to God and welcomed into heaven? Is it by helping others and doing good deeds? We all know plenty of people who are great people, in fact many of them are more righteous and loving than many professed Christians. And because they are good, decent people they don't see a need in their lives for God, or to become a Christian.
If you remember when we went through the study, Just Walk Across the Room with Pastor Bill Hybels, we talked about the importance of engaging people in real conversations about what matters most. We are not just going around holding up signs that say, "Turn or Burn" or "I know you're a good person, but you're going to hell without Jesus." I don't know about you but that doesn't seem the least bit inviting - you don't scare people into faith.
So, it starts with having real conversations with people about what they think about God. In the small group material, Bill Hybels was video taped talking about a simple way to answer the question, If you do good deeds will you be saved? Or I'm a good person, that's all that matters.
Let's listen how you might have this conversation with someone.
(VIDEO CLIP "THE MORALITY LADDER")
Christ made up for the gap between our level of morality and God's level of perfection. According to God's law in the OT we could never measure up, or be good enough, or keep all the laws - we couldn't be perfect, good, moral people and earn our way into heaven… we just couldn't do it.
After all, when you think about our question, it's kind of ironic. How many people would you have to help to qualify to be saved? How many good deeds would you have to accumulate? And if you messed up on day and made fun of somebody, would the "points" on your scoreboard go back to zero, and you'd have to start all over again? There may be some weeks we are running in the negative and then we're really in trouble.
So God had to find a better way, and as Bill Hybels said, it was through the cross that Jesus paid for our sin, we were forgiven of our sin and made new creations. Christ made us clean, made us righteous, or right in God's eyes. This is grace, not getting what we deserved, but a free gift.
We read about grace in the book of
Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
I like how the CEV puts it…
Ephesians 2:8 (Contemporary English Version)
8You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own.
A great example of grace is when Jesus was crucified, and two criminals are crucified with him. The criminals knew that they did not deserve anything, they were getting what was coming to them. Listen to what one criminal says in…
Luke 23:41-43 (New International Version)
41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
At many churches, they display 3 crosses of Jesus and the two criminals this way, have two facing the same direction and one facing the other. This is visual reminder that some people will reject God, and others will be saved, by the grace of God.
Remember in the OT, God's chosen people were given 10 commandments, then 613 specific Levitical laws to help them be good enough. And the law was killing them, They, and we - just couldn't do it. That's why God sent his son as a final sacrifice. Jesus said from the cross, "It is Finished - it's DONE, it's completed. You are free from sin."
So, human effort, or doing good deeds and living a good as we can does not save us. In every other manmade religion it's about what you have to DO to be saved, but in Christianity we have to talk about what has been DONE for us in Christ. Life is not just about what you DO but real life is about what Jesus has DONE for us.
Titus 3:5 (New International Version) is clear about that.
5[Christ] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
And here is the good news… even though there is a coming judgment, (we confess in the Creed that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead), there is still time. God is patient and gracious with us:
2 Peter 3:9 (New International Version)
9b [God] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
God wants everyone to realize they make mistakes and they are not perfect - that everyone has times when they fall short of what God desires for their lives. How they should treat others, how they should treat the earth, how they should speak and act. God wants everyone to realize their need for God, to be in relationship with God, no matter how good or decent a person is.
And the thief on the cross reminds us we have a God of second, third and fourth chances, even last chances - God waits and waits for us to come to a knowledge of His love, much like in the Prodigal Son where the Father waited for the wayward son, scanning the horizon for his return..
So, in answer to the question, Will Unbelievers Who Help Others and Do Good Deeds Be Saved?
On one hand or compassionate hearts might incline us to say, "I sure hope so", because we know God wants everyone to be saved. But we also have to say, "I wish it were that easy!"
For we know that Jesus had to suffer and die to accomplish for us the salvation of our souls. For as the Scriptures say, "If salvation could be accomplished through good works then Christ died for nothing". To think that our good works justify us before God is really saying Jesus didn't need to die, because there is another way. A better way that man has invented!
But Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me." Some might say that is a narrow way, and it is in the sense that it is the only way. But I always say it is a wide way because it is open to anyone would humble themselves and say I can't measure, but Jesus did and I will accept that by faith.
Well I've said enough for sure. But a good question deserves a good answer. How about you? Where are you at in this debate? Are you still trying to earn your way into good standing with God doing enough good things to outweigh the bad things? Or have you given up striving and are relying on the grace of God in Christ Jesus. My friends God's grace is sufficient for us in Christ! It is finished! Jesus has altered the scoreboard forever! Stop trying! Come unto Jesus all you who are weary and heavy laden, and He will give you rest for your souls!
Let's Pray…