02.04. There's hope for the hopeless
There’s hope for the hopeless The situation is not hopeless. God has found a way by which He can forgive our sins without compromising His justice (Romans 3:26).
He sent His beloved Son to the earth 2000 years ago to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). The Lord Jesus Christ went to the Cross of Calvary to die as our Substitute. That’s a key word – Substitute. He died in our place (Galatians 2:20). He died the death that we should have died (1 Corinthians 15:3). He paid the debt that we owed because of our sins. He endured the penalty that we should have endured (1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18).
We never understand the Good News until we realize that Someone has died for us, and that Someone is no less than our Creator-God (John 1:1; John 1:3). Instead of the sheep dying for the Shepherd, the Shepherd died for the sheep. Instead of the creature dying for the Creator, the Creator died for His creatures. But how do we know that Christ’s work as our Substitute was satisfactory to God the Father? We know it because He raised the Lord Jesus from the dead on the third day (Romans 4:25; Romans 6:4; 1 Corinthians 15:4). This was positive proof that Christ finished the work necessary for our salvation and that God accepted it. If God hadn’t raised Him, His death wouldn’t have been different from any other person’s. Jesus was the first One to rise from the dead in a glorified body that would never die again. This raises another question. If Christ died for all, then does it not follow logically that all are saved? No, it does not. The work of the Lord on the Cross is sufficient for the salvation of all, but it is only effective for those who accept Him as their Substitute. God is not in the business of taking people to heaven who don’t want to be there. He cannot populate heaven with people who are still practicing sinners. What kind of a heaven would it be if it were inhabited by the world’s worst perverts, murderers, and gangsters?
How not to be saved
Before we get to God’s way by which a person can be sure of heaven, let’s think of various false ways on which men and women are depending.
Most people think that salvation is by good works, by doing the best they can, by living a good life, or by good intentions. This is what most religions teach and most people in the world believe. The Bible says that this way seems right to people but it ends in death and doom (Proverbs 14:12). This is not the way to heaven. Salvation is not by meritorious works of any kind. The Bible says that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). It doesn’t say all our sins. It’s all our good works that are like filthy rags. The Bible also says that it’s not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us (Titus 3:5). It insists that salvation is not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:9).
It’s not by baptism, church membership, putting money in the collection, or religious rituals. If salvation were by works like these, then Christ’s death would have been unnecessary. He would have wasted His life if there was some other way (Galatians 2:21). And if good works were the way of salvation, no one could ever know he was saved. He would never know if he had done enough good works or the right kind.
Mark Twain said that if salvation was by being good, your dog would go in and you would stay out. A surprising number of people believe that they will get to heaven by keeping the Ten Commandments. Most of them cannot even recite the Ten Commandments, but they know that they are in the Bible and so that must be the way. What they don’t know is that no one can keep these Commandments perfectly. God gave them in order to reveal sin (Romans 3:20), not to reveal salvation. They are God’s standard to show us how far we fail.
Salvation is not by education, science, philosophy, psychology, materialism, reformation, or an improved environment.
Education teaches a sinner, but he only becomes an educated sinner.
Science can explore outer space but it cannot change a person’s inner life.
Philosophy is man’s wisdom. At the end of his life, American philosopher Bertrand Russell said,“Philosophy has proved a washout to me.”
Psychology cannot explain human behavior, let alone change it.
Materialism may put food in the stomach but it can’t save the soul.
Reformation may put new clothes on a person but it doesn’t put a new person in the clothes. That is why Jesus said, You must be born again (John 3:7).