Why did God go to all this trouble to save us from sin, death and hell?

Surely the all-knowing, all-wise God, the Creator of our incredibly complex and still mysterious universe, the Designer of all living things, the One who has existed from eternity past has a reason for having created us. There must be some ultimate goal that God has been working toward-something He’s had in mind for a long, long time.

The Bible plainly states that before the creation of the world God formulated a plan.

That plan involves you.

God planned to have a big family, filled with His love, whom He could enjoy and who would enjoy Him. Their love for Him would be manifested by their deeds. They would live together forever in a perfect society and a perfect world. You can call it heaven; you can call it utopia; you can call it paradise-it doesn’t matter. But some day, all of us who have believed in Jesus will be there.

So why didn’t God just start things off that way? Why haven’t we been experiencing that perfect world all along?

God did start things off that way-in the Garden of Eden with a perfectly beautiful paradise filled with everything humanity needed to live a God-pleasing and fulfilling life. What went wrong? The people God created refused to cooperate with His plan. They disobeyed, and disobedience was not, and is not, part of God’s plan.

But that hasn’t stopped God from planning. In spite of what people have done, God’s dream will be fulfilled.

The Test of Love

Why, then, didn’t God create people who would cooperate? Now that is an easy question to answer. If God had created us all as robots, programmed to obey, with no freedom to choose to disobey, then He could never have had a family who loved Him or who loved one another. The foundation of love is free choice.

What makes my relationship with my wife so wonderful is that she didn’t have to marry me, but she did. She chose to be my wife, and she chooses to continue to be my wife. And that is love. If there is no choice in that matter, there is no love.

How would God have felt with a race of robots? I’ll give you an idea.

Sometime when you are feeling lonely, take a tape recorder and record your own voice saying, “I love you. You are a wonderful person. Oh, how I enjoy being with you. Your conversation is so interesting. Your jokes are so funny. I’m so lucky to have you as my friend.”

Then rewind the tape, fix yourself a cup of tea, and sit down and listen to what you’ve just recorded. Will hearing it give you a warm feeling down in your heart? Will you pull down the shades and hold that tape recorder close to your heart? Will you promise never to leave that tape recorder, to nurse it when its batteries get low, never to glance at a newer model in an electronic appliance catalogue?

Do you see what I’m getting at? What makes love so beautiful is that even though there was an option not to love, the choice was made to love. God didn’t want a family of robots anymore than you want an inflatable wife or husband.

When God granted the creatures who were created in His image the privilege of free moral agency, He took a risk-by human standards that is. He risked the fact that some would choose not to love Him, and, therefore, would not obey Him. But there was no other alternative.

If You are God, and You want a family that loves You, then You must create people who can choose not to love You.

In a simple sense, that is the purpose of this present life. It serves as a test for every person: first of all, to see if each one will choose to love or hate God. It is easy to tell who loves Him and who hates Him. How? By whether or not they obey Him.

Of course, every person has initially chosen not to obey God, but God has mercifully given him an opportunity to repent and to be born again, and has done it justly by means of the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. You already know all about that.

Some people will no doubt say, “I love God, but I’ll never become a Christian.”

But Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). It’s just that simple. People who say they love God, but don’t do what Jesus says, are fooling themselves.

Eventually, the timer-bell rings, and each person’s test is over. Then the grades are passed out at the judgment seat of God. There is no second chance after that. If you haven’t decided to stop serving yourself and chosen to begin serving God in eighty or ninety years, you wouldn’t change if you had eight thousand years. God can’t wait forever. He wants to get on with His plan.

It’s a fact that the older an unsaved person grows, the more unlikely he is to repent and believe in Jesus.

When my oldest daughter was only seven years old, she once said to me (after she had shared the gospel with one of her little neighbor friends), “Daddy, little kids are easy to make into Christians. Teenagers are a lot harder. And grown-ups are really hard.” What she said has been proven statistically.

Foreknown but Not Foredone

God has known from eternity past who would choose to repent and believe in Jesus and who would not. The Bible says that our names have been written in a book called the Lamb’s book of life “from the foundation of the world” (see Revelation 13:8, 17:8). If you have just become one of God’s children, He knew it was going to happen ages ago.

So, you might ask, “If God knew who would choose to serve Him, then why didn’t He create everyone at once, take the ones He knew would serve Him to heaven, and send the ones to hell whom He knew wouldn’t serve Him?”

The answer is that God only foreknows the outcome of each individual’s test once each person has actually experienced a test. Only that which is known could potentially have been foreknown. Let me give you an example.

Suppose you suddenly found yourself possessing the gift of knowing in advance the outcome of every professional football game. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Let’s say that you correctly predicted the outcome of every professional football game this year, and it was documented by the highest authorities.

Then let’s imagine that someone makes the suggestion, “Hey, why should we go to all the trouble to play the games anymore? Why risk the players being injured? Why expend all that effort? Let’s stop playing football games and just let our friend here, who is never wrong, tell us in advance the outcomes of the games that would have been played!” And let’s say that everyone agreed it was a good plan, and all football games that season were cancelled.

Then, on national television, instead of the first football game, a camera is pointed at you, and the sports announcer asks, “Okay, since you always have the ability to know the outcome of every football game before it is played, who would have won this football game today?”

What will you say? You will say, “I don’t know. In order for me to foreknow who will win, the game must be played at some point in time, or else there is nothing for me to foreknow.”

Can you see it? The game must be played so that a winner is determined. Then there is something to know about who won and lost. And then, if you have the ability, there is something to foreknow.

Out of Time

It is difficult for us to comprehend the fact that God does not live in the realm of time. He has no beginning and no end, and, therefore, time is not of His realm. The only way to remotely imagine His realm is to view a fold-out time-line from a history book.

On that time-line, you can see the age of the dinosaurs, the burning of Rome, and the landing of the first man on the moon. But imagine a little ant walking on that time-line. At any given moment, he can only see one event as he travels the line. Yet from your perspective, you can see it all.

That is somewhat how God sees things. He knows the end from the beginning. To Him, all is right now. What we call history, or the future, is now, to God.

People sometimes ask, “How will God be able to judge every individual person? That would take years and years. Will we have to stand in line for centuries waiting our turn?” They are speaking from a time orientation.

God has all eternity to judge everyone, but it will take no time at all because there will be no time. That is also why we’ll all be able to enjoy His personal fellowship for eternity. You’ll be able to spend as much time with God as you like, and so will everyone else, because there won’t be any time to think about.

Now, back to our time-line. Certainly, ten thousand years ago, God could have looked down the eons of time to your life and seen how you reacted to your test. (Which He did and wrote down what He saw.) But unless you are tested at some point in time, there would be nothing for God to look at down through time and see!

It is at the time of your test that the knowledge of whether you passed or failed became available to God to know, and, thus, to foreknow. That is why He didn’t create everyone all at once and bring the ones He knew would serve Him immediately to heaven and send the rest to hell.

For us, time is running out, literally, and will one day stop forever. But you can see that from God’s standpoint, His plan has already been fully consummated. That is why, many times in the Bible, the future is described as if it had already happened. Sometimes, God allowed His prophets to see things happening that are yet to happen (from our perspective).

The New Earth

One of those fortunate people who saw into the future was the apostle John. God let him see the new earth of the future as it was freshly re-created. That will be the time when, as far as we presently know, God’s plan will be fully consummated, and time will stop. Let me quote to you John’s description of what he saw and comment as we go:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea (Revelation 21:1).

This shouldn’t surprise us because Jesus promised that “heaven and earth will pass away” (Matthew 24:35). I assume that the heaven to which He and John referred is not the heaven where God presently lives but the atmospheric heaven. There won’t be any air pollution then!

John also said there would no longer be any sea. That doesn’t mean there won’t be any lakes or ponds-just no oceans.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away” (Revelation 21:2-4).

This “New Jerusalem” that John saw, according to other scriptures, is presently in heaven. Again, this shouldn’t surprise us, as Jesus promised us He would go to heaven and prepare a place for us:

“Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2).

So we know that one of the things Jesus has been doing for the past 2,000 years is working on preparing a place for you and me in God’s house-probably located somewhere in the New Jerusalem.

In that city, there won’t be any coffin-makers or undertakers in the yellow pages! Neither will there be any sorrow nor pain. I can’t comprehend that, but I can believe it and anticipate it!

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” And He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son” (Revelation 21:5-7).

Anyone who is spiritually thirsty qualifies to drink freely from the spring of the water of life. There is a literal spring of the water of life in the New Jerusalem, but this statement also applies to the Christian’s new birth. It is just one more way of saying that anyone can be saved, pass from spiritual death to spiritual life, and be born again. Notice it is free, unmerited and undeserved, and offered to all. Those who drink will become God’s sons. And what will become of those who refuse to drink?

But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8; emphasis added).

Praise God that we don’t have to fear spending eternity in that terrible lake of fire.

Our Future Home

As John’s vision progressed, he was given a closer look at the New Jerusalem, our future home:

And he [an angel] carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels….

And the one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal (Revelation 21:10-12a, 15-16).

This is a big city! It would cover more than one-half the surface of the United States! And it is 1,500 miles high, being either a gigantic cube or a triangle!

And the material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass….And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass (Revelation 21:18, 21).

God obviously spared no expense when He built this city. There won’t be any need for road-repair crews!

And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb (Revelation 21:22-23).

That doesn’t necessarily mean that there won’t be any sun or moon in heaven. But this city won’t need either because the glory that radiates from the Father and the Son will shine through the entire city-right through the walls of transparent gold. Can you imagine how it will look?

God once allowed three men, Peter, James, and John to see Jesus as He will appear in His glorified state. Jesus had told them they would soon see Him as He will look in His kingdom, and six days later they did:

And He [Jesus] was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light (Matthew 17:2).

Mark, in his Gospel, described Jesus’ garments as becoming “radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them” (Mark 9:3). Luke stated that Jesus’ clothing “became white and flashing like lightening” (Luke 9:29). Someday you’ll see Him just as Peter, James and John did!

What Will We Do in Heaven?

Let’s continue reading John’s account of the New Jerusalem:

And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it. And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 21:24-27).

So there will be kings living on the new earth who will visit the capital of the world and do homage to God and His Son who reside there. No one who is a liar will enter there-which all of us were until we were born again. Liars aren’t born again.

And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever (Rev. 22:1-5).

Who fully understands all that these verses are saying? No one, but some day we all will.

Maybe you’ve wondered: What will we be doing throughout all eternity? At least two things: We will be serving God and reigning. As Jesus promised, “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). He meant that literally!

Heaven will be a place of unimaginable beauty and unimaginable peace, joy, and love. It will be the place that God planned for us ages ago.

Heaven’s Friendships

There is more I could say on this subject of heaven, but let me interject one more thought from Scripture.

Jesus said that in heaven there will be no marriage (see Matthew 22:30). That is why, in our marriage vows, we say “till death do us part.” The idea of no marriage in heaven may not sound so good to those of us on earth, especially if we’re enjoying the blessings of a Christian marriage.

We can safely conclude, however, that God has a good reason for leaving marriage out of heaven. There must be something better to replace it.

Two possibilities exist. Could it be that the love and transparency that we can only experience within marriage on earth is something that we will experience with everyone in heaven? Could it be that everyone there will be “best friends”?

Or, will human marriage be nonexistent simply because all of us will be wholly and supremely devoted to our Lord, the One who has completely captured our hearts?

Last Words

If I don’t have the opportunity to be your friend on earth, then I’m looking forward to being your friend in heaven. We’ll have to get together for a thousand years and get to know each other! See you then!

Have you ever heard anyone make a statement similar to this one?:

“I think that the idea of Jesus Christ is just a myth. The whole incredible story was just invented by a few religious zealots years ago, and since then, multitudes of people have been deceived.”

That’s what people sometimes say when you begin to talk to them about Jesus Christ. They imagine He’s in the same category as Zeus, Hercules and Pandora. The idea of Jesus being a myth, however, has no basis in historical evidence, but is based solely upon the personal bias of the pseudo-intellectual person who makes such an absurd claim.

It’s a fact of history-a man named Jesus actually walked on this earth about 2,000 years ago, and anyone who denies it is revealing a willful ignorance of what every student of history knows cannot be intelligently denied. A person might as well claim that George Washington or Abraham Lincoln was a myth. Jesus was no myth. The Encyclopaedia Britannica contains over 20,000 words under the entry Jesus Christ!

How do we know for certain that Jesus was a historical person? Although we don’t have a copy of His birth or death certificate or any photographs of Him, there is more than sufficient evidence to prove that He lived for thirty-three years on this planet. A number of non-Christian first century writers document the historicity of Jesus and the early Christians.

Besides those documents, the foremost historical proofs are the four biographies about Jesus. Two of the Gospel accounts were written by disciples who knew Him personally, and the other two were authored by men who were His contemporaries.

A Novel Look at Nixon

Some might claim that the Gospels are simply imaginative fiction. But stop and think for a moment how ridiculous that theory is.

What if someone were to publish a book about former President Richard Nixon and reported within the book that Mr. Nixon worked many miracles during his lifetime-that he healed incurably sick people, raised the dead, multiplied food and walked on water? Not only that, but Mr. Nixon claimed to be the Son of God and was murdered because of it. Then he miraculously rose from the dead three days after his death, fulfilling an event that he himself predicted would occur.

How many copies would such a book sell? How long would it take before it would be on the New York Times best seller list? Of course, no one but a fool would buy such a book, knowing it was a historical farce. The author would be ridiculed or ignored.

Now what are the chances that four different authors could write widely accepted biographies of Jesus within a few years of His life, reporting His miracles, His claims to be the Son of God, and His resurrection? How could that happen if, in fact, He never lived or had lived just an ordinary life? Would anyone have believed their stories? Of course not.

Not only were the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life believed, but they were revered and carefully hand copied over and over again. Within a few years they had been translated into other languages, so that today we possess thousands of ancient manuscripts that contain portions of the New Testament (and in some cases all of the New Testament) that date between 130 A.D. to 400 A.D.

Compare those figures with the works of Aristotle, who wrote 350 years before Christ. The most ancient copies we have of his works are a few dated 1,100 A.D.-1,400 years after he wrote the originals!

Out of the Mouths of Martyrs

It would have been quite simple for anyone to discredit all four gospel accounts if they were indeed false, especially in light of the incredible events that each author reported. But the truth is, no one could successfully discredit their accounts because there were thousands of people who could substantiate the authenticity of their facts.

Thousands of people had seen Jesus; thousands had heard Him preach; thousands were miraculously healed by Him; thousands had eaten food that He multiplied; thousands had witnessed His crucifixion; and we know that at least 500 people saw Him after He had risen from the dead (see 1 Corinthians 15:6).

The biographies of Jesus that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote were accepted by a wide audience, because much of what they wrote was common knowledge to multitudes of people.

Not only did multitudes of Jesus’ contemporaries believe the four historical accounts of His life, they believed them to the extent that they were willing to give their lives for their belief. The first martyrs were ten of Jesus’ twelve disciples. Would they have died for something they knew was just a hoax? Of course not.

It has been estimated that as many as six million people gave their lives as martyrs during the three centuries after Jesus’ life. Would all of those people have died for someone who couldn’t be proven historically to have existed?

The Accuracy of the Gospels

This same reasoning can be applied to prove the historical accuracy of all the specific events contained in each of the four Gospels. If Matthew, Mark, Luke or John had written of even a single event in Jesus’ life that didn’t actually happen, thousands of first-century people would have immediately recognized their error. And if they could prove one inaccuracy, then the reliability of the entire Gospel account would have been rightfully questioned.

For example, what if Jesus hadn’t actually raised Lazarus from the dead? If He hadn’t, it could have easily been disproved. A person could visit Bethany (Lazarus’ hometown), just a few miles from Jerusalem, and conduct an interview many years after the supposed incident occurred. All that would be needed was an elderly person to question:

“Was there a man named Lazarus who lived here? Did you know him? Did he die? How long was he dead? Did a man named Jesus come to Bethany and raise him from the dead? Were you there when Lazarus came out of his grave? Was he really alive? Did anyone else see it happen? How long did he live after he came back to life?” It wouldn’t take long to find out if Jesus really had raised Lazarus.

We know from the Bible account that a multitude of people witnessed Lazarus’ resurrection (see John 12:17). They weren’t just over-zealous followers of Jesus who suffered a mass hallucination either. It was this miracle that convinced the jealous Pharisees that Jesus needed to be killed (see John 11:47-53).

If Jesus hadn’t, in fact, raised Lazarus from the dead, then all the Pharisees had to do was produce the body of Lazarus before the shouting multitude during Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. That would have proven Jesus to be a fake and ended His ministry. But they couldn’t deny that Lazarus had indeed convincingly died and come back to life. The only way they figured they could stop Jesus was to kill Him, and even that failed miserably!

So what if Jesus hadn’t raised Lazarus from the dead, as the apostle John reported He did? Then you can be sure that John’s Gospel would never have made it into the second century-much less the twentieth century. Incidentally, we possess a fragment of John’s Gospel that has been dated A.D. 130.

An author of any one of the four gospels couldn’t risk reporting anything inaccurately. If he made even one mistake, his entire book would have been discredited, as he would have been proven to be an author who could not be trusted. That is why Luke, who wasn’t an eyewitness to the events of Jesus’ life as were Matthew and John, began his account with the words:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word [Jesus] have handed them down to us, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order…so that you might know the exact truth about the things you have been taught (Luke 1:1-4; emphasis added).

Move Over, Orson Wells

If the Gospels are not true, they should be classed in a category far removed from mere myth, fairy tale or science fiction. This is true for at least two reasons.

First, because of the many miraculous events they record as absolute facts, all of which authenticate Jesus’ deity.

Second, because of the words of Jesus-which the Gospel writers claim will determine the eternal destiny of every person, depending on whether or not they are believed.

If the Gospel accounts are not true, then they are the most diabolical documents ever penned by anyone, having led millions into a deception upon which they entrusted their eternal destiny and by which millions wastefully sacrificed their lives.

If the Gospels are not accurate historical documents, then their authors are of the most despicable character and should not be revered as saints. Instead, they should be classed beneath the most ignominious figures of history.

You may have heard of Orson Wells’ radio reading of The War of the Worlds on Halloween night in 1938. That drama, thought by many listeners to be an actual news broadcast, resulted in many later-regretted follies by terrified citizens who prepared for an invasion from Mars.

That deception pales a million-fold in comparison to the damage that has been done by the writing of the Gospels, if they are not true. Multitudes of sincere people, down through the centuries, have believed the words of the Gospel writers and staked their lives and futures on them. Many have suffered greatly because of their beliefs.

It is impossible, then, to conclude that the gospel accounts can be categorized as harmless myths or fairy tales. The wonders they report as true are too spectacular; the message they contain is too significant.

Either they are part of the most cruel and diabolical conspiracy ever perpetrated, or they are the accurate accounts of the miracle-working Son of God who became a man. Either you must love the Gospels, or you must hate them. But you cannot say they are just another simple myth, like the ones about Pandora or Zeus.

Who is Jesus?

Because of the historical accuracy of the Gospels, we can trust that they contain the actual words that Jesus spoke. And Jesus didn’t leave us to second guess who He was. He claimed to be the divine Son of God.

Some people are not so foolish as to deny that Jesus was a historical person, yet they prefer to think He was just a good person-a noble religious leader who taught many wonderful things.

The Gospels, however, leave us no option to believe that Jesus was just a good person. One who claims to be the Son of God and the sole source of salvation for all humanity cannot be classified as “just a good man.”

Think about it for a moment. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. He forgave sins (Mark 2:5, Luke 7:48), accepted worship (Matthew 4:10, 14:33, 28:9), claimed to be eternal (John 8:56-58, 17:5), and presented Himself as the only way to salvation (John 14:6).

At His trial before the Sanhedrin, the high priest asked Him directly, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus replied, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:61-62).

We can conclude that Jesus was either telling the truth, or He was telling a lie. If He was telling the truth, then He was the divine Son of God. If He was telling a lie about who He was, then either He was doing it consciously, making Himself a cruel deceiver, or else He mistakenly thought He was telling the truth, thus making Himself a lunatic.

So there are our choices. Either Jesus was 1) God in the flesh; 2) an evil, hypocritical liar; or 3) He was a crazy-man. Those are the only options we have. To think He was just a good man-a nice moral teacher-is out of the question.

Every one of us must decide. We can despise Jesus as the worst deceiver who ever lived; we can laugh at Him as a fool with a Messiah-complex; or we can worship Him as God. But we cannot begin to entertain the idea that Jesus was just a good, moral teacher.

How can you tell if your popcorn is salted? If it tastes salty, you know there’s salt on it.

How can you tell if a person believes in Jesus? If he displays unselfish love, he’s a true believer in Jesus. His spiritual nature has been transformed from selfishness to unselfishness.

If a person says he is a Christian but lives entirely for his own selfish ends, he is deceived.

The many selfish acts that have been committed down through the centuries by those who professed Christ serve as irrefutable evidence that those people were not, in fact, Christians at all.

The crusaders who waged their “holy wars” and the so-called “servants of Christ” who were lavish in extravagant self-indulgence at the expense of the impoverished laity were not born again by God’s Spirit. The so-called “Christians” who supported Hitler’s “final solution” to exterminate the Jews could not possibly have been true believers in Christ. They may have been “converted” (in their heads), but they’d never been transformed in their hearts and spirits.

We need not travel back in history to find those who profess Christ but deny Him by their actions. The church is full of people today who think they are Christians yet who are not. Many who think they are born again are not born again by Christ’s Spirit at all.

The Bible gives us a clear standard of measure whereby each of us as individuals can determine if we truly do believe in Jesus. That standard of measure is the love we show to others. That is what this chapter is all about.

If the whole reason we were heading for an eternal hell was because we led lives characterized by selfish ambition, then it would stand to reason that once we enter into a relationship with God, we no longer lead lives characterized by selfish ambition. That is true repentance.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus disqualified certain individuals from being saved because they demonstrated an unwillingness to repent of their selfish life-styles.

Yet many churches have preached a watered-down message of salvation, offering it to anyone who will just “accept Jesus” (as if poor Jesus needs our acceptance). These churches, however, fail to inform their congregations of the God-given requirement to turn from selfishness. This watered-down gospel is completely contrary to the gospel of the Bible, as we saw in chapter seven. There is no salvation without repentance; and if a person has truly repented, he has turned from selfishness.

The Bible teaches that each of us will be judged by our actions before God. The reason is because it is our actions that plainly reveal what is in our hearts. Our deeds do not merit us our salvation, but our deeds do prove whether or not we have repented and believed in Jesus. This will become abundantly clear to you as we study what the Bible has to say on the subject.

The Selfish Young Man Jesus Disqualified

Recorded in three out of the four Gospels is the very significant story of a wealthy young man who came to Jesus seeking eternal life. Let’s read his story:

And as He [Jesus] was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, “Good teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:17-18).

Already Jesus has made a very significant statement to this young man who desired eternal life. He told him that all people are sinners because no one is good except God alone. That is the first thing a person needs to know before he can be saved-he must admit he is a sinner.

Second, Jesus reaffirmed His own deity by implication: He didn’t deny that He was, in fact, good, as the young man had said, and then went on to state that only God is good. Once again, He was claiming to be God, which is something else a person must believe if he is to be saved.

Let’s continue the story as Jesus went on to say:

“You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'”

And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”

And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But at these words his face fell, and he went away grieved, for he was one who owned much property.

And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!….It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:19-23, 25).

As we would have expected, Jesus told this young man who was seeking eternal life that he needed to repent and follow Him. After telling him that all people are sinners and affirming His own deity by implication, Jesus reminded him of the Ten Commandments. In fact, Jesus recited the six commandments that govern our relationship with others. The New Testament teaches that God gave the commandments to help us realize how sinful we really are, so we might see our need for a Savior:

Therefore the Law [the Ten Commandments] has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24; emphasis added).

Jesus quoted the commandments so the rich young man would realize how far he’d fallen short of keeping them. Then he would see his need for a Savior.

Self-righteously, however, the young man claimed to have kept from his youth the commandments Jesus listed. That just wasn’t true, and Jesus was about to prove it to him.

The final commandment Jesus recited to the rich young man was the one that sums up all the commandments governing our relationships with others: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark’s Gospel doesn’t record Jesus actually reciting this commandment to the man, but Matthew’s Gospel does; see Matthew 19:16-24.)

This young man was claiming that all of his life he had practiced loving his neighbor as himself. But he really hadn’t. We can be sure of this, because when Jesus told him to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor, the young man wouldn’t do it. He refused to love his neighbor as himself. He would not repent of his selfishness.

Although the rich young man was well aware of the fact that some of his “neighbors” were very poor and needed help, he was unwilling to liquidate any of his assets to assist them. His motivation for living was pure selfish ambition-not service to others. He wouldn’t repent, and thus, couldn’t be saved.

“But I thought that we are saved by faith, and not by works!” you exclaim. Certainly, and it’s obvious that this young man didn’t have faith. He didn’t believe Jesus was the Son of God before whom he would one day stand to give an account of his life. Had he believed, he would have obeyed. Note also that he addressed Jesus as simply a “good teacher,” not as Lord or Master.

When Gold is God

Prior to His conversation with the rich young man, Jesus had already made the profound statement,

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money]” (Matthew 6:24).

In reality, people don’t actually serve money. They selfishly serve themselves, and this fact is revealed by what they do with their money. Rather than share it with those who are less fortunate, they hoard it up or spend it on themselves for things they really don’t need. But if a person wants to be saved, he must repent of the selfish use of his money, a sin classified in the Bible as greed or covetousness. The apostle Paul wrote that covetous people are really idolaters, and they will not be saved:

For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God (Ephesians 5:5; emphasis added).

As John the Baptist boldly proclaimed when people inquired as to what they should do to authenticate their repentance: “Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise” (Luke 3:11).

This is why, as Jesus said, it is so hard for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. Obviously, it wouldn’t be hard if they could just go on selfishly spending their God-given resources on themselves! But, like everyone else, the wealthy must decide if they are going to continue their selfish life-style or repent. The rich person’s repentance, however, requires paying a higher price (at least in his own mind). Being saved means he can no longer live in extravagant self-indulgence while, with his full knowledge, multitudes starve.

If God has blessed you with more money than you really need, and if you plan to go to heaven, you will share your blessings with the less fortunate. Again, it’s not your good works that will save you, but your works will prove that you have really believed in Jesus. If you continue to selfishly hoard your riches, you are proving to all that you really don’t believe in Jesus. Jesus plainly told the rich young ruler that first he had to repent of selfishness, and then the next step was to follow Him (Jesus).

Does this mean that anyone who wants to be saved must sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor? No. Repentance simply requires a turning from selfishness. To the degree that you’ve been selfish, to that same degree, you must repent.

If you’ve been selfish with your money, then you must stop being selfish with it, regardless of how much or how little you possess. Obviously, those who are extremely wealthy and who spend all their money on themselves are going to have to change their life-style. True repentance from selfishness may require them to sell some of their possessions and give the money to those who are less fortunate. Every person will have to answer to God for himself and satisfy his own conscience.

I’m well aware that what I’m saying isn’t popular in our materialistic society and that it flies in the face of what some preachers are saying today. Some even try to convince us that having hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank and owning extravagant items is a sign of spirituality. That is absurd. Hoarding tons of money is not a sign of spirituality-it’s a sign of selfishness.

What if the rich young man had said, “Jesus, I accept You as my Lord and Savior, but I’m going to continue hoarding up more and more money and living for my own selfish desires even though there are so many poor people I could potentially help”? Would that man have been saved? Of course not, as anyone knows who has honestly read the story we just read.

True believers in Jesus are characterized by their unselfish love. And that unselfish love is demonstrated, among other ways, by how they use their money.

Setting the Standard

In the apostle John’s first letter, he discusses how it is possible to determine if you are truly a child of God. The determining standard is love, and that love is manifested by actions:

By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother….

We know that we have passed out of death into life [have been born again], because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth… (1 John 3:10, 14-18; emphasis added).

That makes it quite plain that the mark of the true Christian is unselfish love, particularly love for his fellow Christians. And that love will be demonstrated not just by words but by actions. That truth is the dominant theme of John’s entire first letter.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote a stern letter to the Christians of his day. He told them that they were saved by faith-a faith, however, that was authenticated by acts of unselfish love:

What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? (James 2:14).

The obvious answer to James’ rhetorical question is a resounding, “NO!” Faith, void of works, cannot save anyone. Let’s continue reading as James illustrates exactly what kind of works he means:

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself (James 2:15-17).

Once again it is crystal clear that true faith results in deeds of unselfish love.

In a passage in the book of Romans, which I have quoted earlier in this book, the apostle Paul also affirms this same truth:

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil… (Romans 2:5-9a; emphasis added).

These verses have caused embarrassment to some who have over-emphasized the “faith” requirement of the gospel at the neglect of the “repent” requirement. Paul, however, is not saying that we are saved by our works, as is obvious from reading the rest of the book of Romans. He is only reaffirming the truth that true believers have a life-style characterized by “doing good,” and those whose lives are characterized by selfish ambition are obviously not true believers.

Finally, Jesus Himself taught this same truth. We’ve already witnessed how He required the rich young man to repent of selfishness if he wanted eternal life. In His famous “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus taught His followers to love even their enemies. He said that by so doing, they would prove themselves to be sons of God:

“And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

“For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gatherers do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Matthew 5:40-47; emphasis added).

Sons of God are supposed to act like God-loving unselfishly. In fact, Jesus said that the mark of His true disciples would be their love for one another:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

Jesus Incognito

The Bible affirms that all of us will be judged according to our deeds-not because our deeds earn us salvation but because our deeds prove whether or not we have truly repented and believed in Jesus. Listen to how Jesus described a certain future judgment before the throne of God:

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’

“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’

“Then they themselves also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’

“Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:31-46).

Those at this judgment will obviously be judged by their deeds. The ones who demonstrated unselfish love for their brethren will be vindicated as true believers in Jesus. Those who did not demonstrate unselfish love, but rather selfish ambition, will prove to be unbelievers.

Every professing Christian should imagine himself at this future judgment and determine if he will be classed with the sheep or goats, based on the six works Jesus listed and other similar works. If you find yourself presently classed with the goats, you need to be born again.

True Love Demonstrated

In light of all the scriptures I’ve quoted in this chapter, and in light of the fact that the Bible plainly says that God deposits His own nature of love within our spirits when we are born again, the truth is obvious: True believers in Jesus will be characterized by unselfish love. And that unselfish love will manifest itself through unselfish deeds and words.

The early church of the apostles obviously understood this truth and practiced it:

And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need….

And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were common property to them….

For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, and lay them at the apostles’ feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need (Acts 2:44-45, 4:32,34-35).

I don’t think these first Christians were selling their primary homes and giving away the proceeds, or else they would have had nowhere to live themselves. I have to think that those who owned a second home, land or unnecessary items they weren’t using, sold those things in order to assist the poor. Regardless, the new birth affected how every one of them viewed their possessions. They were no longer private owners, but considered themselves stewards of God’s possessions, which were to be shared freely with the other members of His family.

This should be the natural attitude adopted by those who have truly repented of selfishness and believed in Jesus Christ-and not just a phenomenon of the “overly-zealous” early Christians. Too many churches, however, are like the church at Ephesus to which Jesus sent the following message:

“But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first…” (Revelation 2:4-5a).

Bible interpreters have argued concerning what exactly was the “first love” that the Ephesians left. Was it daily Bible reading? Was it devotion to prayer? Was it attending church?

My opinion is that Jesus was referring to none of those things. I think He meant exactly what He said, that they had left their first love-that is, that they weren’t demonstrating the love toward others they’d demonstrated at first. And that is why Jesus told them to repent and do the deeds they’d done originally.

Why I Wrote This Chapter

My reason for writing this chapter is three-fold.

First, I realize that some people have avoided the message of the gospel because they have experienced the hatred of some so-called Christians. I wanted those unfortunate people to understand that the so-called Christians who hated them were not, in fact, true Christians at all. My hope is that they will now consider the words of Jesus, repent of their own sins, and believe in Him.

Second, I wanted every Christian reader to look within himself and perform a personal spiritual diagnosis to determine whether his profession of faith is genuine. Hopefully, some who have been motivated solely by selfish ambition, and yet thought they were born again, now realize their self-deception. I pray they have now truly repented and believed in Jesus.

May I also add that all Christians are tempted daily to act selfishly, and none of us has reached perfection in unselfish love. That is what we are striving for. The Bible makes it plain that love is a fruit that should be growing continually in the life of every believer (see Galatians 5:22-23, 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13, 1 John 2:5, 4:12, 17-18).

Just because we yield to the temptation to commit some small selfish act does not mean we are not really saved. When a true Christian does commit an act of selfishness, he will feel guilty in his spirit and should immediately ask for God’s forgiveness. God, of course, will grant it to him (see 1 John 1:9). Still, the Bible teaches that our hearts can be assured that we truly are saved as we love unselfishly (see 1 John 3:16-21, 4:16-18).

And third, I wrote this chapter so that Christians might stop and question how non-Christians view them. Are we presenting a true representation of Christ to the world? Are we communicating a message to non-Christians that we love them as God loves them?

Why is it that, so often, unbelievers think that born-again people are only a bunch of self-righteous (and often hypocritical) moralists who are zealous for conservative political causes? Why don’t they speak of us as the ones who are always serving others, who are full of mercy when wronged, who pray for those who hate them, who generously share their belongings, and who love all people, regardless of their social status, their race, their religion or their conduct?

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God…” (Ephesians 5:1-2).

Are you ready to respond to what God, through His Son Jesus, has done for you-now that you understand why He had to die on the cross?

Perhaps you’re wondering, “What could I ever do to make myself worthy to possess the benefits made available by Jesus’ suffering? Should I climb some high mountain on my bare knees? Would living a life of solitary confinement as a monk make me worthy? What if I promise to go to church every day? Would that be enough?”

The answer to those questions may surprise you: There is absolutely nothing you can do to make yourself worthy to receive God’s forgiveness.

This is the message of Jesus’ cross: Sinful people don’t have a shadow of a chance of obtaining right standing with God by their own merit.

The only hope we have of being saved from our due punishment is if somehow God pardons us. Jesus’ sacrificial death provides the means whereby God can justly forgive our sins. Salvation is the work of God-not man.

We can have our sins forgiven only because of His mercy. To think that we can even partially merit what God has freely offered us is a prideful assault against the necessity of Jesus’ terrible suffering and God’s undeserved mercy upon us.

What Must We Do?

How do we receive the benefit of what God has made available to us through Jesus Christ?

In the Bible, there are two requirements listed: repentance and faith. Neither of these can make us worthy, but together they open the door for God’s salvation to become effective in our lives.

Let’s first examine repentance.

Most of us, when we hear the word “repent,” think of some wild-eyed, back-woods preacher who self-righteously rides into town to condemn the sins of the townsfolk. His message is never well received because he only preaches about how evil they are and the coming judgment. His hearers are left with the impression that if they can just straighten out their lives they’ll earn their place in glory.

That kind of message falls immeasurably short of portraying the true picture of God’s plan for humanity. Telling sinners to clean up their lives without mentioning Jesus’ death on the cross ought to be a crime.

Still, the Bible makes it clear that repentance is absolutely necessary for salvation. A person can never hope to experience forgiveness from God unless he repents. On the other hand, repentance in itself could never save anyone. Repentance must be joined with faith.

Because the necessity of repentance for salvation has been played down in some theological circles, I’m going to take a few pages to prove that you can’t be saved from God’s wrath without repenting. Then I’ll discuss exactly what it means to repent.

Preachers of Repentance

John the Baptist, Jesus’ forerunner, preached a very simple message:

“Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matthew 3:2; emphasis added).

The Bible says that from the time Jesus first began preaching, His message was the same as John the Baptist’s:

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17; emphasis added).

You probably remember the scripture I quoted in the previous chapter concerning Jesus’ comments about two contemporary tragedies. Referring to the men who had died, Jesus twice told His listeners:

“I tell you…unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5; emphasis added).

When Jesus sent out His twelve disciples to preach in various cities, what was the message they preached? The Bible says,

And they went out and preached that men should repent (Mark 6:12; emphasis added).

What was the message Jesus told the twelve to take with them after His resurrection?

And He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Lk. 24:46-47; emphasis added).

The apostles obeyed Jesus’ instructions. When the apostle Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost, his convicted listeners, after realizing the truth about the Man whom they had recently crucified, asked Peter what they should do. His response was that they, first of all, should repent (see Acts 2:38).

Peter’s second public sermon at Solomon’s portico contained the identical message:

“Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away…” (Acts 3:19a; emphasis added).

Did the apostle Paul preach repentance? Decidedly yes. In Athens we hear him proclaim:

“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31; emphasis added).

In his farewell sermon to the Ephesian elders, Paul stated:

“…I did not shrink from…solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:20a, 21; emphasis added).

In his defense before King Agrippa, Paul said:

“Consequently, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance” (Acts 26:19-20; emphasis added).

The writer of the book of Hebrews said that “repentance from dead works” is the most fundamental doctrine of Christ (see Heb. 6:1).

Hopefully, that list of scriptural proofs is enough to convince anyone that a relationship with God begins with repentance. There is no forgiveness of sins without it.

What Does Repentance Mean?

If repentance is necessary for salvation, it is of utmost importance that we understand what it means to repent. Actually, once we understand that sin is what separates us from God-and once we realize that sin stems from selfishness-then the definition of repentance becomes obvious. To repent means to turn from all known sin and selfishness. It means to start obeying God. It means to take ourselves off the throne of our lives and put Jesus on it. It means to make Jesus Lord and become His slave. It means that we stop living for ourselves and begin living for God and others.

If the reason we were formerly separated from God was because of our rebellious acts of sin, then naturally repentance would be required if we plan to begin a relationship with Him.

Repentance requires more than just a change of mind on our part. It necessitates a change in our actions.

John the Baptist, whose message was one that called people to repentance, couldn’t have made it more clear that repentance requires action. Listen to what he preached:

“Therefore bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And also the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:8-9; emphasis added).

True repentance will bring forth fruit, or actions. Notice also that John the Baptist declared that people who don’t repent go to hell. Let’s continue:

And the multitudes were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” And he would answer and say to them, “Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise” (Luke 3:10-11).

Remember that repentance involves turning away from selfishness. If a person truly repents, it affects what he does with his possessions and makes him compassionate toward the less fortunate. If Jesus is truly our Lord, our possessions are His.

John continued:

And some tax-gatherers also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to” (Luke 3:12-13).

If a person truly repents, it affects his honesty with his employer and clients.

John concluded:

And some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages” (Luke 3:14).

If a person truly repents, he stops stealing, he becomes considerate of others, and he turns from greed.

Can you see that repentance requires a change of attitudes and actions? And did you notice that everything John told his inquirers to do could be summed up in the words, “Stop being selfish”?

If true repentance takes place, we will no longer be motivated by selfish ambition but by love. The identifying mark of the Christian is supreme love for God and unselfish love for others.

The Little Man Who Truly Repented

There’s a story in the Bible of a short man named Zaccheus who was a tax-gatherer. To understand his story, you must first understand that in Israel in Jesus’ day, the words tax-gatherer and swindler were synonymous terms. The Roman government sold the right to collect taxes to the highest bidder, and the more money the tax-gatherer collected, the more money he could keep for himself. Human nature being what it is (selfish), tax-collectors normally defrauded a lot of tax-paying people.

Zaccheus was a normal tax-gatherer: dishonest and wealthy. Let’s read his story:

And He [Jesus] entered and was passing through Jericho. And behold, there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; and he was a chief tax-gatherer, and he was rich. And he was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. And he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.

And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down, and received Him gladly.

And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” [Of course, none of those grumblers ever acted in their own self-interest, did they?] And Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”

And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:1-10).

We know that Zaccheus repented. His actions made it evident. Jesus must have been convinced because He said that salvation had come to the tax-collector’s house that day-the day he repented.

If we truly repent, we must stop taking selfish advantage of other people. It’s one thing to make money by charging reasonable fees for quality goods and services but another thing to make money by ripping people off.

So if you want to meet the first requirement to be saved from God’s wrath, then repent. Any and all acts of selfishness of which you are conscious should immediately be stopped. Pray and ask God’s forgiveness for a life of selfishness. And if tears come, let them come.

Repentance doesn’t make you worthy-it doesn’t earn your salvation-only Jesus’ sacrificial death saves us. More than anything else, repentance proves that you are also meeting the second requirement, and that is to believe the gospel.

Repentance and faith go hand-in-hand. You really can’t have one without the other. Just as Jesus Himself said, “Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15; emphasis added).

What is the Gospel?

The word “gospel” means “good news.” That is what we must believe.

What is the good news? That Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, has died on the cross, suffered as payment for our sins, averted the wrath of God that we deserved, and has risen from the dead to live forever.

If you have repented and truly believed that good news, you are saved. You will not go to hell. You are guaranteed a place in heaven, forever! Now that’s something to get excited about! (Incidentally, the angels in heaven do get excited about it; see Luke 15:1-10).

Let’s look at a few scriptures that tell us that faith in the gospel is an absolute requirement for salvation. First, let’s read probably the most well-known verse in the entire Bible, John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (emphasis added).

This, of course, means more than just believing that Jesus was a historical person who walked on the earth 2,000 years ago. To believe in Him means to believe everything that God has revealed about Him. We must believe in who He is and what He has accomplished.

Fundamentally and first, we must believe that Jesus is the Son of God. If Jesus isn’t God’s Son, then He was sin-stained like everyone else and, therefore, wasn’t qualified to be our substitute. A man on death-row could never offer his life to pay the penalty for another inmate on death-row because he owes his own life. Only One who is sinless could be our rightful substitute.

In the book of Acts, Philip the evangelist wouldn’t baptize an Ethiopian eunuch until he confessed his faith that Jesus Christ was the Son of God:

And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water…and he baptized him (Acts 8:35-38; emphasis added).

Of course, it’s one thing to say you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and another thing to actually believe it. Many people have said that they believe Jesus is the Son of God, but it’s obvious that they really don’t because they don’t act like it.

If I really believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then I will be interested in learning what Jesus has said. I will realize that He has a right to tell me how to live my life, and I will want to obey Him.

Once a person truly believes that Jesus is the Son of God, he’ll repent. As I’ve already stated, repentance and faith go hand-in-hand. If you truly believe, you will repent. Your actions will prove your faith.

Not only must we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but we must also believe that He died for our sins. It was His death that makes our salvation possible. As the apostle Paul stated:

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved….For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures… (1 Corinthians 15:1-3; emphasis added).

Again, if we believe that Jesus died in our place, we will naturally want to repent of our selfishness. We won’t desire to live for ourselves any longer; we’ll want to live for Jesus:

He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf (2 Corinthians 5:14-15; emphasis added).

Finally, as the above scripture also states, we must believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection is the ultimate proof that the penalty for our sins has been paid in full and that God’s wrath has been turned away for all those who will believe in Jesus.

Furthermore, Jesus’ resurrection proves that we, too, will live after we’ve died. Those who truly believe in Jesus are joined together as one with Him through the working of God. We’re in Christ. Now that Jesus is alive, we will live forever, too:

He who was delivered up because of our transgressions [sins], and was raised because of our justification [our sentence has been paid in full-now we have right-standing before God](Romans 4:25; emphasis added).

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ [those Christians who have died] have perished [in hell]….But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep (1 Corinthians 15:17-20; emphasis added).

Do you truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for your sins? Do you believe that Jesus’ death fully averted the wrath of God that you deserved? Do you believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead?

Good! Your sins have all been forgiven; your guilt is wiped away; and you don’t have to worry about facing the wrath of God you deserve! And you have a wonderful future to look forward to!

Can I be Certain I Will Go to Heaven?

So many people have never realized that it is possible to know for certain, while here on earth, that they will go to heaven when they die. When we repent and believe the gospel, we immediately have that assurance, as the apostle John expressed:

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13; emphasis added).

The reason so many people don’t think it’s possible to have the assurance of eternal life is because they think their good deeds save them. Too many people are just hoping that they’ve done enough good things and not too many bad things, so they won’t go to hell but to heaven.

The truth is, no one is good enough to get into heaven-it’s impossible to earn that privilege, as I’m sure you’ve come to realize after reading the first six chapters of this book.

The Bible is crystal clear on this fact: good works can’t save us. Only our faith can guarantee salvation. Our salvation is a free gift from God because of His love, grace and mercy. Here are a few of the many scriptures that prove this point:

For by grace [undeserved favor] you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of [good] works, that no one should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9; emphasis added).

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy… (Titus 3:5a; emphasis added).

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified [made righteous before God] as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith (Romans 3:23-25; emphasis added).

If it were possible for us to be saved by our own good works, then there was no need for Jesus to have died. As the apostle Paul said, His death would have been a waste of time:

I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness [right standing with God] comes through [keeping] the Law, then Christ died needlessly (Galatians 2:21).

Religious or Righteous?

Possibly you’ve heard the story that Jesus told about the Pharisee and the publican. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were super-religious, and they lived by a strict code of man-made laws. The word publican is another word for tax-gatherer, which hopefully you remember was synonymous with the word swindler in Jesus’ day.

The story of the Pharisee and the publican perfectly illustrates that those who trust in their own good works will not be saved. But those who admit their sinfulness and come to God in faith, trusting in Jesus, will be saved:

And He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’

“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [made righteous with God] rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).

Notice the tax-gatherer prayed, “Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner!” Literally, the original Greek translation says, “Lord, be propitious to me…!” Do you remember what propitiate means? It means “to avert anger” or “to turn away wrath.”

God’s wrath cannot be withheld if He is to remain perfectly loving and perfectly just. So God’s wrath wasn’t withheld-but it was redirected at Jesus, our willing substitute. And that is how we escaped getting what we deserved. Our salvation is free to us but not to Jesus-it cost Him unimaginable suffering.

When a person attempts to save himself by his own good deeds, he is pridefully declaring that he doesn’t need Jesus because he can be his own savior. Furthermore, he is unconsciously voicing his opinion that Jesus was a fool since He endured such suffering for no good reason. Such a person also thinks the Creator must have been confused when He planned the culminating event of all history-the death of His only begotten Son on Calvary.

Without overstatement, the idea that we can save ourselves by our good deeds is the most damnable heresy ever invented, and stands in direct opposition to everything the Bible teaches, everything that true Christianity represents, and everything that the all-wise and all-loving God has planned for humanity.

A Sinner’s Prayer for Salvation

It would be best if you prayed to God from your own heart, using your own words, as you repent and declare your faith in Jesus. But if you are having a difficult time talking to God, here is a prayer you could use, as long as you pray it from your heart. Pray aloud:

Oh God, I admit that I am a guilty sinner who deserves to receive your just punishment. Thank you for warning me of the ultimate consequences of my sin so that I can avoid spending an eternity in hell. I’ve been selfish, but today I repent, and my change of actions will prove it. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died on the cross for my sins, that He has averted the wrath of God that I deserve, and that He rose again from the grave. He is Lord, and from now on He is my Lord, whom I will obey. I do not trust that any of my own good deeds will save me but that my salvation stems solely from what Jesus has done on the cross. From this day on, He is my Savior. Thank you for saving me! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I wonder if the drab caterpillar, as he spins his cocoon, understands what is about to happen to him. Does he labor instinctively, uncomprehending, or is he looking forward with excitement to becoming a new and improved creature? Is it because he envisions himself as a beautiful butterfly that he toils so hard? Of course, no one knows what the caterpillar might be thinking.

Regardless, the caterpillar is a prime example of God’s power to change something mundane into something exquisitely beautiful. Once limited to slowly crawling down one plant and up another, now the butterfly can fly to exotic destinations and do it in style. Once unnoticed and uncomplimented, he is now praised by onlookers for his delicate beauty as he flutters by. Once at risk of being squashed by uncaring children, now he has become their elusive prize. Once disdained, he now competes with flowers.

Is it possible for God to re-create a human being, change him from a guilt-ridden, sin-sick, selfish creature, into one who radiates love, who lives in harmony with his fellowman, who finds his greatest joy in serving others?

Not only is it possible, but God has already begun that process in you. Your metamorphosis is one that begins on the inside and manifests itself on the outside. Jesus unveiled the marvels of that potential human transformation in one of His conversations with a man named Nicodemus:

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Him by night, and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with Him.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:1-8).

Notice Jesus said that it is impossible to enter the kingdom of God without being born again. He went on to explain to Nicodemus that one is born again when he places his faith in Jesus and what He did on the cross (see John 3:14-16). If you have done that, then you, my dear reader, have been born again!

Jesus originally coined the term, born again, but, unfortunately, it has been worn out from overuse in our society. The pure meaning of the phrase has now become polluted as everyone talks about his “born-again experience”-whether it be because of finding a new wife or tasting a new breakfast cereal.

Jesus, however, was talking about a rebirth that is significant-no one can enter heaven unless they’ve experienced it. This rebirth is one that is spiritual. We who have believed in Jesus have literally experienced a spiritual rebirth. Let’s examine this truth.

The Hidden You

The Bible teaches that every person is more than just a body containing a brain, bones, and muscle. According to the Word of God, we are tripartite in nature-spirit, soul, and body. The apostle Paul made this clear in his benediction to the Christians of Thessalonica:

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23; emphasis added).

Obviously your body is what you can see in the mirror. Your soul is your mind, emotions, and intellect. But modern man has only faint visages of the human spirit, labeling it the “subconscious.” It remains largely hidden from human understanding. God’s Word, however, unveils exactly what the human spirit is.

Jesus said that God is spirit (see John 4:24). That doesn’t mean He is just an impersonal force or some nebulous cloud. Jesus said that God has a form (see John 5:37), and we have been created in His image. God, however, is not comprised of flesh and blood but of “spiritual material.” Of course, we can only comprehend that to a certain degree.

We, too, are spiritual beings and, just like God, our spirits have a shape or form. The Bible refers to the human spirit as “the inward man.” For example, the apostle Paul states:

Though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16; emphasis added).

So there is an outer man and an inner man. The outer man is the body, which is decaying or getting older, and the inner man is our spirit. Again, notice that the spirit is referred to as a man. The inner man is not getting any older because he is eternal. He will live forever, and is, therefore, as Paul says, being “renewed day by day.”

The apostle Peter refers to the spirit as “the hidden person of the heart” (1 Pet. 3:4). Again, the spirit is called a “person” who is hidden. Your spirit is a person. Your spirit is the real you. In one sense, your body is only a container in which your spirit is now living. When your body dies, your spirit lives on, traveling to one of two places: heaven or hell.

The Rebirth of the Spirit

When Jesus had His conversation with Nicodemus and told him that he needed to be born again, Nicodemus immediately thought of a physical rebirth: “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” (John 3:4)

Jesus cleared up Nicodemus’ thinking by saying that it isn’t a physical rebirth that is required for entrance into heaven but a spiritual rebirth: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).

When we repent and believe the gospel, it is our spirits that are reborn by the direct action of God’s Spirit. The amazing changes that take place at salvation are internal rather than external. But those inward changes will manifest themselves outwardly, just as Jesus went on to say: “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

Although the wind can’t be seen, it’s obvious when it arrives because leaves rustle and branches bend. The same is true of the rebirth of the human spirit. When a person is reborn, you can’t see with your physical eyes what has transpired in his invisible spirit. But you can see the evidence of it in his lifestyle. His life will begin to be characterized by supreme love for God and others.

In fact, that’s the reason one of those born-again people gave you this book! He or she loves you and is more concerned with your eternal destiny than with his or her own reputation.

One of the preeminent ways to determine if a person has been truly reborn by God’s Spirit is if he displays a concern for the eternal destiny of others. You probably have already sensed the urge to share what you have recently learned with those who don’t know it yet. But before you give this book away, make sure you finish the remaining chapters!

Being Born Into God’s Family

Amazingly, when our spirits are reborn by God’s Spirit, we actually become children of God Himself. Our spirits are literally born of God, and He becomes our Heavenly Father. There is no more wonderful truth than this!:

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus….See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are….Beloved, now we are children of God (Galatians 3:26, 1 John 3:1-2; emphasis added).

Furthermore, when we are born again, God’s Spirit comes to live inside us:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God…? (1 Corinthians 6:19).

God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is the third divine Person of the Trinity. Therefore, we can say that God Himself, by the Holy Spirit, has come to live in us! I know that sounds amazing, and it is! But we shouldn’t be surprised because Jesus Himself promised us:

“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world [those who are unsaved] cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you” (John 14:16-17; emphasis added).

Notice that the Holy Spirit is not an “it” but is referred to by using the personal pronoun Him. He is a person. He is God. And He lives in you. But this is only true for those who have placed their faith in Jesus. No one else has God’s Spirit living on the inside of them.

Naturally, if God comes to live inside you, then there is going to be a change in your life. If God is love, then it would be impossible for God to live inside you apart from His love. Therefore, we can say with assurance that God’s love has been deposited within your spirit. This concurs with Scripture:

The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:5).

So you see that if you’ve repented and believed in Jesus, God has done much more for you than simply forgiven your sins! He’s declared you righteous and treats you as if you’ve never sinned. In addition, He has caused you to be spiritually reborn so that you are now His child. God has given you His Holy Spirit so that He Himself lives within you and has deposited a new nature of unselfish love in your spirit! You belong to God and He belongs to you!

You know, I think this is the beginning of a wonderful relationship!

“Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I’m so glad you’ve read this far, because your life is about to be dramatically changed. In fact, your eternal destiny is going to be set on a different course.

Let’s sum up what we’ve learned to this point.

First of all, God exists. That is obvious from looking at all He has created.

Second, God is powerful, great, intelligent, wise, loving and moral. That, too, is obvious from looking at creation.

Third, all of us know that selfishness is wrong because we are all born with a God-given conscience.

Fourth, all of us stand self-condemned before God because of our own judgments of others. We’ve criticized them for doing that of which we are just as guilty.

Finally, God is the personification of perfect love, and He must react when selfish acts are committed because He loves everyone equally. If He remained passive after witnessing injustice, then He could rightly be accused of loving the offender more than the offended. God, therefore, must punish those who act selfishly.

A lot of people have the idea that a loving God would never punish anyone, but you must see that just the opposite is true: A loving God must punish selfish acts.

Let’s imagine that you are the parent of two children. One of your children is very good, and one is very bad. The bad one is always hurting the good one. In fact, the good one has bruises and open wounds all over his body.

You love both of your children, but does that mean you would never punish the bad child for striking the good one? Of course not! If you don’t discipline the bad child, the neighbors will say, “The guy next door is a terrible parent. He must not love his child at all.” Isn’t that right? They’d accuse you of not being a loving parent! If you love the child that is being picked on, you’ll discipline the selfish one. (And you’ll punish the bad child because you love him, too, and don’t want him to grow up to be a bully.)

God is no different, except that His love for us far transcends the love that any parent feels for his or her child. How much more, therefore, must God punish those who act selfishly! If you believe that God is loving, then you have no choice but to believe also that He will punish those who are selfish. If He doesn’t punish the disobedient, He isn’t loving at all.

Payday is Coming

God’s wrath upon evil is another one of those “self-evident truths.” He’s created a system that delivers automatic wrath upon those who act solely in their own self-interest, regardless of how others suffer. Everybody knows that.

Most drama that has ever been produced for television, the movie theater, or the stage, communicates a fundamental theme of good versus evil. Everybody hopes that the good guys will win and the bad guys will “get what they deserve,” which they usually do.

In real life, not every conflict is resolved in one hour, nor are evil acts brought to immediate justice, but payday does come. Those who live by the sword die by the sword. What you sow, you reap. What goes around, comes around.

It’s built into the system-selfish people suffer for their selfishness. Sure, some people seemingly “beat the system.” They continue on their self-centered path for years. But ultimately, they fall prey to their own devices.

Take the adulterer once more. He has cheated on his wife. He’s acted selfishly. What does he suffer? First of all, he automatically suffers a guilty conscience. That conscience was given to him by God. His conscience is part of the built-in system that makes God’s punishment of selfishness self-evident.

Can you see it? People don’t say, “I’m enjoying life so much because of my guilty conscience.” No, they say, “I’m suffering with a guilty conscience.” Their suffering is an indication of the built-in system God has designed to punish selfishness.

The selfish man who has cheated on his wife may also destroy his marriage and lose his children. Not only that, it may cost him financially over the years as he pays alimony and child support. He will suffer the loss of respect from his peers and other family members as well. Can you see that those consequences are all part of the built-in system?

Guilty Moose?

Think about this: God didn’t have to create us as He did-in His image. We could have been created to procreate without marriage like the moose-with the strongest bull winning the sole privilege to mate with all the females. I know that sounds absurd, but not to a moose! That’s the only way he knows to relate when mating time comes around. He doesn’t worry about what will happen if he mates with ten females in one season. And why not? Because he isn’t created in God’s image.

All moose aren’t created equal. Survival of the fittest rules their domain. When a bull moose mates with a female that another moose mated with last year, he doesn’t have to fear what the adulterous human must fear. The reason? Because that is how God designed it. Do you see it? Punishment is built into the human society but not the moose society.

The adulterer also runs the risk of contracting syphilis, gonorrhea, or AIDS. Do you think the bull moose with multiple partners worries about those terrible things? Of course not. Why? Because that is how God has designed it.

People who say they don’t believe a loving God would punish sin need to open their eyes to reality. Sin is being punished every day. It’s built right into the system. Even medical science now tells us that the selfish emotions-such as hatred, bitterness, and jealousy-make our bodies more susceptible to disease. This is more evidence of the fact that God is judging and will judge all sin.

The Bible, in even stronger terms than I’ve used, asserts this self-evident truth:

For the wrath of God is revealed… (Romans 1:18a; emphasis added).

Notice it said “is revealed,” not “is going to be revealed.” Yes, God’s wrath is going to be revealed, but the apostle Paul’s point in this passage is that God’s wrath is being revealed right now. Let’s keep reading:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them….but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened…

…For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error (Romans 1:18-19, 21b, 26-27; emphasis added).

You don’t need to read the Bible to know that homosexuality is wrong. All you need is a basic understanding of human anatomy, and you can easily figure out that males aren’t meant to have sex with other males. That is self-evident.

Still, men and women in their rebellion toward God will disobey His self-evident laws and ultimately suffer the built-in consequences of their actions. This ought to be especially obvious to our modern world that has been plagued by the AIDS epidemic.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not self-righteously condemning homosexuals because I, too, have rebelled against God’s self-evident laws. I, just like you, have disobeyed my conscience, committing many acts of selfishness. And like you, I’ve suffered the built-in consequences for my sin.

What Does This Mean for You and Me?

It is obvious for several reasons that God is holy and that He punishes selfishness. What are those reasons?

First, because He must punish selfishness if He is a God of love, which He is.

Second, because we can see God’s built-in system of punishment-it’s part of the structure of our reality.

And third, because the Bible confirms what our reality teaches us: God is just and holy, and He does and will punish all sin. In fact, the Bible has more references to God’s anger, fury, and wrath than statements about His love.

What does that mean for you and me? It means that if we have committed any act of selfishness, we must be punished. To what degree must we be punished? Are the built-in punishments that are part of our everyday reality sufficient recompense for our selfish acts?

First of all, we must take into consideration whom we have offended. We have offended the Creator of all things, the One who is before all time, the all-powerful and all-knowing God.

Second, we must take into consideration the terrible nature of our sin. Few of us fully understand how hideous selfishness really is. In God’s eyes it is the ugliest, most vile thing there is. It proudly seeks its own well-being, vainly climbing higher while it uses people who are created in God’s image as stepping-stones. It is opposed to God’s very nature because, as the Bible states, He is unselfish love (see 1 John 4:8).

Third, we must consider how much God loves the ones against whom we’ve acted selfishly. More than we can understand, God loves those people whom we’ve used or neglected or judged or hurt. If God let us off easy, then we could conclude He must not really love the people who have suffered because of us.

Fourth, we must take into consideration that God is the epitome of perfect morality and perfect justice. The moral Judge of the universe must deliver the full recompense of His broken law, otherwise He is not a righteous Judge.

What does the Bible say concerning we who have passed judgment upon others while at the same time leading lives characterized by selfish ambition? Again, please read for yourself:

Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. And do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment upon those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? [Now Paul is writing about God’s future judgment.] Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil… (Romans 2:1-9; emphasis added).

When the apostle Paul writes about future tribulation and distress, it’s obvious he means what the Bible calls hell.

Hell Described

It seems that fewer preachers are mentioning hell any more, but Jesus can never be classed with them. Because He loved His listeners and didn’t want them to spend eternity there, Jesus warned them of hell quite frequently.

In the Gospel of Matthew alone, I’ve counted thirty-eight direct or indirect references to God’s future judgment and hell.1 Let me share a few with you. In Matthew 18:8-9, Jesus said,

“And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell” (emphasis added).

Is it really Jesus’ intention that we cut off our hands and pluck out our eyes if they’ve caused us to sin? If everyone took this command literally, we’d all be blind, lame, and crippled! No, Jesus was using a figure of speech we call hyperbole, that is, exaggeration for effect.

When you tell your child, “I must have called you a thousand times before you finally answered me!” that is a hyperbole. You use a hyperbole when you want to make a strong point.

Jesus had a particularly strong point that He was trying to make, and that is, “Hell is such a terrible place, it would be worth cutting off your hands and feet and plucking out your eyes to stay out of it.” That tells me hell must be a very horrible place.

Notice that twice in the above-quoted verses, Jesus described hell as a place of fire. One time He referred to it as an eternal fire. In the Greek language, in which the New Testament was originally written, the word translated hell is the word “gehenna.” All of Jesus’ listeners knew exactly what He was talking about when He used that word.

Gehenna was the name for the gigantic heap of garbage in the valley of Hinnom that was just outside the gates of Jerusalem. The constant dumping of Jerusalem’s garbage there fed perpetually burning fires. The rotting refuse and rancid smoke were nauseating, and what the flames didn’t consume, maggots and worms fed upon. According to Mark’s Gospel account, Jesus went on to mention those worms:

“And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:43-44; emphasis added).

Jesus loves us, which is why He is so strongly warning us of the ultimate recompense for our sin. Hell is a place of eternal, unquenchable fire. The people who end up there will be punished eternally, just as Jesus also said:

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels’….And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:41, 46; emphasis added).

On another occasion, Jesus described further miseries that the unsaved will perpetually suffer:

“So it will be at the end of the age; the angels shall come forth, and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:49-50; emphasis added).

Some may object, saying, “I don’t believe God would punish anyone eternally!”

Those who make such a statement don’t understand Who it is they have offended-the God of the universe.

Neither do they fully comprehend the terrible nature of their lifelong selfishness.

Neither do they realize how much God loves the people against whom they’ve committed selfish acts.

Neither do they understand God’s perfect morality or justice.

Neither do they take into account the incredible mercy that God has shown them all their lives as He has patiently waited for them to repent of their selfish ways.

Neither do they consider how God has repeatedly warned them of their terrible fate through the built-in punishments they have experienced for their selfish acts-namely, a tormenting conscience and all the negative repercussions that result from sin.

Hell on Earth

The temporal suffering that we undergo only serves to warn us of the eternal suffering we will undergo if we continue our selfish lifestyle.

People who say, “I think that this life is all the hell there is,” are at least partially correct. The same God who built temporal punishments into the structure of our reality is the same God who will cast the unrighteous into hell. When we suffer for our sins on earth, we are experiencing a little bit of what hell is all about.

Finally, it really doesn’t make any difference what anyone thinks. All that matters is what God has said. If God says there is an eternal hell where people will suffer eternally, then that’s how it is. It makes no difference what anybody thinks, and no one has any right to judge God.

As God Himself said through the prophet Isaiah:

“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker-an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?'” (Isaiah 45:9).

Most importantly, the person who says he thinks that God would never send anyone to an eternal hell has failed to take something else into account: that God has provided a way whereby every person can escape the punishment he deserves.

In fact, the price for the provision of that potential escape has been paid by God Himself-who endured incredible suffering in order that mercy might be shown to us.

That is what the next chapter is all about. That is the chapter for which I’ve been preparing you. Hopefully by now, you are more than ready to respond to the best news any ear has ever heard!

“For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Romans 11:32-33).

Endnote

1. See Matthew 3:7, 3:10-12, 5:20, 5:22, 5:29, 7:1-2, 7:13-14, 7:19, 7:21-23, 7:26-27, 8:12, 10:15, 10:28, 10:33, 11:22, 11:24, 12:32, 12:36-37, 12:41-42, 13:30, 13:41-42, 13:49-50, 15:13-14, 18:6-9, 18:34-35, 21:41-44, 22:7, 22:11-13, 23:13-15, 23:33, 24:21-31, 24:37-42, 24:48-51, 25:11-13, 25:30, 25:41, 25:46, 26:24

Have you ever seen the classic movie, The Ten Commandments, directed by the legendary Cecil B. DeMille? Even if you’re among the few
who have somehow missed seeing it, more than likely you’re familiar with
the story of Moses and the exodus of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. Remember
the various plagues-frogs, locusts, hailstones, and so on-that came upon Egypt?
Through ten terrible disasters God eventually convinced Pharaoh it was in his
best interest to release all his Israelite slaves.

I always liked the scene in the movie when Moses held up his staff, and God
split the Red Sea so the Israelites could journey across on dry ground. Today,
however, as I reminisce of watching that movie as a child, I realize that I
missed the most important aspect of the story of Israel’s exodus. The drama
contains the secret of God’s plan for humanity. Let me share it with you.

The Fairness of God’s Judgment

The book of Exodus begins with the report of Pharaoh’s savage plan to reduce
Israel’s growing population through infanticide. Fearing that Israel would
become mightier than Egypt, Pharaoh decreed that every newborn Israeli boy was
to be cast alive into the Nile River.

Into such tragic times, Moses was born. You may remember how his mother’s
floating basket made it possible for him to be rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter.

About eighty years later, God captured Moses’ attention through a burning
bush and called him to the task of leading the Israelites from Egypt to the
promised land. There was only one problem: Pharaoh didn’t want to free
his cheap foreign labor force.

Consequently God sent increasingly severe plagues upon Egypt, culminating in
the midnight death of all the first-born sons of every Egyptian. Finally, that
night Pharaoh and the Egyptians decided to allow the people of Israel to depart
from their country.

Some people, who have never thought about it deeply, have questioned the fairness
of God’s judgment upon the Egyptians. They ask, “What was so special
about the Israelites that God favored them above the Egyptians?”

But the answer isn’t so difficult: God was acting in perfect love, and,
therefore, perfect justice. The Egyptians had selfishly mistreated the Israelites
for decades, using people who were created in God’s image as their slaves.
They had also enforced a barbarous system of infanticide that must have brought
untold suffering to the families of Israel. The loving God could not remain
passive.

What did the ancient Egyptians deserve? They deserved to die. People who kill
other people’s babies deserve to die. Still, God showed them mercy for
years, giving them time to repent. Finally He had to act. Love and justice
demanded it.

God sent Moses to demand Israel’s release. When Pharaoh refused, and, in
fact, actually increased Israel’s labors, God sent the first plague-the
waters of Egypt turned into blood. Incredibly, Pharaoh hardened his heart, and
God sent a second, and then a third, and then a fourth increasingly severe plague.

After each plague was lifted, Pharaoh repeatedly hardened his heart, and finally
the last judgment arrived: all the first-born sons of Egypt died in one night.

All of God’s Judgments Contain Mercy

Too many people only see God’s judgments in this story. But can you see
the incredible mercy of God? Pharaoh could have averted God’s final judgment
if he had heeded the warning of God’s initial, more minor judgments. But
he didn’t.

I think we’d all agree that Pharaoh and the people of Egypt deserved even
worse punishment than they received. In fact, there isn’t any doubt that
if the death of their first-born sons hadn’t convinced them to release
the Israelite slaves, God would have sent a more severe judgment. Ultimately,
they would have received what they really deserved: complete annihilation.

Was it fair that all the first-born sons of Egypt died? Yes, the Egyptians were
only reaping what they’d sown. Still, they got far less than they deserved.

Every score that is not settled in this life is settled in the next one.
In fact, the partial settling of the scores in this life serves to warn us of
that very fact because God is perfectly just. As the Bible states, God “will render to every man according to his deeds” (Romans 2:6). Of
that you can be certain.

No one, and I mean no one, has a right to complain that God has treated him
unfairly. Not only has God not treated us unfairly, but He has treated us very mercifully.

It’s not that we have received what we haven’t deserved,
but rather, that we haven’t received what we have deserved.
All of us have been shown much more mercy than we’ve ever deserved-just
like the people of ancient Egypt.

When a suffering person says, “What have I done to deserve this?”
he is revealing his inherent pride. He should be asking, “Why have I gotten
off so easily?”

When the water turned to blood in Egypt, no Egyptian could justifiably say, “What have we done to deserve this?” Only two questions would have
been justifiable in God’s ears: “Why has God been so good to delay
this present judgment for so many years?” and “Why is it that now,
when God’s judgment has fallen, we haven’t received the fullness of
what we really deserve?”

The Egyptians should have been on their knees confessing, “We’ve been
so selfish, but we thank God for all the mercy He has shown us for so many years.
And we appreciate His warning us of eternal judgment by means of this present
judgment. Now we know that if we don’t repent, we will ultimately get everything we deserve.”

No one, ever, has any right to be angry with God.

Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

During one of His teachings, Jesus mentioned two contemporary tragedies that
clearly present, from God’s standpoint, what our attitude toward suffering
should be-especially when it seems unjust:

Now on the same occasion there were some present who
reported to Him [Jesus] about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled
with their sacrifices. And He answered and said to them, “Do you suppose
that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans, because
they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all
likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in
Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in
Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5).

Jesus indicated that those who died in the two tragedies He mentioned were sinners,
but no greater sinners than anyone else. The sinners who died received what they
deserved. The sinners who were still alive hadn’t yet received what they
deserved. They were mercifully being given time to repent. And if they didn’t
repent, they, too, would get what they deserved.

Jesus’ listeners, just like people today, were asking the wrong question.
Rather than asking, “I wonder what those men did to deserve to die?” they should have been asking, “I wonder why I’m still alive?”

If we will be honest and view ourselves as God does, then the proper question
we should all be asking is: “Why have I not suffered more for my selfishness?” Actually, an even more appropriate question would be, “Why am I not burning
in hell right now?”

The answer, of course, is that God has shown all of us undeserved mercy. When
we question God’s fairness, our pride is unmasked. We think we deserve better
treatment, and surely God must groan.

Why do bad things happen to good people? That question contains a faulty assumption.
We ought to be wondering, “Why does anything good happen to anyone?” According to Jesus, no one is good except God alone (see Mark 10:18). Since
none of us are good, we all deserve only bad.

Jesus continued His lesson on God’s undeserved mercy:

And He began telling this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree which
had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, and did
not find any. And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years
I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down!
Why does it even use up the ground?’ And he answered and said to him, ‘Let
it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;
and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down'” (Luke
13:6-9).

Here is a perfect picture of the justice and mercy of God. The fruitless fig tree
deserved to be cut down-yet it was shown mercy for one more year-in the hope that
it would bear fruit. If it bore no fruit in the fourth year, it would be cut down.
When that time arrived, the question wouldn’t be, “Why is it being cut
down?” but “Why wasn’t it cut down last year?”

Israel’s Undeserved Mercy

How about the people of Israel? Did they deserve, because of their holiness and
purity, to be released from Egyptian bondage? No, the Israelites were no doubt
selfish in their dealings with others. They certainly weren’t as cruel as
the Egyptians, but neither did they lead lives of self-sacrificing service to
one another. We know for certain that Moses once attempted to stop a fight between
two Israelites (see Exodus 2:13). Furthermore, a certain Jewish tradition states
that the reason God permitted Israel to become enslaved to Egypt was because of
their sins. Beyond that, numerous times after their deliverance from Egypt, the
people of Israel displayed traits of selfishness and greed (see Numbers 11:4,
31-34, 12:1-10, 14:1-4, 16:1-3).

So why did God free them? Was their suffering over the years-the death of their
little babies, the hardships of their labor-sufficient payment for their sins?
Had they received everything they deserved? Was God obligated to release them
because their accounts with Him were all settled?

Emphatically no.

And if God made anything clear on the night of the exodus, He made it clear to
Israel that they, too, were receiving undeserved mercy.

On the very day before the midnight exodus, God decreed that each Israelite family
was to take a one-year-old lamb and kill it at twilight. Then they were to take
some of the blood from their lamb and smear it on the doorposts and lintels of
their houses, because He was going to pass through Egypt and kill all their first-born
sons. However, when He saw the blood on the Israelites’ doorposts, He promised
to pass over them. Thus, they would escape His judgment.

This, of course, was the first Jewish Feast of Passover. Christians celebrate
Easter at the same time of year, and rightfully so, as we will soon see.

What was the significance of the Passover ceremony? First, we note that God commanded
each family to slit the throat of a one-year-old lamb-all white and fluffy
and the picture of innocence-not a full-grown sheep.

It sounds a little barbaric, especially to those of us who are only familiar with
buying a leg of lamb at the grocery store. As we’re enjoying our meal, we’d
rather not think about how that cute little lamb had to be slaughtered before
it was cooked.

Why would God command such a thing? If something had to be killed, why not an
old ground hog or a worn-out pig? Why an innocent little lamb?

God was teaching Israel the principle of representative substitution, that
is, the innocent dying for the sins of the guilty. The lamb was chosen because
it exemplified innocence. It was killed because it was receiving what each
Israelite deserved-death. And the blood that was smeared on the doorposts protected
those within the house from the due wrath of God, obliging it to “pass over.” The blood indicated that justice had already been executed on behalf of those
inside.

The Perfect Sacrifice

How could the death of a lamb justly pay for the sins of a human being? The answer
is that it couldn’t. In fact, the New Testament teaches that it is
impossible for the blood of animals to take away sins (see Hebrews 10:4).

Those little lambs only served to represent the Perfect Sacrifice that
would one day completely satisfy the claims of divine justice on behalf of all
people.

That Perfect Sacrifice couldn’t be an animal, but a human being. Only a human
being’s death could justly recompense for a human being’s sins.

Yet that person would have to be more than just a human being, because the death
of one human could justly pay to redeem only one other human. The Perfect Sacrifice
would have to be someone who was of much greater value than all human beings combined
in order to provide atonement for them all.

That person had to be sinless, perfectly innocent, without selfishness. A sin-stained
person could never atone for the sins of others because he himself would be a
debtor to God.

That person who would be the Perfect Sacrifice could only be God in the form of
a human being.

That person was Jesus Christ.

It was Jesus whom the angel announced to Joseph would “save His people from
their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

It was Jesus whom John the Baptist introduced as “the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

It was Jesus whom the apostle Paul declared was “our Passover” (1 Corinthians
5:7).

It was Jesus who willfully walked to Jerusalem and who was crucified during
the Passover Feast there in A.D. 32.

That event was the culmination of God’s foreordained plan to provide a means
whereby self-condemned men and women could escape the due wrath of God. On that
day divine justice was executed upon a willing sinless substitute. Now undeserving
sinners could justly be offered eternal mercy from God.

It was Jesus’ death on the cross that fulfilled what every Passover lamb’s
death for over a thousand years only foreshadowed: the ransom price for our deliverance
from God’s wrath had been paid in full.

When Jesus cried out from the cross with His last breath, “It is finished!,” our salvation was purchased, once and for all. This is the central theme of the
Bible.

Turning Away God’s Wrath

Too many have thought the purpose for Jesus’ coming was to “show us
how to live.” Others think His death was just another unfortunate case of
a good person being martyred for a worthy cause. Certainly Jesus did teach us
how to live, and yes, He died for a worthy cause. But the foremost reason Jesus
came to earth was to give His life as payment for our sins.

Jesus was born to die.

He knew it and proclaimed it:

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Jesus-Mark
10:45; emphasis added).

This was God’s foreordained plan. Seven hundred years before Jesus was born
in Bethlehem, the prophet Isaiah predicted His arrival and the purpose for His
coming:

But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon
Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity
of us all to fall on Him….[He] will justify the many, as He will bear
their iniquities (Isaiah 53:5-6, 11b; emphasis added).

The apostle Paul wrote that Jesus’ sacrificial death as our substitute is
the most important spiritual truth of the Christian faith:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures… (1 Corinthians
15:3; emphasis added).

One biblical term used to describe Jesus’ work on the cross is propitiation.
It means “to turn away wrath.” The apostle John explained that God’s
love was preeminently demonstrated through the propitiatory work of His
Son:

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that
God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through
Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His
Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:9-10; emphasis added).

The principle benefit that Jesus’ sacrifice makes available to us is the
turning away of God’s wrath (see Romans 5:9). That in turn, makes available
a multitude of other blessings to every person who receives the reconciliation
God has made possible.

Does Jesus’ sacrificial death automatically guarantee that every person will
escape hell and live forever in heaven? No, every person must meet certain requirements
if he is to experience what Christ made possible.

Notice the scripture below states that even though Jesus’ death has provided
our reconciliation with God, we have a responsibility to receive that reconciliation:

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man
someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having
now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through
Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death
of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation (Romans 5:6-11; emphasis
added).

How do we receive the reconciliation that has been provided? In the next chapter
I’ll answer that question, as we examine what God requires of every one of
us.

The Demonstration of the Cross

In Jesus’ death on the cross, we see God’s holiness, justice and love
perfectly blended into one event. God’s love was demonstrated in that Jesus
died in our stead, so we wouldn’t suffer our due punishment.

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life
for his friends” (John 15:13). How could God have demonstrated greater love?

God’s justice was demonstrated in that He didn’t pardon us without punishment.
If He would have, He could be rightly accused of injustice, and, therefore, imperfect
in love and immoral. So God meted out the due penalty-His wrath fell to the just
degree-but upon a Sinless Substitute, who willingly went to the cross for us.

But how did God’s wrath fall upon our Substitute?

First of all, God’s wrath fell upon Jesus in the agony of scourging and crucifixion.

As blood streamed down His face from the puncture wounds of a crown of thorns
pressed into His head, the flesh of Jesus’ back was lacerated to shreds by
the Roman cat-o´-nine-tails. Each leather strand of that whip was tipped
with pieces of metal and sharp bones that imbedded themselves and tore without
mercy. They each ripped into Jesus’ back thirty-nine times. History
records that weaker men died from suffering the same trauma. But that was just
the beginning of Jesus’ sufferings.

Jesus was then forced to carry His own cross upon His bleeding back until He dropped
to His knees from exhaustion. At the crucifixion site, the executioners stripped
Him naked and stretched out His arms that were already splattered with blood.
With cruel precision they hammered heavy nails through His wrists and both of
His feet.

Finally the cross upon which He was impaled was lifted up and dropped into a supporting
hole that would keep it standing upright.

In crucifixion, all of the victim’s weight rested on the place where the
nail went through his feet and where the nails went through his wrists. The pain,
of course, was excruciating. Breathing became a constant struggle. If the condemned
wanted a breath, he’d have to push up on the nail through his feet in order
to relax the tremendous cramping pressure his body weight placed upon his lungs.

It would have been even worse for one whose back was lacerated from scourging.
The cross would have scraped the already gapping wounds as the victim pushed up
for a breath and, then, collapsing in agony, slid back down the cross, once more
hanging from his hands.

Most who were crucified died of asphyxiation, since they were eventually unable
to muster the strength to push up and get one more breath. That is the reason
the Roman soldiers eventually broke the legs of the two thieves who were crucified
on either side of Jesus. It accelerated their deaths.

Jesus had been so abused beforehand that there was no need to break His legs-He
was dead after only a few hours on the cross.

Forsaken For You

The torture of the crucifixion is almost too horrible to imagine, but Jesus suffered
infinitely more and in a way that is inconceivable to our human minds.

In an inexplicable way, God’s wrath fell upon Jesus and inflicted much greater
pain and suffering than the physical torment of the cross. All the guilt of the
human race-for all of the hatred, the lust, the envy, the pride, the selfishness-was
placed upon Jesus.

In dreadful anticipation of just that, Jesus had fallen on His face and fervently
prayed that if it were possible, to let the cup pass from Him. But rather than
say “Amen,” He added, “Yet not My will, but Thine be done” (Luke 22:42).

We cannot begin to understand the agony Jesus experienced on the cross-as the
torments of an eternal hell were compressed into three hours and laid upon one
single man. He felt the intense loneliness, the hopelessness and despair, the
guilt, the regret, the horror, the raging thirst, of those who suffer the never-ending
torments of the damned.

Worst of all, He felt the panic of those who realize there is no hope for their
reconciliation with God, abandoned forever, cast into outer darkness. As the crushing
reality of being abandoned by His Father crescendoed within His consciousness,
Jesus gasped with horror,

“My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

His own Father had turned His back upon Him, pouring out His fury against the
sin of the world until His wrath was spent-and Jesus’ body hung limp on the
cross.

There hung the Lamb of God. Beaten, kicked, spit upon,
mocked, scourged, stripped, impaled, and covered with dirt, sweat and blood.

That is how much God hates selfishness. That is how just and righteous God is.
And that is how much God loves you.

Before the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, I spent some time traveling in Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. I listened to the stories of those who were imprisoned behind miles of barbed wire, machine guns, and land mines-the communist insurance policy that no one could escape their “utopian society” without paying with his life.

Many with whom I spoke were suffering persecution because of their faith. Most people had no choice but to stand for hours in food lines in the bitter cold, and almost all were afraid to speak against those in authority. I witnessed the poverty, the misery, and the hopelessness of people who never seemed to smile and lived where everything was cloudy and gray.

Yet, with disgust, I saw the perks of the privileged party members who lived in this supposed “classless society,” and I thought about the hypocrisy of it all. It seemed to me that the communist leaders who denounced the evils of capitalism were the worst capitalists of all-they exploited their own people for the sake of self-centered gain.

I’ve also done some traveling in Central America and discovered why some of the people, to my great surprise, are so open to the ideas of communism. The reason is because they are the victims of greedy capitalists, whose profits claimed a higher priority than the welfare of the impoverished people who made their profits possible-people who have no hope of escape from a system they are convinced is evil.

It dawned on me that the real evil isn’t inherent in either economic system. Communists supposedly want equality for all, and capitalists, in theory, want everyone to have an equal opportunity. Still, both systems inevitably create people who become rich at the expense of others. Both systems have brought out the worst of humanity’s greed and selfishness.

Capitalist pigs or communist hogs, it makes no difference-they’ll both push you into the mud to get their mouths in the slop. It’s not the economic theories that are inherently evil-it’s the people who use the systems to accomplish their selfish ends, regardless of who suffers in the process.

Democracies and Dictatorships

The same is true when we examine democracy and dictatorship. History teaches, as Lord Acton said, that “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Oh, how we Americans deplore the human rights violations of third-world dictators!

Democracy, however, doesn’t automatically create incorruptible leaders, as we who live in the United States all know. It seems we are constantly barraged with news reports concerning those in our government who have committed some breach of ethics. You can’t help but wonder, if you put those same people in a different country under a different political system, would they be erecting barbed wire fences along their borders?

Winston Churchill made the astute observation: “Democracy is the worst system ever invented, except for all the rest.” How true. And what is it that makes democracy the worst system, except for all the rest? (Or in other words, what makes it better?)

Democracy provides a system of checks and balances. These add some extra incentives for leaders to walk the straight and narrow path while providing a safeguard for the citizens when its leaders don’t. That’s why a democracy is superior to a dictatorship-we can oust those rascals before they do too much damage!

Both dictatorships and democracies, like communism and capitalism, unmask an inherent evil in people. Given an opportunity to take advantage of someone else, the average person will normally seize the opportunity-if he’s reasonably certain he won’t suffer any negative repercussions.

And don’t we just love talking about those dirty politicians and their dirty deeds? We certainly do. But when I call them “dirty politicians,” I’ve unmasked myself.

Stop for a moment and picture this scene: Imagine a thrice-convicted felon behind bars who denounces his fellow inmates as “lawbreakers.” What is your reaction? No doubt you immediately think to yourself, “Why, he has no right to denounce his fellow inmates as lawbreakers because he’s just as guilty.”

Now let’s go back to talking about those dirty politicians. Do I really have a right to condemn a politician for using his position for selfish ends? I don’t, unless I’ve never taken selfish advantage of another person or selfishly capitalized on a favorable circumstance. But I have. So when I condemn the dirty politician, I’m no different than the felon who denounces his fellow inmates as “lawbreakers.” It’s just one more case of the pot calling the kettle black.

“You Are the Man!”

Now don’t pretend to sit there with a halo over your head. You too, my dear reader, are just as guilty as I am of this universal sin. All of us have acted in our own self-interest at one time or another, and others have suffered because of it. Everyone of us is guilty, either more or less. And to add sin to our sin, we’ve self-righteously denounced others who’ve acted just as we have. And that makes us hypocrites.

This is precisely the pandemic sin of which the apostle Paul was speaking in the following verse:

Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things (Romans 2:1; emphasis added).

It is essential to grasp this important truth. When we point out the sins of others, we are openly testifying before the court of heaven that we know there is such a thing as right and wrong. Our own judgments of others provide incontestable evidence of our belief in a universal code of ethics, a standard of conduct which we ourselves have broken many times. Consequently, our own judgments of others are self-condemning.

Do you remember hearing the story in the Bible of the time King David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba? She got pregnant, so David arranged for her husband’s murder on the battlefield. It appeared that Uriah died because of the misfortunes of war, but his death had been prearranged by King David, his commander-in-chief, who then lawfully married Uriah’s grieving widow.

David’s devious plan seemed to go smoothly, until one day God sent a prophet named Nathan to visit him. Nathan asked King David for his judgment concerning a very rich man in his kingdom who had great flocks of sheep but who had taken the single lamb of a poor neighbor in order to set a meal before one of his guests. David was furious and righteously declared that the rich man should suffer death for his deed.

The prophet then pointed his finger at David and cried out, “You are the man!”

David’s story has universal application, because every time you and I condemn someone else, the Sovereign Spirit of Justice points His finger at us and cries out, “You are the man!”

As a wise person once rightfully said, “When you point your finger at someone else, take note that three of your own fingers are pointing straight back at you.”

The Root of the Problem

Do you feel convicted? You should. If you don’t, something is wrong.

Chances are, if you are like most of us, when you feel conviction for sin, you try to justify yourself. Perhaps you’re saying, “But I’ve never committed adultery or murder like David.” Maybe you haven’t. But there is one sin that is the root of all other sins, and that is selfishness. The root cause of David’s sins was selfishness; he was “looking out for number one.”

How does God feel about selfishness? Jesus said that the second greatest commandment is that we should love our neighbor as ourselves (see Matthew 22:36-40). The Bible says that the commandment to love unselfishly sums up all the commandments of the Old Testament:

He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:8-10).

People commit adultery, murder, steal and covet as a result of their selfishness. God hates selfishness because He is unselfish love personified, and, therefore, doesn’t love one person more than any other. When an act of selfishness is committed, injustice takes place. And when we commit any act of selfishness, we’re guilty of the same sinful motivation as the adulterer or murderer.

Jesus wholeheartedly endorsed this truth in His famous “Sermon on the Mount.” His listeners then weren’t any different than you or I. Maybe we haven’t committed murder. Maybe we haven’t committed adultery. But listen to what the Son of God said:

“You have heard that the ancients [ancestors] were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’

“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca’ [or, empty-head], shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell” (Matthew 5:21-22; emphasis added).

I didn’t say that-Jesus did. And according to Him, a person isn’t guiltless just because he’s never committed murder. The same hate that condemns the murderer to hell also condemns the angry man. Both are selfish. Jesus didn’t stop there:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28; emphasis added).

The same selfishness that commits adultery is the same selfishness that lusts.

Throwing the First Stone

Perhaps you know the New Testament story of the woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees had caught her in the very act, and then brought her before Jesus in order to trap Him. They reminded Jesus that the law of Moses commanded such a woman be stoned to death.

Jesus’ profound reply was simply the restatement of a principle that all of us know to be true: No one has a right to condemn another when he himself is guilty. Jesus said it like this: “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7).

After He spoke, Jesus knelt down and wrote in the dust. The Bible says that the woman’s accusers slowly began to depart, first the oldest ones and then the younger ones. What was it that Jesus wrote in the dust? I wonder, could it have been the names of the women in the Pharisees’ fantasies? Was it the names of their girlfriends?

Regardless, two things become evident in this incident.

First of all, adultery is sin. Once everyone was gone, Jesus told the woman, “Go and sin no more.”

Second, to condemn others is a sin. The self-righteous men who were holding the stones that day deserved to be stoned every bit as much as the woman they were about to execute. That is how it always is.

All of us are guilty of passing judgment upon others for doing what we have likewise done: acted in our own self-interest. All of us are like the off-duty policeman who speeds home after issuing speeding tickets all day to irate motorists.

Like it or not, we’re all members of the sinners club. And some who think they don’t belong are actually the highest-ranking officers-which is why Jesus so frequently denounced self-righteous people. (Incidentally, He is the only one who had the right to denounce hypocrites-because He was sinless.)

Are We Basically Good People With a Few Flaws?

If you’re like most people, you consider yourself to be basically a good person. (Polls tell us that eighty-six percent of Americans believe they’re going to heaven.) But that is only because they’re comparing themselves with their neighbors, and not with God’s standards. Jesus said, “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). He made it plain that people are not basically good, but basically evil.

Think about your particular code of conduct. Would you rob a bank at gunpoint? Probably not. But have you ever stolen something of lesser value? Have you ever cheated on your income tax, thus stealing from every American citizen? Have you knowingly accepted more change than your were entitled to at the grocery store, thus stealing a few coins? Have you ever taken a small tool or a paper clip from an employer? You see, you are a thief. The reason you don’t rob a bank is not because you are basically good or basically unselfish. Your small thefts prove otherwise. The reason you don’t rob a bank is because you are afraid you might get caught. You see, the “goodness” that you do display is really just another indication of your selfishness! If you could rob a bank with as little risk to your reputation and future freedom as you can steal a paper clip from your company, you would! But the same selfishness that motivates you to steal small things that no one will know about also motivates you to be “good” in big things.

The same is true of murder. Would you ever kill someone? “Of course not!” you declare. And why not? “Because I’m a good person, and only evil people commit murder!”

Let me ask you then, if you wouldn’t fire bullets into the back of someone you dislike, why do you fire insults behind the backs of those you dislike? Mainly because hatred won’t send you to jail, whereas murder might. And, as a murderer, your reputation would be ruined, yet you can still be accepted by your peers even when you constantly cast insults. You see, selfishness is what motivates insulters to refrain from murdering.

If murder is ever legalized, no one would be safe, and you know it. We can be certain of that, because murder has been legalized in our country, but only as long as the victim hasn’t been born. Are people basically good or basically selfish? The answer is obvious when millions of people pay to have their own children ripped to pieces or poisoned in their wombs.

God’s Point of View

You may be asking why I’m trying to make you feel so guilty. The answer is this: You must see the truth about your own sin in order to understand fully your need for a Savior.

I’m not going to leave you eternally guilty. In fact after two more chapters I’m going to tell you the best news that has ever been heard by a human ear. I’m leading up to God’s plan to offer you a free pardon-full forgiveness. But of absolute necessity, you must see yourself as a sinner who needs God’s pardon.

Some people are like the cowering adulteress-she knew she was guilty and was bracing herself to feel the first stone bruise her back. But most others are like the crowd that had gathered to condemn her, equally deserving of the punishment they hypocritically wanted to execute upon her.

Just as the apostle Paul said, they were self-condemned and without excuse.

Now picture the scene as God saw it: There stood a group of lustful men and adulterers preparing to stone an adulteress! What pure hypocrisy! But isn’t that a picture of the human race?

Gossipers gossip about their gossipy neighbors. Lazy workers (who steal time from their boss) complain about the extravagant salary of their CEO. Holier-than-thou types don’t go to church because “everyone there thinks he is holier-than-thou.” Lustful editors write about fallen evangelists. Citizens cheat on their taxes so as not to give more money to “the corrupt government.” Electors complain about the self-seeking politicians whom they elected to serve their own self-interests.

I recently read in the crime report of a local newspaper about three people who reported the theft of their radar detectors from their cars. They were angry because someone broke the law, stealing from them a device that helped them break the law!

All of us have acted selfishly, all of us have condemned and criticized others, and thus all of us are self-condemned before God. It’s not just the communists, greedy capitalists, dirty politicians, bank robbers and murderers.

We’re all guilt-carrying members of the sinners club. Membership has its consequences.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).