Part Nine: How Do We Respond to People Who Think They Are “Good Enough” to Enter Heaven on Their Own Merits?”
In last week’s blog article, we looked at witnessing scenarios that challenged us to decide whether to share the gospel or apply apologetics in evangelistic encounters. This week and next week we’ll examine the third evangelistic technique available when engaging the closed minded: law.
I will spend more time on law than gospel or apologetics because I suspect it should be used more often than most Christians realize. Indeed, this avenue of evangelism may become more and more necessary as our society continues to move in the direction of moral relativism and religious pluralism. This blog and next week’s blog will explain when and how to apply law. (I explained the difference between gospel, apologetics, and law in part six.)
The person to whom we should apply law believes in God. He knows who Jesus is and usually acknowledges that Jesus is the “Son of God”—although he may not be aware of exactly what that means. He is also somewhat familiar with basic Christian beliefs and accepts them as well—although, again, not understanding their full implications. In short, he identifies culturally with Christianity and believes the Bible is true. He believes he is a Christian and, as a result, is saved.
However, this person has never made a personal commitment to Christ. Perhaps he was reared in a Christian home, went to Sunday school as a child, and was taught to believe the Bible is true. Consequently, he believes in Jesus but does not have a relationship with Him.
It’s also possible that this person was discouraged—either by his parents, friends, or the values of society—from ever attending church. It’s not so much that he has deliberately ignored Christianity as it is that he knows little to nothing about it. Many of today’s young people, raised in a post-Christian culture, have not received the benefit of, or even a rudimentary education in, Christianity. Jesus is little more than a name seen now and then on a billboard.
In either case, these people assume they are saved because of the life they live. They think a Christian is someone who is basically good in God’s eyes. In other words, God will accept them in spite of their “little” sins. When questioned about this, they reply, “I don’t drink, steal, or cheat on my spouse. I pay my taxes and give to charity. I even go to church now and then and give to the offering. I’m a good person. I do the best I can. God will accept me into heaven.”
Many people today think of sin and God’s forgiveness in terms of relativism. They believe God will “grade” their lives according to their behavior. If they’ve only committed small sins, such as telling white lies or taking ink pens home from the office, they figure they will receive high enough grades (A’s or B’s) to go to heaven. Slightly bigger sins, such as cheating on their taxes or occasionally getting drunk, can still be balanced by good works. So although their lives may receive slightly lower grades (C’s or D’s), they still “make it” into heaven. Only by committing really “bad” sins—selling drugs to children, rape, murder, and other behaviors where people are hurt—does a person receive an F and deserve to be sent to hell. To put it simply, these people tend to compare themselves with other people; compared to murderers and rapists their sins don’t look so bad!
What do we say to people who think they are good enough to get into heaven because of the lives they live: law, gospel, or apologetics? Law. These people need to see that becoming a Christian is a personal commitment to Jesus, not something into which one is born or raised. Nor is salvation dependent on how good someone is. They need to see they are sinners in need of a Savior. They can never be good enough to earn salvation on their own. No one can stand before our holy God and claim they are worthy of heaven on their own merits.
Proclaiming Law is a four step process, and we’ll go over it step-by-step in next week’s blog article. ©