I get so frustrated with the Bible sometimes. It's such a complicated book. It seems like I can't read a chapter without at least one question coming up about something that doesn't seem to make sense or something that contradicts something else. Tonight I decided I would read Jesus' sermon on the mount. So I read it and, as always, something jumped out at me that doesn't really make sense. Unable to come up with a satisfying answer on my own, I thought I'd try to put this question up on the blog and let anybody who feels like it weigh in.
My question comes right after the Lord's prayer when Jesus says, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14-15). What I am wondering is this: Is Jesus putting another condition on salvation when he is saying this?
I noticed that when I was reading through the sermon on the mount, Jesus seems to be warning people that they need to watch what their actions are, or they may be in danger of hell.
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire" - Matthew 5:22
"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell." - Matthew 5:29
This is where it gets tricky for me because I have learned that it doesn't matter what we do, it matters that we accept and believe in Jesus. "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," as it says in Romans. So if I insult somebody, look lustfully at somebody, or even kill someone, I can still be saved by God's grace and forgiveness. But Jesus says that if I do these things, I will be "liable to the hell of fire." He doesn't say that "if you don't believe I am the Son of God you will be liable to the hell of fire." And it gets even more confusing when he says that if I don't forgive others for their trespasses, God won't forgive mine.
It's kind of like that old formula for becoming a Christian, the A, B, C's - Admit, Believe, and Confess. Does that mean it's Admit, Believe, Confess, and Forgive? Jesus did say I won't be forgiven if I don't forgive others. And if I'm not forgiven, how can I be saved? (By the way, I don't really believe that salvation is something that can be confined to an ABC formula - a three step process that gets you automatically a place in heaven. But that's another blog entirely.)
I guess it's just odd how the Bible actually treats the idea of "going to heaven." Like it sometimes is treated like a "how to get to heaven" book, but when I dive in the book it doesn't actually read that way. For instance, if I was someone who knew nothing about the Bible, but I wanted to make sure to get into heaven, I would be completely confused by it. Like I would open up to the first page and there is this poem about the creation of the world and a story of the fall of man, and then it goes into this guy Abraham who had a baby even though he was really old and his wife was barren. And then it follows the lives of his family. Finally, I would realize this wasn't what I was looking for, and I would flip through the book. Stories of slavery and wandering around in the desert, history, poems praising God, words of wisdom, writings of prophets, the story of Jesus, letters to different churches. I'm not saying that how to get to heaven is not in there, I'm just saying that it's really hard to find. And it seems like that is a very critical part of our faith, which is why this is so strange. You would think God would put it in there, highlight it, and make the ink glow on the page. Or that there would be a table of contents at the beginning that would say "For information on going to heaven, turn to page 1142." But that's not in there. Even the Romans road, which many Christians are taught to use to lead people to Christ, is several separate verses ripped out of the book of Romans and made into a formula of salvation. Not even Paul actually put them directly together, step by step.
Anyways, this has confused me lately. Is there more to salvation than simply believing and accepting? Can I go to heaven without forgiving others, even if I do believe? And why doesn't God make the way to heaven more obvious?
Any thoughts?
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4 comments:
you need to read the great divorce. as christians we are always on a journey. there is never a real destination until, from what i spose we believe, we die. essentially God is working through our hearts, not our actions. i believe it is an inward complete change that takes us where we want to be. i don't think it's just believing Jesus is who he says he was. i don't think the point is finding heaven. i think the point is finding God.
This is something that has always confused me too. Its obvious that we're all going to sin. Even the strongest Christians will still hold a grudge, insult somebody, lie, look at someone lustfully, etc. But I think in the long run its about the lifestyle of the person. I think that when a person truly does become a Christian there is a change in lifestyle. Yes, you are still a sinner, but you don't live your life making a habbit of doing these things like someone who is not a Christian would. I think thats more what Jesus was getting at. If a person lives their life constantly doing these things then they may have to question whether their heart is really in this whole Christian thing, or if they're just saying it as a way to be "saved". I don't think it works that way...I think it takes a lot more devotion and dedication. Like you said, I don't think that getting to Heaven is an ABC proccess. Maybe one day in 4th grade Vacation Bible School you admitted to God that your a sinner, said you believed in Him, and confessed but does that mean your a saved Christian for life? Probably not.
As Christians, we're supposed to stand out from the crowd not blend in. "Be in the world, but not of it." So I don't think that we're going to be cast into hell just because we have a hard time forgiving someone. I think that Jesus is talking about the broader picture. He's talking about how we live our life and where our heart truly is.
Sorry that was so long, but I think that was good point to bring up. And I think that questioning the Bible is most of the time a good thing.
~*Elizabeth
Also, another thing that strikes up a lot of questions for me is the fact that it says no sin can enter heaven, because God will not allow sin into his presence. It makes you wonder about sinning just before you die, and not asking for forgiveness, what happens then? Do you go to Hell or are you still saved by the grace of Jesus no matter what?
There are many questions that are hard to answer.
Also the question of salvation itself. Being raised by Baptists, we learn "once saved always saved," or in other words once you pray the prayer you have salvation and will go to Heaven. I believe it is more complex than most people want to believe. Jesus says in Mark "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16) You find that Jesus clearly states belief in Him and baptismal as an expression of your faith will be cause for him to save you, but that is one part. There are many other parts listed. In Romans, Paul says "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." (Romans 5:9) This might help suggest the belief that salvation is only "payable on death," meaning you do not have salvation until you are finally judged in the end after you die. There are all kinds of confusing scriptures in the Bible, but I think that God wants us to search for the answers and become knowledgeable in His word. This is probably why he wants us to study in on a regular basis.
I always get tied up in circles when I think about this. I think you all make good points in this, and the fact that we all come at it from different directions shows how big this concept really is.
The way I see salvation is not in the traditional sense that Jesus died on the cross to rescue our souls from this awful world and take us somewhere else. I think that the basic story of the Bible is that God created the world, people turned away from God and that's when things went horribly wrong. But afterward, God didn't just leave us all to death. No, he began with Abraham his process that would ultimately redeem the entire world. Of course this leads to Jesus dying on the cross and being raised to life again, the church being God's people to do his work in the world, and ultimately redemption. So, the idea of salvation I don't think applies to only people's souls. I think it applies, as N.T. Wright puts it, to time, space, matter, and the world we live in here and now. This is why it is so important that Christians become part of God's work of redemption (caring for the poor, seeking peace, being good stewards of creation, etc). In the end, when God's purpose has been fulfilled, we will be with God again and there will be no evil. Evil will be defeated, and there will be a "new heaven and a new earth." And, as the Bible said, those who reject God will not have a place in it.
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