God’s Personal JudgmentDoug Focht, Jr. An article appearing last week in our regional newspaper, The Record, serves well to illustrate and tie together some of the themes of our past articles. This was an article written in the religious section by William A. Courson, a theological student, as a response to a previous article which asserted that one must be a Christian in order to be saved. Mr. Courson objected to this narrow view and writes, "The notion that Christianity is the sole means by which access to eternal salvation is obtained is believed by only a portion of the self-identified Christians…whose belief is marginal to the centrality of Christian experiences." This narrow view is believed by a "small minority" of Christians, he writes, because of a "smattering of New Testament sayings ascribed, almost certainly incorrectly, to Jesus of Nazareth…" Several things need to be considered here. First, what does the New Testament teach in regard to God’s judgment of individuals? Second, what exactly is a "Christian?" And third, how do all these things fit in with the justice and the mercy of God? It is undeniable that the New Testament teaches that only Christians will be saved, although such is taught with more than a "smattering of sayings" within its pages, and with even greater specificity than what Jesus Himself said. Although Mr. Courson denies that Jesus actually said what is recorded in the New Testament, the fact remains that it is written that Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6) And, "unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins." (John 8:24) But there are other New Testament passages that are even more specific: "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) And, referring to the time when Christ will come again, "…the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." (2 Thess. 1:7–8) However objectionable these teachings may be to most people, it does not change the fact that the book of Acts and 2 Thessalonians are also part of the New Testament, and that the New Testament teaches a narrow doctrine of salvation. Few, not many will be saved (Luke 13:23–24). It is interesting that as Jesus taught these things in John chapter 6, many of His listeners left Him (John 6:66). Even today, people are often surprised and even repulsed by the teaching of the New Testament, not because they do not want to be saved, but they find offensive the idea that they or others shall be lost. The reason why people will be saved or lost is found in the response of Jesus’ twelve disciples when He asked them if they too wanted to leave Him. Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life." The surrender of one’s own desires in favor of the "words of eternal life" is in fact that which separates the few from the many. But who are the few? Who are the Christians? The New Testament is quite specific on this as well. In order to be a Christian, one must:
According to the New Testament, when one follows these commands from the heart, he becomes a disciple of Christ. You can see abundant examples and statements regarding these, which we shall examine in articles to come. Other passages to read along these lines are Matt. 28:18–19, Mark 16:15–16, Acts 2:37–38, and Acts 8:35–38. "The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch," Acts 11:26 tells us. A disciple is a follower, a learner. Think about that. How can anyone be a follower of someone if (1) He doesn’t know what his teacher actually taught; and/or (2) he doesn’t follow what his teacher taught? As we noted in our series on The Bible and Scholars, many of the new liberal scholars believe that much of what is written in the New Testament was made up by Jesus’ disciples. Mr. Courson writes, "Most serious scholars of Scripture hold such sayings [that Jesus is the only way to heaven—DNFj] to be very probable later additions to the actual words of Jesus." If that is so, the best you can do is follow what you or some scholars think Jesus taught. I suppose in this sense one is truly a "self-identified Christian." However, if one is to be a Christian at all, the only logical choice is to be a "New Testament-identified Christian," otherwise the word "Christian" could mean anything. Hence, the issue is not really one of offensive or objectionable teaching. The issue is simply: Is the Bible, including the New Testament, the word of God or not? Let us now see how a person’s perception of what the Bible says is directly dependent upon the attitude he has when approaching a study of it. A person who believes that the Bible is the word of God will take more time and care in studying it than one who views it as simply a "good book." The latter may enjoy it for its literary, philosophical, or mythological worth; the former will cherish it because he cherishes the One whom he believes authored it. Consequently, their understandings will be vastly different. It should be noted that Mr. Courson’s position is not an illogical one. The reason that he believes the "fundamentalist" position to be offensive is (1) he doesn’t believe the Bible to be the word of God in the way we do and (2) many so-called Bible believers do not practice what they preach. If the Bible is not infallible, then his position is the truth, and we are in error. Even so, a lack of understanding of Scripture will often result in invalid arguments against it. Argument: "The Jews who perished in the Third Reich’s gas chambers are today roasting in hell because they were not Christians. Conversely, their murderers, if they were baptized Christians (and most were), would have escaped punishment for their misdeeds if they managed to squeeze in a quick 30-second prayer apologizing to their Savior while waiting for the Allies to overtake Berlin. Stripped of the veneer of civility with which it is often prettified and made more palatable, this is in essence what the purported ‘doctrine’ says." Remember, this argument is designed to show that the fundamentalist position regarding salvation is in error. Since a fundamentalist supposedly believes exactly what the Bible teaches, the argument is in reality against the "narrow view" of salvation which the Scriptures teach. We have already seen that according to the Scriptures, anyone not having obeyed the gospel of Christ can not be saved from the judgment of sin. That point will be conceded. But in order for the above argument to be valid, one must know what the Scriptures teach about baptism, repentance and forgiveness. We must be careful to distinguish between what the Bible says and what is taught by "Christian tradition." First, the Scriptures teach that one is baptized into Christ through faith (Gal. 3:26–27); not someone else’s faith, but our faith—our belief in Jesus as the risen son of God. Baptism of itself does not make one a Christian: A person must believe FIRST. This follows the pattern of all examples of conversion recorded in the book of Acts. Consequently, infant baptism is of no value whatsoever to effect salvation. If those Nazis were "Christian" because they were "baptized" as infants, then they were not Christians according to New Testament teaching. Following the Catholic/Protestant tradition, it is probable most Germans were "Christian" by that standard. Second, the Scriptures teach that before one is baptized, he must repent of his sins and in his heart give them up for good! Romans 6:1–7 plainly teaches that those who are baptized into Christ have "put to death" their old way of life. It is a conscious choice to be a follower—a disciple—of Jesus. Since Jesus preached love, even love of one’s enemies (Matt. 5:44), the Nazis were not disciples of Christ by biblical standards. One can not love his enemies and murder them, too! Third, in this argument there is a misunderstanding of the very nature of repentance. Repentance is not merely a change of mind, it is a change of heart and attitude. It requires godly sorrow, sorrow that results from knowing one has sinned against the God of heaven and earth. Throughout the Bible, when good people were convicted of their sins, they wept, they tore their clothes, they cried out, they pounded their chests, and they reordered their lives to conform with God’s will. "The sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death." (2 Cor. 7:10) Even to the one who is a Christian according the Scripture’s teaching, the New Testament says nothing about 30-second prayers, the counting of beads or the payment of tithes to effect the forgiveness of sins, nor is repentance treated lightly. Instead, "Repent of this wickedness of yours and pray the Lord that if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you." (Acts 8:22) Did you notice that? "If possible!" Forgiveness, though abundantly supplied through Christ, is not something to be thought of as "automatic." As with so many arguments which seek to show the "illogical" or "offensive" position of Scripture, this argument can only stand if one argues against religious tradition. I whole-heartedly agree that traditional Christianity is often unreasonable, illogical and sometimes even immoral. Nevertheless, this argument is of no validity at all against the Scripture itself. Well, so what? The invalidation of an argument still leads us to the sobering thought that according to Scripture, anyone—including those who call themselves Christian, but who are not—who dies without Christ dies without hope. Is it of particular comfort to answer that the Nazis are also "roasting in hell?" I think not. For while the final judgment of God will come upon the entire world, for us individually, "…it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment…" (Heb. 9:27). But judgment need not be meted out against us. Though the justice of God demands death for sins ("The soul that sins shall die"—Ezek. 18:20), His mercy has provided another to die in our place. Jesus Christ Himself became the propitiation—the "appeasement of wrath"—for the sins of all who would come to Him. He invites all to come, but few accept His invitation. He promises that all who seek will find (Matt. 7:7), but few really seek. He desires all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9) but few are willing to give their lives up to Him. If we as a society are permitted to determine our own definition of "Christianity," then make no mistake: Christianity will become whatever we want it to become. Once an absolute Divine standard is forsaken, then there are no absolutes. Christianity will become (and is becoming) polytheistic, pantheistic, even hedonistic. When that day arrives, then the arrival of Christ in judgment will not be far behind. —From "Growing in Grace," Vol. 1 # 13 - September 8, 1996 To contact the author, please send e-mail to: dnfj@yahoo.com William A. Courson, "An ‘Objectionable and Offensive’ Doctrinal view". The Record, 8/22/96, Pg R-2
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