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John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
This world is a very harsh place. Everybody is trying to make their dreams come true. Everybody is trying to create their own version of paradise for themselves and their families.
The common belief is that people are good or bad based on their actions. And not just their actions in general, but their actions towards me. If they treated my loved ones and me well, then they're good people. If they treated my loved ones and me badly, then they're bad people.
And truthfully, I understand the sentiment to a point. A truly good person tries to treat others well. A truly bad person does tend to mistreat people. But, there's another side to that coin:
Sometimes bad people will do good things in order to manipulate people into doing what they want them to do- some politicians for example. And sometimes good people can be pushed over the edge in anger or desperation and do some pretty bad things. But, truly this makes sense. For scripture clearly says that "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23
And herein lies the true difference between good and bad.
If we judge ourselves against other humans, it's possible to believe that we are inherently good. After all, If we've told a few lies and wronged a few people, but we compare ourselves to a mass murderer or a child molester, we look at it that we're not so bad. After all, look at all that they have done. "I'm not so bad," we say.
But scripture says," 12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." 2 Corinthians 10:12
People in the world compare themselves among themselves in this same way. But, scripture clearly tells us not to do this. We are neither to judge ourselves in comparison to other people. Neither are we to judge other people in comparison to ourselves or other people we consider to be good.
The truth of the matter is that there is coming a day when we all will be judged by God. "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" Hebrews 9:27
And God almighty will not judge us like we do. He doesn't grade on a curve. He doesn't have a grading scale like schools used to have (A-90%, B-80%, C-70%, D-60%, F- 59% and below. Anything 60% or better is passing). We either pass or fail. Period. He judges us against one thing and one thing only:
"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:48
On that day, we will be judged by how we lined up to and obeyed HIS word. He won't look around and tell us, "Well, you were better than these people so I'll let you in." Neither will he say, "you were worse than these folks, so I'm sending you to Hell."
Many times, when we were raising our daughters and one of them had done something wrong, they would respond with, "but what about her?" In their childish minds, they knew that their sister had done some "really bad stuff" and therefore in comparison, they should get off the hook and we should deal with their sister.
This is the mentality of the world today.
The liar says, "look at the thief." The thief says, "but look at the molester." The molester says, "Look at the murderer." All believe they should get off the hook for whatever they've done because it wasn't "that bad."
We had to redirect our daughters by telling them that, "we're not discussing your sister. We're discussing what you did wrong."
God's word says, "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Revelations 21:8
Furthermore, it says, "9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
And these are just the tip of the iceberg.
If we take an honest look at ourselves in comparison to the ways that scripture says we need to live we will come to realize that scripture is true: "... all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23
But, God loves us all, right? Yes, he does. But, just because he loves us does not mean that we will make heaven. Most people, if they're honest, believe that some people they've known have been too bad to make heaven- even though God loves them. Just ask the families of murder victims if the murderer made heaven after they were executed.
With that being said, how in the world do any of us have a chance to make heaven?
...to be continued
