Quiz 4 week 4 RLGN 105 Study Guide
5 A WORK IN PROGRESS Despite the doleful consequences of human depravity, all is not lost.
In fact, knowing what the problem is helps us to see the solution. The problem with humanity is
sin—our natural propensity to love ourselves and live for our glory rather than to love God and
seek his glory. But when we finally become convinced of our lost and sinful condition—with all
its deadly consequences—then we cry out for the kind of help that only God can give, saying,
“What must [we] do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). DIVINE INTERVENTION By now it should be
clear that the answer cannot lie anywhere in us. If anything, human beings are only getting
deeper in difficulty. What we need is for God to come and save us. And this is what God does,
for “salvation belongs to the Lord” (Ps. 3:8; see also Jonah 2:9). Although nature can teach us
about creation and the fall, it is only in the Bible that we learn the simple truth of redemption by
grace: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). This faith-based
approach to salvation stands in sharp contrast to religions that rely on human effort, including
versions of Christianity that in any way make good works part of the basis for salvation. Like
creation, redemption is the work of the triune God. Together the Father, the Son, and the Spirit
take the loving initiative to work their eternal plan for the redemption of our lost and fallen
world. Yet the primary agent of our redemption is God the Son. The salvation appointed by the
Father and applied by the Spirit is accomplished by the Son. This is the grand theme of Scripture:
salvation in Jesus Christ. If Genesis 1 and 2 are primarily about creation, and Genesis 3 describes
the fall, then the rest of the Bible chiefly is about the love and grace God has for sinners through
the person and work of his Son. The compassion of God’s saving plan is perhaps most perfectly
expressed in the words of Jesus himself: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his
Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through
him” (John 3:16–17). In order to do this saving work, Jesus first entered the world that he had
made and suffered the misery of its fallen condition. The same Son of God who created and
sustains the universe “ultimately and permanently joined that creation in order to redeem it.” In
his incarnation, which began with his miraculous conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary and
became public with his birth at Bethlehem, God the Son became fully human as well as fully
divine and thus experienced our embodied existence. The perfect and permanent unity of
humanity and deity in Jesus Christ places God’s imprimatur on physical life in a physical world.
“When God in Jesus Christ claims space in the world,” explained Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “even
space in a stable because ‘there was no other place in the inn’—God embraces the whole reality
of the world in this narrow space and reveals its ultimate foundation.” Writing in the seventh
century, John of Damascus described the attitude a follower of Christ should take toward God
and toward his creation as a result: I do not worship matter, I worship the Creator of matter who
became matter for my sake, who willed to take his abode in matter; who worked out my
salvation through matter. Never will I cease honoring the matter that wrought my salvation. I
honor it, but not as God.… Because of this I salute all remaining matter with reverence, because
God has filled it with his grace and power. Through it my salvation has come to me. In his
humanity, Jesus did what God demanded, perfectly obeying the law and thereby fulfilling the
covenant that we had broken in Adam. Although Jesus himself was never a sinner, he
nevertheless endured the sufferings and sorrows of life in a fallen world, including weakness,
pain, grief, cruelty, persecution, abuse, torture, and finally death. Thus we have a God who fully
understands what it is like for us to endure all the troubles and tribulations of our present
existence in a world that is marred by sin. More than that, Jesus actually did something to
address our fallen condition. “It is this body of our suffering that Christ was born into,” wrote
Wendell Berry, “to suffer it Himself and to fill it with light, so that beyond the suffering we can
imagine Easter morning.” Jesus took on our life in order to take us into his life, achieving
salvation through his crucifixion and bodily resurrection. When Jesus was crucified at Calvary,
he took upon himself the punishment that we deserve, suffering God’s holy wrath and righteous
curse against our sin. The manner of Christ’s death is significant. Under Jewish law, a crucified
man was cursed by God (Deut. 21:22–23). This is perplexing, because as a sinless man Jesus did
not deserve to be cursed. The New Testament resolves this conundrum by explaining that Jesus
was cursed for our sin rather than his own. He died in our place. By his willing and perfect
sacrifice, the full price for our sins was paid, and we no longer stand under the condemnation of
God. With his blood, Jesus atoned for our sins and redeemed us for God. Then on the third day
Jesus was raised again, coming back from the dead with the splendor of an immortal body and
the power of eternal life. The good news of salvation—the gospel of grace—is that Jesus died on
the cross for sinners and rose again from the grave. This was a bodily resurrection, in which the
physical corpse of Jesus returned from the dead in miraculous glory. This proved that his
sacrifice for our sins was accepted by God and brought immortality to humanity. PERSONAL
FAITH Now, by the power of his resurrection, Jesus restores and renews all that humanity has
lost through the fall of Adam. In the words of Saint Hippolytus, when Christ was raised from the
dead and ascended to heaven, “His divine spirit gave life and strength to the tottering world, and
the whole universe became stable once more, as if the stretching out, the agony of the Cross, had
in some way gotten into everything.” Through the saving work of Jesus Christ, God brings us
from sin to grace, from alienation to reconciliation, from death to eternal life. The way we
receive the multidimensional blessings of salvation is simply by faith in Jesus Christ. Since Jesus
has fulfilled God’s covenant, the only thing required of us is to trust in what Jesus has done.
Once we are joined to Jesus by faith, united to him by the Holy Spirit, everything that is his
becomes ours. As Calvin explained: We must understand that as long as Christ remains outside
of us, and we are separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the
human race remains useless and of no value for us. Therefore, to share with us what he has
received from the Father, he had to become ours and to dwell within us.… We also, in turn, are
said to be “engrafted into him” (Rom. 11:17), and to “put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27); for, as I have
said, all that he possesses is nothing to us until we grow into one body with him. As we are
united to Christ, we find God’s solution for all the problems of our sin—the same problems we
considered in the previous chapter. The atoning sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross took away
our guilt by paying the penalty that we deserved. Now that the guilt of our sin has been removed,
we are no longer estranged from God but have fellowship with him: “While we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Rom. 5:10). We also experience reconciliation
at the human level, as the grace of God comforts our loneliness by enabling us to live with others
in love. Best of all, through the cross and the empty tomb we have victory over our last and most
fatal enemy: death (1 Cor. 15:55–56). By the grace of God, we know that “God did not appoint
us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9 niv). This
means that our fellowship with God will never come to an end but last forever. Many Christians
tend to think of salvation primarily in personal terms, and of course the grace God gives in Jesus
Christ is for us as individuals. I am the person whom Jesus has saved through the cross and the
empty tomb. I am the guilty sinner who has been declared righteous before God in my
justification. I am the orphan who has been adopted as a son or daughter into my Father’s house.
I am the unholy person who is being sanctified by the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. I am the
fractured image of God who is being transformed into the beautiful likeness of Jesus Christ and
thereby restored and recreated in the image of my creator (Col. 3:10). I am the fallen creature
whose body will be raised up at the last day and physically glorified with immortal splendor.
This is the testimony of every person who comes to God through faith in Jesus Christ. By the
grace of God, I am also the person who is growing more and more to love the things that God
calls me to love. The Holy Spirit is conforming my desires to the heart of Christ. At the same
time, I am learning to think Christianly in every field of inquiry. God is transforming me by the
renewing of my mind (Rom. 12:2), enabling me to take every thought captive in obedience to
Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). The only way to gain a full understanding of any aspect of life is to view it
through the lens of the gospel. Thus part of God’s gracious work in my life is to teach me how to
view the universe and everything in it from the perspective of the cross and the empty tomb. In
one of her poems Luci Shaw asks whether the cross where Jesus died is “high enough for a world
view.” The answer is yes: the saving work of Jesus elevates our perspective, giving us a vantage
point from which to see the world in God’s true perspective. Put another way, the death and
resurrection of Jesus enable the death and resurrection of the Christian mind. The Holy Spirit
who raised Jesus from the dead is working in me to restore the knowledge of God, of myself, and
of the world that I lost through the fall. Now I can see things the way I ought to see them—the
way God sees them. Thus the formation of a Christian worldview itself is a gift of God’s saving
grace—a gift that is given to those who trust the written and incarnate Word of God. COSMIC
REDEMPTION The new life that God has for us in Christ goes far beyond our personal
salvation. The saving transformation that God works in us by his Spirit also has an influence on
others as we become part of a new community of people who are forgiven in Christ. Grace is not
merely personal but also communal. We are saved as the church and not simply as individual
Christians. In fact, all of the metaphors that the New Testament uses to describe our connection
to Christ are corporate: he is the vine, we are the branches (John 15:5); he is the cornerstone, we
are the building blocks (1 Pet. 2:4–6); he is the head, we are the members of his body (Eph.
4:15–16); and so forth. Our corporate identity is reinforced by the sacraments. In the name of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit we are all baptized into one body. In the Lord’s Supper (also
called “Communion” or “the Eucharist”) we eat one loaf and drink one cup—the thanksgiving
meal of our salvation. It is only together that we can do what we were designed and destined to
do: worship in community. Then together we go out to extend the kingdom of God—that is to
say, the rule of God—by sharing the good news about Jesus Christ and serving people who are
suffering the debilitating and alienating effects of the fall. As people of the new creation, we live
out our faith in the ruins of the first creation. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus have
implications for everything. God’s ultimate goal is nothing less than the redemption of the entire
cosmos. Right now the creation itself is groaning under the weight of our sin, but this is only
temporary, not eternal: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of
God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected
it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the
freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:19–21). Redemption is not separate from
creation but its intended destiny. It is the very world that God once made—now lost and fallen in
sin—that God has a purpose to redeem. His plan does not call for simply destroying the universe
but rather for “salvaging a sin-wrecked creation” and eventually establishing a new heavens and
a new earth (see 2 Pet. 3:11–13). Jesus Christ is at the very center of this redemptive plan. It is in
Christ that “all things hold together” (Col. 1:17), and it is through Christ that God is reconciling
“to himself all things” (Col. 1:20). Jesus Christ now sits on the throne of heaven and rules over
everything in the universe for the glory of God. This great truth inspired Abraham Kuyper to say,
“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who
is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’ ” If Christ is preeminent, ruling over all things for the
glory of God, then we are called to acknowledge his supreme lordship in all of life, every aspect
of which is sacred to God. We are not called simply to trust in Jesus for our salvation but also to
live for him in everything we do. As the perfect image of God—as “the radiance of the glory of
God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb. 1:3)—Jesus shows us what we were meant to be.
A person who follows him, wrote the Princeton theologian B. B. Warfield, should thus resolve
“that God shall be God to him in all his thinking, feeling and willing—in the entire compass of
his life activities, intellectual, moral and spiritual—throughout all his individual social and
religious relations.” Elsewhere Warfield wrote about the emotional life of our Lord as the pattern
for Christian feelings. This is simply one example of the influence that the person of Christ
should have on every dimension of Christian experience. In dedicating our lives to the service of
Christ, we embrace his heart for the world and become agents of his redemption. God is doing
his gracious, redemptive work in two distinct ways. In a general sense, he is working through
everything that happens, including what happens in the lives of people who do not explicitly
acknowledge his sovereignty. Theologians call this “common grace”—common in the sense that
it is universal. God has not given all his gifts or all his grace only to Christians. As the Scripture
says, “The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made” (Ps. 145:9). Or again,
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17), which evidently includes
the gifts that God gives to people who do not claim to follow Christ as well as to the people who
do. “Since all truth is of God,” wrote John Calvin, “if any ungodly man has said anything true,
we should not reject it, for it also has come from God.” And according to James Davison Hunter,
“People of every creed and no creed have talents and abilities, possess knowledge, wisdom, and
inventiveness, and hold standards of goodness, truth, justice, morality, and beauty that are, in
relative degree, in harmony with God’s will and purposes.” This means that God accomplishes
his gracious purpose in the world through non-Christians as well as Christians. Their work also
brings glory to God, even if that is not their explicit intent. Art and science both belong to the
realm of common grace, where God is constantly at work. In this sense, at least, a man like
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (who for most of his life was not a practicing Christian) brought as
much glory to God through his music as a man like Johann Sebastian Bach (who signed many of
his compositions with the letters “sDg,” meaning “to God alone be the glory”). This is not to
deny the profound difference between the heart motivation of a writer or composer who wants to
honor God and a person who doesn’t. Their motivations may well affect the quality of their work
in tangible as well as intangible ways. Yet the gifts of the unbeliever still honor the God who
gave them. To give another example, the intellectual work that secular scholars do in a field such
as neuroscience can be just as true to reality as the work that Christian scholars do (if not more
so, in many cases). Our commitment to seeing all truth as God’s truth compels us to see the truth
as it is, wherever it is, and not simply to dismiss what people say simply because they do not
hold to a Christian worldview. Rather, we test what people say according to the truth that God
has revealed in the world and in his Word, both written and incarnate. The doctrine that explains
how non-Christians are able to teach the truth in many areas—and thus legitimates broad study
in everything from music theory to organic chemistry—is the doctrine of common grace. By
engaging with the best human minds in a wide range of academic disciplines and then
connecting their insights to the truths of Scripture, Christians in the arts and sciences can help the
church understand God and his work in the world more clearly. To go a step farther, we also see
God’s grace at work in and through the many cultures of the world. No one is immune from the
fall, of course, so the Christian worldview provides the basis for showing how every culture is
fallen. But if it is true that every gift comes from God, then we should expect to see signs of his
goodness in every tribe and tongue and nation. Every culture’s history recounts stories of God’s
providence. Every culture’s art reflects aspects of the created order as they have been perceived
by particular people in a particular place. And every culture’s people—with their common
physical traits and characteristic attitudes—bear witness to the image of God in humanity.
According to the doctrine of common grace, these are all gifts from God that deserve our
appreciation through gaining fluency in foreign languages, building cross-cultural relationships,
and acquiring the skills of sociology and anthropology. The more we learn about different
people, the more we learn about what God is doing in the world and the better equipped we are
to serve. Still, common grace is not saving grace, and the blessings that come with creation fall
well short of full redemption: they will not bring anyone into eternal life. Common grace relates
to life in the present world, with or without a loving relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Saving grace, on the other hand, brings people into a personal friendship with the living God that
lasts forever. So, in addition to giving everyone his common grace, Jesus has given his followers
what is usually called “the Great Commission,” sending us out into the world to preach the
gospel of salvation. Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt.
28:18–20). We fulfill this commission by proclaiming the good news about the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ with the goal of rescuing people from sin and bringing them into a
state of grace before they go on to glory. This proclamation should never be manipulative or
coercive. Rather, as an expression of Christlike love that takes a genuine interest in the well-
being of other persons, we tell people the truth about Jesus and invite them to join us in
following him. Notice that this Great Commission includes teaching people who choose to
follow Christ how to obey everything that God has commanded (v. 20). The Great Commission
encompasses the transmission of a complete Christian worldview, the total salvation that God is
bringing into the world. When God tells us to teach people “all” that he has commanded, this
includes teaching them God’s view of the world. Christians do not have to choose between
evangelism and cultural engagement, therefore. It is both/and, not either/or. By taking such a
comprehensive view of what we need to teach the world, the Great Commission renews our
cultural mandate. As Christians we are called to do something more than help save people’s
souls; we are also called to influence the thinking of our culture. This highlights the value of
higher education that is surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ, empowered by his grace, and
extended to every dimension of human thought: “When the Father awakens us by his sovereign
Spirit, we draw from Christ’s life the resurrection power that enables us to love God’s world,
even as we await its full restoration.” REVERSE THE CURSE God’s redemptive grace is
working in us and through us to restore all the things that were given in creation but lost in the
fall. His purposes for redemption are as extensive as his purposes were in creation. Though
fallen, every dimension of human experience is redeemable, and our calling as Christians is part
of God’s redemptive work in the world. By the grace of God in Christ, we recover the heart’s
“high and holy calling to consecrate every department of life and every energy at its disposal to
the glory of God.” And despite our many failings, by the gracious work of the Holy Spirit we are
able to make substantial progress in restoring things to their created intention. Here is how
Francis Bacon—the father of the scientific method—described our calling within the redemptive
purposes of God: “Man by the Fall fell at the same time from his state of innocence and from his
dominion over nature. Both of these losses, however, can even in this life be in some part
repaired; the former by religion and faith, the latter by the arts and sciences.” This high calling to
repair the ruins of the fall works itself out in all of the areas of life that are damaged and distorted
by sin. Now, by the grace of God, we are able to worship God in Spirit and in truth, celebrating
the beauty of his holiness with reverence and joy. Whether we worship God in private acts of
devotion or in the public services of the church, the presence of grace enables us to glorify God.
We are able to live as moral beings in a moral universe, keeping the law of God (albeit
imperfectly). Every time we show respect to our elders, or help preserve an innocent life, or give
generously to the poor, we show how the grace of God has reoriented our moral compass. We are
able to honor God with our bodies—treating them as temples for the Holy Spirit and using them
as instruments of righteousness. This means more than avoiding destructive behaviors; it also
means becoming the hands and the feet of Christ in serving others. Honoring God with our
bodies includes our sexuality, which finds its truest freedom and highest pleasure in the sex of
joy. The holy gifts of purity and chastity are available to everyone. Whether married or single,
and regardless of the orientation of our sexual desires, all of us can honor God by submitting to
his gracious purposes for our sexuality: joyful abstinence for singles and sexual giving for
married couples. Even the physical sufferings we endure—such as disability and disease—have
an ultimately redemptive purpose, as God uses evil to accomplish our good and his glory (Rom.
8:28). This last point needs to be underscored because it is so commonly misunderstood. God’s
purpose for us in this life is not simply to make us happy. If this were his purpose, then—as
many critics have pointed out—he seems to be failing miserably. But in fact God has deeper
purposes. This life is a proving ground to show us our need for him and to begin a transformation
that will not be made complete until the perfect happiness of the life to come. Another place
where grace enables us to give honor to Christ is in the home life of our marriages and families,
as the Holy Spirit reconciles broken relationships and enables us to fulfill our domestic
responsibilities with gentle godliness. Though painful in itself, childbearing becomes a gracious
means for God to build his kingdom from one generation to the next. As a mother sings praise
songs for the baby in her arms, or as a father reads the Bible to his family at dinnertime, the
Christian worldview is formed in the hearts and minds of future leaders. By grace we honor God
in our communities, noticing our neighbors’ needs and seeking to build relationships that will
help them flourish. We also work for the glory of God, serving him as a redeemed person in our
regular calling—whatever job God has given us to do each day. Jesus himself has become our
client and our boss, for, as the Scripture says, “whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord
and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.
You are serving the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:23–24). The phrase “whatever you do” reminds us that
the promises God makes to godly workers extend to every legitimate calling. In this respect,
there is essentially no difference between secular work and so-called Christian ministry: they
both have God’s blessing. As Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote: It is not only prayer that gives God
glory but work. Smiting on an anvil, sawing a beam, whitewashing a wall, driving horses,
sweeping, scouring, everything gives God some glory if being in his grace you do it as your duty.
To go to communion worthily gives God great glory, but a man with a dungfork in his hand, a
woman with a slop pail, give him glory too. He is so great that all things give him glory if you
mean they should. Now by grace we are able to care for our world, cultivating its fruit and
savoring its bounty while at the same time protecting its resources and sharing them with people
in greater need. The church is (or at least ought to be) characterized by using what we have for
others rather than for ourselves, thereby dethroning money from its idolatrous throne in a
materialistic society. We pursue social and personal justice, showing local and global concern for
the poor and the persecuted and employing righteous power and generous giving on their behalf
under the authority of God. To be clear, we do not seize power for ourselves, especially political
power. Yet we do hope to be what the sociologist James Davison Hunter wisely calls a “faithful
presence” wherever God calls us to serve, leaving the influence of our service in the hands of
God. What else does God’s grace enable us to do in the world? Now we are able to pursue
science within the constraints of holy wisdom and business within the bonds of charity,
producing goods, creating value, and earning profit for the benefit of other people. We are able to
sing, sculpt, play music, and produce films to the glory of God, being realistic about the pain and
ugliness of fallen humanity while at the same time remaining joyful in the hope and beauty of
redemption. While the arts hover “between life and death, despair and hope,” they also “point to,
or even redefine, the world to come, causing us to rise up, like Lazarus, from the dank tomb of
cynicism and despair.” We are also able to play sports and pursue hobbies in ways that build
relationships and bring refreshment to our bodies and souls. And we are able to work at building
and governing the great cities that God always intended for us to build—not for our glory but for
his majesty, as every aspect of life finds its fulfillment in loving community. This is all part of
God’s gracious, redeeming work in the world—the building of the kingdom of God. It is not just
our souls that God has a plan to save, but also our bodies, and with our bodies, the whole created
order. We ourselves are part of the plan. Thus, we belong to what some Christians have called “a
counterculture for the common good.” As the church of Jesus Christ we participate in his
redeeming work by fulfilling the Great Commission and the cultural mandate, thereby working
out the implications of God’s grace in all of life. Of course, no individual could possibly do
everything that needs to be done for Christ and his kingdom in any one area of life, let alone all
of them put together. None of us can carry the weight of the world. But each of us can and should
do the things that God is calling us to do within our own sphere of influence, based on the gifts
and opportunities that are unique to our situation in life. Because the gifts that Christ has given to
each of us by the Spirit are complementary, as the church we are more than the sum of our parts.
By the grace of God that reverses the curse of sin, we are called “in every domain” to “discover
the treasures and develop the potencies hidden by God in nature and in human life.” In keeping
with this comprehensive vision of the kingdom of God, apologist Bill Edgar aptly summarizes
the Christian worldview as having “trifocal” vision. Looking with the triple lens of creation, sin,
and grace, we are able to perceive all three stages of redemptive history in our present
experience. Edgar writes: First, the creation is still good, and its structures continue to function
under God’s care. Second, everything is distorted, fallen, so that the direction things should have
taken is wrong, being diverted. But third, there is hope. As the seasons of revelation unfold, we
find out more about all three, but especially about the nature of our hope, the gospel, the good
news that in spite of sin, God has so loved us that sin will not have the last word. All three stages
of redemptive history are presently in view. We see them simultaneously: what the world was
made to be (in creation), what has become of it (because of sin), and what it may yet become (by
the grace of God). This multidimensional perspective on reality explains why the Christian
worldview is at one and the same time brutally honest about the troubles of life and unfailingly
hopeful about what God will do. 6 PARADISE CONSUMMATED Sin does not have the last
word, because we live in the hope of a coming glory—the happiest of all endings. One of the
great mysteries of redemption is that in our current existence the high calling to glorify God is
achieved only imperfectly. “At present,” the Scripture says, “we do not yet see everything in
subjection to [Christ]” (Heb. 2:8). God is busy doing what sometimes seems to be a slow work of
grace in the world, and even within the community of God’s people we see only glimpses of the
glory that is waiting to be revealed. We see this at the personal level, in the gradual progress of
our spiritual growth. The hopeful lament of the converted slave trader and famous hymn writer
John Newton is the testimony of every Christian: “I am not what I ought to be; I am not what I
wish to be; I am not what I hope to be. But blessed be God, I am not what I used to be, and by
the grace of God I am what I am.” We see the same thing at the level of church, community, and
culture, where God’s redemptive work is under way. We are under grace but not yet in glory. The
recovery of everything that creation lost in the fall is begun but not completed. As a result, we
are living in what theologians sometimes call the “already” and the “not yet.” God has already
accomplished our redemption in Christ, but he has not yet fulfilled all of the promises of his
coming kingdom. To put this another way, we are living somewhere between the sufferings of
the cross and the joy of the empty tomb. The dark decay of death is all around us because of sin;
yet the dawn of the coming resurrection is lighting our way. Jesus has returned from the grave.
As the risen Christ he is with us in our present suffering, and therefore we live in the hope of
God’s perfect future. THE END OF THE WORLD We have considered what it means for the
followers of Christ to live by grace in a fallen world that is in the process of being redeemed. But
what does the Christian worldview tell us about the perfect world that is yet to come? We know
that when we die we will enter the presence of God. This is a crucial question for any worldview:
What happens when I die? Is there life after death? And if so, what kind of life is it? Hinduism
says we are reincarnated as a different life form. Pantheism says we become one with the
universe. Naturalism says we simply become extinct. People who believe this live only for the
moment, giving little thought to their eternal destiny. But Christianity says that death is not the
end; our present life has future consequences. The body will be laid in the dust for a time (this is
the result of God’s curse against our sin), but the soul returns to its maker. As the Scripture says,
for the believer to be “away from the body” is also to be “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8).
What else do we know about the future? We know that someday Jesus will return to planet earth.
“I will come again and will take you to myself,” Jesus said, “that where I am you may be also”
(John 14:3). Jesus will come the way he left when he ascended to heaven, riding clouds of glory
(Acts 1:9–11). This event—which the Bible often describes as “the coming” (e.g., 1 Thess. 3:13)
or “the appearing” (e.g., 1 Tim. 6:14) of the Lord Jesus Christ—will bring all present earthly
existence to an end. Some people doubt whether this is really true, but the Bible says that “by the
same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of
judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Pet. 3:7). On that day, which will come like a thief
in the night, “the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up
and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (2 Pet. 3:10). This
universe is destined for destruction before restoration. We also know that when Jesus comes
again, he will come as the judge of the final judgment. There will be a righting of all wrongs and
a balancing of all books, according to God’s perfect justice. Every sin will be exposed. The Bible
is straightforward about this: “God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing,
whether good or evil” (Eccles. 12:14; see also Rom. 2:16). There are no exceptions: “We must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he
has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10). The prospect of coming judgment
gives eternal significance to all our words and actions—everything from the casual criticism we
make about a friend to where we travel in cyberspace. For those who die outside Christ—for
those who persist in their sinful rebellion without ever coming to Jesus in faith and repentance—
judgment will bring damnation. This damnation is crucial to the blessedness of heaven because it
guarantees the end of everything evil. Wrongs must be rectified and the works of the Devil
destroyed. Meanwhile, those who claim forgiveness through the cross and the empty tomb will
be saved on the basis of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ; God will receive us unto
himself. And all of this will be for the glory of God. The final judgment will demonstrate both
the righteous holiness and the gracious mercy of Jesus Christ, who will return at the end of the
ages “to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have
believed” (2 Thess. 1:10 NIV). Only then—only when Jesus comes again—will the world be all
that God intends for it to become. And only then will we become all that God intends for us to
be. This is the goal for which God has been working since eternity past. All things are not only
from God but also for God—for his glory in Christ. This goal seemed to be frustrated by the fall,
but God has not stopped working toward it, and he will reach it in the end. God is no more
satisfied with this fallen world than we are, but unlike us he is able to redeem it, and he will.
Jesus Christ must reign until all things are brought into subjection to him, and God becomes all
in all (1 Cor. 15:25, 28). This is God’s eternal plan, and when it comes to fruition, it will last
forever. Once Paradise is regained, it can never be lost, which is one of the things that
distinguishes the consummation from creation: it is indefectible. NEW HEAVENS, NEW
EARTH If it is true that one day Jesus will reign supreme over everything, then salvation must be
about something far grander than simply my own entrance into eternal life. The coming glory is
cosmic in its scope, encompassing not only a new heaven but also “a new earth” (Rev. 21:1), as
the creation is re-created in Christ and restored to its intended design. Paradise will not merely be
regained in the world to come, but consummated. In this way, God will fulfill his ancient
promise to make all things new: “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the
former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that
which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness” (Isa.
65:17–18; see also Rev. 21:1). By mentioning “Jerusalem,” the Bible sets the promise of future
joy in an explicitly urban context. History began in a garden (the garden of Eden), but it will end
in a city (the garden city of the New Jerusalem). Here is how the apostle John described that
blessed metropolis in his revelation of God’s eternal kingdom: Then the angel showed me the
river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its
twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of
the nations. (Rev. 22:1–2) When we remember the calling we were given at creation—our
cultural mandate to realize the potentialities of the world that God has made—and when we
consider our deep need for community, it makes perfect sense that we have an urban future. The
city is the place where people gather to make culture, and in the celestial city of God all our
relationships and activities will come together to be what they were always intended to become.
As Andy Crouch has written, Our eternal life in God’s recreated world will be the fulfillment of
what God originally asked us to do: cultivating and creating in full and lasting relationship with
our Creator. This time, of course, we will not just be tending a garden; we will be sustaining the
life of a city, a harmonious human society that has developed all the potentialities hidden in the
original creation to their fullest. Culture—redeemed, transformed and permeated by the presence
of God—will be the activity of eternity. The community life of that last and future city will not
be discontinuous with our present experience but will be its completion and consummation. It is
the lost and fallen creation that God will restore, redeem, and renew. In some mysterious way,
the best things from this life will be carried forward into the life to come. Thus when the Bible
envisions the coming kingdom of God, it promises that “the kings of the earth will bring their
glory into it … the glory and the honor of the nations” (Rev. 21:24, 26). Even if we do not
understand the full implications of this promise, the Bible is making a clear connection between
the present and the future, when the glory of the nations will become the glory of God. Whatever
good work we do for God is not lost but becomes part of his eternal kingdom. And this is true for
all nations, as the diverse cultures of the world bring their unique gifts into the kingdom of God.
The beauty of the creation around us and the art that we produce anticipate the coming of the
glory of God. “With trembling hand,” wrote Abraham Kuyper, the God-honoring artifacts of
human culture “reach out toward the glory that through Christ will one day fill heaven and
earth.” Jeremy Begbie is similarly optimistic about the potentiality of our creativity: “Whether
through paint or sound, metaphor or movement, we are given the inestimable gift of participating
in the re-creative work of the Triune God, anticipating that final and unimaginable re-creation of
all matter, space, and time, the fulfillment of all things visible and invisible.” The glory of Christ
will include the redemption of our bodies. This is what Christians mean when we confess our
faith in the resurrection of the body. It is not just our souls that God plans to redeem but also our
bodies: “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who
will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to
subject all things to himself” (Phil. 3:20–21). The life to come is not immaterial and insubstantial
but an embodied existence. Thus the implications of the incarnation and the resurrection are
never-ending: eternal life is both physical and spiritual. God will redeem us as whole persons. In
bodies raised and glorified like the immortal body of Jesus himself, we will enjoy resurrection
life to the full, body and soul. Glory will also bring the redemption of our relationships. In the
new heavens and the new earth we will live in perfect harmony, peace, and justice as the new
family of God. Old hostilities will be set aside, and broken relationships will be reconciled. The
lion will lie down with the lamb (Isa. 11:6). Swords will be beaten into plowshares (Mic. 4:3).
The community lost by sin will be perfectly restored. Together we will work for the glory of God
and find the perfection of our play. One of the happiest promises in all of Scripture is the one
Zechariah made about the New Jerusalem: “The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls
playing in its streets” (Zech. 8:5). The Bible does not tell us what the children will be playing
there. Maybe they will skip rope, or play tag, or ride scooters. Perhaps they will play soccer or
stickball. The Bible does not dwell on the details but gives us enough of a glimpse to know that
God’s everlasting kingdom will be a place of perfect peace and playful joy. What can we say
about the repristination (or perfect restoration) of all the other areas of life that were made good
in creation, lost in the fall, and have begun to be restored by grace? When glory comes,
everything will be renewed, and we will be called to display the possibilities of the new creation
in every dimension of human culture. Imagine, for example, what discoveries of science we shall
make in the new heavens and the new earth! One of the first impulses we have in any new place
is to explore our surroundings. Surely this desire will carry over in to the life to come, when we
will want to learn everything there is to know about the physical makeup of the new heavens and
the new earth. As theologian Dallas Willard has explained, “God himself loves the earth dearly
and never takes his hands off it. And because he loves it and it is good, our care of it is also
eternal work and part of our eternal life.” Then imagine what music we will make, what
paintings, and what poetry! All of the arts will flourish as they fully achieve their true and
creative goal of bringing glory to our good, true, and beautiful God. If we believe “that there will
be a new Jerusalem,” writes Abraham Kuyper, “located on a new earth, under a new heaven, then
art is a preliminary scintillation already in this earthly life of what is coming.” In her prize-
winning novel Gilead, Marilynne Robinson draws an analogy that offers a compelling vision of
art and life in the everlasting city of God. According to Robinson’s lead character, “In eternity
this world will be Troy, and all that has passed here will be the epic of the universe, the ballad
they sing in the streets.” The novelist thus anticipates that the heroic deeds of this life will be
remembered and celebrated in the life to come. Further, she presents heaven as a place for
writing and singing, where public art is a daily part of community life. What happens in this life
ultimately becomes the subject of the next life’s lyric poetry—“the ballad they sing in the
streets.” Art is for eternity. We have so much to look forward to. But what is most important
about our eternal destiny is God himself and the worship of God. In his vision of glory, the
apostle John described the concentric circles of angels and saints that even now gather around
the throne of God. This too is part of the already and the not yet: the worship that has started in
heaven and will never end. At the very center of heaven’s praise is the infinitely glorious person
of the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving universal worship and absolute praise: Then I looked, and I
heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels,
numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is
the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and
glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in
the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be
blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (Rev. 5:11–13) This was God’s goal
for us from the beginning: that we would know the joy of worshiping him. It is why God created
all things and why he is redeeming us from our lost and fallen condition. The universe created by
Christ and through Christ is also for Christ, so that he may receive all of the glory that he alone
deserves. The Christian worldview is liturgical as well as cerebral; it culminates with an
everlasting crescendo of praise. THE END FOR WHICH GOD CREATED THE WORLD What
difference does it make to know that we are made to praise, that we are destined to worship God
through Jesus Christ? It makes all the difference in the world. The Dutch theologian G. C.
Berkouwer explained that the message of the gospel is not merely spiritual “but good tidings
applied to man’s entire existence.” The biblical expectation, he said, “includes the new earth, and
the present life is founded on and proceeds from this expectation. Only with an eye to God’s
future can one understand the richness of life in the present.” In other words, the Christian view
of glory enables us to see everything in the world in its true and total perspective. In all the pain
of our fallen world we do not despair, but by the grace that is ours in Jesus Christ—and in the
hope of his glory—we work together for the kingdom of God. The story is sometimes told of a
king who wanted to build a grand cathedral. When the work was well under way, the king went
to visit the work site and began to ask the workers what they were doing. One man said that he
was cutting a stone. His attention was narrowly focused on the task at hand. Another man said
that he was shaping a stone to complete an archway. He better understood how his job fit in with
the work of others. But one man told the king that he was building a sanctuary for the glory of
God. This was the man who had the greatest joy, because he had a deeper motivation for what he
was doing. He had a worldview that connected his own particular calling to God’s ultimate
purpose for the entire universe. He understood what Jonathan Edwards called “the end for which
God created the world”—namely, the glory of God. Do you understand the purpose for which
you were made? Have you captured a Christ-centered vision of all things? Have you embraced
your calling to glorify the triune God and to enjoy him forever in every dimension of human
existence? It takes a lifetime—more than that, an eternity—for anyone to work out all the
implications of the Christian world- and life-view. What this looks like is different for each
person, according to his or her unique background, gifts, personality, and calling. But having the
right worldview makes all the difference for all of us, both for now and for eternity. It helps us
understand the purpose for why God created the world and everything in it. It clarifies our
perspective on the daily difficulty and distress of life in a fallen world. And it offers the hope of a
future reality that shapes our present existence, until the day when Jesus comes again in triumph
and says, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5). QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
1) How would you define “worldview”? What are some key questions that every worldview
needs to answer? 2) Why is it important to be self-reflective about your worldview? 3) What is
the creator/creature distinction? Why is this distinction basic to the Christian worldview? 4)
What does creation teach us about who God is? About who Jesus is? About who we are? 5) What
are some specific ways that God has created you to glorify him? 6) Briefly describe the main
effects of humanity’s fall into sin. In what areas of life or experience do the tragic consequences
of sin affect you most deeply or directly? 7) What is “common grace”? What does this doctrine
contribute to the formation of a Christian worldview? What are the limitations of common grace?
8) What is the connection between the Great Commission and the cultural mandate? 9) In what
areas of life do you experience the tension between the “already” and the “not yet”—between the
fact that Jesus has already been raised from the dead, but has not yet returned in the fullness of
his glory? 10) For what purpose has God created the universe? How will this purpose be
achieved in his eternal kingdom?
Ryken, Philip Graham. 2013. Christian Worldview: A Student’s Guide. Edited by David S.
Dockery. Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition. Crossway: Wheaton, IL.
ARTICLE READ
Jimmy Williams
,
May 27, 1998
Wilago d,moralifegetmetoheaven?’Theanswerisno,andProbe’sJimmyWiliamsspelsoutwhy,
includinghowweCANgetoheaven.
Man:TheWorshipingAnimal
Thisessayisconcernedwiththeoften-askedquestion,“Won’tago d,moralifegetmetoheaven?”
Webeginfirstwiththenatureofmanhimself.Oneofthemostremarkablethingsabouthumansisthat from
thedawnofhistory,andnomaterwherewefindthem onthisplanet,theyareworship inganimals.
Infact,humansaretheonlyanimalsintheworldwhoworship.HomoSapiensisincurablyreligious.Why
ismansoinclined?Whatarethereasons,andhowdotheybearonourquestionabouthavinggo d
moralsandgetingtoheaven?
Let’slo kbrieflyatsomefoundationalelementsthatap eartobeuniversalswhenitcomestohuman
behavior.Thefirst,aswestatedabove,issimplythathumansdoworship.Ethnicgroupsofalkindsand
inalplaces,whetheremoteorclosetootherpeoples,havetheirownhistory,folklore,deities,rituals,
particularmoralsystem andlife-customs.Aloftheseenableeachculturetocopewiththegreatissuesof
lifeanditspassages–from childho dtomaturitytooldage,andtotheultimatepassagethroughthatdark
gate,Death.ChristianstiethishumaninclinationtoworshipdirectlytothefacthatGodsaysman,and
onlyman,iscreatedinHisdivineimage(imagodei).
Secondly,whatisalsocuriousishowandwhathumansworship.Themostprominentfeatureofhuman
worshipfrom earliestbegin ingshasbe nasacrificeofsomesort,whethertheshe p,goatsorbulsof
theearlyMediteraneanworld,orthehumanbeingshurledintothemouthsofvolcanosbythe
Polynesians,orthechildsacrificesoftheCana nites,ortheritualslaughterpracticedbytheAztecs,the
Incas,andvirtualyaloftheNewWorldIndians.Inalcases,itap earssomekindofblo dmustflow.We
canalsoad tothis(inmanycultures)theprominenceofself-sacrificethroughflagelation,severe
asceticism,oractsofpersonalpenance.
Thecentralityofsacrificeinalhumanreligiousthinkingpointstoanunmistakablereality:thathumans
instinctivelyknow,oratleastsuspect,thathereexistsOnetowhom theyareacountablefortheir
behavior.Theyalsoassume,orknow,thatheyhavefalenshortofwhathathigherbeing(orbeings)
requiresofthem.Thereisauniversalsensethat“Godisnotpleasedwithme.”Soathirdfeatureof
worshipisuniversalguilt.Peopleworshipbecausetheyfe lguilty.Theyfe lthisguiltbecausethey
perceivetheyhavefalenshortofthestandardthatGod,others,andtheythemselvesrequire.
TheGreatGlobalHeresy:Religion
“Go dlitleboysgotoheavenandbadlitleboysgotohel!”Probablymostofus,atonetimeoranother,
haveundergonetheordealofhavingaparentorateacherpointafingeratus(oraneighboring
miscreant)andwarnoftheultimateoutcomeofunacceptablebehavior.
This“SantaClaus”mentalitysug eststhatGodis“makin’alistandcheckin’itwice,gon afindoutwho’s
naughtyornice.”
Everywhereweturn,wehearpeoplespeakofthisreligion:itisthemostpopularap roachtoGodonthe
planet.Wealknowabouthego dlitleangelsitingononeshoulderandthebadlitleangelonthe
other.Andweareveryfamiliarwithjokesaboutwhathap enstothepersonwhodiesandisimmediately
facetofacewithSaintPeteratheGoldenGatesofHeaven.Peterstandstherereadytoevaluateand
passjudgementonwhetherwe’vebe ngo denoughtobeadmitedandacceptedinside.SaintPeter
expectsustogivemoralacountofourselvesbeforewecangoinside.
Thegeneral,world-wideassumptionisthat,whenwedie,ourgo dde dsandourbadde dswilbe
placedonthedivinescalesandweighedtodetermineifwego“up”or“down.”However,from
Christianity’sviewpoint,thisisagreat,globalheresy.
Thisis“religion,”butitisdefinitelynotChristianity.Infact,Christianityisradicalyop osedtosuchan
idea,teachingusthatwearenotodosomething,butratherthatsomethinghasalreadybe ndoneon
ourbehalf.Thisglobalheresy,whichwecal“religion,”actualycomesfrom Hinduism.Itistheideathat
Godresidesathetopofagreatmountain,anditmakeslitledifferencewhichpathase kercho sesin
hisascentupthatmountain,sincealpathsleadtotheGodontop.Anditisuptoyoutoclimbifyouwant
toreachthesummit–andGod.
AthewesternendoftheForum inancientRome,theresto dtheMilenarium Aureum,theGolden
Milestone,agildedbronzecolumnsetupbyAugustusCaesartomarkthejunctionandtheoriginofthe
majorRomanroadsspreadingoutlikethespokesofagreatwhe lineverydirectiontodistant
destinationsthroughoutheEmpire.Onthiscolumnwereinscribedthemajortownsandtheirdistances
from Rome.From thiscamethepopularsaying,“AlroadsleadtoRome.”
ThisiswhatreligionistsbelieveaboutGod.Theysaythingslike,“Wel,itrealydoesn’tmaterwhatyou
believe.What’simportantisthatyoutrytodoyourbestandbesincereaboutit.Afteral,we’realtryingto
getothesameplace;wealworshipthesameGod.”
ButintheGenesisacountofAdam andEve,weencountersomethingverydifferent:infact,wediscover
thatherearetwopossibleap roachestoGod,butonlyoneisaceptable.AfterAdam andEvehad
disobeyedGod,theyimmediatelyhidinthebushes,to koutne dleandthread,andbegansewingfig
leavestogethertocoverthemselves.
Godcameandfoundthem inthebushes–flunkingthefirsthomeeconomicscourseeveroffered!God lo
kedatheclustersoffigleavestheyhadhastilysewntogether,andHewasnotpleased.Infact,He
scoldedtheireffortsandtheirconduct.Adam andEvenotonlyhadtoadmitheirguiltanddisobedience,
theyalsohadtoacknowledgetheirinabilitytomakethingsrightthroughtheirownefforts.Theycouldnot
cover,oratone,forwhatheyhaddone.TheacountgoesontosaythatGodhadtotaketheinitiativeto
adequatelyclothethem.Hekiledsomeanimalsandmadegarmentsfrom theirskinsforacovering.
Alphilosophy,philanthropy,asceticism,religion,ethics,andalothersystemswhichse ktogainthe ap
rovalofGodthroughhumanself-effortarethe“fig-leaf”ap roach.Thismethodisatheheartofwhat
wecal“religion,”man’sbesteffortoreachupandfindGod.Butheproblem everyworship er
encounterswhenclimbingthemountainisanimpenetrablebarierwhichdeniesalfurtheradvance:itis
thebarierofGod’sholinessandperfection.Eachindividual’spersonalsinandimperfectionpreventshim
orherfrom cominganycloser.
InhisautobiographyMahatmaGandhi,adevoutHindu,speakseloquentlyofhisownstruglewiththis
whenhesays:“OhwretchedmanthatIam.ItisaconstantsourceoftorturetomethatIam sofarfrom
theoneIknowtobemyverylifeandbeing,andIknowthatitismyownsinandwretchednessthathides Him
from me.”
TheProblem ofSin
When theword“sin”comesupinaconversation,mostpeoplelo kasthoughsomeonejustslip edthem
amildewedfig!Wedoalotofit;wejustdon’tliketotalkaboutit!Manypeopledonotknowwhatsinora sin
erealyis.Whatissin?Sinisaviolationofthelaw,thestandardGodrequiresofeveryhuman.A sin
eristhereforesomeonewhohasbrokenthatstandard.
Donotmisunderstandme.Iam notsayingthathereisnogo datalinpeople.Thereisagreatdealof go
d.Humansarenotasbadastheycouldbe.Thepointissimplythis:ifourpremiseisthatogeto
heavenonehastobego d,thenhowgo disgo denough?
TheScripturesarequiteclearabouthis.Godisnotdemanding“go dness.”WesawabovethatAdam
andEve’sbesteffortstocoverthemselves(figleaves)werenotenough.Thego dwhichisinman,alhis
moralachievement,isnotacceptabletoGod–becauseGodisnotdemandinggo dness,He
demandsperfection!
ManywilsaytheytrytolivebytheTenCommandmentsorbysomeotheruleoflife,suchastheGolden
Rule.Andyet,ifwearehonest,eachofusdiscoverswehaveviolatedourownstandardsatsomepoint.
ThisiswhatPaulmeantwhenhesaid,“Alhavesin edandcomeshortofthegloryofGod”(Romans 3:23).
TheGrandCanyonis6to18milesacross,276mileslong,andonemilede p.Theworld’srecordinthe
longjump,setbyMikePowelathe19 1WorldChampionshipsinTokyois29′41/2″.Yethechancesof
apersonjumpingfrom onesideoftheGrandCanyontotheotheraregreaterthanthatofsomeone
atemptingtoestablishfelowshipwithGodthroughhisownefforts.
Thestandardmanmustme tisGod’sperfection.Whocanmatchthat?Itisagoalsofarawaythatno
onecouldeverreachit.Tomakematersworse,Jamestelsusthat“whoeverke psthewholelawand
yetstumblesinonepoint,hehasbecomeguiltyofal”(James2:10).Thismeansifsomeonebreaksjust
oneofthecommandments,heisasguiltyasifhehadbrokenalten!
ThepurposeofgivingtheTenCommandmentsinthefirstplacewasnotbecauseGodknewhuman
beingswouldke pthem perfectly.TheBibletelsusthatheserevealedstandardswereintendedtobeto
uswhatanX-raymachineistoabrokenarm.Themachinerevealstheconditionofthearm,butitwilnot
setandknithebones,norwilitputhearm inacast.Bythesametoken,theTenCommandmentscan
onlyrevealtoustheconditionofourlives;theycan othealusorcoveroursin.
ThePharise slo kedatheLawandthenatheirownlivesandsaid,“I’m pretygo d,realygo d.”Jesus
hadwantedthem tocometotheop ositeconclusion.Heevencaledthem hypocrites!Hesaidtheywere
wrongtoclaim theywererighteousenoughandthatalwaswelbetwe nthem andtheirMaker.Thatis
whyhesaid,“Thosewhoareweldonotne daphysician”(Mathew9:12).Whenyouarewel,youdon’t se
kadoctor.Thetimetoconsultaphysicianiswhenyourealizeyouaresick.Jesuswasurgingthe Pharise
stobehonestabouthemselveswhenHesaid,“Ihavenotcometocaltherighteous,but sin
erstorepentance”(v.13).
WhenmywifeCarolandItravel,andIdiscoverI’m lost,Irealyhateforhertomakeherclassicstatement,
“You’relost.Whydon’tyouaskfordirections?”Inmycase,theissueisalwaysmymalepride!Withthe
Pharise s,itwasreligiouspride,asitisforalwhowouldse kheavenonthebasisoftheirownmerits.
AwiseoldBaptistpreacheroncesaid,“Itisn’tdifficultogetpeoplesaved;itisdifficultogethem lost!”
Thisisman’sdilemma:likethePharise s,peopleclingtotheoldfigleavesofself-effortinsteadof
submitingtothecoveringGodHimselfhasprovidedforal(Christ’ssacrificialdeath,theCross).Eachof
usmustcho seoneortheother(John3:18,36).
TheProblem ofRighteousnes
Whilemoralityandhumango dnessaretobecommended,Godmakesitclearfrom theveryoutsethat
noone,throughhisownefforts,possessestheabilitytomakehimselfpresentablebeforeGod.Itwas
CharlesHad onSpurgeonwhosaid,“Manisbasicalyasilkworm.Aspin erandaweaver… tryingto
clothehimself… buthesilkworm’sactivityspinsitashroud.Soitiswithman.”Adam andEveareclassic
examples.
Ourproblem isnotonlythatwehavefalenshortofGod’sstandard(Romans3:23),bysin ing;we
alsolacksomething.Wenotonlyne dtheremovalofpersonalsinthroughblo dsacrificetosatisfy
divinejustice;wene dsomethingfurthertomakeusfitforheavenandthedivinepresenceofGod.In
otherwords,Christ’sdeathinourplacewilke pusoutofhel–butwestilhavetheproblem ofgetinginto
heaven.Isaiahspokeofthiswhenhesaid,“Foralofushavebecomelikeonewhoisunclean,andall
ourrighteousdeedsareasfilthyrags.”(Isaiah64:6).Notoursins,butourgo dde ds!Wene dnot
onlyatonementforoursins,wealsone drighteousnesstoenterheaven!Butithastobeacertainkindof
righteousness.
ThemostrighteouspeopleofJesus’daywerethePharise s.TheyknewtheOldTestamentbyheart.
Theywentothesynagoguethre timesadayandprayedseventimesaday.Theywererespectedinthe
community.ButJesuslo kedrighthroughtheireligiousvene rand,intheirpresence,admonishedthe
crowdsthat“UnlessyourighteousnesssurpassesthatofthescribesandPharise s,youshalnotenter
thekingdom ofheaven”(Mathew5:20).
Thecrowdsrespondedbystaringateachotherinbewilderment.“YoumeanthePharise saren’t
righteousenoughtogotoheaven?Iftheycan’tmakeit,whowil?”
IntheGardenofEdenweobservethisconflictbetwe ntwokindsofrighteousness–human
righteousness,whichisclearlysymbolizedbythefigleafgarmentsAdam andEvesewedtogetherto
makethemselvespresentablebeforeGod,anddivinerighteousness,whichissymbolizedbytheadequate
coveringoftheslainanimalsprovidedbyGodHimself.Wefindthesetwokindsofrighteousness
marchingandclashingwitheachotheralthewaythroughbothTestaments.
PaulreferedtothesesametworighteousnesseswhenhesaidofhisJewishbrethren,“Ibearthem
witness,thatheyhaveazealforGod,butnotinacordancewithknowledge.Fornotknowingabout
God’srighteousness,andse kingtoestablishtheirown,theydidnotsubmithemselvestothe
righteousnessofGod”(Romans10:1).
IntheformerSovietUnion,rublesareprintedandcirculated.Withthoserublesyoucanbuyyourdin er,
payyourhotelbil,andpurchasethingsintheshops.ButifyoubroughthoserublesbacktoAmericaand
triedtodothesamething,therubleswouldnotbehonored.Itwouldbefutiletotrytodobusinesswith
rublesinAmerica.
Let’sthinkofthesetworighteousnessesinmathematicalterms.Let’scalGod’srighteousness“+R”and
humanrighteousness“-R.”Thefirstrighteousnessisabsolute,whilethesecondisrelative.Overalifetme,
ahumanbeingcanacumulateahugepileof-R,butad edup,itstiltotals-R.TodobusinesswithGod
inheaven,wemustdealwithHim intheonly“curency”honoredandaceptedbyHim,andthatis+R.It
isfutiletotrytonegotiatewithGodonthebasisofrelative,humango dness.Wene d+R.
Wheredowegetsuch“curency?”Itisgiventousasagiftifwewilaceptit–theperfectrighteousness
ofJesusChrist.TheyardstickGodusestomeasureeveryoneisHisSon.This+Rrighteousnessisours
onlyinChrist:“Notbyworksofrighteousnesswhichwehavedone,butaccordingtoHismercyHesaved
us,bythewashingofregenerationandrenewingbytheHolySpirit”(Titus3:5).
Thisgraciousprovisionisaradicaldeparturefrom alothereligiousideashumanshaveeverconceived
orsetforth.Itissoradicalthathumanbeingswouldneverhavethoughtofit.
TheUniquenes ofChristianGrace
Wehavesoughtoariveatabiblicalanswertothequestion,“Wilago d,moralifegetmetoheaven?”
Wehaveexaminedthebankruptcyofeveryatemptbypeopletoreachthatgoalthroughanyandevery
meansofself-effort.WehavediscoveredthathesalvationofferedbyChristianityisuniquelyop osedto
alhumaneffortstosecureitbyworkingone’swayintoGod’sgo dgraces.Infact,ifGodexpectedusto
atainoursalvationthroughgo dde ds,thenGodmadeateriblemistake.HealowedHisonly-begoten
Sontocometoearth–robedinhumanflesh–anddieahoribledeathonacrossforourpersonal,eternal
benefit.Tocho sea“go dworks”pathtoGodistonegatethetotalsignificanceofChrist’sdeath,making
itmeaninglessandun ecessary.
WhatGodhastoofferisfre.Itisagifthatisnotdeservedbyanyofus,norcouldweeverepaywhat
thegiftisworth.Godhasdealtwithhumankindingraceandlove.TheonlythingthatGodhasaskedusto
doistohumblyadmithatwehavebrokenHislaws,acknowledgethatHehasinde dmadethingsright
throughHisSon’ssacrificialdeathonthecross,andaceptHisforgivenessbyfaith.Weareinvitedtolay
asideourown“fig-leaf”costumesandfre lysubmitothecoveringGodhasprovidedforus,theblo d-
stainedgarmentofHisSon,theveryrighteousnessofChrist.
ThisiswhatJesussoughtocommunicateinMathew2 :1-14,theparableabouthewed ingfeasthata
kingwaspreparingtogivehisson:“Sotheservantswentoutintothehighways,andgatheredtogetheral,
asmanyastheyfound,bothgo dandbad:andthewed ingwasfurnishedwithguests.Andwhenthe
kingcameintose theguests,hesawthereamanwhohadnotonawed inggarment.Andhesaidunto
him,‘Friend,howcameyouherenothavingonawed inggarment?’Andhewasspe chless.Thensaid
thekingtotheservants,‘Bindhim handandfo t,andtakehim away,andcasthim intoouterdarkness;
thereshalbewe pingandgnashingofte th!'”
Thetextdoesnoteluswhetherthispersonwasoneofthe“go d”onesorthe“bad”ones.Why?
BecauseitisirelevantowhatJesuswantsustounderstand.Theimportantissuewasproperatirefor
theocasion.GodistelingusthatheonlyaceptableatireforheavenistherighteousnessofChrist.
Asagracioushost,Hestandsholdingoutohumanitythemostexpensive,costlygarmentintheuniverse,
andHeeagerlydesirestowrapusupinit–safeandwarm andhapyandsecure:
“IwilgreatlyrejoiceintheLord,mysoulshalbejoyfulinmyGod:forHehathclothedmewiththe
garmentsofsalvation,Hehathcoveredmewiththerobeofrighteousness,asabridegro m decketh
himselfwithornaments,andasabrideadornsherselfwithherjewels.”(Isaiah61:10).
Sohowdoesthisap lytoyouandme?Simplythis:Everythingthatne dedtobedoneforyoursalvation
andminewasaccomplishedthemomentChristdiedonthecross.Thepenaltyhasbe npaidandGod’s
righteousdemandssatisfied.Godisnowfre toextendeternalifeasafre gift.Hedeclares,“Thewages
ofsinisdeath,buthefre giftofGodiseternalifethroughJesusChristourLord”(Romans6:23).Gifts,
ofcourse,mustbereceived.Forthatreason,Jesussaid,“Hewhobelieveshaseternalife”(John6:47).
“Believe”means“totrustordependon.”GodisaskingeachpersontocometoHim asasin er,recognize
thatHisSondiedonthecrossofus,andtrustHisSonaloneasouronlyhopeofheaven.
Thiswasthemessage,thego dnewswhichthefirstChristiansto ktotheworld:“Neitheristhere
salvationinanyother,forthereisnoothernameunderheaventhathasbe ngivenamongmen,bywhich
wemustbesaved”(Acts4:12).
Inreality,everyhumanbeingisjustaprayerawayfrom receivingthegraceandforgivenessofGodand
thepromiseofheaven.Butithastobetherightprayer,basedontherightfacts:thatJesusChristcame
intothisworldtosavesin ers,not“Do-Go ders”:“Ihavenotcometocaltherighteoustorepentance,but sin
ers”(Mathew9:13).YoucanbegintotrustChristforyoursalvationtodayinsteadofyourown,futile
effortsoftryingtobeafairlynicepersonalyourlife.Obviously,yourheartatitude,yoursincerity,iswhat
realycounts.Godknowsyourheart.Butifthefolowingsugestedprayerwilhelptobringasenseof
closureandcertaintytoyourdecisiontobelievein,totrustChrist,thenpleasefe lfre touseitasa simpleguide:
“DearGod,IadmithatIam asin er,andnothingIcandowilevergetmetoheaven.ButIbelieveJesus
Christdiedformeandrosefrom thegravetoprovethevalidityofHisclaim tobemySavior.Heto kmy
placeandmypunishment.Sorightnow,IplacemytrustinChristalonetomakemepresentableand
aceptabletoyou.Comeintomylife.IaccepthegiftofyourSon.Thankyouthatyouarenowwithinme,
notbaseduponmyfe lings,butuponyourpromisethatifIopenthedo rofmylifeandinviteyouto
comelivewithinmeandbemySavior,youwould(Rev.3:20,John1:12).Makemethekindofpersonyou
wantmetobe.Begintoshowmethatyourealyhaveenteredmylifeandheart,andnowgivemethe
guidanceIne dtoliveanewlifeinfelowshipwithyou.Amen.”
JamesF.WilliamswasthefounderandpastpresidentofProbeMinistriesInternational.Hehelddegre s
from SouthernMethodistUniversity(B.A.)andDalasTheologicalSeminary(Th.M.).Healsopursued
inter-disciplinarydoctoralstudies(a.b.d.)inthehumanitiesatheUniversityofTexasatDalas.Overa
thirty-fiveyearperiod,hevisited,lectured,andcounseledonmorethan180universitycampusesinthe
UnitedStates,Canada,Europe,andtheformerSovietUnion.Healsoservedonthefacultiesofthe
American,LatinAmerican,andEuropeanInstitutesofBiblicalStudies.Jimmywonhis(andhisfamily's)
14-yearbatlewithAlzheimer'swhenhegraduatedtoheaveninSeptember2019.
WhatisProbe?
ProbeMinistriesisanon-profitministrywhosemissionistoassisthechurchinrenewingthemindsof
believerswithaChristianworldviewandtoequipthechurchtoengagetheworldforChrist.Probefulfils
thismissionthroughourMindGamesconferencesforyouthandadults,our3-minutedailyradioprogram,
andourextensiveWebsiteatwww.probe.org.
FurtherinformationaboutProbe'smaterialsandministrymaybeobtainedbycontactingusat:
