While in Ontario
Canada, Sue and I passed two Jehovah’s Witness women standing on a busy street
corner with racks of books and pamphlets they were giving to those passing by.
As we passed, I felt a compassionate drawing toward them and so retraced my
steps and politely opened a conversation with them.
I began by
asking them how, according to their church, a person can know they are saved
and will go to heaven. The one who was obviously the leader answered that we
cannot know if we are saved until we die. She then quoted the words of Jesus, He who endures to the end shall be saved.
I responded with
the question, “Does that mean that at the end of our life if our good works
outweigh our bad works, we will be OK?” She replied, “Yes.” I then asked, “So
what was the need for Jesus to come and die for our sins?” They did not have an
answer.
The conversation
then turned to who Jesus is when they mentioned the name “Jehovah.” I asked, “Do
you believe Jesus is Jehovah?” She answered with an emphatic “No!” (Jehovah
Witnesses believe Jesus is Michael the Archangel) I then asked, “Why then did
Jesus receive worship from people?” I went on to say, “In the Old Testament
only God is to be worshipped and it would be blasphemous for anyone, even an
angel, to receive worship, but Jesus allowed people to worship Him.” I then
quoted John 8:58 where Jesus identified Himself with God who spoke to Moses
from the burning bush and identified Himself as I Am. I pointe d out that Jesus said to the Jews, Before Abraham was I Am, and that the
Jews then attempted to stone Him for blasphemy.
At this point
the leader politely brought the conversation to a close. I exhorted them to “follow
Jesus” and went on my way with a sense of knowing I had obeyed the Lord and borne
witness to His name.
Since then, I
have thought on their human-centered concept of salvation that if our good
works outweigh our bad works, we will be OK. The Bible, however, is very clear
that we have already been weighed in God’s balance and found wanting. What God
said to of the Babylonian King Belshazzar is true of the entire human race, You
have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.
The human race in
general, and every individual in particular, has been weighed in God’s balance
and found wanting. All have sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God, Paul said in Romans. 3:23. All we like sheep have gone astray, the
prophet Isaiah said, We have turned,
every one, to his own way (Isaiah 53:6).
The whole world
stands guilty before a righteous and holy God. God would have been righteous
and just to have sent every one of us to hell. Not a single angel would have
protested. John makes this point when he said that the one who does not believe
in Christ, is condemned already because
he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
This sense of
guilt before God is innate in human beings. This is why humans are incurably religious.
Everywhere you go people are religious and are seeking to assuage that innate
sense of guilt with a religion of works or by hiding within a group, like these
two with whom I conversed.
God, however,
does not offer “group” salvation. Every individual, whether a pope or a pauper,
must deal personally with God. All are alike in His sight. He is not impressed
with human pomp and circumstance. The ground is level at the cross. In II
Corinthians 5:10 Paul said, For we must
all appear before the judgement seat of Christ , that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what
he has done, whether good or bad.
The good news is
that we can have assurance of our salvation, not based on what we have done,
but based on what He has done. We do not have to wait until the end of our life
to know if we are saved. Here is how we can know.
1. Realize that you have already been
weighed in heaven’s balances and found wanting. Know that you already stand naked,
guilty and condemned before a righteous and holy God.
2. Flee to Christ. Put your faith completely
in Him. Do not try to hide in a group or church. Lay hold of Christ by faith
and take Him as your personal Savior and Deliverer.
3. As you put your trust completely in Him
there will come an assurance in your heart. The old time Methodists called it
the “inner witness,” based on Paul’s words in Romans 8:16, The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children
of God.
4. Walk in
faith every day. Your life will not be perfect but it will be different. Keep
your eyes on Jesus. Trust Him every day for His strength and power to be a
living witness to others of His mercy and grace as He promised in Acts 1:8.
5. As you walk with Him in faith each day,
that inner sense of assurance will grow until you will know that you know that
you are saved as much as you know your own identity. You will have no doubt
that if you died today you would immediately go to be with Him.
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