Levirate Marriage

Q. What does the passage in Deut 25:7-10 mean? What is the family of the unsandaled and its significance?

A. This passage refers to “Levirate Law”. Let me quote from Easton’s Bible Dictionary:

From Latin levir, “a husband’s brother,” the name of an ancient custom ordained by Moses, by which, when an Israelite died without issue, his surviving brother was required to marry the widow, so as to continue his brother’s family through the son that might be born of that marriage:

 Gen 38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Lie with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother.”

 Ruth 4:10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!”

Its object was “to raise up seed to the departed brother.”

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary’s explanation of this passage is:

If the man did not want to marry his brother’s wife, the widow could hold him up to public shame and disapproval by bringing the matter to court (the city gate) before the elders (v. 7). There she would indict her husband’s brother for his refusal to carry on her late husband’s name. If the elders failed to break the man’s persistence in not marrying the woman (v. 8), she was to take off one of his sandals, spit in his face, and denounce him as one who would not build up his brother’s family line (v. 9). His family line would then be known as “The Family of the Unsandaled” (v. 10). The legislation makes possible the release of the brother-in-law from his duty, while definitely discouraging such failure by the shame involved in being brought to court, spit upon, and labeled as “The Family of the Unsandaled”.

In the NT, the Sadducees tested Jesus by quoting this law and making up the story of seven brothers each successively marrying the same woman:

 Mt 22:24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him.”

As to its significance, I believe the Levirate law explained how two of the five women (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba (not directly named, but identified as Uriah’s wife), Mary) in Jesus’ genealogy got there:

 Mt 1:3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram.

 Mt 1:5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,

Normally women’s names are not included in ancient Jewish patriarchal society. Tamar gave birth to the twins Perez and Zerah out of an incestuous relationship with Judah. Ruth was a Moabitess, a foreigner. Their inclusion in Jesus’ ancestry indicated God’s salvation is for all men and women, including those with tainted backgrounds, and pagans, not just for His chosen people. [Rahab’s and Bathsheba’s inclusion had nothing to do with the Levirate’s law, but they too had a dubious background.] God loves all mankind and offers salvation to all. We should do away with our prejudices and do the same.

This Morning’s Worship 5

We visited a church barely 5 minutes from home. Of the 5 that we’ve visited so far, this is the most traditional and similar to our Cantonese service, with the order of service printed in the bulletin (none of the others have a detailed programme), choir, and use of hymnals.

The church has a nice pipe organ on the right side of the sanctuary, but the piano is placed on the left side. This necessitated the pianist-organist, who, by-the-way, played very well, to run from one side of the platform to the next a couple of times, adding to the program’s busyness. There was no worship team. Instead, a 30-member choir marched in through a side hall as the service started at 10 AM. Even one of the pastors was a member. That’s a big choir in relation to the size of the congregation, which I estimated to be just over 200. I guessed 90% of the choir members to be seniors; as well, over 40% of the choir is non-white, which is representative of the congregation’s ethnicity.

The program was somewhat choppy with many elements:

Welcome
Prelude, with choir making entrance
Call to worship
Opening hymn
Opening prayer
Singspiration with 3 worship songs
Children’s time
March break mission report, as the youth just returned from a short-term trip to a camp
Recruitment soliciting help for openings within the church
Offering
Offering response hymn
Solo music presentation
Congregational prayer
Scripture reading
Sermon
Choir presentation
Closing hymn
Benediction & choral amen
Postlude

It was also very busy (I counted 19 components), with different people running up and down the stage, even though they all came forward without a chairman announcing what comes next.

All the components up to and including Scripture reading took 65 minutes, so I was surprised to find that the message took all of only a little over 10 minutes, hardly enough to get into the subject.

As I compared the contemporary and the traditional worship styles, I find I do miss the familiar hymns which have very sound theological content and which challenged us to a deeper commitment to the Lord and to serving Him through serving others. However, I find the seamless flow from one element to the next in a contemporary service more attractive and conducive to preparing the worshipper’s heart to meet the Lord. It would be so good if we can find the right balance, with each person humbly coming before God to listen for His instructions, then going forth to act them out wherever He had placed them, till they gather together again the following week to hear the next set of marching orders. That would make a wonderful worship service.

Deception 4

A few closing remarks. How do Christians get deceived? In three primary ways:

1. By flattery: Rom 16:18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.

That’s one of the reasons why we are very careful when it comes to compliments, both receiving and giving them. I remember my pastor telling me, “Be careful of people with flowery talk who butter you up. The smarter they are, the more you should be on the alert.” That’s not to say that we should not trust intelligent people, but get to know them as a person, their motives, what do they stand for, before you accept what they say.

2. By faulty reasoning: Col 2:4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.

I recommend that Christians take some basic training in logic and argumentation, especially if they are going to be involved in apologetics or the defense of the faith. Argumentation is not learning to be argumentative, but knowing how to construct a sound and persuasive argument to convince people of the truth, and to detect and demolish faulty thinking, logical fallacies and such like.

3. By false information: 2 Thes 2:3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

That’s what I was up against when I first examined the Antichrist. The popular books about the end times all talked about the coming world dictator, sitting on top of one world government. The Bible’s emphasis is on deception, not a powerful ruler. There are actually two meanings to the Greek word “anti”:

a) over against, opposite to, before
b) for, instead of, in place of (something)

The first meaning is the traditional sense in which most people interpret anti in antichrist i.e. against Christ, opposed to Christ, a “contra” Christ. However, as I have shown in all the references cited, the Bible’s own interpretation is (b), someone instead of Christ, in place of Christ, a “pseudo” Christ or false Christ. His trick is to deceive you into believing he is the real one, not to force you by sheer power into submission. If he is successful, you will worship him willingly, not knowing you have been defrauded.

Nowadays the timing is ripe for all three ploys. We live in a self-centered society where people loved to be praised. The post-modern worldview has shifted our beliefs from being based on evidence and reason to feelings. And the media, largely controlled by the government or private parties with their own agenda, has censored truth and disseminated what they want the public to hear. Pray for discernment, for you are going to need it to survive in these last days.

Deception 3

One more post on the topic of deception. I got interested in this subject decades ago, because at that time whenever Christians talk about the Antichrist, they nearly always refer to him as a great dictator who will persecute the Church and Christians. That may be true; however, when I turned to the Bible, the emphasis seemed to lie elsewhere:

2 Jn 1:7 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

2 Thes 2:9-10 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

Notice that the focus is not on persecution, but on deceit or deception, which is a characteristic of Antichrist and the apostasy. I read many books on prophecy at that time, and in the 70s the most popular school was dispensationalism, the belief that God will rapture Christians out of this world before the Great Tribulation. Book after book talked about how brilliant a politician and military genius the Antichrist would be, and that if a Christian does not deny Christ to worship him, he/she will be persecuted. Yet when I searched the New Testament, the references to antichrists and the Antichrist, in addition to the above, consist of:

Mt 24:5, 23-24, 26 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ, and will deceive many. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect–if that were possible. “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.

Mk 13:6, 21-22 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect–if that were possible.

Lk 21:8 He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.

2 Thes 2:3-8 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.

1 Jn 2:18,22 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist–he denies the Father and the Son.

1 Jn 4:3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

Rev 19:20 But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

Rev 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

You can see that aside from 2 Thes 2:4 which talks about the man of lawlessness opposing God, every other reference’s emphasis is on deception, falsehood, denial and delusion. Could it be that the deception had begun already, so much so that many focus their attention on the wrong place? Have we been dumbed down to such an extent that we no longer discern truth from falsehood? As a result of that early study, I was on the alert when I approach any biblical subject. Sad to say, many Christians today seem to have blinders on, especially when it comes to applying what they learned in bible study to daily living. No wonder we are in so much trouble.

Saying Goodbye

I said goodbye to my congregation 3 times over the past month. They must have thought “When can we get rid of this guy? We sent him off with gifts and lunches, but he keeps coming back?” 🙂

The first time was when they arranged a special prayer meeting for us the Wed. before our departure. Half the Cantonese congregation showed up, plus a good number from our Mandarin ministry. That’s more than we ever get when “real” missionaries go to the field. Some brothers and sisters who had gone off to other churches returned to give us their best wishes. Others who normally were too busy to join a mid-week prayer meeting participated in this one. Those who came were from across the age spectrum, ranging from students to seniors. A few sisters wept uncontrollably as we sang the closing hymn. We were overcome by the show of support.

The second time was my last Sunday upon the expiry of my contract. Our average worship attendance was around 120, which increased by 25% on that day. Again friends and brothers and sisters who had moved away returned to say farewell. We were showered with gifts and cards, and again there were many red or wet eyes as the last song was sung. We were deeply moved by their love for us.

Today is the third time. Our chairman told me a few cell groups wanted to have lunch together to say a proper goodbye, so my wife expected a few tables. But as we walked into the gym, we were totally surprised and unprepared when over a hundred folks crowded together waiting for our arrival. After the meal, dozens of brothers and sisters came up to the microphone to express their appreciation for our ministry over the years. We really did not know what to say, as we felt the appreciation and encouragement were totally undeserved. People brought up things we have forgotten ourselves, and indicated how much they appreciated us amongst them. But as my first pastor taught me, often it is harder for Christians to receive than to give; however, when it comes, accept it gracefully. Freely you have received, freely give (Mt 10:8).

So thank you for the love and blessings you have bestowed on us. It has been an honor being able to serve the Lord by serving the brothers and sisters in this church. Thank you for the changed lives I witnessed as I saw the hand of the Lord working in your lives. Saying goodbye is never easy. How do you say farewell to a church you’ve invested your life in for the past 21 years? Afterall, how many 21 years time blocks does a man have in his life time? Only by the grace of God when He has other assignments for you to do. I pray that all of us will have a clear vision of what is God’s mission for us, and the courage to go forth.

This Morning’s Worship 4

We visited a church a little bigger than our home church this morning. It is housed in an old building, but renovated for a seating capacity of about 400. The sanctuary was about two-thirds full. The congregation consists of a diverse community in terms of ethnicity and age. There were a good number of Caucasian seniors, suited up with jacket and tie and dresses. The middle-aged and younger adults are more mixed with lots of Asians, all casually attired.

The single service started at 10:30 AM. It appears the traditional 11 AM service had all but disappeared. Bigger congregations with two morning services typically start them at 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM, allowing at least a half-hour buffer in between services to disperse traffic from the early service. Those with a single service generally start at 10 or 10:30 AM.

As with the three churches we visited the previous Sundays, worship started with singspiration led by 2 guitarists who also sang, 1 drummer, plus 1 lead singer. Songs were mostly contemporary, which the older members joined in just like the younger set. Choir seems to have faded out, and has become the exception rather than the rule. There is no “worship chairman”. Perhaps these are traditions primarily of Chinese churches.

Announcements followed immediately. Then came the offering, and children’s story before the kids are dismissed. Again, all these necessary components came before the sermon. One interesting observation is that all the children are non-white. I suppose as the Caucasian church founder generation ages, the congregation adapts to the diverse urban community and must welcome multi-ethnic newcomers to fulfill its mandate to preach the good news to all people.

Next came a Powerpoint on the devastation in Japan, plus pastoral prayer. The missionary family sent from them were safe, but they had difficulty finding clean drinking water. Food was scarce, and gasoline supply was very low. There is no news from three of the churches they know of. They could be completely destroyed, not just the building but the people, by the quake and the tsunami. I can hear sobs from different parts of the church as we prayed.

Last came the message. The pastor wanted to show a video clip as introduction, but the AV failed. I guess we are not the only ones with “technical difficulties”! The pastor is a very gifted expositor. It’s been quite some time that I’ve been captivated by the sermon as he expounds on Paul’s conversion in Acts 9 and 26. There was no Powerpoint, but at times you can hear a pin drop as the congregation gives rapt attention to the exposition of God’s word. It reminds me of my pastor when I first became a Christian, whose careful exposition shaped my early walk with the Lord. The service closes with a response hymn, and then the congregation is dismissed.

As we walked to our car, my wife commented that this church seemed to be held together by her pastor, while the church the previous week, which she also liked, appeared to stick together because of the care amongst its members. While that may be true, we have seen far too little to judge. But I kept wondering, each church has its uniqueness. Some are very mission-minded. Others are very warm. Still others are very strong in the Word. All run their church somewhat differently. Do we need to be so critical when others do things not the way we like it? The words in Acts 9 came back to haunt me:

Acts 9:4-5 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

Saul was persecuting the Christians, yet Jesus said he’s persecuting Him. Could it be that when we judge our brothers and sisters, we are doing the same to the Lord? Lord, help us to be humble servants, and appreciate our brothers and sisters, whom you redeemed. Help us to love as we are loved. Amen.

Deception 2

Let’s continue with an example of Scripture twisting by the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs). Although JWs have a reputation of knowing their bibles and can jump from verse to verse, and even use the name International Bible Students Association in the UK, they really don’t study the Bible that much. Instead, they are very well indoctrinated in the writings of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, such as “Insight on the Scriptures”, and “Reasoning from the Scriptures”. In other words, they get their understanding of what the Bible says from the interpretation given in these volumes, rather than from the Bible itself. So even though they do not call these publications holy books as Mormons call their Book of Mormon, in fact, what the Society says replaces the plain teachings of Scripture.

They are well taught in the use of proof texts to back up their heretical doctrines, and use the best techniques such as an apprentice system, demonstration, role-play, memorization, on-the-job training, and post-mortem after each visit to train their people to do recruitment. There is even a manual on how to answer common objections as they go from door to door. As such, the average Christian who does not study his bible is at a disadvantage when it comes to having a discussion around doctrinal topics, and is quickly stumped by the JWs. Despite their zeal, it is not based on knowledge (Rom 10:2), for they have been deceived by the Society.

Many examples of Scripture twisting can be cited from their New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT), the most well-known of which is probably John 1:1. This verse was purposely mistranslated to detract the full deity of Jesus Christ. Our familiar KJV or NIV has “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” However, their NWT has “In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” This is contrary to known grammatical rules. Nevertheless, since most English readers do not know Greek grammar, we will use another example to demonstrate their deception. In the NIV:

 Col 1:16-17 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

This verse is a strong argument for Jesus as the Creator and His pre-existence. However, the NWT, in order to lower Jesus’ position, has:

Notice the insertion of the word “other” in between the “all” and “things” in all four appearances in these two verses. It changes Jesus from being the Creator to being the “first created”, who in turn created “other things”. This is completely unwarranted as there is no “other” in the original Greek, which even their own Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures (KIT) indicates (see below):

Please note that the Greek text in their KIT has “all things”, no “other”; but the English text in the NWT has “all [other] things”. This is NOT translation; it is reading into the text something that’s not there, making the bible to conform to their heresy. The translators have no integrity. Their identities have never been revealed, possibly for fear of being exposed as not Greek scholars competent enough to produce an accurate translation.

I am not writing this because I have a grudge against JWs. I had colleagues who are JWs. Some are zealous and contributed their time to their organization, as well as providing valuable social services. However, they have been misled by their Society, and in turn deceive others. Such deception will increase as the end of the age draw closer and closer. Be prepared, both spiritually and physically. Know your Bible, then share the good news with the lost and misguided, including people in other religions and cults. But do your home work, and rely on the Holy Spirit to direct you.

Deception 1

Q. You wrote about Roman Catholicism (RC) and Jehovah Witnesses (JW) being different from Protestant Christians. What is the most serious problem underlying their beliefs? I have friends who are RCs or JWs and they are nice people. What’s wrong with their doctrines being different? Don’t we have different interpretations among even ourselves?

A. Different people will answer your query differently, depending on what they see as most serious. The issue, though, is not about being nice, even when some Christians, sad to say, are not “nice” compared to people of other faiths or who are secular. The issue, as I see it, is do they know the one true God and are living lives that are consistent with their beliefs.

That being the case, I would point to deception or delusion as the most serious problem. Both groups, as are all other religions and cults, think they are saved but are not. This affects their eternal destiny, which is why it is so serious. The source of their delusion can be traced back to what they consider to be their ultimate authority in doctrine and practice. Evangelical Christians accept the Bible alone (Sola Scriptura) to be their final authority. RCs base their authority on traditions and the Bible, whereas JWs base their beliefs on the writings of their founders, notwithstanding their claim to be students of the Bible.

In a way, the RCs are like the Pharisees of Jesus’ days, while the JWs are like the Sadducees. Pharisees break, let go or set aside the command of God and nullify the word of God for the sake of their tradition (see Mt 15:3, 6; Mk 7:8, 9, 13). They add the traditions of men to the word of God. So do the RCs. Sadducees, on the other hand, say there is no resurrection. They subtract from God’s word. JWs do not believe in the Trinity, the deity of Jesus Christ as equal to the Father, and bodily resurrection. They also subtract from the word of God.

Let me give you a specific example for each group of the kind of deception involved. RCs have statues of Jesus, Mary and saints in their churches. Yet the second of the ten commandments specifically forbids such practice. How did the RCs justify their practice in the light of Scripture? Let’s compare the first four of the 10 commandments as recorded in Exodus to that given in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Ex 20:2-8
1. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Now, let’s look at the Catechism, the official teaching of the Catholic Church:

1. I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me.
2. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the LORD’S Day.

Source: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/command.htm

As you can see, the second commandment from the Bible about making and worshipping idols is dropped, and the third commandment in Exodus is moved up to number 2, and so on. How do they account for the fact that there are 10 commandments (Decalogue means 10 words; deca – ten, logos – word) and not 9? Let’s examine the tenth commandment in Exodus and compare it to the 9th and 10th in the Catechism:

Ex 20:17
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Catechism:
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

You will notice that the tenth commandment in the Bible forbidding covetousness is split into two commandments by the Catechism: the 9th concerning your neighbor’s wife, and the 10th concerning your neighbor’s goods. So lo and behold, their 9 commandments (due to dropping #2) become 10 again! They argue that the Old Testament as originally given do not have verse numbers, paragraphs and chapters, which is true, and it is therefore up to the interpreters to determine where one command ends and the next one begins. This is false. As anyone who has studied hermeneutics would know, one of the fundamental rules of interpretation is context. How do you justify dropping the very important prohibition against idols, and by a sleight of hands arbitrarily dividing the one prohibition against covetousness into two? You can’t.

This is the type of deception I am concerned about. To justify their statues in church, which they claim to be simply worship aids and are not really worshipped, they have resorted to the type of Scripture twisting practiced by the Pharisees. It is this placing of human tradition above the word of God that led to all kinds of false doctrines, the most fatal of which is salvation by faith plus works, which is not the gospel of the New Testament. That is why given the chance, I will always share the gospel with Catholics, because they have been misled into thinking that they are saved when in fact they are not. I shall continue with the example for the JWs in the next post.

Good Deeds

Q. Okay, you got me there. I’m not as good as I thought I was. But what about all the good deeds I’ve done. I’ve given money to charity. I’ve been honest, by and large. I love my wife and kids, most of the time. Don’t all the good deeds count? I’m sure I’ve done more good than bad. Can’t the good outweigh the bad?

A. I’m afraid not. This is another myth held by lots of folks. To many, they seem to think that there is a cosmic scale that weighs the good and bad deeds they’ve done throughout their lives. If good outweighs bad, they go to heaven. If bad outweighs good, they go to hell. I wrote about what constitutes “good” already, and won’t repeat it here. But what about this business of “good” canceling out “bad”? It seems to make sense, does it?

No it doesn’t. That’s not the way things work in real life. Let me give you an example. Say you are an average “nice” citizen – you don’t murder, no arson, you don’t rob banks, no kidnaps either. The only vice you have is that you drive aggressively – speeding, running red lights, making illegal turns etc., and you accumulated a few traffic tickets. On court day you come up to the judge and say, “Your Honor, I’ve done some good deeds in my life. I’ve been a Big Brother to some teenagers. I’ve given to United Way. I even volunteered at the local hospital. How about you offset my good deeds against those few tickets and we just call it even? How about that?”

If the judge has any common sense, he would say, “Mr. So-and-so, it is very nice of you to donate your time and money to provide social services, but those have no bearing whatsoever on the charges you are facing. Under the Highway Traffic Act, unless you are an ambulance, a fire truck or a police cruiser in the line of duty, it is illegal for you to drive your car the way you did. You are putting the public at risk by your reckless disregard for their safety, and I have no alternative but to find you guilty.” That is how a human court of law, if it were exercising justice and not subject to bribery, would act. How much more would the divine court, which has omniscience and would never render a wrong judgment, act in dispensing justice and righteousness?

You see, it is the nature of law to punish infractions, but not to hand out rewards to those who abide by the law. Lots of careful drivers have driven within the speed limit, obeyed traffic lights etc. for years and never received “merits” for good behavior which they can apply to infringements. What makes people think that they can do this in heaven when they can’t do this even on earth? Sin is such that it always “subtracts”, but “good deeds” don’t “add” to your heavenly bank account. You “ought” to be doing good and not bad to begin with. So if you are just doing what you are supposed to do, that’s only a “meets requirements” on your performance appraisal. It does not “exceeds expectations” and earn you any brownie points.

If you are not convinced let me give you one more illustration. Say you are the chef of a fancy restaurant famous for its French onion soup. You pick fresh onions, good cheese, herbs, and spices to make this soup. The aroma wafting from the kitchen as it is being prepared made your clients salivate and their stomachs growl. As you ladled out the soup and are about to serve it to your patrons, to your surprise you find a very well-cooked mouse at the bottom of the pot. You don’t know how it got there, but it did. What would you do? You have to throw out the entire batch. Don’t all the good ingredients cancel out the one bad component? No! What if you add more onions, cheese, and other wholesome ingredients? In other words, more good to cover the bad? No, it can’t be done. One bad mouse negates all the good components. In the spiritual realm it is the same:

 Good + Bad ≠ Good
 Good + Bad = Bad

The “bad” is the spoiler. It ruins everything. So instead of the good covering up the bad, the bad negates any good you might have. The sad conclusion is that if you are planning on “saving yourself” by doing good deeds, it can’t be done. How much good is enough? Not 90%, not 95%, not even 99.99%. Only 100% will do. So unless you are perfect, which none of us are or could hope to be, we can never save ourselves. That’s why we need a Savior, who loves us and has already done for us what we can never accomplish on our own. That’s why you need the Gospel.

Good Person

Q. Good people go to heaven. I’m kind. I haven’t hurt anybody. I help other people. If I might say so, I’m a really good person! So when I see the Man Upstairs, I’ll tell him I’m pretty proud of how good I am. He will let me in. I’m pretty sure of that!

A. Some people are under the delusion that they are good enough, in and of themselves, to qualify for heaven. Some are moralists, some philanthropists, and some just plain law-abiding citizens who have not infringed the criminal code, except perhaps traffic violations. They may not see themselves as the best of humanity, but compared to the masses, they consider themselves definitely “above average”. The Bible speaks of these people in many passages, for instance,

Prov. 30:12 “those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth”.

The trouble with their self-evaluation is that their standard is too low. They rank themselves in relation to others, to the scum of the earth, and then pat their backs for doing not too badly. Of course, when you use a relative scale, you will find yourself better than some, perhaps even most, but worse than others. But heaven does not use a human yardstick. If you want to enter the University of Toronto, for example, you use UT’s criteria, not yours. Similarly, if you want to enter heaven, God’s standard applies.

What does God consider to be “good”? When a rich, young ruler asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered,

Mk 10: 18 “Why do you call me good? No one is good–except God alone.”

According to Jesus, only God is good. So don’t compare yourself to others, compare yourself to God. Are you as good as God? If you are, then you don’t need God. You are His equal. You can stand on your own merits. But if you are not perfect, and who in his right mind has the audacity to claim so, then you are NOT good. If you have any doubts as to your innocence or guilt, just go through the 10 commandments to see how many you have broken. This is because through the law comes knowledge of sin:

Rom. 3:20, Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

If we are honest with ourselves and use Jesus’ standard (e.g. refer Mt. 5:21-48), which extends to the spirit of the Law and not just the letter, I suspect all of us have broken most if not all of the 10 commandments.
Have you ever told a lie? (9th commandment)
Lots!
Have you stolen anything, even little things e.g. pen and paper from the office? You see the essence of stealing is taking without the owner’s approval; it does not depend on the value of the article taken. (8th commandment)
Yes, but only small things.
Have you ever been angry with your brother? (6th commandment)
Plenty of times!
Have you ever looked at a woman lustfully? (7th commandment)
Ouch!
Have you ever been greedy and coveted what’s not yours? (10th commandment)
You got me there!
We have looked at only five out of ten; the rest will not be easier. If we really understand the Bible’s standard, we have broken all or nearly all of God’s 10 commandments. So are you still a good person? Can you look God in the eye and tell Him you’re GOOD? Still think you’re good enough for heaven? Think again. But more importantly, pay attention to the Gospel, because that’s how you can get out of the rut.