Whenever I witness of that glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, those who so desperately need this salvation usually reject the message.

     This rejection is based on their own preconceived notion of their own righteousness, and their belief that they are "good enough to go to Heaven". People have the idea that only the Hitlers, the Charles Mansons, the Rudolf Eichmans, the "bad" people only go to hell. Whenever I tell those people that even Hitler could have gone to Heaven had he accepted Christ as Saviour, usually I see the most shocked expressions.

     The truth of the matter is that our own works of righteousness are pitifully inadequate before our sinless Creator. Everything we do, if we do it outside of Christ, is sinful and disgusting to God. The Christian is enabled to do good because of his relationship with Christ, not because he is a morally superior creature.

     Or another illustration from my own life: Not too long ago I lost my temper at work. No, I didn't curse and snarl, but I was upset over something which is now very trivial to me. A friend reported back to me that one of the other workers said: "That's no way for someone who calls himself a Christian to act! He's no better than I am!" Well, I have to admit he's right, but not for the reasons that he stated (which was his own self-justification). Yes, as a Christian I should have restrained my temper. But I am human (I confess), and I did lose my temper. And also, yes, I am no better (in myself) than this unbeliever. The only difference between us is that "I am washed in the blood of Christ, and am a king, a priest, and a son of God because of it". But within myself I am no better than the lowest of sinners.

Paul himself recognized this fact when he said:

     Paul, that precious anointed Apostle, recognized that he was the greatest of all sinners. Maturity in Christ begins when the Christian sloughs off his own righteousnesses, recognizes his own failures, and begins to understand that without Christ he is nothing. We are all sinners, saved by Grace. I am a Christian, not because I am better than he who is not a Christian, but because God decreed it so. Paul is an Apostle not because he is greater than you or I, but because God by Grace called him to that office. Let Christ be all in all!

     The writer of Hebrews is basically saying "graduating from the first teachings of Christ, let us go on toward maturity. Not going back to the basic Bible teachings which was repenting from works and mere faith in God." He uses the Greek word APHIEMI for "leaving" which basically means, "graduating from" and the Greek word used for "perfection" above is EPI, which means "toward maturity". Finally he uses the Greek THEMELIOS, which means "basic foundation", for "foundation".

     Perhaps ministers are as much to blame as anyone. When we preach Christ, we often preach "Repent of your sins and accept Jesus Christ as Saviour". We often fail to mention that "sin" is your "entire past life without Christ". People regard sin as anything that is morally wrong, or objectionable to us in human society. For instance, it is a sin to lie, steal, or cheat. And that is true, these things are sins. But in the original language of the Biblethe word sin actually means "that which misses the mark". ANYTHING that that anyone outside of Christ does is SIN in God's eyes. Every work that we commit as unbelievers is sin in God's eyes, and is therefore dead and useless. If you are an unbeliever and give great sums of money to charities, feed the poor, are a great parent, never break so much as a speeding law, visit the elderly in the nursing home, or are a pillar of your local Church, you are still doomed to eternal hellfire. Your works are without Christ, without the payment that make them valid in the eyes of God. When you accept Christ as Saviour you are not repenting from specific sins, but you are repenting from a dead way of life. Once you are Christ's you will stop many of the bad habits that you picked up over the years, and you will, in fact, become a more moral person. But morality does not save, nor do works committed in the flesh and outside of Christ. When you become a Christian you do not do so by promising to give up certain things, or certain habits. You become a Christian by merely asking God to forgive you of your past way of life, and by accepting what Christ did for you on the Cross. Salvation is by faith alone, not by works.

It's silly but some Christians, though they were saved apart from their good works, believe that they must do good works to maintain that which they received as a free gift from God. Salvation is a free gift from God. You can do nothing to earn it, you cannot purchase it. Your good works will not save you. If good works were enough for salvation then it would not have been necessary for Christ to die a horrible death on the Cross. Why would the Father have caused His Son such needless suffering if we could save ourselves? NO! Jesus made it plain:

Matthew 9:13 "But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Mark 2:17 "When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Luke 5:32 "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Jesus came and died for sinners, for you and I. There's no need to sacrifice for the righteous, for the righteous (of which there are none) need no Saviour. Salvation is offered to those who recognize themselves as sinners, and recognize that their pitiful works are sinfully inadequate in God's sight. As we see in Ephesians 2.8-9:

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace (CHARIS = THE FREE GIFT) are ye saved (SOZO, PERFECT TENSE = SAVED IN THE PAST WITH ETERNAL RESULTS) through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

Don't you dare boast, not even in your own mind, that God saved you because you were something special, or more morally righteous. You were saved because God loved you enough to offer His own dear Son as your payment, and we walk the road to Heaven on His precious torn body.

If we could all fully understand how disgusting our feeble attempts at righteousness are before God, we would cease trying to "work our way to Heaven" and begin relying on the provisions of the Cross. If someone invited you over to dinner and, when you got there, you found that what was being served was that week's reclaimed garbage, you would probably storm out of the house in anger. A week's worth of old, molded food, even if reheated and put in a fine china service, is still garbage. Yet we as humans offer God our pathetic righteousness, smiling as we do so, thinking that "it's good enough for me, so it must be good enough for God". It's not good enough for God. Before you accept Christ as Saviour you are dead in your sins, and no spiritual corpse can ever hope to offer anything pleasing to God. You must be cleansed by salvation resulting in spiritual new birth. Only then can your works ever hope to be acceptable before the Righteous One. As the Bible teaches us:

Romans 8:8-9 "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please (ARESKO = BE AGREEABLE TO) God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell (OIKEO = TO TAKE UP RESIDENCE IN) in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

Before salvation we are dead, in the flesh, and totally unpleasing to the Creator. After salvation we are alive, a temple of the Holy Spirit, and because of this enabled to do works pleasing to our Father.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon (EPOIKODOMEO = TO BUILD UPON AN ALREADY LAID FOUNDATION) this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work (ERGON = WORK, USED HERE FOR BOTH RIGHTEOUS AND HUMAN WORKS) shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed (APOKALUPTO, PRESENT PASSIVE INDICATIVE = WILL BE UNCOVERED) by fire; and the fire (A REFERENCE TO THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, SEE MATTHEW 3.11) shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."

All people, whether saved or lost, will have a final appointment with judgment as we pass into eternity. The believer will never be judged for salvation or damnation, his eternal state was resolved at the Cross of Christ. Our works will be judged to determine whether we should receive or lose rewards in Heaven. God gave every Christian the same foundation, the salvation provided by Jesus Christ. We all have the same resources to serve God while on this earth, the Indwelling Holy Spirit along with the spiritual gifts that He so generously gave us (1 Corinthians 12). The foundation was laid by God, what we build on that foundation is up to us. The works that we do for God in this life are listed in six categories, from totally worthless (stubble, which burns quickly) to gold (which only becomes more refined and more valuable as fire is applied to it). When the believer stands before the Judgment Seat of Christ his earthly works will be recounted and tried. Those works committed in the believer's own power, without the direction of God will quickly turn to ash so that all may see their worthlessness. Works that were committed by the believer in the power of the Spirit, and by the direction of God will remain as a testament to that believer's faithfulness to the Divine Plan. For instance, if I make a big contribution to some charity, but do so to be seen of men, others who see that action do not know what was in my heart. On judgment day my actions will be exposed as worthless ash. Though I will lose reward, I will yet retain my salvation. On the other hand that quiet time I spent in the prayer closet that no one knew about, this work will remain as gold, silver, or precious stones, and will be the basis of heavenly reward. Paul was so concerned that his earthly works honor his Heavenly Father that he wrote:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

While in this life we are, as children of the Most High God, obligated to do the best we can with that foundation He has given us. We are in a race, and we run that race by concentrating on the goal, we strive for an incorruptible crown. Not so we can have crowns in Heaven to lord over others, but so we can earn reward that we might be able to return it in honor to our Father. Christians must be more focused, more focused on the inner Holy Spirit, more focused on God's Will in our lives, more focused on witnessing the Gospel message. Paul also uses the illustration of the fighter in describing the Christian walk. A good fighter works on his eye-hand coordination by going through a series of exercises. If he fails to adequately train himself, when he enters the ring he'll only beat the air, flailing away uselessly as his opponent dodges and weaves. Too often as Christians we fail to focus on the important things (Bible study, prayer time, Church fellowship) and focus instead on the worldly things. Not too long ago a movie came out of Hollywood called The Last Temptation of Jesus Christ. Christians all over America were in an uproar over this movie, picketing it wherever it showed, decrying it from the pulpit, making their displeasure known on the network news. The only question I have to ask you, if you were involved in this, is "did your Lord lead you to do this?". The movie was, in fact, a pitiful movie, hardly worth a second glance. It was the bemused ramblings of a spiritually dead producer, and of course had little artistic or even factual value. Because of the great outcry of many Christians many unbelievers went to see it out of curiosity, many more than would have gone had it been left to die it's own natural death. Unbelievers that should have been witnessed to were instead lured to this movie, where their faithlessness was reaffirmed. "Did your Lord lead you to do this?"

Another prime example was the case of the Proctor and Gamble logo. Proctor and Gamble had a logo that their company developed, from the creation of that company, that was placed on all of their products. The logo was small, unintrusive, and always placed on the back of the product near the ingredients panel. The logo, as I recall, had a smiling quarter moon, with thirteen stars around it. Christians somehow got it in their head that this was a satanic emblem, and began boycotting all Proctor and Gamble products. This was spread around many of our Churches, and the boycott grew in it's frenzy. Even though that company released a disclaimer that the logo had nothing to do with satanism (the thirteen stars represented the thirteen original colonies of the United States) Christians continued the boycott until they removed the emblem from all their products. Again, "Did your Lord lead you to do this?". Who was brought to Christ by that boycott, who was witnessed to by these actions? As Christians we must understand three important things: (1) The world is lost, and as lost operates under it's own directive called sin. (2) Our primary responsibility is to witness to that lost world, to reclaim as many souls for Christ as possible before the last trump is sounded. (3) America is a free country, and the lost as well as the saved have equal freedom, under the law, to do as they please. We are not here to remake man in our image, we are hear to witness of Christ and to so expand the family of God. When we get off track into our own righteousnesses, our human good, we harm the cause of Christ. As the writer of Hebrews puts it:

Hebrews 12:1-2 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

The world is watching the Christian to see how we behave. If we respond with our own human good, we harm the cause of Christ. If we focus on Christ and on the power of God, we will grow together as the people of God while we bring others into the fold. We also earn rewards that we will one day be able to toss at our Saviour's feet in Heaven.

Philippians 2:16 "Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain."

Romans 12:21 "Be not overcome (NIKAO, PRESENT IMPERATIVE + ME = STOP BEING CONQUERED IN BATTLE) of evil, but overcome (NIKAO, PRESENT IMPERATIVE = KEEP ON CONQUERING IN BATTLE) evil with good."

Satan is a master tactician, a great warlord. People like to think that he conquers by all out assault, by open attacks on the believer. Not so! If Satan can get your eyes off your primary goal by getting you to concentrate on the trivial he has conquered you in that battle. The best attack is the misleading attack, the best way to win a sword fight is to pretend to strike at one area so effectively that your opponent counters and leaves himself open for the killing blow. Too often Satan throws out some insignificant issue that we as Christians, forgetting the leading of the Spirit, respond to with some human good "self righteous" gesture. We are to respond to evil with God's good, with Divine good. If we do so then and only then can we hope to increase the Kingdom of God while securing reward in Heaven.

Colossians 1:9-10 "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;"

Conquering human good and growing in Divine good begins by studying the Word of God. Only then will you be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. As you begin your own personal Bible study and reading plan you will start to understand the emphasis that God has for your life. The first step you took at salvation will grow into other steps leading to maturity, a maturity that will honor God in this life as well as in the one to come. If you have not taken that first step...

If you leave this life without Christ you will stand before God for judgment based on your dead human works. God will open the books, which books list every work you did that you thought was worthy of salvation. The very works that you died defending will be the basis of your damnation, because they are insufficient to save you. Once the works are proved insufficient God will look in the Book of Life for your name, but it won't be there. A names is only entered into that Book when someone accepts Jesus Christ as their Saviour. You rejected that offering, there is no place reserved for you in Heaven though there is a place reserved in The Lake. Dear Father, what a terrible ending! Won't you accept Jesus as your Saviour right now, while there is still a chance? All it takes is this simple prayer:

"Heavenly Father, I know that I am lost. I know that there is nothing I can do to be saved of myself. I believe that Jesus died for my sins, and I accept Him as my Saviour. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Please let me know that you have accepted my Jesus as yours. Let me know if you need anything to further your spiritual growth. God Bless you all!

     If you have not already done so, please trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. For more information on Salvation Click Here to view "How can I get to Heaven?"