July 13: There's only one entrance

In the Bible, we read that there is only one entrance to heaven and that is through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. You have to repent of your sins, believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and was raised from the dead on the third day. I guess that's the gospel in a nutshell. Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life and that nobody comes to the father except through Him. The world would have no problem with that gospel as long as we're willing to change "the" to "a."

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You can't really do that though. Justification by faith is the very heart of the gospel; it's the great doctrine that separates the true believers from the heretics. Galatians chapter one has a dour warning: But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

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I can't think of any time in the Bible when God allowed sinful men to redeem themselves by doing good things. No, the Lord's MO has always been to believe first and then be justified. When the grumbling Hebrews were bitten by venomous snakes in Moses' camp, they weren't cured by giving alms; they were cured by looking at a brass statue of a snake. Elisha didn't tell Naaman that if he wanted to cure his leprosy, he had to give a whole lot of money to the poor. He told him to go dip seven times in the Jordan River and then his flesh would be restored. Good works don't save us, they are the result of salvation.

Don't believe me? After YHWH cured Naaman, that dude was on fire for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In fact, he was scared at even the appearance of unfaithfulness. Said Naaman:

" But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”

And thus endeth the Bible lesson for today.


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