Diane's Daily Deeds. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus said "follow me and I will teach you how to fish for men." Every time you step out in faith to share the gospel, you are following Jesus, and He will teach you something important from that experience. Each lesson will help you become a better witness. I learned a lesson today about witnessing to someone from the Church of Christ (which, according to their own website, appears to be a works-based religion, though I'm by no means judging what individuals in that denomination may believe or where they may stand in their walk with the Lord; only the Lord knows where one's heart is truly at, though we can get a glimpse from what people say). Here's what happened and what I learned.
After paying for some items at Wal-Mart today, I noticed things were slow and no one was in line. I handed the cashier, Diane (she had a Wal-Mart name tag), a million dollar bill and said:
Me: Thanks for your help, Diane, this is for you.
Diane: (Looking at it suspiciously) Somebody tried to give me a $3 dollar bill today, but I didn't give them any change for it.
Me: This isn't meant to be passed off as real, Diane. Obviously, there's no such thing as a million dollar bill. It's actually a gospel tract. Do you have a Christian background?
Diane: Yes, I do. I go to the Church of Christ.
Me: That's great (not knowing much about the specific beliefs of the Church of Christ). Do you know the answer to the million dollar question that's on the back of the bill, "Will you go to heaven when you die?"
Diane: I'm working it out.
Me: But do you know for sure where you'd spend eternity if you were to die today? The good news is that you can know for sure what your eternal destiny will be (implying that her salvation is not based on her works).
Diane: I'm working it out.
Me: The bible says, Diane, that you can have certainty about your salvation (such as 1 John 5:11-13).
Diane: I'm working it out one day at a time. It's a daily thing.
By her look and her tone, Diane made it clear she did not want to discuss her beliefs, so I did not press the issue while she was at work. I simply thanked her for her help and encouraged her to read the tract, which clearly explains it is impossible to earn salvation through daily good deeds.
If Diane wasn't working, I would normally attempt very diplomatically and gently to engage in a more thorough assessment of her inability to work out her own salvation. I do that by walking through the law, the 10 Commandments, as elevated by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5), to show her that we can never be good enough to fulfill God's perfect moral standard of holiness that's necessary to enter into His presence (which is exactly what Jesus did in Mark 10 with the rich young man who asked Him how he could inherit eternal life).
I also like to use a legal analogy that goes something like this. A criminal who is guilty of breaking the law must be punished according to the law. If a criminal attempts to escape her punishment by explaining to the judge that she is normally pretty good and hasn't murdered anyone, or stolen anything, or lied in a long time but in fact has been working hard at being good, the judge will say that's really nice, but it's absolutely irrelevant to the crimes that have been committed and the punishment that must be meted out for those crimes. No amount of good deeds will erase the past crimes. Nor will they atone for them. A judge that fails to impose the sentence that is due would be an evil and corrupt judge, and God is neither evil nor corrupt. He is a perfect, righteous judge, who will judge all of our works (Ecl. 12:13-14; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 9:27).
Paul writes in Galatians 3 that the purpose of the law is to show us our desperate need for salvation precisely because we can't be good enough to work it out for ourselves. Galatians (and the whole of scripture) teaches that if our works were sufficient then there would be no need for a Savior. Isaiah makes clear that "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags . . . . (Is. 64:6)"
Determined to learn from the experience, I came home and conducted researched the Church of Christ to equip myself to address the truth of God's word more effectively the next time the Lord brings a Church of Christ member across my path. This is an important after-encounter step in learning to fish.
According to their own website, repentance and belief in Jesus Christ alone as one's personal Lord and Savior is not enough to be saved. Jesus proclaimed only repentance and belief (Mark 1:15). Examples include the thief on the cross and the publican who beat his chest and cried out for mercy. Jesus said the former would be with him in paradise and the latter went home totally justified before God. No works were involved, only repentance and belief.
The Church of Christ, however, seems to add two additional works-based steps as essential for salvation:
(1) "Be baptized for the remission of sins" and
(2) "Live a Christian life."
These are direct quotes from their website. It seemed that Diane felt she could not know for sure whether she was good enough to be saved if she died today, because she does not believe that the finished work of Jesus Christ alone is sufficient to secure her salvation. She acted as if she needed to be good enough each day to earn it and work it out for herself. That's what Muslims believe. That's what Mormons believe. That's what Buddhists and Hindus believe. She has probably been baptized but is striving to live the Christian life day by day in order to be good enough to earn the possibility of being saved.
While living the Christian life is definitely part of the growth and maturation process, doing so for salvation's sake is futile and is bondage. I know because I've been there. I was saved out of a cult that believed one must work hard enough to earn one's salvation, and you could never know for sure whether you'd been good enough or not. Believe me, that's bondage. It's hopeless. Titus 3:5 makes clear that it's "not by works of righteous which we have done, but according to His mercy He has saved us . . . ." All we can do is look by faith to the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross (John 3:14; Numbers 11).
To be sure, a genuine Christian who has sincerely repented and believes that the finished work of Jesus Christ is alone sufficient for salvation will turn from the broad way and follow the Lord on the narrow way (Rom. 6), but we do not believe that our ability to follow the narrow way is necessary for salvation. Rather, we believe that the desire to follow the Lord daily and the power to do so is evidence of one's salvation, which is secure (Eph. 1; Phil. 2).
Lord, please cause Diane to read the back of that tract and evaluate her beliefs and eternal destiny!
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