Ephesians 2.8-9 KJV 8 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:9 not of works, lest any man should boast.
There’s a common belief humanity has, that we save ourselves: We go to heaven because we’re good people.
Sometimes because we’re inherently good people; we might act like dirty rotten sinners, but at our core we’re naturally good, and all you gotta do with the worst people is figure out the psychological key to unlocking that good person inside ’em. In Charles DIckens’s A Christmas Carol it was to show Ebenezer Scrooge his happier youth, how everyone else this year would be having fun without him, then threaten him with death. Other people are harder nuts to crack; you might have to give ’em happy pills.
And sometimes because we’re not inherently good; it’s a choice we make. We can choose good—or evil.
Christianity doesn’t teach this. Yes, there are
We’re not saved because we’re good people; we’re saved because Jesus is a good person. When we trust him (i.e. the “through faith” part of Ephesians 2.8) he graciously saves us (i.e. the “by grace” part). You’ll find Christians who mix this up and claim
Grace is a difficult idea for a lot of people. Including Christians. Mostly ’cause we’re way too comfortable with the pagan point of view. It’s embedded in our culture, embedded in our minds, and hard to shake! God’s kingdom runs on grace, but our culture—even church culture!—absolutely doesn’t.
Christians in times of good behavior.
Sometimes Christians take it for granted that we and our fellow believers are going to be good.
Because we take goodness for granted, sometimes we’re horrified to discover Christians aren’t good. Although lemme tell you:
But too often the foolish reaction among Christians, whenever a “good Christian” is caught sinning, will be, “I don’t know if they were ever Christian in the first place.” Like when a Christian commits a felony, i.e. theft, murder, drug-dealing, rape and molestation. Or lesser sins or trespasses. In a church which condemns divorce, they wonder whether divorcés were ever Christian to begin with. In a church which condemns liberal politics, any Christian who gets mixed up in a liberal group, or states an opinion they consider “liberal.” In a church which denounces heretics, any Christian who befriends heretics. Every time a Christian goes beyond what their group considers the pale, their salvation falls into doubt.
But Paul, in Ephesians, makes it clear: We don’t save ourselves. We can’t. We must trust God to do the saving. And when we do—when we call upon Jesus, when we put our faith in him—we’re saved. Not by ourselves. Not by our works. Not by good works; not by evil works either. Humans sin. Christians shouldn’t, but we do. And every time a Christian sins, we shouldn’t assume they’ve just undone all Jesus’s work on the cross: They didn’t. Really they can’t.
Good pagans and good Christians.
Have you ever met a good atheist? I have.
Many Christians will argue such a creature doesn’t exist. They claim humans can’t really be good unless we hold God as the absolute standard of goodness. Otherwise a “good” atheist will only ever be pragmatically good—good in a way which benefits the culture, or the individual. But not good-good. Not properly good, nor what God would consider good.
Fr’instance the little white lies people tell. People usually tell them to get themselves out of trouble, or look better than they are, but sometimes we tell them to keep other people from having hurt feelings. “No, your butt does not look too large in those pants.” We figure these lies keep society running smoothly. Thing is, they’re still lies, and lies make baby Jesus cry. A “good person” will figure there’s such a thing as a noble lie; a Christian knows there’s no such thing.
Okay, if we’re gonna use this sort of anal-retentive standard to define a “good person,” we’re gonna eliminate every person on the planet. Jesus can meet it; none else can. By this definition, not only do good atheists not exist; good Christians don’t either. ’Cause most Christians tell white lies. Shouldn’t, but do.
Yes, I have met some people who won’t. They do “radical honesty.”
And I have known way too many Christians who go the pragmatic route whenever it comes to our nation’s or state’s laws. They’re not God’s laws, so these Christians are fine with breaking ’em. They’ll speed, or not, depending on whether they can get away with it. They’ll have their employees work through their break time, figuring it’s okay as long as the employees don’t tell the Labor Board on them. Being good for goodness’ sake doesn’t apply to human laws, and these Christians are downright gleeful about violating “man’s laws”—as if breaking them demonstrates how we revere God more than our government. Thing is, God, through Paul, instructed us to obey our government.
A law-abiding atheist has a better claim to the label “good person” than any Christian who follows the Ten Commandments but nothing more. For a lot of our nation’s laws are simply putting “Do as you’d like done to you,”
But again, are we saved by that goodness? Nah. That’s why anyone can practice it.
It’s only when we put the cart before the horse—when we demand Christians be good before we can be saved—that we start teaching such stupid things as, “Atheists can’t really be good.” When we think goodness is a requirement for salvation, we’re gonna start looking for reasons why non-Christians don’t meet that requirement. But when we realize it’s just a sign of salvation, we’re gonna look for it (as we’re looking for fellow Christians, or potential fellow Christians) and see it everywhere.
