No better than Hitler...

About three months ago I took Phil Gulley, Quaker co-author of If Grace Is True, and James Mulholland, his United Methodist counterpart, to task for their false teaching concerning salvation. Perhaps you remember that post. Perhaps not. Here are a couple of paragraphs from that “ancient” document to refresh your memory.

“The book, If Grace Is True, suggests that everyone will be saved in the end. It argues for the false belief that no one is going to hell, that a God who is love could not send anyone to a place of eternal torment. The writers then offer an alternative to what the Bible clearly teaches. People who refuse God’s offer of love in this life will be punished for a time, they say, but not forever. They will be given opportunity to repent after death. Hitler will be in heaven, eventually, along with all the Jews he gassed. Everyone of every religion will be admitted as well. Gandhi and all Hindus will be in heaven along with all Muslims, Buddhists, etc. Even atheists will be given a place at God’s table. When the authors of If Grace Is True say every person will be saved, they mean every person.”

Those words were written almost immediately after I finished reading If Grace Is True. I was madder than hops that someone who claimed the name Friends would write such claptrap. So I vented a bit. Felt good to rant and rave. Felt right to set the record straight.

After I had posted my words here and on Facebook, God almost immediately created a problem for me. He pointed out a flaw in the way I used Hitler’s name. I wrote about If Grace Is True’s assertion that Hitler will be in heaven as if he was somehow less deserving of heaven than I am. My tone suggested that I am somehow morally superior to the Fuehrer. I am not.

Most of us imagine ourselves good enough to get into heaven. We’re like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable.

Jesus said: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’” (Luke 18:10-12, NIV)

Perhaps you’ve thought such things. “Compared to so and so, I’m not that bad.” Or “I’m as good as the next guy.” Or “I’m better than Hitler.”

Time for a dose of the truth. I am not morally superior to the Holocaust’s engineer. I am no better than Adolf. I am as evil and as deserving of hell as that genocidal maniac everyone loves to hate.

The same is true of you. You deserve – same as Hitler, same as Mother Teresa – to spend your forever life weeping and gnashing your teeth.

Now what do you say to that? Don’t know what to say do you? You were doing fine until I brought that saintly old woman into the mix. Surely she doesn’t deserve eternal torment. Me maybe. Hitler for sure. But not Mother Teresa? Come on, Mike. You’re taking this a bit too far.
On what basis do you make your argument? My guess is many of you want to damn the mad man because of his works and defend the nun because of hers. And while you’re at it, you’ll say to yourself, “I may not be a Mother Teresa, but I’m certainly not a Hitler. I’m a decent chap. I’m more saint than sinner.” Not true!

“‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’” (Romans 3:10-12, NIV)

“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” (Romans 3:19-20, NIV)

The Bible says you’re not as good as you think you are. It says you’re unrighteous. It says there’s no one who does good. Not you. Not me. Not your neighbor. Not India’s most famous Catholic. We’re all in the same boat…with Hitler. There is no more hope for us than for him as far as works are concerned. Our hearts are as desperately sinful as his; our actions as damnable; our words as venomous.

I don’t like the Bible’s assessment of me, but when I’m completely honest, I know it’s accurate. Paul speaks for me: “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:18-19, NIV)

Ever since the day Adam and Eve bit into the forbidden fruit, this has been the plight of all men – God-haters and God-followers alike. Evil from birth.

“Surely I was sinful at birth,” David wrote, “sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5, NIV) Bent toward sin.

“…I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.” (Psalm 51:3, NIV) Damned if God doesn’t help us.

“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” (Psalm 51:4, NIV)

What did Romans 3 say? Verse 19, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.” We are accountable to God and we are sinful. There is no argument we can make before him that will justify us.

Verse 20, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” I will not be declared righteous in God’s sight because of my good works. They aren’t good enough. They don’t measure up to God’s standards. Yours don’t either. You can’t point at Hitler and get off the hook. You are accountable to God.

Thankfully, this is only half of the story, the bad half. You see, the God who is our judge is also the God who loves us deeply and doesn’t want us to spend eternity in hell. He has made a way for us to escape eternal torment and enjoy eternal bliss.

Back in Romans 3 Paul shares the good news. Starting at verse 21, he writes: “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-24, NIV)

We’ve already talked about the “there is no difference, for all have sinned” part of this. That was the part that had you and me and Mother Teresa and Hitler all in the same boat. All of us sinners. Hopelessly lost. Aware of our sin, but unable to save ourselves.

What’s new in these verses is the good news. A right standing with God – that’s what righteousness is really – is available to all who put their faith in Jesus. Those who believe are justified freely by God’s grace.

Justified is a legal term. It means to be free of the guilt and penalty attached to grievous sin. I don’t know about you, but I think that sounds pretty good. If I believe on Jesus, God frees me from the guilt of my sin. I am no longer accountable to him for it. I do not have to be judged as unrighteous. Furthermore, if I believe, God frees me from the penalty of sin. I will not be damned forever. In fact a little later in Romans, Paul shares this bit of good news: “…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1, NIV) And all this costs me nothing! My good works have nothing to do with it. I am, if I put my faith in Jesus, set free!

You can be saved if you will believe. Anyone can be. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Even Hitler may have been saved if he put his faith in Jesus as he was dying. If he couldn’t possibly be saved, not one of us can be. Only if the worst of sinners has hope do any of us have hope.

Have I made myself clear? None of us deserve eternal life in heaven. We all deserve eternal punishment in hell. Our works do us no good in God’s courtroom. It is only through faith in Jesus we can be justified. We receive salvation by grace because of God’s great love for us. Christ’ righteousness and not our own gives us entrance into heaven.

If this all is true, and I believe it all is, why would you not want to put your faith in Jesus? Can you think of a single reason to refuse so great a salvation? I can’t. It doesn’t make sense to walk away from an offer this good.

I have chosen Christ. Have you? You can do so now. Put your faith in Jesus and ask God for the gift of eternal life. If you ask for it, you will receive it. Pray right now and, by faith, you will be saved.

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