I don't consider myself to be a religious person in the way that most people would define religion. I don't think religion is about doing good works or feeling good about oneself. Rather, it is about the fact that God sent his only son Jesus to die on a cross and pay for the sins of all mankind. I worship at Shepherd of the Mountains, which is a member church of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
God's Grace is given freely, but not everyone is going to be in Heaven. Many religions claim to recognize Jesus as a great person, or even a prophet, but do they listen to Him? He tells us in the Bible that not many people will find eternal Life. He also tells us that He himself is the only way to God. Unfortunately, even some churches who claim to be Christian don't seem to be listening to His words.
The Bible admonishes us to always be ready to give a reason for the hope we have, and to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling. In the spirit of these directives, I have recently been examining the Word, and how my faith relates to that Word. I sincerely believe that God created us as intellectual creatures, and He does want us to apply our intellect to His Word.
In my journey, I am reading lots of interesting ideas. Some of the things I find that disagree with my own faith seem to be simple misunderstandings. Before I go further, I guess I should clarify... there are certain things that you must believe in order to be a Christian. If you don't believe them, then you don't have saving faith in Christ, and hence, aren't a Christian. However, there are many things that Christians can differ on that won't affect their Salvation. Most of the disagreements I found would fall into this category, but I still believe it is in a Christian's best interest to have a correct and full understanding of what the Bible teaches.
Fortunately, we don't have to do anything about it. God, in His infinite love and mercy, has done everything for us. He sent his only Son Jesus to live a perfect life in our place and to die on the cross to pay for our sins. If we have faith in Jesus, we are saved. Even the faith itself is a gift from God, and doesn't depend on anything we ourselves do. "By grace" we are saved, "through faith..." I didn't "find it" nor did anyone else. It is completely a gift of God.
I used to worry that I had committed the unforgivable sin. I never could figure out exactly what that sin was and until recently hadn't thought too much about it, but I was talking to someone who was very worried that they had committed it, so I decided to do some reading and thinking and this is what I came up with... First, what do we know about sin? Sin is ANY thought, word, or action that is contrary to God's law. The wages of sin is death, both physical and spiritual death. ALL mankind has sinned, in fact we are born into sin, therefore ALL mankind is condemmed to physical and spiritual death. NO ONE, no matter how good a life they seem to lead, deserves to go to heaven. We ALL deserve to go to hell. Luckily, our God who is perfectly just is also perfectly merciful, and He sent His Son to die on the cross to pay for the sins of all mankind.
Of course we also know that in spite of Jesus' sacrifice for OUR sins, many people are going to go to hell. Not because their sins aren't paid for, but because they refuse to accept the gift. Accepting the gift means having faith in Jesus and believing His words. Jesus said Himself "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light. No one comes to the Father except through me." NO ONE. The only problem is, in our sinful state, we are natural enemies of God, and it's impossible for us to have saving faith in Him. Once again though, God has a solution to our problem - His Holy Spirit, who works faith in our otherwise unbelieving hearts.
Who's hearts does the Holy Spirit work in? The Bible doesn't tell us, but it does tell us some things that might give us a clue. For one thing, we know that Jesus' sacrice was intended for ALL mankind. In fact, the Bible explicitly states that God desires for ALL to be saved. We are also told that the reason God hasn't already destroyed this world is because of His patience, and desire that as many as possible might be saved. So why aren't all going to be saved? When Jesus returns, He is returning to a world filled with nothing but sinners. ALL have sinned and deserve to go to hell. The ONLY difference between those going to heaven and those going to hell will be whether or not they have faith in Jesus. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to work faith in our hearts. If we continually resist that work until we die or God finally loses patience and hardens our heart, then we have lost our chance at faith and our chance at salvation. THAT is the unforgivable sin, which is also referred to as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Think about it.
Updated February 20, 2007