They responded, “Yes, don’t you think so too?”

I was silent for a moment, then commented, “Since most people believe that, I gave it some serious thought.  After all, what’s the use of gaining the whole world, if at the end I lose my soul?  But the more I thought about it the more trouble I had with the idea.”

“What do you mean?” they asked.

“Well, if God is going to put my sins on the scale, I’d like to know how much each sin weighs, wouldn’t you?  I’d like to know how much each lie and each evil thought weighs – and pride too.  Moreover, how much do all my sins weigh in the sight of a holy God who hates sin.  But that’s not all.  I also wonder how much my good deeds weigh, seeing they are often inadequate, and often ruined by pride and the desire to have the praise of men.”

My friends were silent.  Then one said, “Our only hope is in God’s mercy and grace.”

“That’s right,” I agreed, “and thank God, He is merciful and gracious; but His mercy cannot be at the expense of His holiness and justice.”

Another friend then asked, “I know God can do all things, but explain how He can execute justice and show mercy at the same time.”

I answered,  “With men this is impossible.  If the judge does not punish the criminal for his crime, he may seem merciful, but he is not just.  However, if he executes perfect justice, he could not show perfect mercy.  But God can show perfect mercy and yet be perfectly just!”

“How?” they questioned with amazement.

Then I gave them another illustration: “Suppose the just punishment for my sin was payment of a large sum of money or imprisonment, and the judge paid the sum himself.  Would he not be merciful and just at the same time?”

“Yes, he certainly would be merciful, just and gracious all at the same time,” they all agreed.

My friends were anxious to know how God can do the same for man.  My friends are very sincere people – as those from the East who discuss such matters often are – but this discussion made them realize that trusting in one’s good deeds is dangerous.  They never denied being sinners; now they were anxious to know how they could be saved.

The Bible states, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).  I explained to them that the punishment for sin is eternal death – not just physical death.  So how could God bear this punishment for us?  By becoming Man for us.  That’s exactly what Christ died.

The Bible also tells us that God loves mankind so much, He sent Christ to die for us.  And Christ died for us willingly, so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  Concerning Christ, the Bible says, “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission (forgiveness) of sins” (Acts 10:43).

-Rafique

Scriptures from The New King James Version, © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.  By permission.

I said, “No Sammy, you are wrong.  I have many enemies, and they are very powerful.”

Sammy was quite surprised.  “I would never have suspected that.  Tell me who they are and where they live.  I will take care of them.  I don’t care how strong they are.”

“Thank you, my good friend,” I remarked, “but you cannot take care of these enemies because they live within me.  Their names are pride, selfishness, evil thoughts, the desire for revenge, and many others.  They are the worst enemies of man, because they live within him and lead to sin against God.  And, of course, any sin against God is more serious than any illness or disaster.”

Sammy grew silent, bowed his head and said in a low voice, “I am ashamed to admit I have done these things and worse.”  Then, sorrowfully, he prayed, “O God, I’m a sinner.  Please have mercy on me and forgive me.”  I too bowed my head and asked God to show Sammy the way of salvation.

I looked at him and his eyes were wet with tears.  “Sammy, you have just confessed to God that you are a sinner and asked him to forgive you.  Do you know God’s answer?”

He said he was not sure, so I read these words from God’s Word: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

“Wonderful!” he exclaimed.  “But why is He called ‘faithful and just’ and not ‘merciful and kind?'”

“You have a keen mind,” I answered, “and this is a very good question.  Of course God is very merciful and kind in forgiving us, but He is also faithful and just.  He is just, because Christ willingly died for us.  He bore the punishment for every one who believes in Him and receives Him by faith.  He is also faithful in forgiving, because He promised that whoever believes in Christ will never perish but have eternal life.”

Sammy was thrilled to hear these facts from the Word of God.  I invited him to read the Bible regularly.  I also quoted the following verses from the Bible and he promised to read them:

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

“Most assuredly, I (Christ) say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

-Rafique

Only One God

The Bible clearly teaches that there is only one God.  There are many verses in the old and New Testaments that declare this.  One Old Testament verse says, “Know … and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:39).

In the New Testament, Mark proclaims, “For there is one God; and there is no other but He” (Mark 12:32).  James states, “You believe that there is one God.  You do well” (James 2:19).  And Paul writes, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men” (1 Timothy 2:5).

God’s Oneness

It is obvious that God’s oneness is very different from man’s oneness which limits him.  Man cannot be in two places at the same time.  But God can.  The creator God, who made the laws of nature, is not subject to the laws of physics or mathematics.

If God wanted to be on His throne in heave, and here on earth at the same time, would that be possible for Him?  Of course it would!  And that is exactly  what He did when Christ came to this earth.  God was in heaven and also on earth in the person of Jesus Christ – at the same time.

Who is Jesus?

It was not Christians who decided to call Jesus the Son of God.  It was God Himself.  When Gabriel was sent by God to tell Mary that she would give birth to Jesus while she was a virgin, Gabriel said to her: “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest” (Luke 1:32).

And after Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened and a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).  This sonship, of course, is a spiritual relationship.  No one in his right mind would think that God had a wife or a mistress.  That would be blasphemy!

How To Know

From this we can see that Jesus is not a mere man.  The Bible tells us that “in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).  It also says that in Him “God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16).  Jesus came here as a Man for our sakes.

Dear friend, do you want to know God?  You can only know Him through the Bible which is His Word, and through Jesus Christ who is His Son.

-Rafique

Scriptures from The New King James Version, © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.  By permission.

But when I ask, “Who was it?” they have different answers.  Some say it was Judas Iscariot.  Others think it was a volunteer who was promised Paradise if he would take Jesus’ place on the cross.  Still others say it was a passerby.

I have heard 12 different views in all.  Many of my religious and moral friends believe their view to be true, but I cannot agree with their theories about the cross.  And here are my reasons.

First, many prophecies, written hundreds of years before Christ came, speak of His death on our behalf.  Although these prophecies condemn the Jews for killing Christ, they are still in their Holy Book.  The Jews dare not change a word.  For example, Isaiah says: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities … All we like sheep have gone astray … and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all … He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (53:5,6,12).

Most Jewish teachers tell their people not to read this chapter.  But this is only one prophecy about the death of Christ on our behalf.  The prophet David in the Psalms (El Zaboor) wrote about Christ’s hands and feet being pierced (22:16).  This happened in the crucifixion.

Second, eyewitnesses recorded the death of Christ.  They had nothing to gain in making up a story about insulting their beloved Teacher and Lord.  They do not have 12 theories.  They have the facts.  They were shocked at His death, but when He rose from the dead they were overjoyed.  Christ already told them this would happen.  This alone is proof that no one else died on the cross.

Once my friends see there are definite proofs that Christ died on the cross they ask: “Could not God have delivered Him from the hands of the wicked?”  I reply that Christ could have asked the Father to send twelve armies of angels to destroy these people (Matthew 26:53).

When they ask why He did not, I have a chance to present the most important point in the whole argument.  Christ was not forced to die, nor was He defeated.  Christ came to this earth to die for our sins.  There was no other way for us to be saved from the eternal damnation we all deserve as sinners.

The Savior had to be sinless, and Christ is the only One who never sinned.  He willingly died on our behalf and bore the punishment of our sins so “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).  “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission (forgiveness) of sins” (Acts 10:43).  “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which men must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Dear Reader, our own efforts will never save us.  The Bible clearly states this: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Do you want God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life?  Then receive Christ by faith in your heart!

-Rafique

Scriptures from The New King James Version, © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.  By permission.