"With all due respect, to me this sounds not only immoral but a threat!"
I received this question on social media recently. It was in response to a post I shared from Pastor Robert Morris:
“If you don’t receive Jesus, you’ll be punished for your bad works. If you receive Jesus, you’ll be rewarded for your good works.”
I love when people honestly and actively seek clarification about Jesus and who he is. The Bible states that God is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. This person is seeking God whether he knows it or not.
This meant the world to me. Why? Because I was there. In my early twenties I had the same question: “Can someone please explain to me why the good things I do won’t get me to heaven but the bad things I do will keep me out?”
As with most mysteries of Jesus, it is far simpler than our minds can comprehend. We believe it has to be harder than that. What Pastor Morris was iterating, is the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ and it is the best deal you will ever be offered. It’s easy for most people to understand that there is punishment for doing things wrong. We see this in every society and culture of the world. Parents, teachers, and leaders in our communities raise us to do what they consider is “right”. If we don’t do what is “right” then we get punished. This part isn’t foreign to us.
What trips us up is why the opposite isn’t true. Why don’t we get rewarded for the good things we do? If we get punished for bad, shouldn’t we get rewarded for good?
We first have to define what is “bad”. Without getting too theological, we need to make people aware that we have a bigger problem than the things we do wrong. I hear my pastor often say that sin (or the things we do wrong) is just a symptom of a much deeper problem. We are born with sin. We can’t help it. Before we take our first breath, we are guilty of what God calls “wrong”. It’s a deep spiritual mystery. We may not be able to articulate it very well, but we are born separated from God. And because of this, no amount of good works can outweigh or even balance out what this “original sin” has done to us. Even if we weren’t born with sin, we would find ourselves in the same condition the first time we did something “immoral” or against God’s standards.
Usually, the question that initiated this response leads to the next revelation:
“What you are saying, Joe sounds impossible to fix. If I’m born with it, then I have no chance. And there is no way I can live perfectly, so it sounds like you’re saying that I'm doomed.”
That is exactly what I am saying. You have no chance. It is impossible to live at a level where the good we DO outweigh the bad that we ARE. I’m sorry to be so blunt. But time is running short. We deserve to be punished for our bad works. We WILL be punished, and our good works will mean NOTHING when we stand before that judgment seat.
Unless… And here is why this is the best deal you will ever be offered:
Wouldn’t it be great if we could start over? Wouldn’t it be great if the bad things we’ve done were erased? How awesome would it be if that nature we were born with was removed? Jesus provided this for us. It's even better than that. Jesus can make you a new creation. That is why Pastor Morris mentioned “receiving Jesus”. When we recognize that we are guilty of sin, and we place our trust in what Jesus did on the cross, we are no longer doomed to be punished for our “bad works” or the sin we are born with. Jesus is the only way for this to happen and it is available for anyone who wants it. Place your trust in Jesus and you will no longer be punished for your bad works. The Bible states that he forgets it ever happened. It may be too good to be true, but don’t let this mystery keep you from His forgiveness.
The second part of Pastor Morris’ statement makes this even better. Not only are we no longer held responsible for our sins, but we also now get rewarded for the good works we do in the name of Jesus as we follow him. The forgiveness of God makes our hearts soft and gives us the desire to serve God and perform good works. We become his workers. The Bible says we were created for good works in Christ. More than that, these works were prepared for us before we ever accepted His forgiveness. Anything we do for Christ will be rewarded when we get to heaven. The greater your works, the greater your reward. That’s why we are instructed to store up treasures in heaven. Good works only matter after you are forgiven for your sin. Good works will NEVER get you forgiven. This is very important to understand.
This may be new information to a person who is just beginning to seek God. However, the Church has always believed this. There are two judgements, and the bible refers to both of them several times. There is the “general judgment” for which every person who ever lived will stand and give an account for their sin. The only escape is through Jesus Christ. The “particular judgment” is where each person’s works will be tested by fire. Those that were truly done in the name of Jesus will be rewarded. The book of Revelation tells us that Jesus is coming soon and He is bringing His reward with Him.
So hopefully I was able to break it down for anyone who can’t seem to wrap his or her brain around this statement:
If I don't receive Jesus, I get punished for my bad works, and my good works are ignored?
It’s a simple way of describing a mystery and a truth about God and Jesus Christ. It is true. And this is the best deal ever offered to mankind.
