If someone asked you, “how do I get into heaven?” what would you tell them? Most people have been taught that you get to heaven by obeying God. The Bible has rules and if you follow them the best you can, you get the prize, heaven. If you ignore the rules and do whatever you feel like, you'll have more fun now, but you will go to hell. Force yourself to lead a boring life now, and your reward is heaven. Cut loose and have a good time now, and you go to hell. That's the Gospel according to the world, and people can even go to church all their lives and be told that's what the Bible teaches.
To the world, the ultimate expression of the Christian life is basically being Amish.
The natural religion of fallen man is salvation by his own merits, self-salvation. "Every one of us is born a heretic upon this point), and we naturally gravitate towards this heresy in one form or another." (Spurgeon). It is pride, pure and simple. That's why, tho many call themselves Christians, true Christianity, the faith of the Bible, is unpopular. Man is too prideful, he cannot endure the thought that he is desperately wicked by nature, Jer. 17:9. He cannot stand the idea that there is nothing he can do to please God, Ps. 14:1, 14:3, 53:1, 53:3, Rom. 3:12. He abhors the idea that he needs a savior, a sinless substitute that the Lord punished instead of him. Man is born wanting to be in charge of his own life. He will not voluntarily get down off the throne of his life and allow Christ to sit there. |