A Rope of Sand

All religions that I know of—except one—say that if you do good deeds, you will be rewarded, and if you do evil deeds, you will be punished. Biblical Christianity says that your good deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), and in spite of your deserving hell, you can go to heaven (Romans 5:6–11) because Jesus paid the price of your sins.

Jehovah’s Witnesses say, “Good works are necessary for salvation” (Studies in the Scriptures, volume 1, pages 150, 152).

Mormons say that good works are necessary for salvation (Third and Fourth Articles of Faith, Articles of Faith, page 92), and “We know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23).

Roman Catholics say, “If any one shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in the divine mercy pardoning sins for Christ’s sake, or that it is that confidence alone by which we are justified … let him be accursed” (Council of Trent, Canon 12).

Muslims must follow the five pillars of Islam and hope that Allah forgives them and lets them into heaven (Surah 5:9).

People faithful to these religions have at least some respect for the Bible. But although the Bible continually emphasizes the point that salvation is a gift from God, they insist that they must earn their way to heaven by doing good or religious deeds (such as baptism, praying to Mecca, going door-to-door witnessing, etc.).

Here’s a partial list of the verses that mention that our salvation is solely a gift that cannot be earned with good deeds.

Verse	Means of Salvation	Verse	Means of Salvation	Verse	Means of Salvation
Matthew 26:28	Jesus’ blood	Acts 10:43	Belief	Galatians 2:20–21	Faith
Luke 7:50	Faith	Acts 13:38–39	Belief	Galatians 3:26	Belief
John 3:14–18	Belief	Acts 16:31	Belief	Ephesians 1:7	Jesus’ blood
John 3:36	Belief	Romans 3:20–28	Faith, Grace	Ephesians 2:8–9	Faith
John 5:24	Belief	Romans 5:1	Faith	Philippians 1:6	God
John 6:40	Belief	Romans 5:9	Jesus’ blood	Philippians 3:9	Faith
John 6:47	Belief	Romans 10:4	Belief	1 Thessalonians 5:9	Jesus
John 6:63	Holy Spirit	Romans 10:9	Belief	2 Timothy 1:9	Grace
John 8:24	Belief	Romans 11:6	Grace	Titus 3:5	God’s mercy
John 11:25–26	Belief	1 Corinthians 6:11	The Holy Spirit	Hebrews 7:25	Jesus
John 20:31	Belief	Galatians 2:15–16	Faith	1 John 1:7	Jesus’ blood

If you add in baptism or good deeds into what is required for salvation, are you really trusting in Jesus alone for your salvation, or are you trusting in your own goodness?

In the final open-air sermon before his death, George Whitfield cried out in a tone of thunder, “Works! works! A man gets to heaven by works! I would as soon think of climbing to the moon on a rope of sand.’”

Million Dollar Question

My favorite way to start a conversation about my faith is handing someone a (obviously fake) million-dollar bill. I tell them that it has the million-dollar question on the back, which is, “Will you go to heaven?” People love the million-dollar bill; I’ve had grown men chase me down and ask me for one. It’s a great way to get a conversation going.

When I ask people the million-dollar question, almost everyone says they’re going to heaven. Then I like to ask this: “If you were to die today and stand before God, and God said, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’ what would you say?” With this question, I believe I’ve already accomplished a lot in just getting the person to think about eternity. Even if he or she were to cuss me out, and run away, I would feel I’d been successful. Plus, he or she would already have a gospel tract in hand. A gospel tract never gets distracted from preaching the truth.

While some Christians say that people know the gospel and that we don’t need to go out witness, I’ve realized after asking this question dozens of times that people have no idea what’s going to happen when they die, and most people are open to discussing it. The majority of the time the response to that question is pitiful. Usually people have no answer. They look around and hem and haw for a few seconds, and I feel like I have to put them out of their misery by moving the conversation along. I ask if they consider themselves to be good people, and then do the Way of the Master routine.

At times people who have no answer for that question claim to be Christians later in the conversation. I understand that they may have been caught off guard by some guy passing out fake money. But the gospel is something Christians should be able to put into words, even on a moment’s notice. If people say they don’t know why they’re going to heaven, and consider themselves to be good people, I ask myself if they are truly saved.

I talked to 30 or 40 people at the state fair a couple of weeks ago, and just one girl answered that question saying that she’s saved. Two or three others answered that they have faith in God. People need someone to give them the answer to this question. It was pretty sad to encounter such a small number of Christians.

By the way, there is only one right answer to that question. If you don’t know what it is, check this out.

Encouragement

This picture from the Great News Network 2007 Seed Sower Schedule (a daily planner type of book) caught my eye. The guy is using the optical illusion tracts to witness; these are great for breaking the ice with someone or even a group of people. (I would recommend something different if you’re only interested in passing out tracts.)

For a year or two, I enjoyed watching the Way of the Master TV show and had the methodology memorized, but I never had the guts to talk to anyone. Then I contacted my local leader through the Great News Network. It helped me a lot to have a group of friends to go with.

If you’re fearful about witnessing like I was, you should consider contacting your local leader through this website. If you live somewhere where there isn’t a local leader, write me a note below, and I might be able to find someone through this organization (even though he or she is not a local leader).

Fried Food, Farm Animals and the Gospel

The evenings I spent at the Colorado state fair last year were one of the best times I’ve ever had. There is one place where benches surrounded a fountain, and people just sat around, taking a break from the festivities. I’d have a conversation with someone, walk a few feet, and have another conversation with someone. It seemed like everyone was grateful that I or my friends talked to them.

The people I went with last year were too busy to go the first night I went. Last Tuesday, I went alone, and talked to about 20 people. In two conversations, people brought up objections, but almost all of the others thanked me for talking to them, and said they would think about our discussion.

One young man, who was a Wiccan, disliked Christianity because he thought it didn’t provide an adequate explanation for the suffering in the world. I tried to explain to him that all sin, including his, causes misery. He didn’t like my explanation, but later in the conversation admitted to stealing a $2,000 bike. It seemed like a perfect example of how his sin made someone else miserable. It’s easy to see everyone else’s sin and yet dismiss our own sins as no big deal.

My wife and I went back on Thursday evening. I was hoping for and expecting similarly good results. We had a couple of good conversations, but the atmosphere was completely different. Many people didn’t seem to be humbled by the law; they wouldn’t admit that they deserved hell. If they did admit it, they didn’t seem to care.

It’s hard to tell why one day everyone is so humble, and another, a seemingly similar crowd was not humble. When that happens, I’m always tempted to say that one day was much more successful than the other, but I don’t think that’s true. The main purpose of evangelism is not to get people saved, but to glorify God. Hopefully He was glorified through our obedience both nights. We are left to pray for everyone who heard the gospel, and leave the results up to Him.

The state fair is a great place to share the gospel.

More Mormon Problems

Mormons are anxious to be classified as Christians, but there are many differences between Christianity and Mormonism. I recently discovered a significant one.

The Bible says that anyone who repents and puts his or her faith in Jesus can be forgiven of any sin. There is no sin so big that Jesus’ perfect sacrifice won’t atone for it. Mormons differ. They say that Jesus’ blood didn’t atone for all sins. One exception is murder.

Mormons believe that if they commit murder, they must shed their own blood through their death to atone for that sin (Alma 42:19, Journal of Discourses Vol. 3, p. 243-249, Vol. 4, p. 51-57, Vol. 4, p. 215-221). The problem with this is that according to the Bible, hatred is murder. 1 John 3:15 says, “Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer…”

Who among us hasn’t had a moment of hatred or intense anger at someone at some point in our lives? Who among us hasn’t called someone a name?

Jesus said in Matthew 5:22–23, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

If Mormons wish to remain true to their doctrine, they should submit themselves to the death penalty, post-haste, so that they can still have a shot at attaining their godhood. But the fact is, the Jesus of Mormonism isn’t the true Jesus. He didn’t die for all our sins. He is an idol—concocted by Joseph Smith—who happens to have the same name as the one true God. Mormons need to repent of the idolatry of Mormonism, and put their faith in the true Jesus of the Bible, whose sacrifice atones for all the sins—past, present, and future—of those who believe in Him.

Adventures on Main Street

A lady from my church (Beth) came along with my friend (Norman) and I to go witnessing on Main Street on Saturday night. This is an answer to prayer, as Norman is planning to move soon, and we need more people to get involved. I don’t think it would be wise to go by myself to this particular location.

Before we got to the first bar, a couple on vacation from India walked toward us. They spoke good English and were very friendly. Norman walked them through the law and the gospel, and they said they would think about what we discussed.

At the first bar, an older Catholic guy kept trying to start an argument with me, but I think we were both surprised that we kept agreeing with each other and were unable to argue. A lady repeatedly yelled at us to leave, which was annoying. The Catholic guy seemed to settle down a little bit, and I asked if he was going to get drunk tonight. I think he may have already been drunk, but he admitted that he was there to get drunk, and he knew that was a sin. I tried to explain that willingly planning out your sin is a far cry from what a Christian should be doing. He agreed that it was hypocritical of him to do that, but I don’t think it really bothered him too much.

At the place across the street, three 30ish girls talked for quite a while about the standard for getting into heaven. One left in a huff, but the other two stuck around. It was a good conversation, and we parted amicably. Still, it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. It seemed they weren’t too concerned about their standing before God. I prefer it when people are either ticked off or in a really sober mood, but if they leave in the same carefree mood they were in when we started the conversation, I wonder if the gospel had much effect on them. We left them with a tract that discusses the trustworthiness of the Bible, and they said they would look at the Answers in Genesis website on the tract.

About half a block farther down the street two older guys were standing around talking. Norman offered them a tract, and one of them pushed him, and said that he would break a 2×4 over his head. They both started yelling for us to keep walking. That’s our signal to stop and stand there. Our right to be there has been established, and we don’t want anyone to think they have veto power over the gospel just by threatening us and screaming. We just waited there patiently until they calmed down, and then went to the next place.

There was some kind of family gathering or wedding reception going on, and one young man asked what we were doing. I asked my usual question—Would you go to heaven and why?—and he said God is going to take care of him, and added that he’s Catholic. At this point another lady started yelling at us that they’re Catholics and we should leave. I asked her why she thinks she’s going to heaven, and she said she’s given her four kids to God, and her husband has served in Iraq. We expressed appreciation for her husband’s service, and she began yelling about how he’s held dying men in his arms. While continuing to yell about all the things she’d done for God, she started to cry. My friend tried to continue the conversation, but she just kept crying/screaming. So we went on to the next place. I thought that would really bother Beth, but she said she had been looking for a tract on Catholicism. It would have been courageous of Beth to try to give it to the screaming lady, but she was unable to find it, and I don’t think the lady would have accepted it.

We went on to the last place, and a few people took tracts, but we didn’t get a chance to talk to anyone. After having three different men from my church get scared off by much less in previous months, I thought Beth would never want to go down there again, but I’m very encouraged by her attitude and willingness to keep going. I talked to her at church the next day, and she said it was an adventure. She listened to Hell’s Best Kept Secret and she’s excited about learning more.