The Trap of Good Deeds (Part I)
- We often ask ourselves "Is God satisfied with our deeds?".
Are these deeds sufficient to get us to heaven?.
And how will God judge them? Is it according to their number or quantity or according to our intentions?? Or randomly?.
Could good deeds wipe out bad deeds?.
What is the destiny of pagans? Some of them do very good deeds and their behavior is very elegant?? What will be their fate??..... And a lot of questions that come to our mind....
+ Let us first read this example to clarify the idea:
If there is a very wealthy person who does very good works... he builds hospitals and shelters and pays for paving the streets and constructing villages, and continued to do good works along too many years. However, one time he had a conflict with someone and killed him.
Does the Law in this case forgive the rich person (or will he not be held accountable) for doing good deeds?... Of course not. This is the opinion (Law) of all the governments of the world with their various affiliations and orientations. The law will take its course and this person will be held accountable, regardless of his position or social status.
- This means that good deeds alone are not enough to save this person from punishment even if the sentence was eased; there will certainly still be punishment.
Despite the logic of the answer from the point of view of the law... we find some other non - Christian beliefs call that good deeds alone are enough to have mans' sins be forgiven and wipe them out.
- Let us start the story from the very beginning to clarify the answer to the question: In what way will God judge us?.
When our ancestors sinned (Adam and Eve) and disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, man got in a very big problem which is represented in three dilemmas:
1 – The first dilemma: Man began looking for the supreme forces guarding the universe and that could save humans of the evil incidents and counter - forces facing human. But these powers should be infinite.
2 - The second dilemma: Sin, evil, corruption in the land and corruption in the nature of man started to exist.
3 - The third dilemma: Death started to happen, that ends the life of man and he becomes forgotten.
It was necessary for a man to regain his life in heaven and his fellowship with God and his image (which was distorted by sin) and to find a solution to these three dilemmas.
- In this article we will present very briefly how Christianity (Christ the Savior) has been able to offer a solution to these serious dilemmas.
First: Solving the dilemma of the supreme powers:
- Since the creation of the world... God declared himself to man gradually:
A) For the Gentiles: the Bible is full of characters and events that prove this.
Example: Job (whom the Bible spoke about through a complete book so that the Holy Spirit would show us how God deals with the gentiles).
Rahab the harlot (who became one of the grandmothers of Christ)... the people of Nineveh (whom God cared about their salvation and sent two of his prophets: Jonah and Nahum for them).
- And many more stories that prove that God was not biased to the people of Israel as some claim (skeptics in the Bible).
B) For the Jews: God had communicated with them in all ways and through all stages starting from the stage of pre - the Law of Moses and then the era of the Law of Moses)....... then (the captivity and return after they got disciplined).
When God declared himself to Moses the Prophet, he said to him, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you. '... (Exodus 3: 14 NKJV).
Who Has no beginning and no end... and the only being with whom everything stands as if it does not exist... (a very open declaration that cannot be doubted that only one God exists and He is the greatest being in the universe and existence)...
God declared himself by saying, "" Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!. "(Deut. 6: 4 NKJV)... Any God wouldn’t accept to have a partner.
- Neither Christianity nor Judaism believes in Polytheism... Our God is one God.
And when Christ came (Glory to Him) and took the shape of our bodies, a new and important stage began in man's life... as man entered into communion with God.
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds) (Heb 1: 1 - 2 NKJV).
But in fact, and despite the bright truth about the existence of God.....
Satan did not cease to mislead a lot and the people went behind other powers in the universe like pagan worship of all kinds. And for some their mind and logic and science and themselves became their God...
As if their recognition of God will rival or threaten them or at least will expose their sin.
Hence, atheism surfaced: they denied the existence of God in principle (for the atheist to keep on looking for a supreme power... unfortunately but to no avail).
- The faithful reader of the Bible realizes that God did not leave man prey to circumstances or chance... but communicated with him and declared himself to give humans an answer to this dilemma. Also, showed man that the forces of nature (the moon and the sun and fire.....) not even animals (cows and birds......) cannot be the supreme powers that the human is looking for.
God alone is the solution to this dilemma.
To be Continued.
