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| Faith and Works |
- What is "faith"?
- From the Bible, the book of Hebrews: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen."
- What is is the end result of faith?
- The end result of faith is life eternal in Heaven with God.
- How does a person get to Heaven after they die?
- By following the laws of God perfectly with zero mistakes and failures.
- But I've made a lot of mistakes and done lots of bad things.
- By ourselves, there is no way to undo our mistakes and failures.
- What if I start right now and do more good deeds than bad deeds?
- There are problems with this approach:
- Who's going to keep track of this very important "score?"
- Since eternal destiny hangs in the balance, how do we know when the balance tips in our favor? How good must a good deed be in order to balance out a bad deed?
- What about someone who is near death? How will they do enough good deeds to "undo" all their bad deeds?
- What if someone has killed someone unjustly? Even if the one that killed the other dies, that will make up for only that one sin.
- So then there is no hope for anyone, right?
- WRONG! Everyone, no matter how "bad" a life they have lived, can have a sure hope in Jesus Christ.
- How can I have a secure hope in Jesus Christ?
- Jesus lived a perfect life. He kept all of God's laws perfectly.
- It's nice that Jesus Christ lived a perfect life but how does that help me?
- By believing that Jesus Christ's perfect life and death is YOUR perfect life and death, God forgives your sins and failures. When God looks at our imperfect lives, He instead sees the perfect life of Jesus Christ.
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