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Are you a good person?
Most of us think we are good and yes, that includes me. However,
most of us differ on the actual definition of "good" which has made the word only a relative term. What I consider
as "good" may not be "good enough" for someone else because each one of us has a different standard for
measuring goodness. But against this backdrop of relative and differing standards that we all have in general, the bible has
only one standard and that is absolute, total goodness. No compromise there whatsoever. That is why the bible says that only
God is good. But, don't we all differ again on our conceptualization of "God"? In this age of plurality and post-modernism,
everything is only relative which leaves no room for absolutes. With a view to not offend the sensibilities of anyone and
to accept and accomodate everyone, we have created an atmosphere of artificial peace and tolerance undergirded by diluted
morals and watered down ethics. There are only relatively good (or relatively bad if you are a pessimist) people.
But, despite all the arguments we put forth in favour of relativism, there still are some things left that we all agree
upon as being absolute (though we are careful to avoid the term) and final. For example, the sum of two and two is and will
always be four and cannot be any other. But that's mathematics, say you. Alright, let's tackle the bull by the horns and consider
a moral issue which is more at stake here. Every person in his or her right mind would definitely agree that rape, murder
(killing someone out of spite and hatred), paedophilia or incest is absolutely disgusting, abhorrable and worthy of the highest
punishment in the land, and they are indeed. Even some of the most primitive tribes on this earth have been found to have
some kind of laws, written or oral, against these deviant behaviours. Deep down in the human heart, there is this yearning
for something beautiful, something perfect. This goes to show that there still are moral absolutes. Atleast the argument leans
in that direction.
Now, let's tackle the more sensitive issue of god. There are some who claim that only their
religion is the true religion and then there are others who say that all religions lead to the same god. Now, only one of
these statements can be true. Both cannot be true. Either only one among the plethora of religions is true OR all are partially
true. As a case in review, let's consider the world's major religions with the most adherents - chrisitanity, islam and hinduism,
not going into the deeper dvisions within them.
Christianity claims that there is only one God, perfectly holy,
perfectly just who came down to this world as the man, Jesus Christ, who lived a perfectly sinless life and hence offered
the only perfect sacrifice to pay the sin penalty of the whole world so that salvation could be found in him alone without
which a person is lost, having rejected the only means of salvation offered to him and hence will be condemned to eternal
hell on the day of judgement as a just punishment for sinning against an infinitely holy God.
Islam claims that
there is one God who revealed his will through the prophet Mohammed who alone is the final prophet, the seal of the prophets
and who recorded the exact words of God as revealed to him in the Holy Quran. The sunnah (sayings and actions of the prophet)
serves as a guide to a person who wishes to live righteously before God and on the day of judgement, a person's right actions
and wrong actions are all weighed on scales. If the person's right actions outweigh the wrong actions, he goes to paradise
and if not, he goes to hell.
Hinduism teaches that God is everywhere and in all things and hence the goal of man
would be to attain Moksha which happens when a person is freed from an endless cycle of births and deaths (samsara) and is
absorbed into the universal oneness called Brahma. To attain Moksha, a person may follow one of four paths, the path of right
action (karma yoga), the path of knowledge (jnana yoga), the path of love and devotion (bhakthi yoga) and the path of meditation
(raja yoga).
A careful reading of the central teachings of each of these three major world religions clearly reveals
that they differ very widely either in their defintion of salvation (or the idea though the exact term may not be used) itself
or in the way to attain that salvation. Hence, it would be foolish to argue that they all lead to God because then arises
the question of which god, what way and the like. The teachings hence are all mutually exclusive. One may argue then that
in the light of this mutual exclusivity, faith becomes a matter of personal choice, which as far as the person making the
choice is concerned is perfectly valid. But mutual exclusivity also means that only one path can be true and the others false.
One may for the sake of argument even say that they are all false. Infact, this third argument seems to be gaining ground,
and that rightly so when looked at the historical reasons for rejecting religion altogether as being a social fraud imposed
on human society by age old superstitions and customs that have no place in the modern world and that has caused nothing but
sorrow and pain and suffering. But that's only the half truth, because almost all the suffering and pain has been caused by
individuals who have taken the sacred scriptures (of whatever religion) and twisted and reinterpreted them as they saw fit
in order to achieve their own personal goals and ambitions. But if we fail to look at the brighter side of what religion has
brought to human society, then we are willingly making ourselves blind. For, without religion, there would be no proper laws
of governance and administration because almost every law of the land that has to do with ethics and morals can be traced
to that society's religious traditions. Even individuals who claim to be atheists would have to (if being honest) attribute
their moral compass to their family's and culture's religious heritage and traditions.
I think I will stop here
with arguing for the place of religion in society. Now going back to our question of which is the true religion, having reasonably
argued (I hope) that religion did bring some good to society and not all bad, I think it's fair to sat that if someone has
found the true religion, it becomes a matter of personal responsibility of sharing the truth of what one has found and making
the person who hasn't found it yet fully aware of the consequences of rejecting that truth. So, it becomes a matter of paramount
importance to know whether what you have is the genuine deal or not. Am I talking about religious freedom? YES, you bet I
am. The freedom to practise and promote one's faith, not by the sword, literally or figuratively speaking, but with civility
and respect for the other person's sentiments and opinions. Freedom not for only one group of people belonging to one religion,
but for all. Because ultimately religion cannot and should not be imposed upon or forced down one's throat.
So,
here I will try to make a case for the truth. First, how do I know the truth? That's where our conscience and reasoning comes
into the picture. So, let's reason with a good conscience. First of all, what is conscience? Our conscience is that part of
our soul that tells us the difference between right and wrong. The english word conscience comes from the latin conscientia
which itself is an amalgamation of two words, con (with) and scientia (knowledge) which means "with knowledge".
So, everytime we do something wrong, we do it with the knowledge that we have done wrong. A person's choice on how he or she
will deal with his or her conscience is what gives rise to differing standards of goodness among different people. That is
why there may be some in this world who cannot bear to see even an ant die whereas there are others who do not feel the slightest
remorse at even killing babies brutally. All this inevitably draws once again the conclusion that there's got be a moral absolute
relative to which one may find even killing an ant to be a cruel, despicable act whereas others may find even killing babies
okay. There is one fixed reference point in the mind of every person. But how do we resolve the issue of whose standard is
the perfect standard?
This is where religion comes into the picture. As to how the major world religions under
our consideration treat this subject, Islam says that a person will be evaluated by Allah's perfect standard of righteousness
as revealed by his prophet Mohammed and having categorized the person's deeds into good and bad, then leaves the person's
fate hanging in the balance, literally on the day of judgement. So the person is left all his life in a state of fear and
uncertanity as to the salvation of his soul because he never knows when the scales have tipped in his favour or against him.
By the time he knows it, his fate has already been sealed and it would be too late. Hinduism encourages a person to live a
righteous life and follow either one of the four paths to attain Moksha. But the adherent can never quite be 100% sure whether
he would attain Moksha or not because there's always room to do better. Christianity has both good news and bad news for a
person. Let's talk about the bad news first. The bible says that all (every person) have sinned (our conscience agrees to
this) and the only acceptable standard to an infinitely holy god is sinless perfection. That is that a person has to be 100%
sinless to be acceptable to God. Most of us would agree that we already flunked this test. But, if anyone thinks he or she
is sinlessly perfect, let's take a quick test according to just a few (the last six) of the Ten Commandments which is the
standard of goodness according to the bible. We can pick those commandments for the test that are generally agreed upon in
one form or the other by all three religions under consideration. With a clear conscience, ask yourself if you have obeyed
the following:
1. Honor your father and mother. (Have you always honored your parents? Your age doesn't negate
this command. Even if you are 70 and your parents in their 90s.
2. You shall not murder. (The bible teaches that
God considers even unrepented of hatred as murder).
3. You shall not commit adultery. (Jesus says, "Whosoever
looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart").
4. You shall
not steal. (Have you ever stolen anything? The value of the item is irrelevant).
5. You shall not lie. (Have you
lied even once? Including answering any of these questions).
6. You shall not covet. (Have you ever jealously desired
what belongs to others?)
The Bible says that God will punish all murderers, rapists, thieves, liars, adulterers,
etc. He will even judge our words and thoughts because the bible teaches that "man looks on and judges by the outward
appearance, but God looks on the heart". Everything begins in the heart and then manifests itself into actions. So, according
to this perfect standard, do you find yourself guilty or innocent of breaking any of these commandments? Perhaps you think
that God is good, and will therefore overlook your sins. But it is precisely His absolute goodness that will make sure that
justice is served and the slightest sin receive a just recompense. He will accept nothing short of 100% perfection. Even 99.999%
is not good enough for a God who is 100% pure and holy. He would be a corrupt Judge if He turned a blind eye to injustice
however small it may be. Law breakers are to be punished. As it holds true in a man's court of law, it holds true even more
in God's court of law. Have you kept the Commandments? God's Law demands justice, and the penalty for sinning against Him
is death and Hell. We have all broken his commandments and fallen short.
But whatever happened to mercy and love,
you may say. I guess you are now ready for the good news. As much as God is infinitely holy and just and will punish sinners,
the bible also says God is love and that he is not willing that any should perish. So, God Himself made a way where His perfect
justice and His goodness could meet. Meet it did, at the cross. We broke his Law, but He became a man to pay the fine. Jesus
suffered and died on the cross to satisfy God's perfect Law so that having paid our penalty, God can forgive us and grant
us the gift of everlasting life!
But you may say that you can (from now on) keep his commandments and that you
don't need Christ's sacrifice on the cross. My friend, this is where your intellect and reasoning comes into the picture.
Your remonstrances of promising to be good are like a serial rapist and murderer asking the judge to let him go because he
promises to be good from then on. No, justice must be served since he is still a lawbreaker regardless of all the promises
of living a good life in the future. The fine has to be paid. Think of it this way - would you sell one of your eyes for a
million dollars? Would you sell both for $50 million? I'm sure you wouldn't. Your eyes are priceless and yet they are merely
the windows of your soul. What then must your life (soul) be worth? With these thoughts in mind, what would be a fair price
to pay for everlasting life? It is utterly without price. We cannot pay it ourselves. Yet, if we trust in our own goodness
to enter Heaven, we are in effect saying to God, "I should enter Heaven because I have done good - I have earned my way
in."
Imagine if you wanted to give me a brand new (very expensive) car, but I said, "I can't take it!
I feel embarrassed receiving such a gift . . . here's 10 cents for it." I'm sure you would be very insulted by such a
pathetic offer of payment. Besides, if I pay for it, it is no longer a gift, it's a purchase . . . it's mine by right. When
we talk of entering Heaven by being good, by trying to keep the Ten Commandments etc., we are tossing God 10 cents of "self-righteousness,"
which is a terrible insult to Him, in the light of His sacrifice. The only thing we can do is humble ourselves, repent of
our sins (totally turn away from them), and receive the gift of salvation by trusting Jesus Christ alone. Almighty God demonstrated
how much He loves us when Jesus suffered for us on the cross. If you want to trust in your own goodness, then you are saying
His agonizing death on the cross was in vain. The Bible says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God." You cannot earn a gift.
When Jesus said to "believe" on Him,
He was saying we should have faith in Him, in the same way you would trust a parachute to save you when you jump from a plane.
You don't merely believe in the parachute - you put it on. Please don't "jump" without Jesus. If you die in your
sins there is no second chance. God will give you justice, and you will end up in Hell forever. Any troubles you have at present
are dwarfed by the trouble you are in with your Creator. His wrath abides upon you (John 3:36). God doesn't want you to go
to Hell. Neither do you want to go there, so confess your sins to God right now, put your trust in Jesus to save you, and
you will pass from death to life. Then read the Bible daily and obey what you read. (See John 14:21).
Your obedience
to God is the proof of your love. Have faith in God, He will never fail you.
Pray something like this:
"Dear God, today I turn away from all of my sins (name them). This day I put my trust
in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. He is the only way for me to be saved. He is 'The way, the truth, and the life.'"
Please forgive me, change my heart, and grant me Your gift of everlasting life. In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen."
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