Good guys go to Hell, and Bad Guys go to Heaven.

Usually people think that good man goes to heaven and bad man goes to hell, because we believe there is some sort of justice system in this world. Well, maybe not in this world all the time, but at least this “all-powerful divine being out there” must do better than the rulers and governors over here, right? The baddies might be able to escape from the justice system in this world, but our God will surely punish them on that final Judgement day. And being a nice, kind and loving person, God might let me through the pearly gate…

From the Bible, the Christian God is a just God (i.e. someone who exercise what is right and true), but Christians believe that good man actually goes to hell, but professed baddies are the ones end up in heaven. Jesus taught in the following parable:

10Two men went into the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood over by himself and prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not greedy, dishonest, and unfaithful in marriage like other people. And I am really glad that I am not like that tax collector over there. 12I go without eating for two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all I earn." 13The tax collector stood off at a distance and did not think he was good enough even to look up toward heaven. He was so sorry for what he had done that he pounded his chest and prayed, "God, have pity on me! I am such a sinner."

14Then Jesus said, "When the two men went home, it was the tax collector and not the Pharisee who was pleasing to God. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored."

Luke 18:10-14 CEV

Why is the oh-so-nice Pharisees not justified, but the scum-of-the-earth tax collector is?

First of all, we need to define the terms good and bad here. What/who defines a man as good? Number of times you help the old ladies to get across the street? Number of 10 commandments that you have kept? As long as you are above average, then you are considered good? Let’s see what the Bible says:

10The Scriptures tell us, "No one is acceptable to God!

11Not one of them understands

or even searches for God.

12They have all turned away

and are worthless.

There isn't one person

who does right.

Romans 3:10-12 CEV

It does not actually tell us the filtering that God uses to separate the good guys from the baddies. It only tells us the number of good guys out there - no one, not even one! We all have turned away from God, rejected him as our creator and ruler, and crowned ourselves to be our little kings. We are all baddies in God’s sight, and that means everyone of us - you and me, Aussies and Chinese, Christians and non-Christians - we are all criminals before God. What does that imply? None of us can pass his judgement, and hell will be the next stop for all of us.

Trying to do good to win God’s favour is like trying to study for the exam that you’ll never pass. The only hope we have is God might have mercy on some of us. In fact, he did show his love and mercy in his son Jesus, and at the cross, his justice and his love are both satisfied. We can be saved, if we do confess that we are baddies, and place our trust on Jesus that his death is enough to pay for my guilt. Thus, baddies can go to heaven.

What about the good guys then? There are no real righteous man from God’s point of view, except Jesus. All the other so-called good guys trust no one but themselves. They need no God because they think they can run their lives themselves, and they might even out-smart God in His judgement scheme. When the judgement comes, those good guys appear not so good in God’s standard. And by relying solely on themselves, where will they end up?

Love the world or love God?

Sometimes I think we get too comfortable here on earth. We have lived here so long that we begin to live for the world instead of living for Jesus as we should. God has always been a jealous God and wants to be 1st in our lives.

James 4:4-6

James creates a stong contrast between loving God and loving the world. He even is so bold to claim adultery, which as we know is cheating on your spouse. He says this because we are referred to in Scripture as the Bride of Christ. When we have love for the things of this world more than we have for God, we have become unfaithful to the Lord in our love for Him.

Discussion Questions:
1. In what ways have you become a friend to the world?

2. What areas in your life are you unwilling to let God have first place?

3. What do you spend more time thinking about, things of this world or eternal things?

4. How does God feel about that?

5. What can you do to change the way that you look at the world and the things it has to offer?

It's Not Your Big Toe

There is a battle going on within every one of us. It is a battle between what we want to do in our lives and what God wants us to do in our lives. Peter says this I beg you not to surrender to those desires that fight against you.(1Pe 2:11). James warns of the selfish desires that fight to control your body?(James 4:1). Paul tells us, I keep my body under control and make it my slave, so I won't lose out after telling the good news to others (1 Cor 9:27).

If I were to ask you which member of your body troubles you the most, and is most likely to cause you to sin, which member of your body would you name?

I'm sure it would not be your belly button, or your big toe. Which part of your body is the culprit then?

James names one member of the body which is hardest to control, and which effects the whole body. It is only a small member, yet does enormous damage, like a small flame that kindles a huge bush fire. If you can bring this small member under control, you are able to control your whole body, just as a small bit in a horse's mouth is used to control the whole animal, or a small rudder a large ship. The member James refers to is the tongue (James 3:1-12).

James is speaking about our tendency to "stumble in word" (Jamess 3:2). He refers to our difficulty in controlling what we say. The tongue (as an organ of speech) can do untold damage.

The sins of the tongue, the ways in which we can stumble or offend in word, are manifest...

• Gossip (Proverbs 16:28)
• Swearing ( Ephesians 4:29)
• Lying ( Colossians 3:9-10)
• Slander (saying false things to demage someone's reputation) James 4:11
• Boasting (James 4:13-18)
  

...and the list goes on. Jesus warns us about the need to control our tongues.
But the words that come out of your mouth come from your heart. And they are what make you unfit to worship God.

I promise you that on the day of judgment, everyone will have to account for every careless word they have spoken. On that day they will be told that they are either innocent or guilty because of the things they have said.

(Matthew 15:18 12:36-37).

All you need is faith to be saved, isn't that right? Well 'yes' but lets look at what Faith really is to help with an confusion we may have with this very Religious word we call 'FAITH'.

In the bible the term faith is simply used to mean trust, rely or depend. You can use all these words interchangeably. So to have faith in something is to depend upon it, to trust in it or rely on it. For example, you display faith when you sit in a chair. When you sit, you place your trust in it and depend upon it to hold you. It is not your faith that holds you up it is the chair. And here is the most important thing about faith - it is not that you have faith, it is what you put your faith in that counts.

When Christian faith is understood in these terms then we see that it not so much our faith that is important but what we place our faith in. Christianity is all about placing faith or trust is Jesus Christ and his death for our salvation. To trust in anything other than Jesus will mean that our faith is wrongly placed and we will not be saved. As Jesus said - “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one shall come to the father but through me” (John 14:6). That is hard for people to hear, but it is the truth.

But it is not just faith though, it is faith in action. Real Christian faith is seen in the way in which we live. If I said I had faith that a chair would hold me but were not prepared to sit in it, what does that say about how real my faith is? It is easy to say I have faith, but the quality of that faith will be seen in the way I live, the way in which I follow Jesus and seek to obey him. It is that sort of faith that saves and is the only “requirement” to claim that you are Christian.

On this basis, then, you can talk about right religion and wrong religions; not in terms of being catholic, Jewish or Muslim but in terms of whether the religion has faith in Jesus alone at its center.

People are saved when they place their trust/faith in Jesus. Can a Jew and Catholic be saved, yes if they place their faith in Jesus’ death. If they were to place their faith simply in being a Jew or Catholic then they have placed their faith in the wrong place and have ignored God. Anyone who places their trust/faith in someone rather than Jesus cannot be saved! (acts 4:12)