Running To Win

Announcer: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. If a marathon runner gets on the wrong route, he'll never win the race. Sincerity is great, but it's not enough, especially when it comes to this all-important matter: the salvation of our souls.

Please stay with us from The Moody Church in Chicago. This is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, tell us about the series that begins today: "How You Can Be Sure That You Will Spend Eternity with God."

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Dave, I want to say this. You can be wrong about politics. You can be wrong about the economy. You can be wrong about sports teams. But don't be wrong about where you will spend eternity. This is huge. I've preached many sermon series, but I do have to emphasize that this, I think, is among the most important. As a matter of fact, I would encourage all of our listeners: phone your neighbors, remind your friends so that they listen to Running to Win, because we need to get this right. How you can be sure that you will spend eternity with God. There is no question that is as important as that one. Let us listen.

If I recall correctly, there were seven people who bought some extra strength Tylenol, and the minute they took those capsules, they died a few moments later because someone had bought those capsules and emptied them and put cyanide in them. In fact, one of the women who died actually bought the Tylenol in a drugstore that is just very close here to Moody Church, the one on North Avenue that is about a mile away. And they have never found who it is that did that terrible deed.

But there are two powerful lessons that emerge from that experience. Number one, a faith in itself does not have the power to transform something that is hurtful into something that is healthy. Faith in itself does not have that power. The old idea that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincere is nonsense. The people who took those capsules were very sincere. They had implicit faith, but their sincerity did not save them. It is much better to believe the truth with a trembling hand than it is to believe error with serenity and confidence. Faith in itself has no transforming power.

There's a second lesson that comes to us, and that is that which is true and good and that which is harmful may look very much alike. The cyanide and the Tylenol had many similarities. In fact, the cyanide was in, of course, a Tylenol capsule. And sometimes it is possible to distinguish truth and error readily, and there are other times when it is very difficult to distinguish it because sometimes error looks like truth. It has the feel of truth.

I want you to take your Bibles and turn to the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew chapter 7, where Jesus makes an astounding contrast between that which is false and that which is true. Listen to what he has to say. He is talking about two roads, two gates, two destinations. Matthew chapter 7, verse 13.

"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but the rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many shall say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? And in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?' And I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" What an amazing statement.

I want you to understand that those who came to Christ and says, "Have we not prophesied in your name? And in your name cast out demons and perform miracles?" I want you to understand that these people were absolutely shocked when the door to heaven was closed in their faces. These people were genuinely deceived. They didn't say to themselves, "Well, you know, I always knew it might turn out this way." No, they actually expected to enter into heaven. They never dreamed for a moment that Jesus would be their judge. They thought that Jesus was their Savior. They said, "Lord, Lord, and look at what we've done." And Jesus will say, "Your works were lawlessness." Doesn't the King James translate it "iniquity"?

Now, what I'd like to do in a few moments of time is to give you some of the paths on the broadway that appear to be the right way. If you can imagine the broadway which leads to destruction, it has many different lanes, just like the Kennedy Expressway is supposed to have. And there are many options. The broadway is very diverse. The broadway is very tolerant and very understanding. And I choose these three, not because they are the only wrong paths, but because they look like the right thing. I haven't even bothered with those theories of salvation that can be immediately discerned as wrong. I'm talking about those that appear right, those that really are cyanide under a Tylenol label.

Let's mention some of them. Number one, we could call them the way of the achievers. We're speaking about those who think to themselves that the way to heaven is really a tall ladder. And God gives us grace. He gives us abilities. He gives us the strength to be able to serve him, to be able to do good. And we begin to crawl on this ladder rung by rung. And when God sees how sincere we are, he comes and his grace picks us up and takes us the rest of the way. And that's how we are saved.

Well, I want you to know that people who believe that are on the broadway that leads to destruction, about whom Jesus said many there be that go in thereat. For one thing, this view does not take into account the fact that the moral gap between us and God is infinite. This view overestimates the good of man, and it underestimates the awesome glory and the holiness and the wonder of God. This view assumes that somehow we can cooperate with God in the process of salvation. He does his part, we do ours, and we meet somewhere in the middle. And that is wrong. And those who believe that are accepting cyanide even if it comes in a Tylenol label.

There's another problem with that view. Not only does it forget about the holiness of God—and John Calvin, by the way, in about the second page of his Institutes, makes a very telling observation about human nature. He says that most of us find someone who is lower on the rung than we are. And because we are all filled with pollution, when we see something that even looks a little better than other things that are happening, we call it righteousness. And we don't understand how far short it is of the overwhelming glory of God.

Something else about this view is that it does not change human nature. And Jesus did say that unless a man was born again, he would not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Trying to crawl that ladder only means that it is done with my power and my energy—energy that may be given to me of God, but energy that is mine nonetheless. And of course, those who hold this view will tell you that they have no assurance of salvation. They cannot. Because if the ladder has to be climbed, even if God comes and rescues me from 99 rungs that I haven't climbed, it's my responsibility to climb the first rung, and I'm not sure that I can even do that much. If salvation even is partly my responsibility in the sense that it is partly my good deeds, I might mess up, and so I can have no assurance. No, those who believe that we get to heaven by our achievement climbing the ladder, if they were honest, they'd know that they don't have a chance.

Well, let's go on now and let's talk about another view that is really characteristic of the broadway. It is the way of the mystic, the way of the mystic. Let's go back in a time machine and go back to the Middle Ages when people seemed to have a whole lot more time than they have today. And some of them says, "We have so much time that what we want to do is to get away and find God within the soul." And "we're going to meditate and we're going to contemplate and we're going to pray until God meets us within."

Now, there was such a thing as true mysticism and a good form of mysticism, but I'm talking about a false kind of mysticism that really looks exactly like the genuine article. The mystics believed that since the Bible says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," they took that seriously. And they said, "We want to love God with all that we are, and there's only one way to do it, and that is to purify the soul so that he can meet us deep within." And so they went around hoping that the time would come when they would no longer love sin, but they would really love God.

But the more honest these mystics were, the more doubts they began to have. They began to say to themselves, "You know, we love God, but maybe our motives are just a bit mixed. Maybe we love God because we fear hell. Maybe we love God because we think that loving God will be beneficial to us. How can we be sure that we love him with absolute total purity without any taint of self and mixed motives in that love?" And that was the problem that they encountered.

And then there were those who said, "You know what we really need is one experience, a perfect act of contrition—at least one perfect act." And that one perfect act would mean that for a moment I love God with absolute purity, undiluted with human failure. And so they sought a perfect act of contrition. Some people perhaps even believed that they had attained to it. But it had some problems connected with it. Number one, it did not last. It didn't last. Tomorrow was a new day, and all of the lusts and the desires and the evil within the heart had to be coped with one more time. And therefore, they were not sure whether one act of contrition would bring them to a holy, sinless God.

But there was something else wrong with that way of salvation, however well-meant it may have been, and that was the masses of people were excluded. How many people had the time to leave their families to go to the monastery to contemplate, to meditate, to pray, to seek God and try to become holy enough that he might meet them in the depths of their soul? How many people had the time to do that? Not a whole lot. Salvation seemed to be for a few rather than accessible to the common man.

Well, there's a third path that some people have followed. After the time of Constantine in the history of the church, you have sacramentalism become very dominant throughout the whole Roman Empire. The Bible began with two sacraments, but the belief was that actually there are seven. There were five others that were added. And the sacramental theory said this: that if you participate in the sacraments of the church, which are means of grace that God has given to his people, you will receive grace and eventually in receiving the grace, you might end up with enough grace to enter into heaven.

Now, just think with me for a moment. As sacramentalism became popular, one of the questions that people had was, "What if the priest who administers the sacrament, what if he is an unholy man in his private life?" And so Augustine, who has to be admired for many things though we disagree with him on many things, said that the sacraments have intrinsic validity and they are valid for the people of God even if the priest should be a thief or a robber. They have intrinsic validity because they are gifts of God to his people.

Well, then the question arose: "If the sacraments have intrinsic validity apart from the kind of life a priest might live, what about those who are the worshippers who come to receive the sacrament? Do they also have intrinsic validity no matter how the person has lived or no matter what kind of a disposition he has?" And the church answered once again and they said, "Yes, it makes no difference. It is not necessary to even have a right disposition. These sacraments have intrinsic validity as long as there is no obstacle that has been imposed, such as a mortal sin. There is value in the sacraments regardless of how you live and regardless of whether you experience the new birth in your heart or not." And so people participated.

But the problem was very evident to those who were thinking. Here was the difficulty. Even if you participated in the sacraments, even if you availed yourself of all the means of grace that were available in those days, you still could not be absolutely sure that you had enough grace for God to accept you. There was always that sense of uncertainty. In fact, that sense of uncertainty was so strong that it became canonized. It became part of church doctrine. And that's why in 1546, the Council of Trent said explicitly, "He who believes he has assurance of salvation, let him be anathema. Let him be accursed." Those who believe that they have assurance of salvation are only adding to their sins because now they are also committing the sin of presumption. Who can be sure that he has enough grace for a holy God? If we knew exactly how high God's standards were, then we could measure the amount of grace that we have received. But how do we know how much God expects?

Not only did this view lead to uncertainty and it allowed people to be worshippers without a changed heart, but it really transferred the work of God from within the human heart to those who claim to represent God. Human nature being what it is, people no longer cared whether or not they had a personal relationship with God. In fact, many of them didn't even know that that was possible. What they were concerned about is their relationship to the church, and they said, "If I'm rightly related to the church, the church will take care of my relationship with God for me." And so they sought the requirements of the church rather than a personal relationship with God.

Now, you can understand that I have very quickly delineated three false paths on that broadway that leads to destruction. And I have by no means listed them all. I have talked about the achievers who believe that it is through good works. I've talked about those mystics who believe that it was through their efforts to purify their souls. And I've spoken about those who believe that grace comes through the sacraments. But there are so many other false ways of salvation that appear to be right. What about all those who go forward in evangelistic services?

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: My friend today, as I emphasized at the beginning of this program, there is no question as important as where you will spend eternity with God. Now having believed on Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are in the race of life, and we have a resource that we think will be of tremendous blessing for you as you continue on your journey.

Actually, it's a book written by my wife entitled "Life-Changing Bible Verses Every Woman Should Know." It contains about 25 different topics. It has to do with application of scripture to issues that oftentimes all of us face that have to do with confidence and courage, emotional healing, anxiety, and worry. And this is the last week we are making this resource available for you. So listen carefully. I do hope that you have a pen or pencil handy, because here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com. Or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337.

Now, I'm going to be giving you that contact info again because I think that in the journey of life, we need encouragement, we need instruction. And by the way, at the end of every short chapter in this book, there are questions so that you can use it as you mentor others and as you perhaps use it in group study. Once again, go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com, or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Ask for the book "Life-Changing Bible Verses Every Woman Should Know," and you'll be blessed, and others as well.

Dave McAllister: It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. We've all heard the expression, "He's too smart for his own good." Well, Derek wonders how our minds come into play in relating to God. He has this question: "What role does intelligence play in knowing God, and what scriptural basis do you have for your answer?"

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Derek, I'm a little bit confused by your question because you ask what role does intelligence play. Well, obviously, we need some intelligence in order to know God. Jesus said, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." And in order to know God, we need to know certain things as the Bible reveals them. We need to be able to have certain experiences, certain understanding. So yes, intelligence does, of course, play a role.

Maybe, however, what you really mean is what about someone with a mental disability? Can they know God? I can't really answer that except to say yes, in their own way, I'm sure that they can, because we are created in the image of God. Therefore, everyone is reaching out to God, whether they realize it or not. And possibly someone who, though they may not be highly intelligent, but in their own way they're groping after God. And the more they know about him and the more they know about Christ, the more satisfying that experience will become.

So please keep in mind that it is important for us to realize that we cannot judge those who are of inferior intelligence, because surely God has a place for them as well. And we just need to thank God that we have the opportunity of using the minds that we have, such as they are, in order to know him.

Dave McAllister: Some wise counsel from the mind of Dr. Erwin Lutzer. Thank you, Pastor Lutzer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, you can. Just go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on "Ask Pastor Lutzer." Or call us with a question at 1-888-218-9337. That's 1-888-218-9337.

You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Many try to gain heaven through their own efforts. They think that if their good deeds outweigh their bad, they'll make it. Others hope keeping the sacraments will ensure their eternal future. So what's the truth? Next time on Running to Win, Erwin Lutzer dispels many falsehoods people hold onto for gaining heaven. He'll conclude "The Tragedy of Misplaced Faith" as he explains the role of sacraments. Running to Win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap for your race of life. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.