Salvation Myths
There are myths that people believe about salvation -
that what we do or what we have experienced can get us into heaven,
without having a church-y, Hallelujah-relationship with God.
First of all, heaven was meant to be the destiny for all of us.
But when we disrespect God or hurt others, we disqualify ourselves from heaven.
So, here are the two most common Salvation Myths that I know of:
1) "I know I have done things wrong, but if I do some good things,
this will erase the bad I have done, and I get to go to heaven."
No. Any good we can do - is something we ought to do anyway,
so it doesn't make up for anything bad we have done.
2) "I have been victimized in my life,
so the harm I have suffered exempts me from penalties for the bad I have done."
Sorry, no.
Life is like a financial balance sheet.
For example, if we rent a home, we need to pay rent each month.
Rent is a continual debt we owe.
If we gamble away the rent money or someone steals it, or we lose our job,
we still owe the rent.
Our misfortunes don't alter our debts.
Likewise with sin. If we sin against someone, we owe payment for that very sin -
to the person we harmed and to God.
If someone sins and harms us, they also now have a debt, but their debt doesn't erase our debt.
We still have an IOU to God.
to the person we harmed and to God.
If someone sins and harms us, they also now have a debt, but their debt doesn't erase our debt.
We still have an IOU to God.
Look at the Old Testament. God delivered the Israelites from 430 years slavery in Egypt.
Then as soon as he got them out in the desert, God gave them a list of rules to follow.
Look it up in Leviticus.
If we sin, when we sin (and all mere mortals have sinned),
we need the blood of Jesus and his adoption
to release us from the sins we commit.
