Dear Friend:
You have asked a great
question: How can man be saved with praying, fasting, and giving? This
is really an important question. How much prayers and giving do you need
in a lifetime to pay for all the sins you have committed? In the Day of
Judgment are we sure that we have done enough good works to enter
heaven? Theoretically, do you think that we can tell God, "I have done
all the good works that you have asked me to do, therefore I should go
to heaven"?
I have many Muslim
friends—none of them have been able to make the above statement. Even
the prophet of Islam alluded to this fact. In Sahih Bukhari 8.537:
"Allah will say (to Adam), ‘Bring out the people of the fire.’ Adam will
say, ‘Which (how many) are the people of fire?’ Allah will say, ‘Out of
every 1000 (take out) 999.’" Another Hadith says "99 out of 100." Even
in the Qura’n it says, "If God were to punish men for their wrongdoing,
he would not leave a single creature on earth (16:61/64). So as you see,
my friend, we are not far from each other on this point.
Martin Luther, the founder of
the Protestant church, struggled with the same issue. He said, "The more
good works I do, the more guilty I feel." He tried to do all the good
works he could do, but realized it was never enough.
Are you sure that you will go
to heaven? Are you sure that you have done enough good work that, if the
end of time comes now, you will be ready? It is a scary thought to all
of us.
Let me share a story with
you. A young man lived his life according to his own desires and sinned
against God and against others. He enjoyed all the sinful pleasures of
life. After a while his life lost its meaning and he had to pay for
living the sinful life. He was tired of this life. Even physically he
was paying the consequences of what he had done.
He had a good friend who
lived a good life away from sin. So he decided to visit him. When he met
his friend he was very tired as well as disenchanted with life. He
explained to his friend that life had failed him. He was feeling
disappointment and sinfulness. He was afraid of what the future might
bring. All of this caused him pain and many sleepless nights.
So he asked his friend, "You
are a good man, you stayed away from sinning. What good deeds can I do
to pay for the entire blunder that I have committed in my life? How much
do I have to give to God to ask pardon for my sins?" He wanted to
relieve his conscience; he wanted to purchase peace for his heart and
mind.
His friend offered him a
glass of cold water to quench his thirst. But before he gave him the
drink, he used his ink pen and squirted some ink in the water.
The young man stood up in
anger and said, "I will not drink from this cup. Why did you do that? Do
you want to poison and kill me? I thought you were my friend. I came to
you for an advice."
His friend answered, "No, I
did not want to kill you, but I wanted to answer your question about if
good deeds would buy salvation with God. You have refused to drink this
drink because I put very little ink in it. But meanwhile you ask God,
the Holy one (Al Qudoos), to accept your sinful life and evil deeds and
thoughts, which you poisoned your life with."
So he understood what his
friend meant. He repented with humility and asked God, who is able to
forgive all his sins, to clean his heart. There was nothing he could do
to pay for his salvation.
The Bible affirms this fact:
"What shall we conclude
then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge
that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written:
‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who
understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have
together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even
one.’ ‘Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.’
‘The poison of vipers is on their lips.’ ‘Their mouths are full of
cursing and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and
misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.’ ‘There
is no fear of God before their eyes.’ ‘For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God.’" (Romans 3:9-12, 23)
You see, salvation is a free
gift from God. All the good works in the world are not enough to earn
salvation for us. In the Bible it says: "For the wages of sin is death,
but the [free] gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(Romans 6:23) It also says: "For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by
works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
What should we do? Absolutely
nothing. Just accept the gift, and say "thank you." I will tell you more
next time.
