The cartoon Non Sequitur published on November 24, 2015 shows St. Peter at the entrance to heaven. Beside him is a sign which states: “Entrance Requirements: Actually practiced the morals taught by your religion”. A group of people are waiting in line to gain admittance into heaven and one, upon reading the sign, states: “I think it means we don’t have to worry about it being too crowded in there”.
This cartoon is really more sad than funny. The underlying premise is that religious people subscribe to certain ideals but largely fail to actually live them. Why is this so? Why would we say we believe one thing but do another?
For us Christians part of the reason is because we have made Christianity a matter of belief instead of action. Our doctrine states all we need to do in order to be saved and go to heaven is to believe in Jesus and his death for our sins. Nothing is said about our actions in spite of the fact that, as is detailed in this blog and my book, the Bible clearly states action is required (see the “What the Bible Says about Salvation” tab on this blog’s home page). Two examples are: I Corinthians 13 which describes love as an action and places it above faith and hope in terms of importance and James 2:26 which states that faith without works is dead.
Salvation is more than belief. It is putting those beliefs into action; it is the change of our soul so it becomes more like God.
