Who is saved from the power and the penalty of sin?

Introduction and preamble

Do you believe that God must condemn sinners? Do you believe that your own sinful nature sin must inevitably separate you from God? If so, how can this problem be solved?

This article is written for people who are wondering about salvation, or about how they can make things right between themself and God.

A little history about a man who was called Blondin

Blondin lived during the 1800s and made a name for himself by performing stunts. One of his stunts was walking on a rope from one-side of a river to the other and carrying other people across with him. In his time he became sufficiently famous for a street in London to be named after him.

In some of his stunts he would invite a member of the audience to sit in a barrow, and then Blondin would push the barrow along the rope and across the river.

Let us imagine ...

... that there is a great chasm of vast depth, the bottom of which is filled with fire, and too wide to jump. Let us also imagine that the only way across the chasm is to sit in the barrow, and be pushed from one side to the other by the man who stands upon the rope. Like many analogies, this one is very imperfect but it will, I hope, suffice.

One side of the chasm represents our present society, in which sin exerts great influence, and the other side of the chasm represents a place in which sin has no power and in which everything is untainted by sin. Commonly this place is referred to as ‘paradise’.

The people on one side of the chasm are “living in Sin” and the people on the other side of the river are in paradise. The land of sin is condemned and in due course will be destroyed, along with everybody in it.

The man on the rope and pushing the barrow, represents Jesus, the “saviour”.

How can those of us living in sin, cross the chasm escape the coming destruction and live in paradise?

In the land of sin there are many people, living many different kinds of lives: Healthy and sick, young and old, clever and stupid, wealthy and impoverished, industrious and lazy, usually honest and usually deceitful, educated and ignorant, powerful and weak. And all of the inbetweens and permutations. Which of these people will cross from sin to paradise? Let us wander around the land of sin, and meet some of them.

• Here are some scholars who from their tall towers and aloof from society, peer at heaven from afar and study what they see. They write articles and give lectures and become experts on the observable facets of heaven.
• Here are some rich people, able to afford many luxuries. They can travel almost anywhere, but can they travel to heaven?
• Here are enthusiastic fans of Jesus the tight-rope walking saviour. They love to watch his performances. They study his ways and his words. They might even set aside one day each week (and some other hours too, to memorize and recite his utterances). They enthusiastically tell anybody they meet of their love for the man on the rope and how they hope, one day, to live with him. They even sing songs to praise him and to honour him.
• Here are some people who despise the man on the rope. They think he is overrated, unimaginative and a danger to himself and others.
• Here are fans of a different kind. They are convinced that their own idol or guru or prophet is better than the man on the rope. The man on the rope is, they think, a fraud who has never really carried anybody out of the land of sin.
• Here are some poor people, bitter at their lot in life. They have been taken advantage of and oppressed. Their lives in the land of sin have been wretched. Will they ever visit heaven?
• Here are some industrious, busy, people engaged in labour to improve society. They help people in need, and do all the good works that keep society functioning and pleasant.
• Here are the party-lovers and the feckless, enjoying life and carefree.
• Here are some scientists. They have studied the physics of the rope, and its chemical composition. They know its mass per metre, its tensile strength, its carbon-content, and they have calculated its expected time before failure. They've measured the rope-walker's mass and his average daily calory intake. They measured the wheelbarrow, the diameter of its wheel and its carrying capacity. They know every technical detail of the rope and the person who walks upon it, and the barrow he pushes. Their calculations assure them that it is possible for this man to push this barrow with a man within it, across this rope from the land-of-sin, to the land of heaven.
• Here are some thieves and evil men, fleeing from the police or from the vengeance of other evil men that they have cheated. They are desperate fellows, dishonest and violent, running this way and that in search of an escape route.
• Here are some prostitutes exhibiting their wares and plying their trade. Whatever would they do in heaven?
• Here are some children, full of enthusiasm and foolishness and with only a poor comprehension of danger.
• Here are some elderly people. They seen many things, watched the man on the rope for many years. They know what's what, and they've accepted themselves as they are. Nobody fools these older people.
• Here are addicts and drunkarks with fuzzy thoughts and unkempt clothes. They are the dross of society, contributing nothing of value and spoiling the society with their bad habits and bad odour.

Which of these people will travel from the land of sin, to the land of heaven?

The people with much wealth and many posessions are reluctant to leave it all behind; the barrow is large enough to carry only a person without luggage.

The scholars love the approval of their group, and their reputation within society. Perhaps they want to spend more time studying heaven, to better understand it before they go there. Moreover there are many other places to study, and they do not want to disconnect themselves from the opportunities of learning about other places.

The intellectually pretentious progressives and liberals, and other similar kinds of bullying snobs, take much pleasure in sneering at the people who get into the wheelbarrow and would never board it themselves. Moreover, they are determined that they will improve the land of sin; with a few more taxes, some more laws to control the behaviour of their compatriots, and certainly a little more power to themselves, they expect to solve the problems of the land of sin, and become heros at least unto themselves and their cartel of like-minded acquaintances in the echo-chamber club.

The ignorant and the lazy don't know about the man on the rope and his barrow, and don't want to know. "Its all a load of *** innit?"

Many of the poor people avoid the wheelbarrow because in order to get into it they would have to stop wallowing in their large and comfortable pool of self-pity.

The members of fan clubs want to study the words of their chosen prophet or guru or idol. They love their religion, and will never give it up. Many of them will travel far from the chasm and the rope and the barrow in order to find a convert or a disciple.

The elderly are content with their lot. Wheelbarrow adventures are for young-people. If they were going to undertake such a foolhardy trip they'd have done it long ago. And besides, they've got responsibilities here.

The industrious are busy getting rich or improving the world and generally keeping the wheels of society turning for the good of everybody. They've got no time to pay attention to a man on a rope. There is work to be done and they aren't shirkers.

So if not the rich, nor the poor, nor the virtuous, nor the religious fan-club members, nor the open-minded self-congratulatory liberals, nor the scholars, nor the ignorant, nor the "true believers", nor the elderly, nor the indutrious travel from the land of sin to the land of heaven ... who, if anybody, does?

The answer is simple. The people who leave the land of sin, and travel to the land of heaven are the people who leave everything and everybody behind, get into the wheelbarrow, and entrust their lives to the man who pushes it across the rope.

Some people get into the barrow because they understand the fate awaiting them in the land of sin, and they are desparate to avoid that fate. Some get into the wheelbarrow because in the land of sin they have only misery and not even the pleasure of self-pity, and they feel that they have nothing to lose. Some people get into the wheelbarrow because they've studied it well and understood what it does and how it works. Some get into the wheelbarrow because they are ready for adventure and willing to explore whatever is on offer. Some get into the wheelbarrow because their thoughts are unclear and they cannot think of anything better to do. Some have a naive and child-like trust in the man on the rope, and they sit in the barrow merely because he invites them to do so.

It isn't complicated: Those who trust the barrow-pusher on the rope, and who get into the barrow are those who are transported from the land of sin to the land of heaven. Those who do not trust him do not get into the barrow and so they live and die in sin. It is not necessary to be clever, or virtuous, or strong, or educated, or religious to travel to heaven; all that is necessary is to trust the barrow-pusher on the rope and get into his barrow.

Trust

Those who are carried from the land of sin to the land of heaven make that journey because they trusted the man on the rope. They did not get to heaven by their own efforts. Their virtue was not a ticket-to-travel. Similarly their riches were useless. Their religion was worthless. Their industriousness counted for nothing. Their immense learning moved them not one inch closer to heaven.

Similarly, poverty and sickness and misfortune did not make anybody more or less eligible for a life in heaven.

The travel criteria are the exactly same for everybody: “trust in the lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.”

• Knowing that Jesus can carry a person out of sin and into heaven, is not sufficient.
• Believing that Jesus can carry a person out of sin and into heaven, is not sufficient.
• Understanding how Jesus carries people out of sin and into heaven, is not sufficient
• Being a “good person” is not sufficient.

A man can teach religion for his entire life and send many people towards the saviour, and still not trust the saviour. A man can perform every good deed, and still not trust the saviour. A man can pursue knowledge and learn everything that is to be known, and still not trust the saviour. A man can follow a religion faithfully, and never trust the saviour.

Only trust causes a person to clamber into the barrow and put their life into Jesus' hands. It is not necessary to deserve the trip, nor to understand the mechanism, nor to have studied the life of Jesus, nor to have lived a virtuous life. Indeed the people who are most likely to trust Jesus are the child-like, the desperate, and the ones who realise that their worldly riches in friends, and property and family are worthless. Jesus said:

What stops a person from being saved from the power and penalty of sin?

Since the whole point of salvation is that we are saved from the power of sin, and saved from the just penalty of sin, it should be obvious that sin is not a hindrance to salvation. As Jesus said:

As we have seen, the criteria for salvation is trusting the saviour, and therefore anything that prevents a person trusting the savior will prevent that person escaping the land of sin, and the inevitable divine wrath. Here are some examples of things that prevent salvation:

• Self-righteousness: A person who thinks that their own righteousness is sufficient will never see their need of a saviour.
• Wrong belief about the universe and life: A person who thinks that life is mere happenstance, and that morality is a human invention, and that there is no God, will not fear the wrath of God. They will not see any need to be saved.
• Religiosity: A person who thinks that they can earn their ticket to paradise by religious activity will never seek a saviour.
• Pride: If a person is too proud to ask for help, then they will never ask to be saved.
• Idolatry: A person who is pursuing some other ‘guru’ or ‘prophet’ or teacher, has put their trust in somebody who is incapable of saving them, and who will also be condemned.
• Carelessness: Some people are fully occupied with their work or with the pursuit of happiness. They neglect their soul, and remain in sin without ever considering that there could be an alternative.