“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? (Ezekiel 14:3)

The dictionary defines cognitive dissonance as an anxiety that resultsfrom simultaneously holding contradictory or otherwiseincompatible attitudes or beliefs.  To relieve this anxiety the human mind will strive to diminish the relative importance of one of those beliefs in favor of the other.

Jesus warned us that no man can serve two masters (Matt. 6:24) and James said when we pray we must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind and should not think he will receive anything from the Lord (James 1:6-8).

God was rhetorically asking Ezekiel if He should let people with idols in their hearts even pray to Him, Jesus was warning us about becoming distracted by wealth and James was referring to wavering faith, but the principle is the same in all three instances.  A close personal relationship with God requires wholehearted devotion to Him.  These are the prayers God is sure to answer.  There can be no cognitive dissonance found in us.

We love the promise from Romans 8:28, “God is working everything together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”   But how many of us know that the word translated “love” in that verse is agape?  It’s the highest form of love in the Greek language and it means to be totally given over to the object of one’s love regardless of the outcome.

Jesus loved us that way. He gave up His life for us, remember?  Romans 12:1says we should be willing to do the same for Him.   Of course, I’m not talking about our physical life. I’m talking about giving up our version of our future in favor of His. As long as we retain any willfulness or self-determination we’re not offering our whole beings as living sacrifices.  That’s why Paul told us not to conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). We’re not to pattern our lives according to the things of this world, but according to His will for us.

Well There’s Your Problem
Let others lament over our deplorable behavior and our weak faith. I’m going to suggest that the area where Christians in the US today are the most vulnerable has to do with the cognitive dissonance we’ve developed between our desire for the Lord’s return for us and our love of the life we enjoy here.  The anxiety this creates in our sub-conscious has caused our longing for the next life to be diminished relative to our  desire for the Lord to restore this life to its former levels of enjoyment.

To a degree, this is understandable.  For the past 65 years or so the US has been the most preferred place to live anywhere on Earth. Even people who hate America have dreamed of living here. The benefits of American life have been as generous as they have been numerous.  Average Americans have typically enjoyed a standard of living that’s beyond the reach of even the privileged few in many countries.

By contrast, the benefits of eternal life with the Lord are undefined and don’t seem real to many.  For them, the phrase “pie in the sky by and by” defines the extent of their understanding.  I see evidence of this in the letters I get from well meaning people who are afraid we’ll be “confined” to the New Jerusalem, as some have put it, and won’t be able to visit the Earth we’ve grown to love.  Others are concerned there won’t be enough room for all of us there, and still others can’t imagine how their new life could be as nice as their current one. If they knew what the Bible says they would have  no such concerns.

Whose Fault Is That?
This lack of knowledge is due primarily to the Church’s terrible failure to teach believers about the blessings of the life to come. After all, it is the fulfillment of our life’s purpose.  Therefore I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that asking God to save our country is a more popular thing to do than preparing  to be taken away to begin our eternal adventure with Him.  For many of us, returning to the good old days here seems like a better deal than longing for the bliss that lies ahead.  But while the Lord never promised to save the USA, He did promise a reward to all who long for His appearing.

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Tim. 4:8)

I often wonder how bad things will have to get before people stop dreaming about the past here  and start yearning for our future there. I guess time will tell.

To use Ezekiel’s words, The “American way of life” has become an idol we’ve set up in our hearts.   We’ve become double minded because of it and if the Lord isn’t already doing so, He’ll soon be wondering if He should even let us pray to Him about it. And remember, no matter how beautiful and desirable something appears to us, if it  interferes with our whole hearted desire to follow His will it’s an idol and a wicked stumbling block from His perspective.

Asking Him to extend our time here rather than hasten the day of our departure is a clear sign that we’re not loving Him as He has loved us.  It means we haven’t given ourselves completely to Him.  When push comes to shove we don’t really want to put aside our plans for the future in favor of His.  We’ve enjoyed our time here too much and don’t want to leave just yet.

When Are We Going To Learn?
Paul said everything that was written in the past was written to teach us (Romans 15:4).   One lesson we should learn from our study of the Old Testament is that when Israel lined up behind God’s will He blessed them beyond all measure.  But when they positioned themselves in opposition, His response was to take away everything they desired more than Him until He was all they had left.  It doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to see that happening in the US today.  (Maybe the best way to make life easier for ourselves now is to abandon our version of the future and get behind His.)

According to Bible Prophecy God’s plan for our times is to completely destroy all the nations to which His people have been scattered (Jeremiah 30:11) and give Israel the Kingdom He promised them.  In  the process He’ll restore Heaven and Earth to provide them with a life that’s vastly superior to anything they’ve ever experienced.  But before He can begin these things, He has promised to take the Church to a place filled with wealth and happiness beyond measure where we can be protected from the wrath that’s coming against the unbelieving world (Isaiah 26:20-21, John 14:2-3).

Saying that we want to be raptured before things get bad on one hand,  but praying that He will heal our land so we can enjoy a few more years of the “good life” on the other is as clear a case of cognitive dissonance as I’ve ever seen. It’s a wonder He doesn’t just shake His head in utter amazement and walk away forever.

But He won’t.  Ready or not He’ll come one day soon and whisk us all away to our mansions in the sky.  He’ll do that, not because we’ve longed for it to happen, but because He promised He would.  He is God after all.  He can’t do anything else.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.  If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life,  he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:11-15)

 

The Great White Throne Judgment fits descriptions we have about the Day of Atonement, also called Yom Kippur.  It’s was believed that on the first of Tishri the books in which all the deeds of God’s people had been recorded were opened for review.  The names of those whose behavior in the previous year had been exemplary in every way were immediately inscribed in the Book of Life. Those whose behavior had been totally without merit were scheduled for death in the coming year. Almost everyone was somewhere in between these two extremes so for the next 10 days, called the days of awe, the people conducted a thorough self examination and went around frantically trying to right the wrongs they had committed during the year because the forgiveness by God required prior reconciliation between men (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Repentance).  On the 10th of Tishri, Yom Kippur, the books were closed and those who had righted the wrongs of the previous year were inscribed in the Book of Life for another year.   During the 10 days of awe,  a common greeting among friends was, “May your name be written in the Book.”

The difference in Rev. 20:11-15 is the absence of the 10 days of awe.  The unsaved dead will be resurrected and immediately taken to judgment without any opportunity to make things right.  Anything that was not dealt with before the person died will be there to condemn him or her at the Great White Throne.  Therefore only those who died in a state of total righteousness will find their names written in the Book at the resurrection of the unsaved.

Traditional Or Conditional?

There’s a lot of talk these days about degrees of good and evil, and some of it has even evolved into a re-thinking of our traditional view of the eternal state of unbelievers. The traditional view is that anyone who fails to personally accept the pardon that God purchased for us with the blood of His son will spend eternity in a state of agonizing punishment in the Lake of Fire.

But some have begun to question this view, asking why an unbelieving humanitarian who led an exemplary life in service to others but failed to acknowledge the Lord as his Savior should receive the same punishment as someone like Hitler or Stalin who murdered millions of people in cold blood. They say it’s not like God to do this, and back it up by quoting Revelation 20:12 that says in part, “The dead were judged … according to what they had done.”

To them this verse indicates that a spirit of cause and effect resides in the judgment, and reveals God’s intention to make the punishment fit the crime, so to speak. Therefore, they claim, God who is just and merciful will look upon unbelievers who lived otherwise fruitful lives and hand out a punishment for them that’s shorter and less severe than the mass murderers and torturers receive. But since no matter how good a person is, dying in a state of unbelief must result in eternal death, then at the end of their term of punishment they’ll be destroyed and cease to exist in any form. So, as a reward for their good life on earth, they’ll be put out of their misery after a shorter and more tolerable time of punishment. This is called the “Conditional View” of Hell.

Let’s Back Up For A Minute

Is there Biblical support for this? Let’s take another look at history’s first judgment for sin to find out. By studying the first time an important concept is mentioned in Scripture, we’ll often discover clues to understanding that will help us interpret subsequent similar situations. Scholars refer to this as the Principle of First Mention.

And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

Adam was created in the image of God, immortal, with talent and ability you and I can only imagine. The same was true of Eve. They were both full of goodness and purity, and they walked and talked with God. They only had one rule and they only disobeyed it once.

But when they did, in spite of the fact that the good in them far outweighed the bad, and though they had only committed one sin, they died and the creation was cursed, as was all their progeny. We all lament the consequences brought upon us by this one act of disobedience. As Paul wrote, “The result of one trespass was condemnation for all mankind.” (Romans 5:18)

Yet they were relatively good, maybe even better than most of us, for the Bible never mentions another sin in their lives. Did their punishment fit their crime? Did God weigh the good of their lives against the bad? Or did He do exactly what He told them He would?

For what it’s worth, I don’t see any shades of gray in God’s dealings Adam and Eve then or with mankind since. I think that applying a scale of relative goodness to the life of each person is a man made idea. For example, take the reverse situation. How are believers granted entry into the Kingdom? Is there any scale of relative merit applied there, or are we all 100% in forever? Some say that the punishment of unbelievers is too extreme, but how many believers deserve the reward we’re getting? Isn’t that kind of extreme, too? If our reward is based only on belief, why wouldn’t their punishment be based only on unbelief?

In Islam,  it’s said that at the final judgment Allah will compare the good and bad in each person’s life and then decide whether or not to allow him or her into paradise. (The only guaranteed ticket in is to die in battle as a martyr.) As Christians, we react poorly to that idea. We say it’s unfair, because no one could ever know in advance whether they’re saved or not. And yet some are OK with having that same uncertainty be part of an unbeliever’s lot in terms of judgment.

Couldn’t that uncertainty have the effect of causing someone who doesn’t really believe in Hell anyway to be more confident in putting their salvation decision off, thinking that since they’ve lived a good life they’ll be able to work something out with God after they’ve died? Didn’t we all think we were living relatively good lives until we got saved?

I’m going to suggest that maybe man’s whole understanding of the phrase “judged according to their works” is flawed. Adam and Eve had one rule, and when they disobeyed it nothing else mattered. There was no negotiation, no weighing in the balances. They got what the Lord had warned them they’d get. I think it’s the same with us. I think we have one rule too, and if we disobey it we’ll get just what the Lord warned us we’d get.

What Is The Work That God Requires?

After Jesus had fed the 5000 the crowds that followed Him understandably grew exponentially. He knew they just wanted Him to give them more bread. He warned them not to be so preoccupied with working for food that spoils but to work for food that endures to eternal life.

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

There you have it, mankind’s one rule. Believe in the One He has sent. It’s our equivalent to “Don’t eat from that tree.” It’s the only thing that God requires. If we disobey, nothing else matters. Those who deny Jesus go to eternal punishment according to Matt. 25:46while the righteous go to eternal life. Isaiah 66:24, Daniel 12:2 & Mark 9:48 all agree.

Now don’t misunderstand me, I know we’re called to live lives that reflect our beliefs and are even promised additional rewards for doing so, and I’d be the last one to advise someone to profess their faith and then forget about living it out.  But the simple fact is that faith is the only work that God requires and none of the other things we can do count for anything until we’ve taken that one required step. We’re saved because of what we believe, not because of how we behave.  Nowhere in all of Scripture is there even a hint that an unbeliever’s destiny can be altered in the slightest by the “goodness” of his or her life.

In fact, it would appear from scripture that the Lord equates unbelief with disobedience. Paul wrote that God believes His existence is simply too obvious to be missed (Romans 1:18-20). And in 2 Thes. 2:10 he said that unbelievers will perish because they refused to love the truth and be saved. To refuse something is to decline it.  It’s a specific action. By doing so, unbelievers have disobeyed the one rule He gave us, and in response He’ll do exactly what He said.

Let’s Get One Thing Straight

It bruises our egos to learn this, but none of our good works help God at all, just as none of our sins hurt Him.  Remember Elihu’s words to Job about the impact our life has on God.

If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him?  If you are righteous, what do you give to him,or what does he receive from your hand?  Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only the sons of men(Job 35:6-8).

Isaiah explained this even more clearly.  About the religious works of unbelievers, He wrote,

“But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a man, and whoever offers a lamb, like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig’s blood and whoever burns memorial incense, like one who worships an idol.

They have chosen their own ways,and their souls delight in their abominations; so I also will choose harsh treatment for them and will bring upon them what they dread.  For when I called, no one answered,when I spoke, no one listened.  They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me” (Isaiah 66:3-4)

God only considers the works of believers good to the extent that they’re done out of gratitude, in an effort to please Him, because of what He’s done for us. (1 Cor. 4:5) It’s like when your 3 year old proudly hands you a barely recognizable drawing. It has no intrinsic value to you. But you know your child was trying hard to please you, and it’s the thought that counts.  The same is true of our good works.

But unbelievers aren’t trying to please God with their good works, they deny that He even exists. They’re only trying to make themselves feel better. If their good works don’t help God and are motivated by selfishness, where is the justification for considering them when determining their punishment for rejecting Him? This idea makes no more sense than the one allowing rich entertainers and politicians to purchase “carbon credits” to offset their huge “carbon footprints”. The checks they write don’t nullify the effects of their extravagant lifestyle, they’re just trying to make themselves feel better.

If all this is true then you may wonder why God goes to all the trouble to record every one of our actions?  If only one of them matters, why bother with the others?  The Bible doesn’t answer that question but since God is just, I think that by having everything recorded He can demonstrate that his records are complete and accurate, and that he didn’t overlook a single detail of any person’s life. This will prove that a person’s omission from the book of life wasn’t due to an accident or oversight, but the result of that person’s refusal to do the one thing He requires of us.

And so I think it’s just possible that when unbelievers are judged “according to their works”, only the work that God requires will be at issue. Have they done the one thing that He asked them to do, and that’s to believe in the One He has sent? Remember, in the absence of that one thing, there is nothing that man can do that’s considered good according to God’s standards. Rev. 20:15 agrees.   If anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.You can only be written in the Book of Life by being 100% righteous. And you can only become that way by having the Lord’s righteousness imputed to you by faith (Romans 3:10 & 4:5). In other words, to believe in the One He has sent.