Earlier in this book I had reasoned that there is only one road to Zion. It being a gospel road and one that we travel in the Spirit. The only way to reconcile with an offended God is to make an atonement and the only acceptable atonement is the perfect life and death of God's own Son whose blood was shed for the remission of sin. It takes more then just believing these things to enter glory. We must act on them and this is what faith is all about. We believe and that belief results in action. We are not saved by our works as that undermines the perfection of the atonement. Rather our works are obedience and the evidence that we believe. You cannot believe and live a life of disobedience. Even the demons believe and they tremble.
Believing is something the Spirit helps us to do as is obedience. We are incompetent without him. So then a religious system based on good works is based on pride which undermines all effort since we actually think we have earned something and nothing will reconcile us to God except perfection ... and I don't know anyone who will admit to that.
Yet God is drawn to the contrite. He spurns the proud and stoops down to make the weak and fragile great. Who are those he lifts up? The poor beggar Lazarus entered glory while the rich man thirsted in the unquenchable fires of hell. Two men came to the temple to pray. The pharisee told God about all that he had done for him. The publican beat his breast and prayed for mercy ..... I tell you the truth that it was the publican who went away justified and on the road to glory. The woman at the well and other harlots, lepers and publicans entered the kingdom ahead of the morally self righteous.
Nothing wrong with being morally righteous .... it just falls short of perfection and is an unsafe vehicle for travelling the road to Zion. We cannot keep the law for when we keep the law we begin to live in pride which results in a loss of love and love is the keeping of the law. And so this unsafe vehicle of law keeping results in us receiving the perfect justice we deserve for we have not come to the safety found at the foot of the cross. And yes Virginia, there is a hell.
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