Hell, No!

 

August 17, 2020

“I am the LORD, your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me...” (Exodus 20:2-3). When I was a child, I remember seeing the cover of a LIFE magazine (or it may have been LOOK), featuring flames behind huge letters spelling out, “How to Stay out of Hell.” Go figure! I can’t imagine such a cover today. I read those bold headlines and said to myself, “That’s easy; just do more good than bad.” I hadn’t yet heard the Gospel of grace, and believed as so many do, in the power of good works, not realizing that doing good in one area of life doesn’t mitigate the wrong we’ve done in other areas. Robbery is not rendered harmless because murder was not committed.

The Law was given, not to save us, but to show us how saved people live. Notice how the giving of the Ten Commandments began—with a declaration of God’s identity and character: “I am the LORD.” Whenever “lord” is in all capitals, it is the proper name of God, which earlier in Exodus was revealed as “I Am,” a simple declaration of God’s nature as the Source and Foundation of all that exists. This sentence actually reads, “I Am I Am...,”emphasizing this facet of his identity. 

The Law was given after their deliverance from Egypt, not before. Salvation had already been accomplished, not on the basis of Israel’s goodness or faithfulness, but on God’s. It’s good for us that things work this way. God is the Faithful One, the Able One, Who is willing to save by his choice, not ours. I was mistaken those years ago. We stay out of hell, not by doing more good than bad, but by the grace of a loving and powerful God who chose us for himself before showing us how saved and delivered people should live.