Friday, March 09, 2012

Is Gandhi in Hell?

http://www.atone.me/?p=2509

Gandhi was a good man by human standards. But Gandhi, like you and I, was a fallen creature who is pitted against a Divine Standard that demands eternal and moral perfection – both a perfect heart and a perfect theology. What Gandhi’s life brings out in these accusations against Christianity is the very thing that distinguishes it from every religion in the world.

According to Christianity salvation isn’t merit based. It’s not a system of religion that eternally rewards good works or a noble life regardless of what that life lived for. Christianity is about Jesus.  It’s about those who follow this seemingly simple Jewish rabbi who claims to be God and the Only Way to eternal life.  Christianity is about a God who demands an unwavering trust in himself in order to find eternal life.

Our emotions scream against “salvation only by faith in Christ” because we’re self-righteous religious fanatics looking for salvation through good deeds and by public consensus. But that’s not God’s way, and it’s not Jesus’ way. There’s only One Way, and beyond him, there’s only hell for those who don’t believe – even for a life as seemingly good as Gandhi’s.