Prepared to Die – Truth or Heresy
By: Deji Yesufu
Thomas Aquinas is credited with saying that “theology is the queen of all sciences”. Some suggest, however, that the phrase had long existed even before Aquinas employed it in his “Summa Theologica”. The older I become, the more and more I am thankful that God has helped me to form a worldview that is founded on the Bible. There is nothing that can happen in my life today that I cannot see from a biblical worldview. But even more importantly, the Bible, which is a historical text itself, has made history a prime place in my life and thinking. In history, we discuss recent history and past events. I was watching a video from 1952 recently and could almost surmise that every single person in that video was dead. Well, in reality, many of the children in the video could still be alive. But if we were to count the number of people still alive from that video, we would very easily carry out the task on our fingers. Therefore, we understand that death is that one single constant in our lives, and it is a foolish person indeed who is not prepared to die.
A few days ago, I fell into a slight depression. I was missing my mother. My mother died in April 2006, and here was I, a fully grown man, almost fifty, thinking about “mummy”. I immediately sent her older sister a text that I would like to see her. My aunt looks a lot like my mother, and I was hoping that by seeing her again, I could have an insight into how my mother would have looked if she were still alive. My mother battled cancer for the last few years of her life. A few months before she passed, she told me she was prepared to die. She said she was looking forward to seeing her mum and dad again. She said she was not afraid of dying at all. My mother was Roman Catholic, and she had a certain faith in God that was exemplified in good works. The reason why I was missing her so much was that my mother had given my siblings and me so much in the little time she spent with us on this side of heaven that even though she is dead, it appeared that she was still caring for us from heaven. Some people live for so long and affect nobody. They die, and no one remembers they existed because they lived all for themselves. But the memories of some people will remain with us forever because they left such lasting marks in our lives. My hope, as I encourage all of us to prepare to die, is that through our works we might live such lives that will leave a lasting effect on the living. So that when we are dead, it will appear that we are still living.
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At this point, I must shift my gear to theology. What is the biggest hope a person has as he or she faces their death? It is that they will have a life to live after this life. The Bible teaches us that after death comes judgment. Some people will spend eternity in hell, while others will spend eternity in heaven. Who are the people who will go to heaven? Those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb – Jesus Christ. How can a man be redeemed? A man is redeemed when he is born again by the Holy Spirit of God. What does born-again mean? It is a spiritual work of God’s grace in changing a man’s heart of stone to a heart of flesh. It is God giving new life to a person. It is God imparting grace on a sinner. It is God justifying a sinner and declaring them not guilty. It is God giving a sinner a garment of righteousness – a garment he will wear all his life into heaven. How then can a man be redeemed? By believing the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is the gospel? The gospel is the message of God’s work in Christ Jesus in saving men from their sins. The gospel is a revelation of God to man that changes that man’s perspective of God and man and the world, and that brings him into a new relationship with God and men. What is eternal life? Eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent (John 17:3). What about people in the Old Testament who never knew Jesus; how can they be saved? By believing in the Christ to come. Jesus Christ is the revelation of God in human flesh. The blessing of life, however, is that God has since been revealing himself in one way or the other to all men. As long as men know God, they will be saved. How do you know that a person is saved? First, by God giving that person inner persuasion that they are sons of God, and then by the way the person lives. Those who are genuinely saved will live a life of good works. They will leave long-lasting marks on Earth.
This brings me to the question of what truth and heresy are. This definition is important because the truth is will save you; but a heresy will damn your soul. What then is saving truth? Truth is a revelation of God that is able to save you. Jesus Christ says that I am the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus Christ is Truth. Jesus Christ is the revelation of God in human flesh. It means that a lot of people may not know all the truths as taught in the New Testament, but if all the truths they know are those taught in the scriptures, those truths are sufficient to save them. For example, in Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan, we have been looking at the book of Genesis, and as we concluded the first two chapters, we agreed that the truth that God created the heavens and the earth is sufficient to save a man; and that to deny that truth is to hold to a heresy. It then means that many people may not know all biblical truth, but if they are faithful to the simple light of truth God has given to them, they are born again. Because that truth is Jesus Christ’s own manifestation of himself to them. What then is a damnable heresy? Damnable heresy is to deny God’s truth – any truth that God has manifested to the world through his Son, Jesus Christ. How do you know that a man holds to a damnable heresy? By the way he lives. Those who hold to the saving truth will live godly. Those who hold to damnable heresy will live as infidels. What you do is a chief manifestation of what you believe. If you believe in Jesus, you will live godly. If you hold to damnable heresies, you will live like a devil and you will spend eternity with devils.
This realization came to me as I examined the life, message, and tenets of two religious groups: militant Islam and reformed Christians. I am a reformed Christian, so I am examining my life and beliefs too. These two groups of religious people have very differing doctrinal positions, but they hold one thing in common: they believe that heretics will spend eternity in hell. Militant Islam, therefore, tries to win adherents to their faith by waging war on nations and converting everyone to Islam through the edge of the sword. Reformed Christians, on the other hand, simply preach the gospel. We hold that a true Christian is an individual with the right beliefs. And someone who holds a heretical belief is heading to hell. Therefore, reformed Christians spend most of their time correcting the views, doctrines, and beliefs of people. “Salvation is in the doctrine” – appears to be our core belief; therefore, the man that will be saved must hold to a perfect doctrine – we appear to say. While I am reformed, I no longer hold to this position, and I am trying to bring those who listen to me out of this error.
Salvation is in a Person. That person is our Lord Jesus Christ. Our God saves men by bringing the revelation of his Son to their hearts. This message comes through biblical doctrines – truth. It means that when a man has become convinced of a truth of God’s word, that truth is sufficient to save him. It also means that a man may possess saving knowledge, while at the same time holding to some errors. Now, if as reformed Christians we believe that God is able to save us to the uttermost, why then do we think that in one moment, a person possesses saving faith, and then in another moment, because he holds to some doctrine which is erroneous, he has suddenly lost his salvation? If a person is saved, he is saved. He cannot lose his salvation (And in the final analysis, no one holds to a hundred percent perfect doctrine. We all have one error or the other we espouse). The only evidence that a person is saved is the witness of the Spirit to his heart, and more importantly, the good works that he does afterwards.
Therefore, as we consider an essay on the subject of preparing to die, I call all men to understand the gospel as it has been revealed in Jesus Christ. As we do this, I also request that we all examine our lives. Does our profession of faith in Jesus Christ line up with the things we do? Do we believe we are going to heaven, while we live like devils on earth? Salvation is by grace is a biblical truth; however, Christ has made it abundantly clear that those who will be saved will show this on earth via their good works (Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 25:31-46). Rather than spending all the time examining the nitty-gritty of another man’s religion, you may want to spend sometimes to examining the nitty-gritty of your own works. Will they stand the test of God’s eternal judgment, or will they go up in smoke, while Christ spews you out of his mouth? There is a militancy that many adopt in the Christian religion that is quite akin to the militancy that ISIS and Boko Haram manifest. The only difference is that the latter kill physically, while the former kill psychologically. Saving religion is a religion that manifests in good works. It is not a religion that manifests in murder.
May God grant that we all have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
Deji Yesufu is the pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of HUMANITY. He can be reached at [email protected]
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