Not sure where to post this, but I have a hypothetical question.
Let's suppose we have two guys, Gary and Bob. Gary has accepted Christ into his life, but, much like King David, his suffers from sins of the flesh, so Gary hasn't been faithful to his wife.
Bob, on the other hand, has been faithful to his wife his entire life. However, while he may believe in God, he has not accepted Jesus.
Who goes to Heaven?
Well hopefully that's not the end of the story! We would trust that Jesus who abides by the Spirit in Gary will prompt Gary's conscience until he can't stand it, lest Gary develop a calloused conscience and fall from grace. And we hope that Romans 1 holds out for Bob that he would see that his morals must amount to something in light of the ever present evidence that God is real and that he must escape God's wrath on all sinners.
But lets imagine two different twists/continuances of your current scenario where Bob and Gary meet:
Good outcome:
Bob meets Gary one day at the book store and sees him looking in the Bible section. Bob, curious, walks over and strikes up a conversation with Gary about whether or not he really believes that tired religious stuff. Gary witnesses to him and in the process begins to tell Bob his life story. They both find that they have much in common, including past hurts and tragedies, and they begin to have a very deep discussion. They soon find themselves confessing more initimate details of their life to one another, and in a moment of honesty by Gary, Bob finds out Gary has recently been an unfaithful husband. But with the broken humbleness with which Gary suddenly realizes the results of his actions as he was witnessing (as burdened by the Spirit), he confesses in front of Bob that he has been wrong and sinful against God and is in need of a Savior even more than ever. Bob is touched and dumbfounded, and seeing the sincerity and humbleness in Gary and the beauty and simplicity of the Gospel:
Bob becomes saved. Gary makes up with his wife and Bob and Gary become life long friends, brothers in the faith, edifying one another and fight the good fight to the very end.
Bad outcome:
Bob and Gary meet one day at a coffee shop and Bob sees Gary reading a Christian magazine and sits down near him, sipping a mocha frappe, and asks him if he really believes in that "tired religious stuff". Gary begins to talk with Bob and they begin to discuss Christian morals and in the process Gary becomes increasingly defensive. Gary at one point says snidely, in a momentary sense of superiority, how Christian marriages are more blessed and enjoyable than an unbelievers marriage could possibly be. Then Bob having a moment of whit notices that Gary, amidst his unfaithful excursions, has taken off his wedding ring (having dropped it in his pocket so the 'girlfriend' wouldn't see), so Bob retorts, "If Christian's marriages are so great then why don't you have your wedding ring on?" Gary turns red with anger, slaps his magazine closed, calls the man a unregenerate heathen, and storms out the coffee shop. Bob goes on to believe all Christian men are concieted and was offended by the flaunting of "moral superiority", and develops a bitterness in his heart against Christ and the Church ("and all that hogwash"). Gary goes on down his self-righteous, inconsiderate, selfish path of hedonism and suffers shipwreck of his marriage and his faith, having nothing left he becomes a homeless alcoholic, despondent and regretful.
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Which one is more likely to happen in today's society? How can we learn from the possible reactions and interactions between Bob and Gary? It seems both have the same propensity to wind up in the same place, depending on whether they will just be real with each other and God, or if they will rather both continue in self-conciet and pride of the flesh.
This is
your life,
you choose the outcome.
God Bless,
~Josh
