What If I Picked The Wrong Religion?

What if I Picked the Wrong Religion? You may be familiar with the off-color animated series South Park. In one episode, you see a crowd of thousands of people shocked to find themselves surrounded by fire and brimstone: Victim 1: Where are we? Victim 2: What's happening? Victim 3: Where am I? Hell Director: Hello everybody, I'm the Hell director. For those of you who are a little confused, you are all dead and this is hell, so abandon all hope, and yadda, yadda, yadda..... Victim 4: Wait a minute! I shouldn't be here. I was a totally straight and devout protestant. I thought we went to heaven. Hell Director: Sorry, you were wrong. Victim 5: I was a practicing Jehovah's Witness. Hell Director: Sorry, you picked the wrong religion as well. Victim 6: Then who was right? Who gets into heaven? Hell Director: I'm afraid the Mormons, yes, the Mormons had the correct religion. You can watch this HERE Okay, it's pretty stupid. But what if you picked the wrong religion? What if what you believe really isn't true at all? Have you ever entertained such a thought? CBS commentator Andy Rooney once said, "I have to admit that most of the stuff I believe probably isn't true." "But I'm saved" you say to yourself, "I'm baptized. I accepted Christ. I read the Bible. I obey God. I pray every day. I'm one of the elect of God" Of course you are not going to hell. You're

safe. So you think. The interesting thing about the belief in hell is that it is always for other people, not us, not me. But again I ask - what if you are wrong? Let me illustrate how wrong you could be by contrasting two very different views of salvation. There is belief within the Christian church (mainly a U.S.A. phenomena) which is known as "Lordship Salvation" This was made popular by Christian author and speaker John MacArthur. I won't get into details but according to MacArthur, your life must show a great deal of evidence in order to be sure that you are really, truly saved. He lists the evidences in what has been called "MacArthur's Eleven Commandments" Lordship Salvation can be summed up by the phrase, "If Jesus isn't Lord of all, He isn't Lord at all" Now, on the surface it sounds like MacArthur is just encouraging Christians to live holy lives. But his doctrine has caused many sincere Christians to doubt their salvation and the grace of God, leading them to despair, depression, and even suicide. The problem is that if you don't show these evidences, you will naturally try to show evidence of your salvation to prove to yourself, God, and others that you are a true Christian. The critics of Lordship Salvation say, "what ever happened to salvation by grace?" They accuse MacArthur of teaching salvation by works which is in stark contrast with the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace. So this is just a little doctrinal dispute, who cares? There are million doctrinal difference which divide Christians into thousands of groups and subgroups. But some people on both sides of this debate go a step further and have condemned one other to eternal hell. The Lordship Salvation side claims that anyone who does not follow MacArthur's Commandments is headed straight for hell because they're not really saved. The other camp believes that the Lordship salvationists are the ones who are going to hell because they are trying to earn their salvation. Thus, the

two ideas are mutually exclusive, are now you must pick a side even though you probably had never heard of this silly debate before. Make sure you pick the right side! My point is this - whether you are a Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal, Reformed, Methodist, Atheist, Agnostic, Mormon, Muslim, Buddhist, or whatever, you had better hope that there is no eternal hell. Because if there is a hell, there's a damn good chance that you, yes YOU, will end up there. And even if you don't, will you be happy in heaven knowing that most of humanity is burning in hell "for as long as God exists"? Back to my original question: What if I picked the wrong religion? But let's be honest - did you really choose your religion, or did your religion choose you? Christians who believe in free will are quick to congratulate themselves for making a wise choice to follow Christ, and believe that those who do not choose Christ are rejecting Him by default and thus worthy of punishment. The truth is billions of people have already lived and died without so much as hearing the name of Jesus. How could they reject someone they never even heard of? Maybe you think they wouldn't have believed anyway, but when Jesus talked about the people of Sodom who sinned in ignorance - he said that they would have repented if someone had only preached to them. (Matt. 11:23) And what of people who grow up in non Christian environments? Does a Jew who hears his whole life that Jesus is not the Messiah have a "free choice" to change his mind? Does a Muslim who hears that Jesus was a prophet but not as great a prophet as Mohammad have the ability to just change his mind? If you are a Christian, you are Christian because of the influences around you, not because of any mythical free will, which you freely exercised without any external

influence. Most of the circumstances which lead as to make certain choices in life are beyond our control. If you had been born into a different family, or in a different country, or a different time, would you have made the same choices? I didn't think so. Now, get off you high horse of wise choices and take a few minute to ask yourself, "What if......?" What if Jesus was not exaggerating when he said, So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33) ? Would you qualify? Would anyone qualify? What if salvation really is by works? Would you qualify? Any honest reader of the Bible will notice that the passages implying that salvation is by works far outweigh the handful of passages which speak of salvation by grace (for example, John 5:29 - And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. Matt 19:17 - And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Rev. 20:12 - and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. See also Matt. 25:31-46). What if obedience to all the Law of Moses is required for salvation? Before you answer that Christ fulfilled the law, remember Jehovah himself said His laws are "perfect and eternal". Also, Christ only eliminated the necessity of animal sacrifice. He did not come to abolish the entire law. What if salvation has nothing to do with what happens after death? Can you be saved in life, but not in death? Have you ever noticed that Biblical salvation is never defined as salvation from hell?

What if you misunderstood an important doctrine - one which is necessary for salvation? If you are trinitarian, what if the trinity is a pagan idea and you are really worshiping a false god? If you are unitarian, what if the trinity doctrine is true? What if you backslide? What if you really could lose your salvation? If you lost it, could you get it back? What if you stop believing? What if your beliefs change? What if your beliefs are totally wrong? What if the truth is only found in some obscure religion which you've never heard of? What if God changes His mind? You may think this is impossible, but the scriptures tell a different story. What if the Catholic sacraments really are necessary for salvation? What if observing the Sabbath (which of course is Saturday, not Sunday) is necessary for proving that you are really saved? What if you are not quite sorry enough for your sins? What if you forget to repent of a particular sin? What if you sinned and didn't know it? Could you be saved without seeking forgiveness in the proper way? What if Calvinism is true and you are not one of the elect, just a self deceived hell-bound sinner. If you go to hell, will you still worship God, will you still think His judgments are good? If you go to heaven, how could you be happy knowing that the majority of mankind is burning in hell forever - including

many people you knew and loved? As for me, I am not worried about what happens after this life because if God is just (and I believe He is), then what is there to fear? A just God will not hold anyone accountable for things over which they have no control (such as where they were born, what circumstances they ended up in, their beliefs which come from the upbringing). Nor will a just God punish anyone without a purpose or without end. All God's judgments and punishments have the ultimate purpose of redemption and restoration. In the end, the truth of God's grace will win the day, no matter what we believe or don't believe. Read my other articles: HERE