Does Sincerity Save?

    God tells us who will enter the gates of heaven:"Blessed are they that do His commandments,  that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" (Rev. 22:14). Regardless of what we may think about it the word of God impresses upon us this fact: Only those who do the Father's will are going to be heirs of heaven. Jesus said, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:21-22). These were religious people, religious teachers, but most of all sincere - but in spite of all they did, they were lost because they had not done what Jesus said.

   Jesus asks, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not  the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46). The same truth is found later, "Hereby we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know His and keepeth  not His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him. (1st John 2:3-4) There must be more than talk, we also must do what the Lord says. "But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding your own selves" (James 1:22)

   Actually, the above question leads us to the erroneous idea. "Sincerity saves - it matters not what one believes just as long as he is conscientious." Or this false statement: "Surely God wouldn't reject a man who was honestly doing what he thought was right." This idea just puts a premium on man's ignorance and dethrones the value of truth and right. It actually makes error as good as truth, as long as one is sincere. Such a doctrine would make Saul of Tarsus just as righteous while he was persecuting the church as he was later when he served Christ in that church! But Saul, formerly the devoted and conscientious leader of the Jews, wrote after becoming a Christian, "I have lived before God in all good conscience until this day... I persecuted the church of God, and made havoc of it ... Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief" (Acts 23:1, Gal. 1:13, 1st Tim. 1:15). He was sincere, but wrong!

  We must be sincere in serving God. But we must also be sincerely right to please God. It is still true that Christ is, "Unto all them that obey Him the author of eternal salvation" (Heb. 5:9). There is no substitute for obedience - just doing what the Lord said - not even sincerity. Many sincere people have been misled. How tragic it would be to spend a lifetime of zealous effort in a cause fostered by Satan!        -Johnny Ramsey