Q&A 182

Q. So since you said earlier that goodness is related to salvation (it's the good who make it to heaven, i.e. are saved), is there any relationship between morality and goodness or morality and salvation?
A. Allow me to quote one contemporary philosopher here. He writes: moral principles are necessary for salvation. If you do not believe in any moral principles as objectively true and binding, you will probably not believe in sin either, for sin means disobeying real moral laws. ("Sin" means more than that - divorce from God - but not less.) And if you believe there is no sin, you cannot repent sin. And if there is no repentance for sin, there is no salvation.

This does not mean that people whose minds are so confused that they do not clearly understand sin and repentance cannot be saved. If you are lost in a forest, it is possible to get out with only a faded road map, or even none at all. But it is far better and safer to have a map that is clear and accurate.

Having moral principles - believing in them - is very important, but following them is even more important. "For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified." (Rom 2:13)

Again, this does not mean that only saints, not sinners, are saved. There are no other kinds of people besides sinners, and the saints are the first to tell us that. The difference between the saved and the damned is not the difference between saints and sinners but between repentant sinners and unrepentant sinners.

[To be continued...]

Blessed Easter!

3^rd April 2018