Suppose you were to die today, and you were to stand before God, and he asked you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ how would you answer?

This is what Greg Gilbert writes in the book, on page 83 he asks, “When you stand before God at the judgement, I wonder what you plan to do or say in order to convince him to count you righteous and admit you to all the blessings of his kingdom? What good deed or godly attitude will you pull out of your pocket to impress him? Will you pull out your church attendance? Your family life? Your spotless thought life? The fact that you haven’t done anything really heinous in your own eyes? I wonder what you’ll hold up before him while saying, “God, on account of this, justify me!”

Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector illustrates two different answers people give about why God should let a person into his heaven.

This tax collector, walked into the temple as a guilty despicable sinner, who ripped off people for a living because of his own greed. He walked out of the temple righteous before God. How could this be? The answer is, he received a righteousness not his own, but the righteous of Christ imputed (attributed) to him.

The only answer that God accepts is from a person who recognizes that he is a sinner in need of God’s mercy. When you stand before God after you die, beg God to be merciful to you. God sent Jesus into this world to pay the penalty for sin. And God will credit to your account Jesus’ payment for sin, if you repent of your sin and put your trust in Jesus.

Discussion Questions

1. Why is justification by faith alone not just a doctrinal fine point for theologians, but a crucial matter for everyone?
2. Why does adding our good works to faith as necessary for salvation deny the gospel (see Rom. 4:2; 11:6; Eph. 2:8-10)?
3. Is God fair to justify a terrible sinner the instant he believes and to condemn a good person who tries to do the best he can (see Matt. 20:1-16)?
4. Roman Catholics will bring up John 5:28-29 & James 2:23 to argue that we are justified by faith plus works. How would you answer this claim?