Reasons for Destruction

 

Reasons for Destruction

We have spoken at length about the message of Noah’s Ark. This is a shadow of how we are saved from the eternal judgment that is to come. The Bible contains many messages about salvation, and among them, the message of Noah’s Ark explains salvation most thoroughly. Today, let us consider who was allowed to enter the ark.

God said to Noah:

“You shall go into the ark, you and your wife, your sons and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.” (Genesis 6:18–19)

This means that both clean and unclean animals could enter the ark.

Whether good or defiled, clean or unclean—all could enter the ark. There was no distinction when entering the ark. Many religions in the world demand people to be good. They teach that good people will be approved, honored, and blessed. However, faith in God is not limited to the good or the righteous. The Bible tells us that whether one appears righteous or sinful, as long as he comes before God, he can receive grace and be saved.

Every religion on earth demands people to accumulate virtue and do good deeds; but when God saves mankind, He does not require human goodness or righteousness.
If God needed human goodness in order to save people, then He should have made human goodness and human deeds part of the condition for salvation. But human goodness and deeds, though perhaps appearing righteous before people, are like filthy rags before God. Therefore, no matter how good or righteous a person may appear, his goodness is unnecessary in God’s work of saving mankind.

If there is anything God can accept—anything God requires—it is only the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the goodness of Jesus Christ, and the true works of Jesus Christ. By dying on the cross, Jesus fully accomplished the salvation of mankind; and the goodness and righteousness He lived out during His 33 years on earth are wholly sufficient to save humankind from sin.

Even if on some other planet, besides the earth, there existed humans who committed more sins and more abominable sins than those on earth and were deserving of curses—even if such planets numbered in the hundreds or thousands—even if all people on them had sinned—the blood of Jesus Christ would still be sufficient to save them all without any lack.

Even if many more people were to be born in this world, even if they were to commit many more sins in the future, the righteousness of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, and the grace of Jesus would still be entirely sufficient to resolve those sins. God does not need any additional righteous person to supplement what Jesus has done. For when Jesus Christ was crucified, He not only forgave all our sins but also forgave, without any lack, the sins of everyone on earth.

People are not destroyed because they committed many sins or because they did few good deeds. They are destroyed because they did not accept by faith the precious salvation that Jesus fully accomplished, because they did not enter into Jesus. They perish because they stubbornly cling to their own thoughts and cannot lay down their own minds.

Let me say it again:
In saving mankind, God has absolutely no need of human goodness, human righteousness, or human effort.
Therefore, no matter how good we think we are, our goodness is of no help in saving us. On the other hand, no matter how evil a person is—even if his evil deserves curse and destruction—before the blood of Jesus Christ, that evil has no power.

We are saved not because of how much good we have done or how much evil we have done, not because we lived truthfully or deceitfully, but because we have accepted by faith the fact that Jesus Christ was crucified and died so that we could be cleansed.
Jesus died to forgive our sins. The curse Jesus bore on the cross was the curse that should have fallen upon us; therefore, we no longer face curse or destruction. But if someone says that Jesus did not die for his sins, then that person has no relationship with the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Those who consider themselves good or righteous often believe that adding a bit more good deeds will lead them to salvation. Therefore, those who appear evil in human eyes are, in fact, more likely to be saved than those who consider themselves good. This is why the Bible says, “Where sin increased, grace abounded much more.”
Good people trust in their own goodness and do not look to the goodness and righteousness of Jesus; therefore, they are farther from salvation than those who acknowledge their own evil.

When Jesus was on earth, the scribes and Pharisees were distant from Him in their hearts. They did not understand that Jesus had come to earth for them. They did not know that they could not be saved by their own deeds. God sent Jesus to this earth in order to save them, but because of this, they rejected Jesus Christ. Instead, tax collectors, prostitutes, and others came before Jesus and received grace. These people knew they had done evil and were deep in sin; they understood they could not achieve righteousness by their own effort or deeds. They came to Jesus Christ, and through faith received salvation.

To receive true salvation, there is no other way except depending on the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Yet countless people have been deceived by Satan. They do not rely solely on the death of Jesus Christ, but become absorbed in their own goodness and righteousness, satisfied with their good deeds and with being better than others. Such people, immersed in their own righteousness, cannot accept the righteousness of Jesus. Only when they face God’s judgment will they discover how lacking their own righteousness is. But by then, it will be too late. They will face eternal destruction.

In the time of Noah, many people were not saved and perished—not because they were ugly, dirty, or inadequate—but because they did not accept into their hearts the ark of salvation prepared for them. Without entering the ark, they could only face destruction.

It will be the same in the coming judgment. We are not cursed or judged because of our evil deeds or because we committed many sins, but because we did not receive the grace of Jesus given for us, and did not accept by faith the salvation that has already made us perfect and holy.

Apart from the righteousness of Jesus Christ, there is no righteousness that can lead us into heaven.
Apart from the goodness of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ, there is no goodness that can make us stand before God.

I hope each of you examines your own heart today.
Do you rely entirely on the death of Jesus Christ?
Have you added your own good deeds, your own righteousness?
If you have added them, then you are not relying solely on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. This is unbelief in the truth that “the death of Jesus on the cross has already accomplished complete salvation.”

Whether my deeds are good or bad, the salvation accomplished by Jesus’ death on the cross is a perfect salvation.
The death of Jesus has made me complete. I am sanctified; I am justified.

When such faith is in your heart, you are righteous and holy, and you are complete before God. This is the way God desires to save us. This is God’s plan of salvation. God is seeking those who believe in this way.

Even the most evil, most corrupt, and most filthy person—the one who has no righteousness whatsoever—can receive salvation simply by accepting it by faith.

May every one of you receive this precious salvation.

遭到灭亡的理由

挪亚方舟的话语，我们已经讲了很长时间了。这是“我们从将要到来的永远的审判中得救”的影子。《圣经》中有很多关于救恩的话语，尤其是挪亚方舟的话语，非常详尽地说明了救恩的部分。今天我们来讲一下谁可以进入方舟。

神对挪亚是这样说的。

“你同你的妻，与儿子、儿妇，都要进入方舟。凡有血肉的活物，每样两个，一公一母，你要带进方舟，好在你那里保全生命。”（创6：18~19）

也就是说，不管是洁净的动物，还是不洁净的动物，都可以进到方舟里。

不管是善良的，还是污秽的；也不管是洁净的，还是不洁净的，都可以进入方舟。进入方舟时，没有任何区别。世上很多宗教都要求人们要善良。宗教教导人们，善良的人会被认可、得到礼遇和祝福。但相信神的信心，并不局限于善人和义人。《圣经》告诉我们，不管在人看来是义人，还是罪人，只要走到神面前，就能蒙恩得救。

世上的所有宗教都要求人们积德行善，但神为了拯救世人，不需要人的善和义。如果神在拯救世人时，需要人类的善良与行为，那么他就应该把人类的善良和行为包含在拯救的条件中。可是，人类的善良和行为，在人看来，也许是善的、义的，但在神看来，却像脏抹布一样。因此，在这世上看起来再善良、再义的人，在神拯救世人的事情上，也不需要这个人的善或义。

如果说有神能接受的，有神所需要的，那只能是耶稣基督的义、耶稣基督的善、耶稣基督真实的行为。耶稣基督通过被钉在十字架上死去，在世生活33年所行的善与义，满可以将人类从罪恶中拯救出来。如果除了地球以外，在其他什么星球上还生活着人类，且这些人犯了比地球上的人更多、更可恶的罪，只能遭到咒诅，就算这样的星球有数百、数千个，就算所有人都犯了罪，耶稣基督的宝血也可以毫不缺乏地将所有人拯救出来。

就算这世上除了我们之外，还生活着更多的人，就算以后还有更多的人，会犯下更多的罪，耶稣的义、耶稣的宝血、耶稣的恩典，也可以没有任何不足地解决这些罪。不需要除耶稣以外的其他义人来填补耶稣所行的缺欠。因为耶稣基督被钉死在十字架上，不只赦免了我们所有的罪，也没有任何缺乏地赦免了地球上所有人的罪。

遭到灭亡的人并不是因为犯了很多罪，也不是因为很少行善，而是因为没有凭信心接受耶稣完全成就的宝贵救恩的祝福，没有进到耶稣里面。他们之所以遭到灭亡，是因为固执己见，始终放不下自己的心思意念。

我再说一遍，神在拯救世人时，完全不需要人的善、人的义以及人的努力。因此，不管我们如何善良，我们的善良在拯救我们的事上也是无益的。相反，再恶的人，就算他的恶只能让自己遭到咒诅和灭亡，在耶稣基督的宝血面前，这些恶也没有任何意义。

我们得救，不在于我们行了多少善，或行了多少恶，也不在于我们生活得多么真实，或多么虚谎，而是在于我们有没有凭借信心将“耶稣基督被钉十字架死去，使我们得以洁净”的事实接受到心里。耶稣是为了赦免我们的罪死的。因为耶稣在十字架上遭受的咒诅，原本是我们该受的咒诅，所以我们再不会遭受咒诅和灭亡了。虽然耶稣被钉死在十字架上，但若有人说，耶稣不是为了他的罪死的，那此人就与耶稣基督十字架上的死没有任何关系了。

觉得自己善良、有义的人会认为自己稍微再行点善就能得救，所以在人里面，相对丑恶的人，会比相对善良的人更容易得救。这就是为什么《圣经》里说，只是罪在哪里显多，恩典就更显多了的意思。善良的人相信自己的善行，不仰望耶稣的善和义，反而比那些丑恶的人离救恩更远。

耶稣在世上时，文士和法利赛人从心里与耶稣疏远。他们不明白耶稣基督是为了他们来到这地上的。他们不知道靠他们的行为无法得救。为了拯救他们，神赐下了耶稣，让耶稣来到了这地上。正因为这样，他们排斥了耶稣基督。反而是税吏和娼妓等，来到耶稣面前蒙到了恩典。因为这些人知道自己已经行了恶，罪恶深重，靠着自己的努力或行为不可能成就善。他们走到耶稣基督面前，凭借相信耶稣的信心得到了救恩。

为了得到真正的救恩，除了“依靠耶稣基督被钉十字架上的死”这条路之外，再没有其他道路。可是不知道有多少人被撒但欺骗了，不单单依靠耶稣基督的死，而是沉浸在自己的善、自己的义中，对自己的善良和真实颇为满意，满足于自己比别人更善良的生活中。这样的人沉浸在自己的义中，接受不了耶稣的义。只有在遭受神的审判时，他们才会发现自己的义是那么的缺乏。殊不知届时为时已晚，最终他们只能遭到永远的灭亡。

挪亚洪水时，很多人没能得救，遭到了灭亡，不是因为他们丑陋、肮脏、不足，而是因为他们没有把为他们造好的救恩的方舟接受到心里。不进到方舟里，就只能遭到灭亡。将要来临的审判也是这样。我们不是因为行了恶、犯了很多罪才遭受咒诅和审判的，而是因为没有接受为我们施下的耶稣的恩典，不凭着信心接受已经使我们得以完全、成为圣洁的救恩，才遭到灭亡和审判的。

除了耶稣基督的义，再没有能让我们去天国的义；除了被钉十字架、死而复活的耶稣基督的善，再没有能让我们站在神面前的善。希望大家今天能察看一下自己的心。各位完全依靠耶稣基督的死吗？各位有没有添加各位做得好的，各位的义呢？如果添加了，那么各位就没有完全依靠耶稣基督的义。这就是不相信“耶稣被钉十字架上的死，已经成就了完全的救恩”的事实。

“不管我的行为如何，耶稣被钉十字架死去所成就的救恩，都是完全的救恩。耶稣的死使我完全了。我圣洁了，我成义了。”当各位心里拥有这样的信心时，各位才是公义、圣洁的，在神面前是完全的人。神想通过这种方法拯救我们。这就是神拯救我们的计划。神在寻找如此相信的人。

就算再邪恶、再丑陋、再肮脏的人，完全没有一点义的人，只要凭借信心接受，就能得到救恩。希望大家都能得到这宝贵的救恩。