Trust in the Grace of God

I was reading from The Washington Post recently. An article had caught my eye, its headline was Bloomberg launches new $50 million gun control effort. The report, dated April 16 and written by Aaron Blake, went on to share that former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who apparently has more money than Fort Knox has gold, will use his wealth to begin a campaign against gun violence. All those of you who support gun violence, please raise your hands. Okay, I don’t see any hands. Is anyone really for gun violence, or is Bloomberg just indulging us to another propaganda campaign? Time will tell, I suppose. Frankly, I know a lot of people and none of them, zip – nana – nobody, is in favor of more gun violence. Especially is that true of gun owners, of whom I am one. This $50 million dollars is to be spent on the 2014 elections, according to the Post, aiming to push new gun control measures into law. Laws that all the criminals will suddenly and miraculously obey, presumably. What measures these are remain unspecified in the article, and perhaps Bloomberg is still trying to decide how to get criminals and mentally handicapped persons to obey new gun laws. What struck me as interesting, and the real point of this piece, is Bloomberg’s self-congratulatory remark. “I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It’s not even close.” If donating $50 million to a cause in which you believe is going to get you into heaven, then you may as well throw away all that we know from the Hebrew and Christian scriptures (commonly called Old and New Testaments – I use the other designation because I think Mr. Bloomberg is an adherent to the Jewish faith). I ask you, the reader, on what basis do you hope to enter heaven? It is God’s heaven, and I have not read where your place in it is for sale. Jesus spoke to a man who thought he had earned heaven. The man had studied Torah, kept the Law as well as anyone could keep it, and given much money to a cause he believed in. The man’s name was Nicodemus, and this episode is recorded in John’s Gospel, Chapter 3. Nicodemus was truly shocked to learn that he had not earned heaven, it is not for sale. To him Jesus said, “You must be born again.” Jesus used the word “must” and then proceeded to share just what this meant: having the Spirit of God perform a supernatural work upon the heart. In other words, heaven cannot be earned. It is not a birthright. It is a promised gift, received by faith and based solely upon God’s grace. Grace is the great word of the Christian faith. Defined as “the unmerited favor of God”, it is not earned. It is what God does for us freely through faith. Both Hebrew and Christian testaments teach that we are saved by God’s grace (“mercy” is most often the word used in the Hebrew scriptures). Don’t try to get into heaven on your own. Please understand : it is not for sale. Trust in the grace of God.