By Dr. Dennis Acop
The world loves its sins. Crimes and immoral deeds abound because man indulges and justifies. And man justifies because he falsely believes that his heaven is on earth. But man’s worldly justifications are false and are his undoing in the end. Professed believers who marginalize the significance of sin do not understand their Christian faith falling right into the trap of secularism. Deceit is the masterful weapon of the evil one preying on man’s number one weakness — his sinful pride. The sin of pride is almost impossible to defeat for man who sets his eyes on all the ‘good’ in this world while forsaking righteous suffering. Why would he not? Would man forsake worldly ambition and pleasure for the kingdom of God? Remember the parable of the rich man who felt sad when Jesus told him to give up his riches and follow him? Truth is all of us who revel in our worldly privileges and comforts prefer the prosperity gospel because it does not condemn sin. The Sadducees had this view because they had ‘heavenly’ privileges and benefits technically advocating heaven only in this life but not in the next. Why? The reason is because such ‘prosperity’ included sins which are unacceptable in the afterlife of heaven. In fact, souls even need to be purgated of their attached sins before they could enter the heavenly kingdom of God which is without sin. The Father sent His Son Jesus to open the floodgates of heaven to man on earth. How? Jesus said ‘repent and sin no more’.
It was sin that brought the angels in heaven down. If sin was insignificant, we would still be in heaven as angels. By His mercy, God created man to redeem himself and become like angels once again in heaven. But it is not a free ride. Even if Jesus came down to ‘save’ us, continuing to sin cannot and would not save us. We would have to earn our place in heaven by ‘repenting and sinning no more’. The scriptures, especially Saint James, are replete with this critical element of faith. If some removed the Book of James from the Bible, it is because these some wish to downplay the significance of sin in man’s salvation and so that man could continue to live privileged, even sinful, lives. And there is the grave danger, for many souls are being misguided by this erroneous teaching. Many also do not want to carry their cross and suffer in this world, looking down on suffering as the lot of sinners and those out of favor with God. But nothing could be more wrong for the truth of the matter is the other way around. Many profess to be followers of Jesus but they refuse to take up his cross falsely believing that they already deserve the glory of heaven even by being lazy and not helping carry the cross. As Saint James said, such followers are mere hearers of the word only but not doers, deluding themselves. If it were true that human beings need not lift a finger for their own salvation, merely relying on the mercy of God, then what is the purpose of Christ’s own suffering and man’s life on earth? While it is true that only unblemished sacrifice made by the Son is acceptable to the Father, the joining together of the blemished sacrifice of fallen man with Jesus’ sacrifice is the only way for man’s salvation. To heap everything on the lap of Jesus is a cop-out and evidence that the Trinity is not believed by many professed followers. Truth is that even the mercy of God cannot be abused by relying only on Jesus without backing up that love with concrete actions. Jesus said there is no greater love than for man to die for his friends. That great commandment is a call to action, not lip service. We may profess love to God and our neighbor but without concrete action to prove that love, the love professed means nothing. As Saint Paul wrote, ‘Faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love’. For love is the fullest expression of faith. And God is love — the first commandment, more than faith and hope which are the longing for God — but only through loving our neighbor first through concrete action. For how can we say we love God whom we cannot see but not love one another whom we do see? Love without action is hypocritical. So are faith and hope without charity.
While both good and bad can be had in earthly life, the lowest bad of man on earth is his highest good in heaven. But this is not automatic. Needless to say, the highest good can only be attained by those willing to earn it. Yes, heaven is earned and not freely given even by a generous God. So, anyone believing that he can sin all he wants and still go to heaven is deluding himself. Let us not put on the mind of God for us because we cannot even if we think we are the chosen one, unless we have come back from the dead. No matter how secular man thinks he has had the most perfect heaven on earth, that heaven of his ends upon his death. God has the final say because He made us. Life, both secular and non-secular, is the creation of the Author of life. Death, like life, is also part of His creation. But God too made us co-creators of life, both naturally and supernaturally. As a consequence of his choice, man can live and die just on earth or he can live forever beginning on earth. How? — By being baptized and living out the sacraments; Not just lip service. Why? — Because there are no sinners in heaven but only on earth. The journey of man’s salvation begins when he finds God and follows him with all his heart, mind, body, and soul. The discipleship of man on earth is his pilgrimage to heaven. True discipleship, not just follower-ship, entails action and not just lip service. A true ‘bride’ of Christ obeys the groom in actions more than mere words. I remember a homily preached by Father Matt who narrated how one family seemed to attract all the sufferings of this world and how he did not know how to console such family. Then he remembered how elder Father Tom used to say that the meaning of life’s sufferings lies in the mystery of the Cross. Jesus did not suffer and die on the cross because such was a stamp of approval for the Pharisees and Sadducees who had the best of life on this earth. The Lord lived and died the way He did to show us the way. The most suffering on earth is given to those closest to heaven. It is not a stamp of disapproval. The way of the Cross is the true path to everlasting life.