Free Grace Women

It’s a cliché moral tale, but maybe that’s because it is such a common problem: will a person who knows what is right cave into pressure to do what is wrong?  Whether it is from secular sources or “sacred,” the pressure is there: believe what’s popular, join the group, choose that path that gets you what you want.  

Since my eternal life is secure, why not just give in and do what’s wrong to get what I want?  After all, I come from a pretty good background and have spent a lot of my life doing pretty good things.  Surely God will cut me a little slack and excuse a few sins in certain areas, right?  It’s not like I am choosing to do something really bad.

In Hebrews 11, we read of a number of individuals who acted in faith by following God even if that seemed crazy to the world around them.^[1]

While not as well-known as that “Hall of Faith,” the Bible also gives examples of persons who came from good backgrounds, had holy jobs, were of a reputable family, or were connected to an excellent church and yet chose to NOT act according to faith–and thus did not triumph.  Before I decide that “my good deeds will mostly outweigh my bad deeds” or that certain sins “just aren’t that big of a deal,” I think I should take a quick look at some of the Biblical portraits of people not living by faith.

Cain (Genesis 4:1-14)—an example of a good background

• Background: Cain was raised by parents who conversed with the Lord, and he spoke directly to the Lord himself.  Far from rejecting all things godly, he brought an offering to the Lord.  

From Cain’s point of view, the trouble seems to start when God is displeased with Cain’s offering.  Cain gets mad, and the Lord’s response is telling,

“Why are you angry?  And why has your countenance fallen?  If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?  And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:6b-7 NASB1995)

Implicitly, Cain had already chosen to do what he knew was wrong, which was why his offering was displeasing to the Lord.  Definitely, the Lord tells Cain at this time that he needs to choose to do what is right, or sin will get the upper hand.  (Notice that holding a middle ground of “not really doing good, but not really doing bad either” is not an option.)  Cain does not choose to do what is right, and before long he is committing murder.

• Punishment: Cain was exiled from his parents and profession for the rest of his [probably very long] life.

• Legacy: for all of world history, Cain has been remembered as an example of disobedience and a murderer (Hebrews 11:4, 1 John 3:12, Jude 11).

Balaam (Numbers 22-24; 25:1-9; 31:16)—an example of a person with a holy job

• Background: Balaam was a prophet of the Lord—the Bible records God speaking to and through him.  

Then Balaam gets an offer of so much honor and wealth that he can’t resist trying to curse Israel even though God has blessed them.  Since God makes Balaam bless the nation the rich patron wants cursed, Balaam gets creative and earns his pay by teaching a pagan nation to seduce the Israelites into worshiping false gods (Revelation 2:14).

• Punishment: Balaam was killed along with the pagans he advised in the art of harming Israel (Numbers 31:8).

• Legacy: Balaam is an example to children and adults alike of being less faithful than a donkey, and both Peter (2 Peter 2:15-16) and Jude (Jude 11) cite Balaam as one of the prime examples of what a teacher shouldn’t be.

Korah (Numbers 16)—an example of a man from a good, godly family

• Background: Korah was Moses and Aaron’s cousin (Exodus 6:18-21).  Along with the rest of Israel, he saw the plagues brought on Egypt, kept the Passover, and benefitted from the Lord’s provision in the wilderness.  Since he was a Levite, he would have had special duties working in and around the tabernacle.

At first glance, what Korah did could have sounded so good.  Heading up a delegation of hundreds of respected leaders, Korah proclaims that all God’s people are equally holy in God’s sight.  Ironically, his method to prove that all were equally holy (and his cousins were not anything special) was to discard the rules that the Lord Himself had ordained.

• Punishment: he and all the people of his household were killed immediately by the Lord’s supernatural intervention.  

• Legacy: Korah is listed as an example of rebellion (Jude 11).

Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11)—a couple associated with a great church

• Background: in the first few chapters of Acts, thousands are added to the congregation of believers, but the apostles are also arrested and threatened—in other words, belonging to the growing church does not put you in good standing with the government.  At least supporting, and likely a part of, this body of believers are a husband and wife named Ananias and Sapphira.  

Ananias and Sapphira join other believers in selling their land and giving the money from it to the apostles.  So far, so good.  The only little problem was that they wanted to keep some money, but they also wanted the recognition that came from sacrificially giving of their property to the church.  Trying for both, they lied about how much money they received from the sale.

• Punishment: they died immediately

• Legacy: all those who read of the early church in Acts know of Ananias and Sapphira as people who tested the Spirit of the Lord by lying to the apostles.

Conclusion

The eternal destiny of these individuals does not depend on the actions listed here—their eternal destiny is determined by whether or not each of them believed in the Lord’s Messiah for eternal life.^[2]

What the Bible tells us about these individuals is that they chose their ways over God’s way, were punished for doing so, and left a legacy of which they will be ashamed.

Even though my eternal life is secure, I don’t want to be punished by God for doing what is wrong.  At the Judgment Seat of Christ, I don’t want it to be told of me that I knew what was right and chose to do what was wrong.  That is a worthwhile reason to not choose my way over God’s.

^[1] See here for blogs about some of those great men and women.

^[2] Personally, I think it possible that all of these persons could have been believers.  For a Biblically-based argument that Cain was, I recommend this talk by Bob Bryant.

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