Silence at Last
Romans 3:9–20
So that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. Romans 3:19
Some years ago there was a dance instructor who had been out late on a Saturday evening. In the wee hours of the morning, he staggered back to his hotel room, fell into bed, and went to sleep. The next morning he was suddenly jolted awake by his clock radio. A man was speaking and he was asking this question, “If in the next few moments some great disaster should happen and you should be killed and if you should find yourself before God and he should ask you, ‘What right do you have to come into my heaven?’ what would you say?”
The dance instructor was amazed and confounded by this question. He realized that he did not have an answer. He had not a single thing to say. He sat silently on the edge of his bed as Donald Grey Barnhouse explained the answer to him. That dance instructor was D. James Kennedy, author of the evangelism program known as “Evangelism Explosion.” Kennedy believed on Jesus Christ that day, and the question that had been used to save him became the chief tool in his evangelism strategy.
I ask that same question of you. Someday you will die. You will face God, and he will say to you, “What right do you have to come into my heaven?” What will your response be?
Perhaps you will say, “Well, here is my record. I know that I have done some bad things, but I have done a lot of good things too. All I want from you is justice.” If you say that, justice is exactly what you will get. You will be judged for your sin and be condemned. Your good works will not save you. For God has said: “There is no one righteous, not even one” (v. 10).
Perhaps you will not plead your good works, but instead will stand before God silenced. This is better. At least you will have recognized that your goodness is not adequate before God. You will know you are a sinner. But it is still a most pitiful position to be in: silent before the one great Judge of the universe, with no possibility of making a defense, no possibility of urging extenuating circumstances, no hope of escaping condemnation.
So what will you say? I trust you will be able to answer, “My right to heaven is the Lord Jesus Christ. He died for me. He took the punishment for my sin. He is my right to heaven, because he has become my righteousness.”
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.