Welcome to another installment of “Wally Wednesdays”!
A guest post by Wally Fry
Off to Jail!
Last time we talked about God as a judge. What if we tried some of the things in an earthly courtroom we try with God?
“Judge, it wasn’t really a big robbery. I didn’t even use a gun! And I only got a little bit of money anyway.”
The law says the penalty for armed robbery is imprisonment, no exceptions. “Off to jail!” says the judge. God likewise does not care about the size of our sin. God is perfect and Holy, remember? A small sin makes us just as guilty as a big on in they eyes of a perfect God. James 2:10 teaches us that a man can keep the whole law and yet offends in one point is still guilty of violation the entire law.
“Judge, I may have committed that robbery, but I never killed anybody!”
The law says the penalty for armed robbery is imprisonment, no exceptions. “Off to jail!” says the judge. God is not going to look at all the things we could have done, but did not do. Once again, a violation of the law is a violation of the law.
“Judge, I may have committed that robbery, but did you know I have been working down at the food kitchen helping the homeless for years? What about all the money I gave to charity?”
The law says the penalty for armed robbery is imprisonment, no exceptions. “Off to jail!” says the judge. No matter how many good things we may do, they do not make up for our violation of God’s law. We cannot cover our penalty due by doing anything good.
“Judge, look what THAT guy has done!”
The law says the penalty for armed robbery is imprisonment, no exceptions. “Off to jail!” says the judge. God is not comparing us to each other to decide our innocence of guilt. He only compares us the the standard of His perfection and Holiness. It only matters what we have done, not what anyone else has done.
“Judge, I’m really, really sorry for committing the armed robbery.”
The law says the penalty for armed robbery is imprisonment, no exceptions. “Off to jail!” says the judge. The idea that we could tell a judge we are sorry and expect to be released is really absurd. The law says what the penalty is, and the penalty must be paid. Why would God be any different?
Coming up next Wednesday…part 4 (the conclusion)
The Recovering Legalist 
Reblogged this on Truth in Palmyra and commented:
My Wednesday guest post at bro Anthony’s place.
Blessings and enjoy!
Good one, Wally, and looking forward to the rest of the series. I used to wrestle with the popular notion, “You’ll get to Heaven if you try your best to be a good person.” I knew myself well enough to know I didn’t always “try my best” and figured everyone else was in the same boat so I wondered what the “cutoff” point was. I assumed God used some type of accounting calculus to balance merits with demerits.
That’s a good point, Tom, about the “cut off,” The problem is nobody can ever define it Biblically. Which only leaves the option for some person to start defining where the cut off is, and just how many works are needed…..and on it goes. And peace and assurance goes with it.
Right, Wally. Once you start down that works rabbit hole it just keeps getting deeper and darker!
Yup.