There are many people who are not Christians,in other religions,and in the secular world,who do good, this was borne in upon me as I watched a TV program.A retired top footballer is doing an awful lot to raise money for a certain charity,a young girl appeared on the show,who suffers greatly from a terrible condition,the ex-footballer had befriended her and helped her greatly.I was moved as I watched the program.,Now let me ask you a question, that I asked myself, are people like that lost? ,are they going to be excluded from heaven?, and will they be going to hell?.What is the answer?.From a human point of veiw many would say,if there is a heaven,they'll be there,but will they?.The answer is no ,for no matter how much good one does ,there is that other aspect of humanity,our sinful nature,you can't balance them against the other,God doesn't. He declares very clearly that there is no one who is righteous,and there is no one that does good,not even one ( Romans 3 v 10 /v 12) John Stott ,'mentions the doctrine of 'total depravity'It has never meant that all human beings are as depraved as they could possible be.Such a notion is manifestly absurd and untrue,and is contradicted by our everyday obervation.No,the 'totality' of our corruption refers to its extent,not to its degree.In other words as JS says ,'every part of our humanist,is twisted and tainted.'Dr J.I.Packer puts it like this,'No one is as bad as he or she might be, while on the other hand'no actions of ours is as good as it should be'.We all fall short of the glory of God, without Christ that short fall will take us to a lost eternity. If one is to be saved and go to heaven we must acknowledge our sinfulness,and throw ourselves on the mercy of a holy God.
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