In our situation, we took pains to make certain that anything like liquid or toothpaste was stored in a bag that would be checked in the luggage compartment of the plane. As we went through the process of taking off our shoes, placing everything we owned in little gray crates on a conveyor belt, and walking through a metal detector ... I noticed that my daughter's bag had been sectioned off for additional hand searching.
She noticed this as well, and immediately began to panic. She politely pinched the sleeve of my shirt and said, "Ummm Dad, they have my bag."
Sure enough, one of the TSA agents was shuffling through her carry-on. The item responsible for flagging the X-ray scanner turned out to be a small cylinder of liquid perfume. This is dangerous for everyone on board the airplane apparently (read into my skepticism here), and so they asked us what we wanted to do. She could either go back upstairs to the terminal and check the item, or throw it away.
We told her we would buy her another one when we got home, so the decision was made to discard the perfume. The agent winged it into the trash can with a loud 'clunk' sound right in front of us. It was a tense walk to our gate from that point on.
It forced me to think about some things however. That feeling of wondering whether or not we were 'good enough' to make it through security that day translates well into the spiritual arena I think. How many people wonder if they are good enough for God? How many wonder quietly to themselves, "I hope I'm good enough to get into Heaven someday."
It's an honest question for a thoughtful person, and it deserves some attention. Many groups throughout history have pondered it. Many have tried to live by what I call the 'Graceless Gospel' for example. The idea that you must earn your way to heaven based on good works and proper moral living all on your own. That we have to be continually obedient to God and live relatively good lives, and then God will stamp us with the Approved stamp.
Or how about using grace as fire insurance for salvation? In other words: I will live however I want to, and then claim the blood of Jesus on my deathbed. Based on this philosophy, any liar, cheat, or sociopath can be perfectly confident of their salvation - as long as they say the sinner's prayer at the very end, right? Here there is an overabundance of assurance based on a misunderstanding of how both faith and good works go together.
Some have also claimed holiness by association. In other words, because they have an uncle, parent, or friend who is a pastor or deacon for example ... God's gift of atonement will somehow rub off on them as well. They don't need to go to church or accept Jesus personally, but rely solely on the relationship with that other person in order to get the spiritual job done.
And finally there exists a fallacy that we will have 'plenty of time' to decide what to do about Jesus. The idea that I will live out my twenties or thirties happily doing and living however I want to at the time, and then when I am eighty-five years old and in poor health, then I will come to God. If only we were all lucky enough to live eighty-five years on this planet, that method might work. But of course, no one knows how much time they really have.
All of these strategies have one thing in common. They still allow the seed of doubt to sneak in. "Am I really good enough?" "Will God really accept me when it's my time?" They all neglect the personal component of a relationship with Jesus.
Let us examine for a moment, Philippians 2:12. It says, "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose."
Upon first reading this passage, one might conclude that we should all be scared to death when dealing with God. But I believe once we rightly divide this Scripture based on other places in the Bible, we can be confident that it really means we ought to simply be mindful and determined when we think about eternal salvation, in a way that shows reverence and awe for God. Typically in the Bible when Scripture talks about the fear of the Lord, it refers to being respectful and obedient. Not to be fearful the way that people are afraid of a burglar, or afraid that something bad might happen to them.
The good news here, is that those sixty-six books in the Bible weave together a poetic story line that shows us exactly how we can have an assurance in our eternal state. An assurance without having to wonder or be nervous.
Take for example something often known as the Roman Road to Heaven. It is a simple guide - constructed of short Scripture passages from the book of Romans - that outlines how you and I might become born again. It goes something like the following. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ dies for us (Rom 5:8). The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 6:23). [Therefore] if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom 10:9). [So then] everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom 10:13).
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord.
Thanks to the apostle Paul, servant of God, for laying this out so succinctly for us. It applied to people two-thousand years ago, and it applies to us today. And it leads us inexorably in my opinion, to this fantastic truth from Romans 8:1-2, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death."
It appears (gratefully), that God no longer holds our sins against us if we have Jesus in our lives. In fact, if we have traveled the Roman Road to Heaven, we actually can have assurance. We need not wonder all the time whether or not we are good enough. The walk through the TSA airport security station will be a piece of cake. In fact, we can skip that check all together, and take the narrow side door straight onto the concourse.
Later in our vacation, after we got to our resort to check in, I couldn't help but overhear a conversation between a young couple and the front desk attendant. Apparently the hotel had no record of their reservation. The computer system wasn't cooperating that day. I could see the look of desperation on their faces as the clerk tried to assure them that things would probably be okay. Who knows how many miles they had traveled to get there. Did they have to go through airport security also?
I would much rather have my Roman Road reservation intact, with an assurance that in Christ Jesus, there is no longer any condemnation. To be certain that God is there for me, in ways that I cannot understand or quite yet fathom this side of heaven. In ways that lead me successfully through the confusion of this world, and into His waiting arms on my last day. Doesn't this sound like a better way to travel?
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