The battle of two philosophies

Nicodemus in the New Testament has always fascinated me. As the country celebrates the Holy Week, we should reflect on this.

In his book “He Still Moves Stones,” author Max Lucado tells us the story.

The meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus was more than an encounter between two religious’ figures. It was a collision between two philosophies – two opposing views on salvation.

Nicodemus thought the person did the work. Jesus says God does the work. These two views encompass all views. All the world’s religions can be placed in one of two camps: legalism or grace. A legalist believes the supreme force behind salvation is you. You will be saved if you look right, speak right, and belong to the right segment of the right group. The brunt of responsibility does not lie with God; it lies in you. Spiritually, Jesus says, comes not from church attendance, good deeds, or correct doctrine but from heaven itself. Such words must have set Nicodemus back on his heels. But Jesus was just getting started. Salvation is God’s business. Grace is His idea, His work, and His expense. He offers it to who He desires when He desires. Our job in the process is to inform the people, not screen the people.

The question must have been written all over Nicodemus’ face. Why would God do this? What would motivate him to offer such a gift? What Jesus told Nicodemus, Nicodemus could never have imagined. What is the motive behind the new birth? Love. “God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son so that whoever would believe in Him may not be lost but have eternal life. Nicodemus has never heard such words. Never. He has had many discussions of salvation. But this is the first in which no rules were given. No system was offered. No code or ritual. “Everyone who believes can have eternal life in him,” Jesus told him. Could God be so generous? Yes indeed. God is generous.

It is a good time to think and reflect on the reason why we celebrate Lent. There is a philosophy here to be considered. I am not a theologian, and I sure am not an expert on The Bible, but thinking deeply makes me ask questions: If we can earn God’s salvation through the good deeds we do and the money we donate, then Jesus Christ would not need to die on the Cross. Did He? The next question to consider is this.

What good works could the thief on the Cross do when he’s nailed up there? Perhaps if doing good works were the key, then Jesus must have required the thief to attend Bible studies and church every Sunday. But He did not, and the thief could not. And then a very freeing thought came as a conclusion to all these questions.

If working and doing good is required to enter His Eternal Presence, then perhaps only the billionaires (in dollar denomination) could earn heaven. And pity the poor because we could not give much with nothing much to give.

It must be Christ and His finished work on the Cross, because of His Generous Love for us.

John Dyer says: “A person may go to heaven without health, without riches, without honors, without learning, without friends; but he can never go there without Christ.” Because of this, there will be three things that will surprise us when we get to heaven: one, to find many there that we did not expect to find there; another, to find some not there whom we had expected; a third, and perhaps the greatest wonder, will be to find ourselves there. And when we’re settled, we will realize it’s all grace. Grace. All of it.

Perhaps this is why this statement made sense after many years of searching. Leonard Ravenhill said, “Jesus Christ did not come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live.”

And this is the reason why there is the Resurrection.

(Francis Kong’s podcast “Inspiring Excellence” is now available on Spotify, Apple, Google, or other podcast streaming platforms.)