(I corrected several path problems on August 29, August 30, and September 1, including these selections: Which Version?, Christmas, Images, Body of Christ Discovered, Hymn Midis, KJV Bible, and Spiritual Warfare. Sorry for any problems; please let know if you find others. - Gary)

First Hezekiah and Second Babylonians

1 Hezekiah 3:8: God helps those who help themselves.

2 Babylonians 2:6: To have hope of entering heaven, thou must do good deeds which outweigh the bad thou doest in thine life. 7 It may be that the Lord will send you back to give you a second chance to get it right.

1 Hezekiah 5:12: When thou diest, thou shalt become one of the holy angels.

There's just one problem with these quotations; like the fictitious books, they aren't in the Bible, anywhere. I remember one other odd thing from my childhood that was supposed to be in the Bible. My father used to say that Jesus was the only man who ever was, or ever could be, exactly six feet tall. I don't know where that originated, and I never heard anyone else say it.

The other ideas are widespread, though, and the last two, especially, are perpetuated by the popular media. All of us have seen movies about people who were given a second chance at life, or who died and became angels. This is an extension of the idea, which the Bible never teaches, that we get to heaven if we do enough good deeds. The idea itself is nothing new; the Pharisees taught that the Messiah would return if the whole nation of Israel would obey all of the commandments of the law, including the multitude of regulations they added themselves. This is legalism, and the the apostle Paul, especially, fought against it in several of his letters.

Ephesians 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Even the faith by which we are saved, Paul says, comes from God. If we could be saved by our good deeds, Christ need not have died for our sins. No one can claim not to have sinned, or to be good enough to be saved. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; We can be saved only through faith in Christ. Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

This takes all of the pressure on us. We don't have to constantly worry if we're good enough to be saved. That's an impossible task, for us, but Christ has already done the impossible. Sin is a debt we could never hope to pay on our own, but Christ has already paid the price.

What about angels? The Bible says they are ministering spirits, used by God to fulfill purposes that can't always be entrusted to men. Heb 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. Like men, angels are created beings, not dead humans who mutate. Hebrews 2:6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? 7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:

What about coming back after death, as an angel or otherwise? We only die once, the Bible says, and after that comes the judgment, not a second chance (Hebrews 9:27). The choices we make in this lifetime will determine what happens to us for all eternity.

The idea that we should help ourselves first before turning to God is another side of this same coin; we can accomplish what we need to accomplish on our own, with God being some sort of heavenly helper we turn to as a last resort. The basis of the idea is the same kind of spiritual pride for which the Savior condemned the Pharisees. God should be our first resort, not the last, no matter how small or large the problems. Jesus pointed out that the same God who cares for the flowers of the field and the birds of the air cares enough for details that even the hairs of our head are numbered (Matthew 6:25-33). It's not a matter, Christ said, of worrying about meeting our needs, but of setting our priorities, with God's kingdom first. Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Our help comes from the throne of God, and nowhere in the Bible are we told that we must exhaust our own resources before turning to him.

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Copyright 2008 by Gary W. Cavendish. This article may be freely used so long as due credit is given. For more articles, see the author's website at www.onlinechristianstores.biz. Gary is the author of 4 books, all Christian fiction, and numerous articles. He is a retired Federal employee, grandfather, and webmaster. He is available to write articles for a fee. Contact him at admin@onlinechristianstores.biz.

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