If Being Good Can Not Save a Soul…

Then God Was Mistaken to Think He Could Accept Cain

If being good, or righteous, can not save a soul then in the second salvation scripture in our Bibles God shouldn’t have told Cain he would be accepted him if he simply didn’t kill his brother Abel:

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:6-7)

Solomon Was a Dreamer

If being good, or righteous, can not save a soul then Solomon was a dreamer for expecting what became known as the Jewish Hope of Righteousness, which is the Resurrection of the Righteous:

Ill-gotten gains do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. (Proverbs 10:2)

When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation. (Proverbs 10:25)

The hope of the righteous shall be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. (Proverbs 10:28)

Riches will not provide security in the day of wrath and judgment, but righteousness rescues from death. (Proverbs 11:4)

And Ezekiel was a False Prophet

If being good can not save a soul then Ezekiel was a false prophet pretending to speak for God when he told his people:

“If a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life,” and, “As I live, said the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” (Ezekiel 18:27, 33:11)

The King of Nineveh Was a Used Car Salesman

If being good can not save a soul then the King of Nineveh in the book of Jonah was being a used car salesman, misrepresenting the nature of God to be compassionate when he said:

“Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” (Jonah 3:8-9)

Jesus was Fooled by Jonah

If being good can not save a soul then Jesus was fooled by Jonah:

“The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah.”  (Matthew 12:41

Jesus and His Fellow Jews Had a False Hope in the Hope of Righteousness

If being good can not save a soul then Jesus, Paul, John, and their fellow Jews had a false hope in the Hope of Righteousness:

“And you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the Resurrection of the Righteous.” (Luke 14:14)

“I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.” (Acts 24:15)

For we through the Spirit, by faithfulness, are waiting for the Hope of Righteousness. (Galatians 5:5)

The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:17)

Paul was not an Apostle

If being good can not save a soul then Paul was not an Apostle because he said that God will grant eternal life to those who do good:

For [God] will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth [of righteousness] and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. (Romans 2:6-9)

The Author of Hebrews was a Whack Job

If being good can not save a soul then the author of Hebrews was a whack job for saying Jesus became the author of salvation for those who obey him:

Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. (Hebrews 5:8-9)

Jesus was not the Messiah

If being good can not save a soul then Jesus was not the Messiah but rather one of many itinerate preachers preaching their own religion:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.’”  (Matthew 25:31-46)

God has no Love and Compassion for Non-Christians

If being good can not save a soul then God has no love and compassion for the multitude of non-Christians who are not wicked, even though the scriptures say that God loves righteous people:

The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked. He hates those who love violence. For the Lord is righteous, he loves righteousness. The upright will behold His face. (Psalm 11:5,7)

The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but He loves the one who pursues righteousness. (Proverbs 15:9)

Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised. But he honors those who fear the Lord; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. (Psalm 15)

God Doesn’t Care About or Delight in Kindness, Justice, and Righteousness

If being good can not save a soul then rather than delighting in kindness, justice, and righteousness like Ezekiel said and God couldn’t care less about those things and we don’t know God:

“Let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. (Ezekiel 9:24)

God is Unjust

If being good can not save a soul then God is unjust for condemning man for being the way we are made to be by God, which is good and upright:

See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (Ecclesiastes 7:29)

We are Wasting our Time on Sinners

If being good can not save a soul then we are wasting our time trying to get a sinner to turn from the error of his way even though James said,

Consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and cover over a multitude of sins. (James 5:20)

God’s Efforts Were in Vain

If being good can not save a soul then all of God’s efforts were in vain to give us so many things to help us to be good. These include the Torah (the Law of Moses), the prophets, captivity, Jesus’ teaching, his example, his crucifixion and resurrection, the Law of Christ, repentance, the covenants, the Gospel, the Kingdom of God, the scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and ministers today.

The Evangelists in the Bible were Misleading

If being good can not save a soul then John the Baptist’s, Jesus’ and Paul’s evangelistic messages were incomplete and therefore misleading:

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Matthew 3:1-2)

But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew 3:7-8)

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” (Luke 10:25-28)

“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.” (Acts 26:19-21)

Jesus Made it Harder to Get Saved

If being good can not save a soul then in the New Covenant, repentance, by itself, can not save a soul like it did during the Old Covenant. Something must be added in addition to repentance, making it harder to get saved with the advent of Christ, causing more people to be condemned than if Jesus had stayed away. But Jesus came to make it easier to get saved:

For the law was given through Moses; graciousness and the truth [of right living] came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)

Christianity is Just Another Gnostic Religion

If being good can not save a soul then what really pleases God is what a person believes, not how they live, and Christianity is just another Gnostic religion, giving people the knowledge they need to be saved, rather than God reaching out to man to call them to repentance and righteous living.

Our Bibles Can’t be Trusted

If being good can not save a soul then our Bibles are too full of errors to be trusted regarding matters of eternal life.

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To learn more about restoring an apostolic and 1st Century biblical view of salvation I recommend starting here:
Salvation by Being Good – Table of Contents

Introduction to Salvation by Being Good

Salvation by Being Good

Love, Righteousness & Salvation: Foundational Christianity

Scriptures That Teach All Men Will Be Judged by Their Conduct, Not Their Belief