JOHN KAUER Are You Considered as Good as Jesus?
Summary
The Bible states that any sin will keep a person separated from God forever (John 3:36). While many people strive to attain God’s righteousness, it is impossible in our fallen, sinful state. Instead, the price Jesus paid alone cleanses believers from sin, and His works are credited to Christians the moment they believe.
Introduction
I have lived in Utah since 2008. When I visit my home state of Texas, Christians often ask, “What do you say to Mormon people when you go witnessing?” I let them know that we have not found the way, a silver bullet, but a way to get into a gospel conversation quickly and to the point. By “to the point,” I am referring to the idea that Christianity parts ways with Mormonism, even though Latter-day Saints may claim that faith in Jesus is necessary for forgiveness of sins. However, they probably have never thought it is necessary to be perfectly righteous in the sight of God this side of the judgment seat. Getting Mormons to see beyond their superficial and works-oriented view of salvation is my goal.
I like this approach because it allows me to talk to someone about Jesus without getting into a quarrel about competing versions of Jesus. In Mormonism, Jesus does not have the power to justify sinners; He is only capable of showing the way to live as an example, as a person’s own merits are ultimately needed to achieve forgiveness.1
Justification by faith alone and through Christ alone was the rallying cry of those who participated in the Reformation. What does it mean to be justified? And what part does Jesus play in it? Christian Reformer John Calvin wrote, “We explain justification simply as the acceptance with which God receives us into his favor as righteous men. And we say that it consists in the remission of sins and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.”2
Justification is a legal term that means to declare a person righteous before God according to His standard, which is God’s own righteousness. It is the opposite of condemnation, which is a declaration of unrighteousness and a guilty sentence. Jesus came to fulfill the law; He obeyed His Father in all things to merit righteousness for all His people. So, a person who is “born again” is imputed, or credited, with Christ’s righteousness, and the punishment for sin is removed. All of Jesus’s works are needed for a person to be considered righteous before God’s sight. It is not just a state of never having sinned, which is morally neutral ground, but it is a positive record of having done everything right.
A Dialogue with Jim
One day during the Provo City Center Temple open house3 in January 2016, I was positioned on a public sidewalk near the busiest entry. Because the weather was so cold, I was dressed as if I were ice fishing for men. I asked the passersby, “Are you considered as good as Jesus?” No matter the answer, I offered a tract—I call them “gospel cards”—to each one. Few took me up on my offer. However, at just the right time—isn’t that the way it works with a sovereign God?—a man named Jim who appeared to be in his sixties approached me and gave the common platitude that “Mormons are Christian too.” What this really means is, “Why are you handing out your information at our event?” I ignored his comment and began to engage him with the gospel message.
“Are you considered as good as Jesus?” I asked with a smile. Jim was puzzled and stopped to consider my question.
“Well, no one is perfect,” he replied.
“Except for Jesus, you are correct,” I responded. Then I added this important phrase: “But we all have broken His commandments.” I used the phrase “broken His commandments” instead of “sin” when referring to personal guilt. I asked, “What if God could consider you as good as Jesus today? Would that be good news?”
Jim immediately replied, “Of course it would, but it is not possible. I am not through doing all I can do. You don’t think we just believe and then do nothing, do you?”
When sharing the faith, it is important to have a Bible readily available to reference appropriate verses that support the Christian position. Thus, I pulled out my copy and turned to 2 Corinthians 5:21. Holding the pages so he could follow along, I read, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Our conversation went like this:
Jim: Yes, this is what the atonement is for. We need Jesus to sacrifice Himself and pay for the sins of the world so we can return to Him.
Me: I agree. Jesus had to die to pay for the sins of His people so that they may be forgiven, which is the same as if no commandments were broken. But is this all we need to “become the righteousness of God”? It says here that Jesus never sinned, so that would mean He always kept the law. He did everything Heavenly Father asked Him to do. Would you agree?
Jim: Yes, Jesus never sinned.
Me: Do you know why Jesus lived 33 years before dying on a cross? It was so He could fulfill the law on our behalf as the second Adam. He could have been put to death as an infant and still paid the penalty of sin; however, He needed to not only die for us, but also live.
Jim mumbled with a puzzled expression. At this point, I paused in the conversation to give him an opportunity to think. At the same time, I prayed, Please, Father, let me continue. Holy Spirit, open this man’s heart, ears, and eyes, so he may see Jesus high and lifted up for sinners. There is no sense in rushing things. If God was at work, I knew Jim would remain with me until the providential end. I got out a pencil during this transition and turned to a new page in my notebook. “I will draw it out for you,” I said, adding, “I am a visual person, so this may help.”
At this point, I drew a cross bar and explained how the top part was an infinite righteousness while the bottom part represented infinite sin. Because a dose of humor at this point in the conversation was needed, I drew tic marks down the vertical axis as I humorously told him how everyone is a sinner, though some are better at it than others. I explained how everyone is doing some type of good works, drawing tic marks up the vertical axis (see below).
I asked, “Can you tell me some good works you have accomplished?” As Jim listed several of his honorable deeds, I wrote them on the piece of paper. I even included some additional points so he could have plenty of good works from which to choose. However, I left a significant gap at the top. Then I cited 2 Nephi 25:23 from the Book of Mormon, which says, “We know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” The conversation continued:
Me: Are you trusting Jesus to pay for your sins [pointing to the bottom part] if you do all you can do [pointing to his list of works]?4
Jim: Yes.
Me: And would you agree that Jesus’s grace to you is that portion you lack in perfection [pointing to the portion of the vertical line between Jim’s works and infinite righteousness]?
Jim: Exactly, you’ve got it!
Me: As a review, what has Jesus done? He has suffered for the penalty of sin we all deserve, and that puts us at a morally neutral point [as I motioned to the intersection, which is 0]. However, this is not the righteousness of God, is it? We also need His righteous works added to our account so we would be considered as good as He is.
Jim: Oh, now I understand your question, “Are you considered as good as Jesus?” But didn’t you say that could happen right now, or something like that?
Me: Yes, I did. And the reason we can be considered as good as Jesus right now is because I am trusting in all His works already done for me instead of my works done for me. If I may, let’s think for a minute about some of the things Jesus did as He obeyed the Father. He woke up early before the sun came up and went on a hike into the woods just to pray. It would be a miracle to get me up before the sun to go on a hike to pray; but this is only the beginning. He prayed for the right things, with the right motives, for as long as He was supposed to, and without falling asleep. Have you always prayed like that?
Jim: No, I have not.
Me: So, does the quality of Jesus’s work exceed yours?
Jim: [reluctantly] Yes.
Me: Have you raised anyone from the dead, healed the blind, made the lame walk, or even preached an awesome sermon to a crowd of people who were ready to throw stones at you?
Jim: [chuckling] No.
Me: Well, then, you can see that our works are not as many or as good as Jesus’s works. He has better works than we do, both quality and quantity.
Looking back to the chart, I drew an arrow from the bottom all the way to the top and asked, “Do you see how much I am trusting in Jesus?” While Jim thought about that question, I put away the notebook and reached for my Bible, turning to Romans 4:1-5. I asked, “Do you remember the big question, ‘Are you considered as good as Jesus?’ This is what it means to be justified before God.” I then read the good news given to us by Paul:
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
I looked at Jim and said, “Here it is again. ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’ God gave him a right standing the moment Abraham believed.” I read verses 4 and 5:
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
I said, “The way I see it, Jim, you are working to get paid with the little bit of Jesus’s righteousness you need to top off your account. However, you could simply trust in all His works and receive them without working for them. Isn’t this good news?” I received no answer from Jim and sensed that the discussion was ending. With nothing more to add, I turned to Philippians 3:2-9 as I made a call to repentance:
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish [or, my interpretation, “poop”], in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
I prefer to substitute the word for rubbish (Greek: skubalon, which means “any refuse, as the excrement of animals”) as poop. Doing so can add a little bit of levity to a tense moment. At this point, I put away the Bible and brought my notebook back out.
Me: If this was Paul’s chart of good works, then he would have placed them here (as I pointed to Jim’s list of virtuous works). He considers them as poop to gain Christ’s works. You see, to put on Christ’s works like a robe, it is necessary to come to Him without anything on. You cannot be wearing any of your own works. You must consider them as filthy stained rags, as Isaiah 64:6 says. Can you do that?
Jim: [not amused] What do you mean?
Me: [pointing to his list of good works on the chart] Do you consider your temple marriage as only for this life and not for eternity? Are you willing to get baptized again because your baptism did not count? Do you consider your missionary work a waste of time? Is your priesthood authority void? Is your tithing record just a way to buy forgiveness? Will you consider it all as “poop,” trading it all for Christ’s perfect works?
I then let a few seconds go by before I calmly asked, “Do you see how much I am trusting in Christ? I do good works, but I am not trusting in them. I trust in Jesus’s baptism, His preaching and teaching, His prayers and not my own. He did it better than me. I want His record, not mine.”
Jim was either red from exposure to the cold or hot under the collar. He firmly replied, “I see your point, but works must have something to do with it. You cannot just say you believe and that’s it. You must be baptized to be saved. You need to do your temple work. God called me on my mission.” He turned to me, squaring his body with mine, and asked, “Have you ever been a Mormon?” When I told him that I hadn’t, he handed back my gospel card and, just before he turned to walk away, said, “Then you just don’t understand me.”
That was the last time I saw Jim. He did not come back after his temple tour. He did not have any way of contacting me because he had returned the card. I will probably never know if Jim ever searched the Bible to see if these things were true. His reaction to the gospel is commonly seen here in Utah.
Perhaps you think my call to repentance in the manner that I delivered it to Jim might have been too harsh. Maybe the way I did it would not be your method. If that is true, I encourage you to use your own way of calling people to turn from trusting in their works. To me, the illustration on the paper, along with the Bible references, laid out the line I was asking Jim to cross. If God the Father were drawing him to God the Son by the power of God the Spirit, then Jim would be ready to repent of all his works and trust in Christ’s works.
In whatever way it is accomplished, sharing the gospel is a worthwhile endeavor. I worshipped Jesus that day, and it was sweet. I opened my heart to let a man named Jim enter my world for a few minutes. I keep a journal where I write the names of those I’ve witnessed to and record a bit of information to remind me of the conversations. I often go back over the list to think about my encounters and pray for each person. My trust is in a big God who does what He wants, when He wants, and however He wants. I am privileged to be used by Him and be allowed to participate in the sharing of the gospel.
John Kauer (Santaquin, Utah) is the treasurer and lead Utah evangelist for the ministry Think About Eternity (www.ThinkAboutEternity.org). John has been witnessing to Mormons since the 2002 Winter Olympic Games held in Salt Lake City. He received his BA from the University of Texas in Arlington in finance and his master’s in biblical studies from Dallas Theological Seminary.