by Tim Challies
05/23/1
Near the center of every religion is a ledger. Every religion acknowledges, on one level or another, that people do good things and bad things and every religion then maintains a tally, supposing that one day there will come a reckoning. Every religion hopes that on the day of accounting, the day of the audit, the good will outnumber or outweigh the bad. There is hope for those who come to that day with a surplus and no hope for those who come with a deficit.
Islam acknowledges sin—deeds that contradict the will of Allah—and calls its adherents to do good that will outweigh the bad. Good deeds are repentance, prayer and certain acts of charity and kindness. Each of these go in the ledger as credits meant to balance the debits.
Judaism acknowledges sin—violations of God’s commandments—and calls on its adherents to make atonement, reparation of relationship with God, through the good work of repentance, through making right the wrongs done to another person, through prayer and devotion. Each of these is a black entry in the ledger that may outweigh the red.
Buddhism acknowledges sin, or something like it, and calls on its adherents to avoid it in favor of something higher and better. Bad deeds bring bad karma which must be outweighed by the good deeds that bring about good karma. When the accounting comes, the good must outweigh the bad, or fate will not be kind.
Hinduism acknowledges deeds that draw us toward and deeds that draw us away, though a Hindu would hesitate to describe such deeds as sin. Still, it calls on its adherents to repent of what they have done that is bad and to restore parity with repentance or acts of contrition.
Christianity, the Christianity of the Bible, acknowledges sin—acts that transgress or do not fully accord with God’s revealed will—and calls on its adherents to avoid sin altogether. There is a ledger in the Christian faith, but a unique ledger. This ledger allows no balancing. The moment there is one red mark, the moment any sin is entered in the balance sheet, the books are closed. Baptism merits nothing; penance and confession merit nothing; good deeds bring no good karma and no merit in the eyes of God. Balance cannot be restored by any human action.
What can be done? The answer is simple: the account must be settled by someone else. Merit cannot be intrinsic, so it must be extrinsic. And this is where we look to Christ in faith, faith that acknowledges that Christ’s merit can be—has been—applied to us and faith that is itself a gift of God. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). The debt is canceled, it is paid, exclusively and eternally by the work of Jesus Christ.
GreenEars and Sham 
David Wollard
/ September 30, 2012Excellent post Josh. It’s all so simple yet for so many seemingly beyond their grasp! David
Eric
/ October 1, 2012Joshua,
I enjoyed the post and it really is that simple. The scripture I posted below has come up in several circles and even in a message I heard from John Bevere. What do you think about this inrelation to your post?
In Him,
Eric
1 Corinthians 3:12-20
New International Version (NIV)
12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
Joshua C Grenier
/ October 10, 2012Eric,
Sorry it has taken me several days to get back to you. First, let me say thank you for your comment. Second, let me immediately tell you that I am possibly a bit confused with your question. I am not absolutely sure what you are implying. If I go off base in my reply please forgive and correct me.
With that in mind, I am not certain what these verses have to do with the post “The Ledger” at all. What I noticed immediately is that you bring up a passage in the middle of a chapter, out of context. What tends to be helpful in understanding scripture properly is putting it back in the context. In 1 Corinthians 3, as with the entire letter, Paul is addressing the problems within the Corinthian church. The problem presented in this chapter is one that explains how they have been absent good sound doctrine and, likewise, not discerning enough of unsound heretical doctrine. (Gold, Silver, Precious Stones-Good and Solid Teaching) (Wood, Hay, Straw-Bad and Unsound Teaching) He is speaking to all of the church, of and, also, to it’s preachers and teachers. This passage has very little to do with the particular “who” that is building, but rather the “what” is being built upon. The foundation upon which the Church is to be built must be Jesus Christ and His Gospel. Preachers and teachers must beware of the foundation, and how and what they build upon this foundation. And those being preached to and taught ought to be discerning between that which is true and that which if false. Become “meat” eaters instead of “milk” drinkers.
My advice would be to put the passage back into context, read and understand why Paul is writing this letter, and then proceed to read the entire letter. The passage will be clearer then. If you have any further questions, or if I have understood you wrongly, please let me know. Thank you.
Josh