I am doing the best I can, I shall not be far wrong in the end.
MY friend, you deceive yourself. You are not doing the best you can—that your friends and neighbors know right well. Allowing that to pass, however, you must face this, that God has a standard by which He measures, and that standard is absolute perfection—"the glory of God." You talk of "doing your best." God says, "There is none that doeth good, no not one," (Rom. 3:1212They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Romans 3:12).) You talk of "not being far wrong in the end." God says, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23).) You have come short of the divine standard, and whether far wrong in the end or not, you will certainly be wrong in the end. That is the point; for in the matter of obtaining salvation a miss is as good as a mile.
And Satan—oh, the pity of it!—is using these ideas to blind you to the greatness of God's salvation, which through the precious blood of Christ has been provided for sinners, whose very best falls far short of His holy and unalterable demands. Be wise in time and accept salvation on God's terms.
An eternity of suffering cannot be a just punishment for a short lifetime of sin.
The Lord Jesus spoke very plainly as to the future of the lost. He said "these shall go away into everlasting punishment." (Matt. 25:4646And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:46).) You pronounce this unjust, and therefore deny it. Are you, then, a better judge of what is just and right than He?
Do not forget that one sin of Adam's closed the gate of an earthly paradise against him and his posterity forever. God did that, for sin is to Him perfectly abhorrent. Was it just? Yes or no. Dare you say, No? Then man, repent of your wickedness, for "who art thou that repliest against God?" Will you say, Yes? Then you think that eternal banishment from God cannot be a just result to flow from a lifetime of sin and neglected opportunities of salvation.
Leave others out of the question, and think of yourself alone. You have had, and are having, countless opportunities of salvation. You let them slip. You die a sinner in your sins, and leave the world of change for the world where everything is fixed. You must go into the eternal dark of banishment from God. The door closes behind you forever, and your blood is upon your own head.
I am waiting for God's time, and can do nothing until it comes.
There is a mistake somewhere. You cannot be waiting for God's time, for the simple reason that God's time is now. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord." (Isa. 1:18.) "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2).)
But, though not waiting for God's time, you are waiting, and thus neglecting the great salvation. You belong to one of two classes. Perhaps you are a fatalist, looking upon yourself as a piece of mere machinery, controlled by a blind fate, and forgetting that you are a responsible creature. You forget, too, that, as far as God is concerned, He desires "all men to be saved" (See 1 Tim. 2:44Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4)), and that the hitch is not with Him, but with you. "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life" (John 5:4040And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. (John 5:40).) True, you cannot do anything, but you certainly can submit, you can yield. Submit, then, at once. Perhaps, however, you are a trifler, and this is a mere quibble to cover your follies or your sins. O trifler! "How can ye escape the damnation of hell?”
God is too good to consign any to perdition.
You say that God is good. From whence did you get that information? Not from nature, nor from the world, for death, destruction, and misery mark both. That idea comes from the Bible. To the Bible, then, let us turn. Mark these words:
“The Lord God ... abundant in goodness and truth ... and that will by no means clear the guilty."(Ex. 34:6-76And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. (Exodus 34:6‑7).) Again:" Despisest thou the riches of His goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." (Rom. 2:4-54Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 5But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; (Romans 2:4‑5).)
You travel on, O sinner, to the day of righteous judgment and of wrath! But God is good—He is, but His goodness expresses itself not in a silly and weak-kneed sentimentality, that passes over everything and makes no distinction between right and wrong, but in seeking to lead you to repentance. To reject God's goodness is to invite His judgment. "Except ye repent, ye SHALL all likewise perish." (Luke 13:33I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3).)
F. B. H.