#67. A Good Samaritan Goes to Hell

The following two passages of Scripture were spoken by Jesus, so the good book say.

Passage-1: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. 

Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’” – Luke 10:30-35 (NLT)

Passage-2: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6 (NLT)

 The bottom line in Christianity is that Passage-2 trumps Passage-1. Christendom claims that the only way to get into heaven when we die is to be saved by accepting Jesus as our savior. Good deeds are commendable, but they are meaningless as far as salvation is concerned. We are saved by faith in Jesus, not by good works. Good actions during our earthly sojourn do not get a single soul into heaven.

Such reasoning means that the good Samaritan in Jesus’ parable would die and go to hell for eternity. Why? He had not been ‘born again’. The Jewish priest and his assistant both refused to help the half-dead man lying on the street. They would not even touch him. But had they been saved (you know -- born again Christians), heaven would be their just reward. WOW!

I am worried sick about that guy in hell. Yeah, I know it's only a parable. Oh, I found the answer ... toward the end of the good book.

Passage-3: “Dear brothers and sisters, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can’t save anyone. Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you say, ‘Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well’ but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is not faith at all – it is dead and useless... I can’t see your faith if you don’t have good deeds, but I will show you my faith through my good deeds.” – James 2:14-18 (NLT)

In this third passage, you are reading the words of Jesus’ brother, James. But then, what does he know? Did he accept Jesus as his personal savior?

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