You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! ~James 2:19
We spent this morning discussing the beliefs of some in the Church who profess to show their faith without works and those who show their faith through works.
The interesting thing about this discussion was that there are those who believe only in their own works. There are many religions that claim that human beings can work their way to heaven. Islam is one of those that proclaims this very loud and clear. Surah 16:97 states “Whoever does good, whether male or female, and is a believer, We will surely bless them with a good life, and We will certainly reward them according to the best of their deeds.” Your reward is solely based upon how well you have followed the 5 Pillars of the Muslim faith and how many good deeds you have done.
When I was a Muslim, I used to wonder (and ask others) “what is good?” How do you know? What I might think is good might be considered bad to another. What is meant by a “good life” in the verse above? What does that “good life” look like? Is it prosperity? Is it a guarantee of entering Paradise? How do you know how many good deeds you need to enter into heaven? As someone who was very goal-oriented, I needed to know just how many good deeds I needed- just like I needed to know how many points I needed on my next exam to get an A grade and pass my course. I wanted to get an A on the ultimate course of life and make it into heaven. That was a great desire of mine because much of the Quran speaks about hellfire and damnation.
The basic tenet of Islam, however, is the belief in ONE God, Allah (this is called the “TAWHEED” or oneness). The Shahadah (statement of belief, confession or creed) states that “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Rasul (messenger).” If someone simply recites this statement in the presence of another Muslim, they become a Muslim right on the spot. The big question, however, is “Does this statement get me into Paradise?” The answer is a resounding “NO.”
The verdict is still out in Islam on how exactly one gets to enter into Paradise and who will enter Paradise. This is an even more difficult task for women, since Muhammad said that women don’t have good odds of entering.
If you look at the Muslim question and answer boards like Islamqa.com, there are many who are wondering the same thing – they are left scratching their heads even after having an Imam (Muslim cleric) answer their questions like this one: https://islamqa.info/en/answers/147996/will-every-muslim-enter-paradise-even-if-he-was-a-hypocrite-or-did-not-pray-or-committed-shirk
“Verily, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths (grade) of the Fire; no helper will you find for them” [an-Nisa’ 4:145].
But if what you meant by hypocrites is those who fall into some acts of hypocrisy, such as lying or betraying a trust or breaking a promise; or he fell into some kind of minor shirk, such as showing off or swearing by something other than Allah; or who fell into some major or minor sin – such a person does not become a kaafir just by doing that thing. It does not put him beyond the pale of Islam and he will not spend eternity in Hell because of it, if he dies believing in Tawheed. Rather his case is up to Allah: if He wills He will punish him for his sin, then admit him to Paradise because of his belief in Tawheed, or He will bestow His grace upon him from the outset and admit him into Paradise and forgive him for the sins that he committed. Al-Bukhaari (6933) and Muslim (1659) narrated that Abu Dharr said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Jibreel appeared to me at the side of the harrah and said: ‘Give your ummah the glad tidings that whoever dies not associating anything with Allah will enter Paradise.’ I said: ‘O Jibreel, even if he steals and even if commits zina?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ I said: ‘Even if he steals and even if commits zina?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ I said: ‘Even if he steals and even if he commits zina?’ He said: ‘Yes, and even if he drinks alcohol.’ And Allah knows best.”
Islam Question & Answer
That answer would not give me much hope, since I have said and done hypocritical things in my life!
The passage above references the Tawheed (oneness of Allah). If you look at all the answers in the link, the first answer states that anyone who commits “shirk” (adding partners to Allah) will be in hell-fire.
“Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases, and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin. [an-Nisa’ 4:48]. “
This brings us back to the verse from the book of James. It is not enough to simply believe that God is one. James states that “…Even the demons believe—and shudder!” James was referring to Deuteronomy 6:4 which was a creed for the Jews ““Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!” Just because you believe in the God of Moses or Abraham did not mean that you were saved from hellfire. A “saving faith” means that you don’t just recite a creed or a confession and go on with your life. Your faith needs to rest in more than that.
That faith also doesn’t rely upon your own “good” works because how does one know they will ever be good enough to please God? Your faith needs to rest in more than that.
The demons shudder because they have knowledge (and faith, dare we say?) that there is only ONE God. However, their fate is not heaven, but hellfire. The truth is that they are utterly condemned and they understand this as a reality… that’s why they shudder.
So what does our faith need to rest upon?
It’s not a creed. It’s not a statement. It’s not a confession. It is a Person.
We believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. The only work that will save us and make us right with God is the work Jesus Christ completed on the cross at Calvary over 2000 years ago. He is the only one who is the way to heaven.
We can rest upon Christ and Christ alone.