“No, Jesus did not die on the cross, and he did not die for
our sins.” Muhammad said to one of the guys from the Ohio team. “If we have
more good deeds than bad deeds, then God will pardon us on the day of
judgment”.
This is the Islamic view of salvation. Muhammad was a very
knowledgeable and articulate man, and he had a lot of arguments against
Christianity. Hearing their discussion, I said, “Excuse me, I’ve been
listening to your conversation and I just have one question: you believe in a
Holy God, you believe in a day of judgment, and you believe in hell fire, but
even if you have more good deeds than bad deeds, you’ve still lived an
imperfect life. Now tell me, how can a Holy God be impressed or satisfied with
your imperfect and only partially righteous life?” I followed up by saying,
“You have not lived up to God’s standards, and you know it. If God is going to
accept your imperfect life, then He must lower His standards and become
unholy.” This led to a very deep and meaningful discussion about what it means
for God to be “holy” and how sinful men can be made righteous in His sight. I ended
by saying, “Muhammad, we both believe in a Holy God, a day of judgment, and hell
fire. The difference between you and I is this: I believe in a mediator – Jesus
Christ, the Son of God - who has fulfilled the righteous requirement of God’s
law, who has suffered the wrath of God in my place, and who has made his
righteousness available to sinners so that we can be righteous, not by our
works, but by his.” He confessed that he has never thought about these things,
and he thanked me for sharing. I gave him my contact info and I hope to hear
from him again soon.
