"What a Good Boy am I!"

Several weeks ago I ran across an interview on Fresh Air featuring Dr. John Hagee. You can hear the interview here. If you are not familiar with Dr. Hagee, he is a dispensationalist on steroids. However, I came away from the interview more concerned about Dr. Hagee's soteriology than his eschatology.

When asked about who is going to Heaven Dr. Hagee replies, "There is no market on who's going to heaven. Only God himself knows who those people are who are walking and living as they should." [emphasis added] The interviewer later asked Dr. Hagee, "What are you doing to prepare [for the rapture]?" Dr. Hagee responds, "I am doing what I do everyday. I live right, read the bible, pray, try to treat other people like I would like to be treated and I am going to leave the rest to the grace of God." [emphasis added]

Now if you asked Dr. Hagee do you believe in a works based salvation, I would guess that he would resound with an emphatic "no." However, his theology clearly does not match up with sola fide. My question is who among us is "walking and living as they should?" Moreover, who is "living right?" If you lower the requirements of holiness to being a moral person you may have a few. However, the demands of the law are far greater- you must be perfect. Have I loved God with all my heart? Have I loved my neighbor as myself? If you have never done so, I would invite you to review the Westminster Larger Catechism questions 103-149. I think you will come away with the same conclusion as I did: most mornings I break all of the ten (10) commandments before I walk out the door for work. Where is our hope then?!

A dying J. Gresham Machen in a telegram sent to John Murray said, "I'm so thankful for active obedience of Christ. No hope without it." Meredith Kline comments on Machen's death bed declaration:

"The active obedience of Jesus is his fulfilling the demands of the covenant probation. By the passive obedience of his atoning sacrifice he secures for us the forgiveness of sins. But he does more than clear the slate and reinstate us in Adam's original condition, still facing probation and able to fail. Jesus, the second Adam, accomplishes the probationary assignment of overcoming the devil, and by performing this one decisive act of righteousness he earns for us God's promised reward. By this achievement of active obedience he merits for us a position beyond probation, secure forever in God's love and the prospect of God's eternal home." Meredith G. Kline, Covenant Theology Under Attack.

Dr. Hagee, I am leaving it all up to the active obdience of Christ. No hope without it.