“I don’t deserve to be saved”

by Didact | Oct 13, 2024 | Christianity | 1 comment

The Almost False podcast is a channel run by a young chap named Gabriel, who has made it his mission to bring the stories and witness testimonies to the world. He does a fantastic job of it, too, as he simply lets his guests speak, and respectfully listens to them – as any good interviewer should.

In a recent episode, he spoke with a former militant atheist, who had what we today would call a “near death experience” – but, in fact, the man in question DID die. He was genuinely DEAD – indeed, he claims he died several times over during his ride to the hospital.

Bryan Melvin died of cholera – “the black shit”, a Dirt World disease caused by drinking water infested with all sorts of nasty organisms. Anyone who is even remotely familiar with the awful hygiene standards of the Dirt World, understands just what a miserable way that is to die.

The fact that this man is still alive, is a miracle in and of itself. The fact that he went to Hell, and then came back to report on what he saw, is something only God can do. That is, in his words, exactly what happened:

The whole video is well worth watching, but his testimony about what Hell looks like, is astonishing. If true – and I think it is – then it shows Hell to be a place where people end up, because they CHOOSE to be there, because they actively REJECT God and His teachings. When they end up in Hell, they think they are in a wonderful place – at first.

This is entirely consistent with the teachings of Scripture, which tell us that the Devil comes to us in the form of an angel of light – as a fair and beautiful creature, but with an edge of something sinister beneath that beauty. It is the same thing with Hell.

The part of his description of Hell, that relates to the “spiralling conveyor belt”, as it were, is very interesting indeed, from an intellectual point of view, because it sort of confirms the descriptions of Hell given by Dante Alighieri in his Inferno. While that is a work of inspired genius, there does appear to be a kernel of truth to it.

I would not go so far as to argue that this therefore confirms the dogma of Purgatory – I have always thought this dogma makes no sense, and has no basis in real Scripture. But, insofar as an accurate description of Hell, Mr. Melvin provides one of the best that you will ever find.

And, keep in mind, the people who are in Hell, are there of their own free will. They rejected God. They chose to stand with the world, against God – rather than with God, against the world. Hell is their reward for this choice.

That should terrify you. It should terrify us all. This life is the ONLY chance we have to obey and conform to God’s Law. We have just ONE chance to accept God’s loving presence into our hearts, and to devote ourselves – however imperfectly – to speaking and living the Word.

The part of Mr. Melvin’s testimony that hit the hardest, though – by far – was when he said:

“I don’t deserve to be saved.”

That is true of single one of us. Not ONE – no matter how holy, no matter how kind or decent or giving – deserves to be saved. Our greatest works truly are as filthy rags – and if you know your Bible, you know the actual meaning of that phrase – before the Lord our God.

Not ONE of us deserves to stand in the presence of God – our sins are so great, our wickedness is so heavy, that He has every right to wipe us out of existence with a mere thought.

Yet, God saves those who seek Him, by grace through faith.

Do you realise and understand the kind of patience and love that takes?

God somehow finds it within Himself to forgive those who have transgressed against Him endlessly, with practically every moment and every breath during their time on Earth, and yet He is able to grant everlasting life and eternal communion to those who sincerely repent of their sins, and seek Him out.

That forgiveness does not come for free. Every Christian knows and understands there is a price to pay. Jesus paid that price for us, spilling His precious blood on the Cross, dying in the worst agony imaginable. But we also must pay a price.

Sometimes that price involves turning our backs upon those who love us the most on this Earth – because telling them the truth about the Lord, of His true nature, would mortally offend their sensibilities. That is the way of Truth: it ALWAYS burns those who do not want to hear it.

And sometimes – all too often, actually, especially in the case of our friends who were once Moose Limbs, and turned their backs on that appalling heresy of the Word – that means we die for our faith.

Yet… as Scripture says – “O Death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?”.

Jesus died, so we might live. Eventually, we all have to answer for our time on Earth – and if we choose, of our own free will, to accept that priceless gift He gave us, then perhaps our time here might amount to something.

If we refuse it… well, there is a place for us, and it is awful. But, ultimately, we end up there because we chose to be there.

That does not mean we who accept Christ’s gift should feel in any way superior. In almost every way that counts, we are much worse. We are wretched, broken, sinful, wicked, and foolish. Not ONE of us deserves to be saved.

Yet God does it anyway – because that is the kind of God He is.

And that, surely, is a God worthy of praise and worship.