What is "a Good Christian"?

In the book of Matthew, where the Judgment Day is depicted for us in the imagery of One seated upon a throne and dividing the sheep from the goats, the test of a man then is not, “How have I believed?” but “How have I loved?” . . . Sins of commission in that awful indictment are not even referred to. By what we have not done, by sins of omission, we are judged. It could not be otherwise. For the withholding of love is the negation of the Spirit of Christ, the proof that we never knew him, that for us he lived in vain. It meant that he suggested nothing in all our thoughts, that he inspired nothing in all our lives, that we were not once near enough to him to be seized with the fervency of his compassion for the world.
Henry Drummond (1851–97), The Greatest Thing in the World, 57–58.

Now that is what I call challenging. A holy person is not merely someone who avoids doing evil—it is someone who does good.

Comments

Unknown said…
Thanks for posting this, it's a great quote. I'll have to read the book now. :-)
Kurt said…
Interesting to see this sort of judgment on the basis of the life lived in Matthew 25 (and Romans 2)...

But Don't say that too loud or someone will scream, "SOLA FIDE!" and accuse you of being a neo-palagian. LOL... jk, sort of...
Alex Smith said…
"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." (1Cor 13:2-3 NIV)

Seems it's not only doing "good" deeds but doing them out of love for the person, and because of God's love for/in us?
Anita said…
Wow, that is really thought-provoking. If Drummond is right, who then would stand? But with the Lord is mercy. For this we revere him.

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