Sitting in the sermon today, and with exams at the back of my mind, the word knowledge came up, about how knowledge isn't everything, and it got me thinking about how we often consider knowledge to be the be all and end all. In our exams we look to get by by reproducing what we know in the hope that it will impress the marker. But how are we assessed as Christians? I guess this is a bit abstract and possibly a bit daft, but it did get me thinking.
Is it like an exam? Well, God isn't going to test us on how many things we know when we get to judgement day, wanting a list of all the books in the Bible, of all the laws in Leviticus or how many 'his love endures forever's there are in Psalm 136. However, we know that life is a test that presents trials. James 1:12 tells us that those that are tested and persevere will receive the crown of life.
Do we have coursework that we are assessed on? People often have this mental picture of St. Peter standing at the pearly gates weighing up the good and bad things we've done in our life and deciding who goes in. From speaking to Muslims this appears to be an Islamic belief, plus unfortunately I'm sure there are many people that profess to be Christians that hold this view too. This implies that we have some coursework of being good and sticking to the rules and we are assessed on that at the end of our life. However, Romans 11:5-6 says that we are not saved by works but by the grace of God, whilst Galatians 3:10-14 makes it clear that we cannot by saved by keeping the law, simply because no one is able to(!), and instead it is through what Christ has done. However, we do have 'coursework', in the sense that we will be assessed on how we respond to those in need.
Presentation some times creeps into our assessments, and Paul says, in an illustration about husbands and wives, that Christ presents the Church (i.e. Christians) as holy and blameless. Oral exams are in there too, and we are told that if we confess with our mouth that "Jesus is Lord" we shall be saved.
This has probably created more confusion than made things simpler, but at the end of the day, I think John 3:16-18 says it well - that we all deserve to be condemned to a 'fail' grade, but through putting our faith in Christ, who was offered as a substitute in our place, we are saved and pass wth first class honours!
