Islam (15)

In our last blog post on April 21 (blog post: Islam 14), we compared the soteriology of Islam with Christianity, that is, we looked at Islam’s doctrine of salvation. Like all religions, Islam offers its adherents salvation from this world of sin and misery. Some religions offer a “better place,” while others offer a higher form of consciousness. Buddhism, for example, offers the idea of nirvana, which is release from the endless cycles of reincarnation through which believers must pass on the way to full enlightenment.

Islam offers “paradise” (or heaven) and warns against “hellfire,” although Islam’s offer is conditional and uncertain. Since works are required to enter paradise, and since entrance into paradise depends ultimately on the (somewhat capricious) will of Allah on the Day of Judgment, no Muslim knows whether he or she shall enter paradise or hellfire. Assurance of salvation is, therefore, impossible. Such is the misery of all who trust in some form of salvation by works.

We noticed last time that Islam’s way of salvation is to follow, more or less faithfully, the way of the five pillars of Islam, the chief pillar of which is the shahada, or the confession that Allah is the only true God and Mohammed is his messenger or prophet. We also explained that the shahada is false, for the triune God of scripture is the only true God, while Mohammed is a false prophet. Therefore, the whole superstructure of Islam, which rests on that one central pillar, falls, much as the temple of Dagon fell when Samson leaned upon its pillars (Judges 16:29-30).

Of course, to attack the shahada in one’s first conversation with a Muslim is unwise and counterproductive, as it will close the door to any further interaction and simply offend the Muslim. We have not done so until blog posts 14-15, because we took the time to lay out very carefully the Christian confession concerning the Trinity, the deity and sonship of Christ, the incarnation, the two natures of Christ, the nature and necessity of the atonement, and the bodily resurrection of Jesus. An aggressive, iconoclastic form of witnessing might work on the internet where you want to impress your friends, but it will not help you win a hearing from a coworker or neighbor. And if your motive in witnessing (online or elsewhere) is to impress your friends, then please do not try to witness to a Muslim neighbor. Your motive in witnessing should be the glory of God and the salvation of your neighbor, not theological one-upmanship or the accumulation of notches on your debating belt!

We have presented the truth of Christianity to our Muslim neighbor (or this series of blog posts has equipped us to do so). The differences between the two theologies have been clearly set forth. Our Muslim neighbor has even been able to comprehend and answer correctly the questions of our quiz (see blog post, Islam 12, January 27). Intellectually, the Muslim now understands Christianity. Perhaps, intellectually, the Muslim has a better grasp of Christianity than many Christians (on topics such as the Trinity, the two natures of Christ, etc.). He sees clearly, much more clearly than before, the stark differences between the Islamic view of Jesus (Isa) and the Jesus presented in the Bible.

What must the Muslim do now? Is an intellectual appreciation of the differences sufficient? The answer is simple: he must repent and believe. In fact, the answer pertains to all unbelievers, whether atheists, agnostics, religious unbelievers, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. All unbelievers, no matter what form of unbelief they have, must repent and believe. That is the Biblical, evangelical, and Reformed answer. Unless the Muslim repents and believes, he will simply perish as a more knowledgeable unbeliever.

Because Muslims are somewhat foreign to us, we think that they are a special class. They are not: they are sinners; therefore, they have the same need as any other sinner, to be saved from sin and death. The way of salvation for the Muslim is the same as for any other sinner: the way of repentance and faith.

Repentance is a turning from sin. It is fundamentally a spiritual turning, for it begins in the heart. A repentant person has a change of mind. The Greek word translated repentance in the New Testament, metanoia, simply means “a change of mind.” The repentant person has a change of mind about God: where before he was indifferent or hostile toward God or where before he worshipped a false god, he now understands the truth about God and turns toward him. The repentant person has a change of mind about sin: what he once thought was good and pleasant, he now sees as wicked and displeasing to God. The repentant person has a change of mind about himself: where before he viewed himself as a good person or perhaps imperfect, now he sees himself as a wicked sinner in desperate need of salvation and he will not rest until he finds salvation outside of himself in Jesus Christ. The repentant person has a change of mind about Jesus Christ: before he entertained all kinds of unbiblical notions about Jesus, but now he sees him as the eternal Son of God, the only Savior, and he gladly receives him as Savior and submits to him as Lord. In short, repentance is a change of mind in which a person is sorry for his sins and turns from them.

To use our example, the Muslim must repent. We must call him to repent. He must no longer believe what he once did. He must stop living as he once did. He must turn from Allah, Mohammed, and the Qur’an, and turn to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the Bible, regardless of the consequences. “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5). “Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19). “Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God: and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).

The truth that repentance is the gift of God, which he works in the hearts of his people (Acts 5:31; 11:18), does not annul the truth that repentance is an activity of man to which God commands the unbeliever. God will condemn the unbeliever for not repenting, whether he is able to repent or not. We are not hyper-Calvinists: we believe that God calls everyone, everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). God calls your Muslim neighbor to repent. God calls you to repent, and if you are a Christian, you will repent daily. While God works repentance in you by the Spirit through the Word, God does not repent for you: you must repent and so must your Muslim neighbor.

The second thing that your Muslim neighbor must do is to believe. He must exercise faith. To the Muslim neighbor, we say, as Paul did to the Philippian jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31). We must not be shy about saying that. Especially, the minister must not be shy about preaching that. It is the call of the gospel. Notice its form—it is an imperative verb (a command), “believe;” followed by a promise, “And thou shalt be saved.” God issues a serious command—“Believe! Believe in my Son!” God adds to that a promise—“And thou shalt be saved.” However, there is a definite relationship between the command and the promise. God does not say (and nor do we), “God promises to you that, if you believe, you shall be saved.” Instead, God (1) issues the command, “Believe,” (2) states the promise, “And thou shalt be saved,” and (3) identifies the recipients of the promise as those who obey the command, believers. This is the pure Reformed theology from Dordt:

Moreover, the promise of the gospel is that whosoever believeth in Christ crucified shall not perish, but have everlasting life. This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and published to all nations, and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction, to whom God out of his good pleasure sends the gospel (Canons 2:5).

For a Muslim to believe is really the same as for anyone to believe. He must hold for truth everything that God has revealed in his Word. He must especially believe what the Bible reveals about Jesus Christ. Moreover, he must trust in the crucified Jesus Christ, repudiating everything in which he has heretofore trusted for his salvation. The Muslim, for example, must repudiate the Qur’an—he cannot believe what the Qur’an teaches about Jesus and what the Bible teaches about Jesus, for those two testimonies are mutually exclusive. The Muslim must repudiate the hope that he has heretofore placed in his good works, in the five pillars of Islam, for example, for his salvation. Instead, he must come empty-handed to Jesus, trusting only in the perfect obedience and atoning sufferings of Christ (Christ’s righteousness) to cover all of his sins. The Christian witness must explain the beauties of Jesus Christ to the Muslim, so that the Muslim (by the grace of God) sees that Jesus is the only and perfect Savior. And the Muslim neighbor must be urged to believe in that Jesus.

It is true, of course, that true, saving faith is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8; Phil. 1:29), and that by it we are united to Jesus Christ and made partakers of all of Christ’s benefits. Nevertheless, the Muslim must still believe, for faith is also an activity to which God calls all men. While it is true that the unbeliever, whether Muslim or not, cannot believe, God still commands him to believe. God calls your Muslim neighbor to believe; God calls you to believe; and if you are Christian, you do believe daily.

Faith for the Muslim will be costly, perhaps especially costly, as we saw last time. But God’s promise to the believing sinner, whether Muslim or not, is especially precious: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” (John 3:36). “He that believeth in me [Jesus], though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). “And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).

Reader, have you believed in Jesus Christ? Believe in him. He that believes in him shall never be ashamed.

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This post was written by Rev. Martyn McGeown, missionary-pastor of the Covenant Protestant Reformed Church in Northern Ireland stationed in Limerick, Republic of Ireland.