8 For it is
by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast [emphasis
mine]. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
While representing a small minority of Christians
I’ve encountered, I have met some who boast—some who are self-righteous. Receiving something as a gift—not by works—is
no guarantee of humility on the part of the recipient. Surely we will witness this in a few weeks
when Christmas arrives. There will be
children and adults who receive gifts Christmas morning who will flaunt them in
barefaced one-upmanship. Gifts received
will only serve to fuel hubris and selfishness.
This is much like someone receiving a large inheritance only to have the
windfall become the engine of stiff self-righteousness, self-centeredness, and pride.
We should be cautious when in comparing Islam to Christianity we arrive at the categorical
conclusion that Christian grace is superior in spiritual consequence over
Islamic works. Surely it is possible
that a Muslim’s humility before God can be more efficacious in producing humility
than a Christian’s penetrating pride of salvation. Of course, we can say that a person so
configured is not really a Christian. We
can also say that a Muslim who is not humble before God is not really a Muslim.
We are forced to conclude that holy wars
serve mostly to confirm the delusions and self-justifications of self-appointed
holy men.
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