Slide

Years ago, a singer wrote a song that, though never a hit, contained a line that has always been memorable for me:

Pray to God for me baby

He can let me slide.[1]

Interesting. First a tacit admission that his life probably doesn’t measure up to what God would desire, followed by a wish that it won’t matter in the end. Nothing in the song tells us what theory he might base such hope upon. Perhaps he really didn’t think about it too deeply. After all, it did complete a rhyme.

We are not surprised to hear this thinking coming from a hedonistic rock star. But doesn’t the average non-believer think the same thing? Most people rarely think about God yet are vaguely aware that their life probably isn’t as pure as any God might wish. On the other hand, I doubt that anyone really believes they are bound for hell. I think that the fellow student in my ninth-grade religion class at a Catholic high school probably summed up what many believe when he asked, “Is there anything that someone could do that is so bad that God would send them to hell for it?” Of course, this reveals a complete lack of understanding Christian theology, but even many Christians are in the same boat.

But let’s wait a minute here. Don’t we also believe that God will “let us slide”? Don’t we believe that there is no amount of making up that we can do for the sins we have already committed? Don’t we hope in a God who is merciful and will not give us what we deserve?

Of course we do, but with a major difference. We understand the basis for our hope. It is not in some vague idea that God will “let us slide” just because he doesn’t have the heart to condemn anyone. Our hope is in the work that Jesus Christ did for us and which has been applied to our lives. The apostle John declared, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:19 NIV)

What makes the Christian different from the world is the recognition that God will not just look the other way, but rather actively forgives us because of our faith in Jesus Christ. It is a hope based on reality, not wishful thinking.

That is a hope in which we should rejoice and which we should sing loudly as we proclaim:

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand

All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand.[2]