In today's world, charity is practiced on a very wide scale and is thought to be the natural product of the innate benevolence of the human spirit. Actually, this is not so. For true charity came into the world solely through Christianity. Thus, the charity we see today—in the United Fund, in the Red Cross, in hospitals, in benevolent foundations, and in government—is purely a byproduct of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The final stage of God's work in perfecting the saints is to perfect them completely in the moment of their deaths. And, of course, it is this that transforms death for Christians. Death is an enemy; even the Bible calls it that. But it is also the portal to that total perfection that we shall never know in this life. 

Now, of course, when we have said this we have also made it clear that no one lives up to the standard of the Lord Jesus Christ. For all men fall short of such perfection, and in doing so they show themselves to be sinners. This is what sin is. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." 

Now it is important that we do come to this fuller experience of God's love because it is from such loving conduct that the Gospel of Christ is communicated to the unsaved world. Someone has said that God has really given men five gospels. There is the Gospel according to Matthew, the Gospel according to Mark, the Gospel according to Luke, the Gospel according to John, and the Gospel according to you. How do men come to know God? They come to know Him through Jesus Christ. And how do they come to know Jesus Christ? They come to know Him as they see Him in the Scriptures and in your conduct. 

There is one more point here that also should be mentioned. The same verses that tell us that Christ died for us when we were sinners also tells us that He died for us when we were without strength, which is to say, helpless. In spiritual terms, there was no possibility of our helping ourselves.