President Donald Trump deserves a lot for his efforts to end wars around the world. He certainly deserves an apology from the corporate press, which has cheered against his peacemaking attempts at every turn and maligned both his competence and motives. He might even deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for the peace agreements he’s helped broker, from Rwanda and the Congo to Cambodia and Thailand. But contrary to his joke on Tuesday morning, one thing his noble efforts won’t get him is a ticket to Heaven.
After meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders to work toward an end to the Russia-Ukraine war on Monday, Trump took a well-earned victory lap on a call with Fox & Friends Tuesday morning.
“We ended seven wars, I thought this would be one of the easier ones, and this has turned out to be the toughest one. India, Pakistan, I mean, these were big ones … some going for 31, 32 years, one for 35 years … the Congo and Rwanda, for 35 years, I got that one done,” he told the show’s hosts. “If I can save 7,000 people a week from being killed, I think that’s a pretty [good thing].”
“I want to try to get to Heaven if possible. I’m hearing I’m not doing well, I am really at the bottom of the totem pole,” he joked. “But if I can get to Heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”
It was classic Trump, using self-deprecating humor to highlight something that was actually a great accomplishment. And in Trump fashion, his comment was almost certainly more of an off-the-cuff quip than a serious declaration of theology. Many have made the mistake of taking Trump literally instead of seriously, and that awareness is worth having here.
But out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and it’s not every day the president gives you a perfect news hook to talk about the Gospel. So it bears repeating: None of your own works, not even an act as virtuous as saving lives, can earn you a spot in paradise.
Saving our neighbors from physical death is one of the greatest acts of Christian charity we can extend. Jesus himself did so often during His earthly ministry. When the religious leaders rebuked Him for healing on the Sabbath, he silenced them by appealing to the inherent goodness of lifesaving work: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” Immortalized in one of His most famous parables is the Good Samaritan, a man who saved the life of a stranger on the roadside. In the Beatitudes, Jesus called the peacemakers blessed.
But even such noble acts are not enough to cleanse us of our sin, which has separated us from God and left us wholly unworthy to stand in His presence. Unworthy of Eden, we are also unworthy of Heaven. Only the perfect Christ was sufficient to atone for our sins, which He did by dying on the cross. His resurrection secured a victory over sin that we could never accomplish ourselves.
We were, as Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, “dead in our trespasses.” In rescuing us from eternal damnation, Christ saved us not from mere physical death but from a spiritual one. It is this lifesaving work of His — and only His — that can deliver us into Heaven.
To accept this free gift of salvation requires us to recognize our own unworthiness and our need for salvation. We are all, as Trump put it, “really at the bottom of the totem pole.” We are so polluted by sin that even our righteous deeds amount to filthy rags.
Recognizing our need for a savior, then, we need simply to receive Him with willing and believing hearts. Only His grace, which was offered freely to us on the cross, is sufficient to restore us to a right relationship with our Creator.
Accepting Christ’s lordship over our lives should certainly produce good works. We are commanded to imitate God’s righteousness, and seeking to protect life — from the battlefield to the womb — is one of the ways we should do so. Trump’s obvious and sincere revulsion at senseless violence, whether it takes place in foreign wars or in the streets of American cities, is a sign of laudable moral clarity. His good deeds as president may save lives or even save the country, but only Christ can save his soul.
Elle Purnell is the assignment editor at The Federalist. She has appeared on Fox Business and Newsmax, and her work has been featured by RealClearPolitics, the Tampa Bay Times, and the Independent Women’s Forum. She received her B.A. in government with a minor in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @_ellepurnell.
