by David Brenneman
What the Bible doesn't say:
"Listen to your heart"
"Be true to yourself"
"Trust your gut"
"Feel good about yourself"
"Happiness is what matters"
"Just be a good person"
"Lookout for yourself first"
"Being good most of the time is enough"
"Everyone is going to go to Heaven"
"If your good outweighs your bad you'll go to Heaven"
There's so many misconceptions about the Bible that these aren't even the tip of the iceberg.
In Romans Paul speaks so much to these and all other aspects of what it means to be saved that we have a method taught called the "Romans Road to Salvation".
You deciding on how decent, how good, how righteous you are will have no bearing on your getting into Heaven.
You choosing to live a good life, maybe even at taking care of someone else, will not get you into Heaven.
You choosing to do anything other than coming to Christ for salvation...will actually send you to Hell instead. That's what the Bible says.
Even our worldly definition of love is skewed. We hear people write songs or poetry on what they feel love is and that becomes our definition if it fits our feelings.
Jesus is the only way to Heaven.
Your loving your husband or wife as you see fit will not get you any "points" to get into Heaven.
Your loving your children will not get you "points" to get into Heaven.
You loving all of creation will not get you "points" to get into Heaven.
My Dear Reader there is no point system to get into Heaven.
Only through faith and trust in what Christ Jesus alone did on the cross of calvary will open that door to Heaven.
"But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:8-13.
What does it say to those who would think such things about all they think they did to earn the right to enter into Heaven?
Don't take it from me. Read what Jesus said about it.
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:21-23.
Jesus will go to great lengths to pursue you...but you also need to stop running. He truly wishes to have a personal relationship with you.
Without salvation in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, you will not see Heaven.
The gift and the offer is free to all who would call upon His Name.
Why persist in trying to get to Heaven your way when Jesus says its impossible for you?
Being good, being successful.
Being a loving person. Being a friend to others. Being anything you or the world values as enough...only leads straight to Hell.
We can't learn what true love is until after coming to Christ.
We can't learn how to be good until after we come to Christ.
We can't learn what true success is until after we come to Christ.
We can't learn until we are taught by the Spirit of God how to live a life in this world that pleases God.
My Dear Reader you must choose to ask Jesus to be the forgiver of your sins and to be the leader of your life. That's where living life begins. The Bible says we are as good as dead because of our trespasses and sins. A more modern approach is to say we're marked for death. Apart from salvation in Christ we are condemned in the eyes of God automatically.
Jesus is at the door of your heart waiting. Waiting for you...knocking and calling for you to come home to Him. He will not open the door for you.
My prayer for all who read this today is that you would know that Jesus is the forgiver of your sins and is the leader of your life.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Paul wrote in Romans. Means that everyone is in need of a Savior who is Christ the Lord because our sins keep us from the standard of perfection found only in Jesus Christ.
My Dear Reader please be sure of your salvation. Jesus said this is a limited time offer. At some point He will return and take all who have called upon His Name for salvation. Everyone else will be left behind to face the wrath of God upon this world.
Our good isn't good enough in the eyes of God. It isn't and God has said so.
All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.
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