Are You Good Enough For Heaven?

When talking to people about Heaven, people usually reveal that they want to go to heaven but lack assurance.  It is a misnomer think that the assurance of going Heaven is uncertain for everyone.  Anyone can have assurance of their eternal destiny because this is a critical issue in the Bible.  

My Heaven discussions often begin by asking the person two questions that were coined by Dr. James Kennedy. The easier one is first: "If you died tomorrow do you know where you would go?" Generally, people laugh a bit and then say, "I hope to go to heaven."  What is clear is their eternal destiny is not certain.  

The second question is more telling and harder: "If you were to die and go to heaven’s gate and God asked you why He should let you into His kingdom, how would you answer?" Many people say be "being good" or "being forgiven" or they have no idea.  This article is to clarify the issues so you know how to answer this question with assurance.  But be aware, the way into heaven is not based on the standard of following rules, obeying commandments, giving money, or doing good works.

The Bad News

Before the good news one must first understand the bad news. The bad news is that everyone is a sinner. The Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory (or perfection) of God" (Romans 3:23). Since Heaven will be paradise, a place of perfection how can sinful people go to Heaven?  

Here is a good analogy of this problem. Let’s suppose that I have two jars of water. The first jar has greasy dirt, sewage, and muck in it; in other words, the water is contaminated--this represents a common sinner. The second jar, has pure mountain-fresh spring water--this represents Heaven.. Now, what would happen to the pure water if it became mixed with the sewage water? Of course the pure water would become contaminated too. Likewise, what would happen to Heaven if God just said, "I forgive you, no problem, come on in". If nothing happens to the sin (selfishness, greed, lust, envy, arrogance, oppression, hate) before we enter Heaven--we "forgiven" sinners would contaminate Heaven.  We would mess Heaven up so bad it would be worse than Earth!  Remember it lasts for eternity so the evil would just grow with no end.  

Therefore, for God to just "forgive" sinners is not the solution.  Something has to be done to eliminate the sin in us and prepare us for Heaven.  

There is a second problem. Just like breaking the speed limit or running a stop sign, if you are caught by a policeman you will have to pay a penalty for breaking the law. Likewise God has a penalty for sin : "The wages of sin is death . . ." (Romans 6:23). In other words, if something does not happen to cleanse us of sin, the penalty for our sin is . . . well, very bad news. Besides, most everybody wants to go to heaven. Since the way is simple, let me explain how to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. 

The Good News

Thank God that He loved us so much that even though it was inconvenient and quite painful He dealt with our sin problem for us. In fact since He is holy and pure, being God, He was the only one who could cleanse us of sin. 

The Bible uses a variety of rich metaphors to help us understand God's solution.  The Bible speaks of salvation through the legal metaphor of "justification".  If I was to go before a civil judge for driving 30 miles per hour over the limit, the judge might give me a penalty of $300. Suppose I had no money or capital to pay the penalty. My options are to go to jail or have someone else pay the fine. If the latter is to happen, the penalty is still paid and the law is upheld; even when someone else pays the penalty. As long as the penalty is paid I am set free.

Likewise, when Jesus died on the cross, he died not for His own sins but for ours. Remember, Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death."  In this case, there is no way possible that we can pay the penalty ourselves.  No amount of good deeds or being a decent person will pay for our death penalty.  Only death can pay for a death penalty and a relative or friend cannot pay for someone else's sins because they have their own to pay for.  But Jesus, God in flesh,  was perfect, sinless and He paid the death penalty for us.  Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice paying for all our sins (Hebrews 10:10, 12, 14). 

The Bible also uses the metaphor of Jesus blood that cleanses us of our sins, "and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin".  (1 John 1:7)  see also, (Hebrews 9:22; and 1 Peter1:2)  Therefore, it is by Jesus' death on the cross; it is by His blood that we can be cleansed and made ready for Heaven.  Though we still sin, Jesus' blood cleanses us, His death paid our penalty and now our citizenship is now Heaven.  From the moment that we accept Jesus to be our savior our names are written in the book of those who will have eternal life.    

The penalty has been paid.  Now as Christ followers we learn from the Bible and ask God to help us change.  We intentionally become like Him and less like the sinful selfish world we live in.  And when we die the transformation of a new life from the old self will be completed.  God will have made us ready for eternal paradise. 

The Condition

There is a very important condition, however. It is not enough just to know that Jesus died for you. The answer is not knowing the right words or thinking we can fool God.  

Let me explain with another illustration. Suppose I gave you season tickets to your favorite professional team games this year.  That would be a great gift but only if: 1) you believed that they were for real and 2) you used them. This is also true with receiving eternal life. You must first believe that Jesus did die for you, and second, you must receive Him into your life.

The ticket to Heaven is Jesus.  But it is more than knowing that in your head.  Its encountering Him, trusting Him, its making life an adventure with Jesus by your side, in your heart and through your veins.  It is a relationship and it starts with a commitment to follow Him.  It requires your willingness to humble yourself, admit your sins and ask Jesus to cleanse you, heal you and save you for eternity in Heaven.   

You do this by belief and prayer. If you want to go to Heaven you can do this now by praying Dr. Billy Graham’s suggested prayer. Or use it as a guideline for your own prayer.

Remember the illustration about the two jars of water. If we were to mix them the pure one would become contaminated. However, if the contaminated water was sent through a perfect filtering system, the dirty water would become clean. Then it will not contaminate the pure water because it too is pure. Spiritually speaking, Jesus is that perfect filtering system to cleanse us of our contamination of sin. As the water must actively go through the filter to become clean, so we too must be made clean through actively receiving Christ. 

Salvation is offered freely, but it is not offered lightly. It was humiliating enough for God to become a man yet alone to die a torturous death on a cross. Many people do not believe, but most people don’t want to believe because they realize becoming a Christian is not to be taken lightly. Many people ask, "Since salvation is free, can Christians then sin as much as they want to?" You might be surprised by how much freedom we do have as Christians. We have freedom from sin--a whole new kind of freedom. When a caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly, I doubt that the butterfly wants to go back to being a caterpillar or acting like a caterpillar. As Christians we are like the butterfly which has changed. We have more freedom, as a butterfly does over the caterpillar. Plainly speaking, we cannot sin carelessly now that we are saved. It is the Christian nature to become more sensitive to our sin. Therefore, salvation is not to be taken lightly, because changes will be made in the way you live after you receive Christ.

As I mentioned in the beginning of the article, salvation cannot be attained on the standard of good behavior, good works, good looks or any other goods. The solution is not trying to out- weigh the bad in us with the good. The problem is that we are contaminated with sin, and any amount of contamination is still contamination. But many people feel that if they try to be good, God will be merciful and loving and let them into heaven. But if He did that without them going through the perfect filter of cleansing (Jesus Christ) they would contaminate heaven! 

God is merciful and loving, but He provided the way of salvation His way bringing and purity.  The Bible says, "He saved us, not the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness ..." (Titus 3:5). Also note Ephesians 2:8,9 and Isaiah 64:6. These verses clearly tell us that salvation is not gained by good works. Just ask yourself, if God would save you just by being a good person, then why did He bother to send His Son to die? Don't delude yourself into thinking that God uses both Christ and our good works for salvation. It is not true.

Jesus said, ". . . I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me" (John 14:6). Jesus is the one and only filter. Will you receive Him into your life today so that you can know that you have a reservation in heaven? Then as a bonus you will also receive an abundant life on earth!

I would appreciate your comments to this article.  Click on the Contact us below to send me an email.

Jim Bendewald 
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Revised: 25 May 2004 13:18:08 -0500 .

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