Mentoring Men for the Master

HOW GOOD DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO GET INTO HEAVEN?

Since February 17th  my thoughts have been centered on death and heaven.  Why?  Because my sister experienced a marvelous home going last Sunday, February 17th  at 12:45 PM and I preached her funeral on Tuesday and my brother-in-law died this past Sunday, February 24th.  So the  Holy Spirit has impressed me to address this always timely subject of the hereafter under the title “How Good Do You Have To BE To Get Into Heaven?”

In order to answer this question biblically, we must raise four questions and answer them from the Bible:

  1. How perfect do you have to be to enter heaven? The answer is simply this:  You have to be as perfect as God.  In fact, if you are not as perfect as He is, don’t ever think that you will enter into heaven.     In Revelation 21, John describes the incomparable perfections of heaven and then emphatically warns us in Revelation 21:27 (NIV), “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
  1. How can we who are born in sin and who do sin be perfect? Absolutely impossible, humanly speaking.  Illustration:  The Jews tried to earn their own righteousness and would not submit to the true righteousness of Jesus (Romans 10:1-3).  The Pharisees (only 600 in number) carved out of the 10  commandments 611 commandments, to make sure they were righteous.  They prayed three times daily, memorized the first 5 books of the Bible, tithed 23 ½ % of income, refused to eat an egg laid on the Sabbath, saying the hen had to work to lay the egg.  But Jesus warned, “For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Outwardly and humanly no one excelled the Pharisees in being righteous, but the righteousness which gets you into heaven is the gift of God (Romans 10:1-3).

God has given us His perfections, His perfect righteousness and credited it to our account.  How?  He did this when He sent Jesus to this earth to die on the cross and pay the debt we owe for our sins.  Paul states this wonderful truth in 2 Cor. 5:21, “God the Father made Jesus who knew no sin (Christ) to be sin on our behalf in order that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  What grace, what a wonderful gift, what incredible love.  As John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in His, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  What this means is that Christ was regarded as a sinner when He bore our sin; we are regarded as saints when we receive His righteousness.  Though we are imperfect, His righteousness is credited to our account and we are regarded as “the righteousness of God” in Christ, when we turn to Him in true repentance and trust.

 

Perhaps you think you have sinned too much to receive the gift.  Wrong.  God makes the greatest sinners, even criminal righteous, in fact, like the thief on the Cross – Luke 23:43.

  1. Is there a change in our character and behavior when we receive His gift of righteousness?  Absolutely, for at the same time God gives us His righteousness another miracle happens.  God give us a new nature, makes us a new creation.  Scripture:  Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).  The apostle Paul declares in 2 Cor. 5:17, “If any one be in Christ Jesus, he is  a new creation; old things are passed away, and behold all things are become new.”  The new birth reverses the fall of man for Paul says in Ephesians 4:24 that the “new man in Christ is created like God Himself in righteousness and true holiness.”  2 Peter 1:4 says we are “partakers of the divine nature.”  Note:  While our nature and behavior are changed, this is not what saves us, but is the proof that we are on our way to heaven.  No one is saved by the life he lives but by the gift of righteousness.  But if one has the gift of righteousness, it will show in his life.  Jesus says in Matthew 7:20, “By their fruit you will know them.”  1 John 3:9 declares that a born again person will not habitually sin – impossible  in fact.
  2. How do we receive the :
    1. gift of righteousness and
    2. the gift of a new birth or new nature?
  • We must not try to earn our own righteousness through good works as the Jews did – Titus 3:5-6; Ephesians 2:8-9.
  • If working to be saved, stop now – Romans 4:5.
  • We must be willing to acknowledge that we are sinners, spiritually dead and lost – Ephesians 2:1-3 – and turn from our sins to Jesus Christ (repent).
  • We must trust Him and Him alone to forgive our sins and to give us His righteousness. “I would not trust the best moment I ever lived on earth to get me into heaven.” – Truett.
  • We must confess Him before men- Romans 10:9-10

When we do these things, we will have our passport to enter heaven.  We who travel abroad know we have to have our passport.  I go to India often and can only enter if I have my passport.  And I must get my passport before I arrive at the border.  I cannot get it beyond the border.

How about you?  Do you have your passport to enter heaven?  If not, be sure to get it today for you may need it any moment and with it you will enter, but without it, you will never be admitted.  God forbid.

Conclusion:  The Hand Illustration

For any person to be saved, he needs to understand three things:

  1. the seriousness of his sins,
  2. the way God takes away his sins,
  3. how you transfer your sins to His cross and receive His gift of righteousness.

Begin your conversation like this: “Bill, the problem of every human being is sin, for man is sinful (Romans 3:23) and God is holy.  Now God has a record of every sin you ever committed.  To illustrate, hold up a book, preferably with a black cover.  Now God says every sin we ever commit is recorded in a book.  Suppose this book was that record.  Most any person will commit three sins a day, for even losing your temper on the expressway is sin.  This would mean about 1000 sins per year.  Say you are 20 years old (estimate the age of the person) that would mean there are 20,000 sins listed in this book.  Suppose you had 20,000 traffic violations and went before a judge.  He wouldn’t put you in jail but under the jail.  Well, Bill, this is your problem.  At one time, it was mine also.”

But God has solved this problem for you.  “Bill, let me show you how.  (Stretch out your left hand exposing your palm) and say,  ‘suppose my left hand were your immortal soul.  Every sin you ever committed is on your soul.  You cannot have fellowship with God in this life because of these sins and if you die you cannot go to live with Him but must be separated in hell forever.  But God has made a wonderful way to escape.’  Now stretch out your right hand and say ‘suppose my right hand is Jesus dying for you on the cross and taking every sin you ever committed.  This is what He did just for you.  There is a verse of Scripture which tells us He died for every sin and how you can transfer your guilty sin to His cross.’  Isaiah 53:6 , “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every man to his own way but the Lord has laid on Him the sins of us all.”  As you speak the word “The Lord  laid on Him the sins of us all,” place the book in your left hand and then move it over to cover  your right hand as you say “laid”, thus showing how Jesus takes every sin off our guilty soul and forgives and washes it clean by the blood of His cross.   Then turn to your candidate and ask, “Bill, where does that leave your soul now?”  He will reply, “Clean.” “And where are your sins now?” And he will reply, “They are on Jesus.”  “Does all this make sense?”  He will reply, “Yes.”

Now, Bill the question remains, “How do you transfer your sins from your guilty soul to the cross of Jesus?  In summary, there are several facts you need to understand, namely

  • you are a sinner
  • you are a lost sinner
  • you cannot save yourself
  • you must be willing to turn from those sins (repent), then trust and ask Jesus to forgive you, invite Him to come in and be Lord of your life.”

At this point, you say, “Bill, do you want to do this?”  He replies, “Yes.”  The best thing to do now is to have him bow his head, explaining to him that you will pray for him, and then ask him to pray and to admit to Jesus that he knows he is a sinner, lost and cannot save himself, but he is now turning from his sins and trusting Him as his Lord and Savior.  When he does this, ask him specifically if he did these things.  If he says, “Yes,”  say, “Happy Birthday!  You have just been born again.  Welcome into the family of God, my dear brother.”