Why Do People Go/Not Go to Heaven?
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2016 6:50 am
I was reading a dead post which was revived, and didn't want to continue it in case it was against the rules... but much of the content of the comments was discussion about whether everyone will go to heaven, and/or why people who aren't Christians can also do good works and get into heaven... and such like. Rather than cite comments and address them individually, let me take the subject as a whole and present some thoughts:
First of all, no one, Christian or otherwise, gets into heaven by doing good works. God's standard is perfection, and absolutely no one measures up, so by that standard, no one can earn their way into heaven. However, God offers us the free gift of salvation through Jesus, and if we accept Him as our Lord (we put His will before ours) and Saviour (we accept His righteousness rather than trying to lean on our own) then God identifies us with Christ's perfection, rather than our own imperfection. As some pointed out, there are good works to do... but those are done out of love for Him and what He has already done in our lives, out of appreciation for Him, His creation (including other people) and His many blessings. The works are done because we have already been saved... not in order to be saved; because we are already loved, not in order to be loved.
This does mean that absolutely anyone can be saved and welcomed into heaven... but we have to choose God. How loving would it be for Him to say, "Well, you don't want anything to do with me... so as a reward, you'll spend eternity with me." ? And is it really fair to expect God to enter into what has been analogized as a marriage with a bride who doesn't want Him? Not at all!
Does it make God unjust or unfair that He has a differing view of what is right, proper and just than we do? Because that's the real question that people are asking. If we peel back all the layers of anger, bitterness, and sarcastic retorts, the question is really whether God has the right to do what He wishes with His own creation, and don't we know better than He does? The answer of course, is that we don't know better than God does... we who can forget what we did last week, compared to the God who orchestrates past, present and future. We who can't even understand our own minds, to understand the mind of God better than He does? The idea is almost laughable, and yet it seems ingrained in all of us that our thoughts and ways are the most right.
I feel that I have meandered about the subject from several directions, but the point of this whole post is that good people don't go to heaven for being good, only forgiven people go to heaven... and everyone has the opportunity to be forgiven of this debt that no one could ever repay on their own... so each of us is left with only one question: "What will I do with Jesus?" That is the crux of the matter. The answer you and I give to that question determines not only our eternity, but the path of our present and future on this earth as well. Eternal life begins now, not after death. Christ came that we might have life, and that to the fullest. Who can know what the fullest possible life for each of us could be, other than our Creator Himself? Is it any wonder that the empty things we turn to instead of Him ring hollow, and do not satisfy?
May you all be blessed as you consider His offer of life.
First of all, no one, Christian or otherwise, gets into heaven by doing good works. God's standard is perfection, and absolutely no one measures up, so by that standard, no one can earn their way into heaven. However, God offers us the free gift of salvation through Jesus, and if we accept Him as our Lord (we put His will before ours) and Saviour (we accept His righteousness rather than trying to lean on our own) then God identifies us with Christ's perfection, rather than our own imperfection. As some pointed out, there are good works to do... but those are done out of love for Him and what He has already done in our lives, out of appreciation for Him, His creation (including other people) and His many blessings. The works are done because we have already been saved... not in order to be saved; because we are already loved, not in order to be loved.
This does mean that absolutely anyone can be saved and welcomed into heaven... but we have to choose God. How loving would it be for Him to say, "Well, you don't want anything to do with me... so as a reward, you'll spend eternity with me." ? And is it really fair to expect God to enter into what has been analogized as a marriage with a bride who doesn't want Him? Not at all!
Does it make God unjust or unfair that He has a differing view of what is right, proper and just than we do? Because that's the real question that people are asking. If we peel back all the layers of anger, bitterness, and sarcastic retorts, the question is really whether God has the right to do what He wishes with His own creation, and don't we know better than He does? The answer of course, is that we don't know better than God does... we who can forget what we did last week, compared to the God who orchestrates past, present and future. We who can't even understand our own minds, to understand the mind of God better than He does? The idea is almost laughable, and yet it seems ingrained in all of us that our thoughts and ways are the most right.
I feel that I have meandered about the subject from several directions, but the point of this whole post is that good people don't go to heaven for being good, only forgiven people go to heaven... and everyone has the opportunity to be forgiven of this debt that no one could ever repay on their own... so each of us is left with only one question: "What will I do with Jesus?" That is the crux of the matter. The answer you and I give to that question determines not only our eternity, but the path of our present and future on this earth as well. Eternal life begins now, not after death. Christ came that we might have life, and that to the fullest. Who can know what the fullest possible life for each of us could be, other than our Creator Himself? Is it any wonder that the empty things we turn to instead of Him ring hollow, and do not satisfy?
May you all be blessed as you consider His offer of life.
