Monday, January 20, 2014

The Requirement for Going to Heaven

If a person does not have a personal relationship with Christ Jesus, they will spend a conscious eternity in the Lake of Fire, which is away from the presence of God. There are not a lot of religions in the world; there are merely many names for religion, but they all fall into the same category. Every religion except biblical Christianity teaches that you can be saved by your own merit, by being good or doing certain rituals. The Bible says that no one can be right in God's eyes by doing good works (Rom. 3:20), and that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). We must realize that the biblical standard to get into heaven is that you must be perfect. Totally sinless; or righteous, as the Bible calls it.

This is why both you and I need Christ Jesus. We all do. While Jesus was on this Earth, He lived a totally perfect life. He never sinned because He was God. He died for us on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and rose on the third day, and God allowed Christ back into heaven. Why? It was not because He was a good guy, but that He met the requirement of being perfect. Jesus is righteous and only the righteous will inherit heaven. If God did not lower His standard for even His Son, what makes you think He will do so for us? Millions of people walk around and they think they will get into heaven by leading what they think is a good life, and they are in for a big shock because it is not enough. God has a standard of absolute perfection, and because only Jesus is perfect it is only when we commit and receive Him as our Lord and believe what He did for us on the cross that cleanses us from all our sins. That is why He deserves all the credit, and that is why you and I both need Christ Jesus.

Our eternity depends on what we do with Christ Jesus. If we reject Him, then He will reject us; but if we humbly receive Him, then we will live with Him in heaven for eternity.