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How to get to
Heaven
Most people think that
you get to Heaven by being good, or by being a good person. The Bible
teaches that "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
(Romans 3:23)
To Some, sin is being
indiscreet, or it is a weakness of the flesh. To others it is the
absence from good. To the so-called scholar, sin is ignorance; and to
the evolutionist, it is the nature of the beast. The latest theory is
that sin is a disease to be treated by science, because man is not a
sinner - he is only sick. To others, sin is a form of selfishness, but
God declares that:
1. Sin is lawlessness
(1John 3:4)
2. Sin is falling short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)
3. Sin is rebellion against God (Isaiah 1:2)
"For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23) As a
result of man's sin, there are three deaths. Keep in mind that death
does not annihilate; it only separates. In the Garden of Eden, it
separated man from God spiritually; this is spiritual death. In natural
death, it separates the spirit and the soul from the body; this is
physical death. In final death, it separates man from the mercy of God
forever; this is eternal death.
1. The wages of sin is
spiritual death. Just as sin separated man from God spiritually and
drove him from the presence of God out of the Garden, so sin will
separate you from God (Isaiah 59:1,2). The only way back to God
is to confess your sins to Him (1 John 1:9) and forsake those
sins (Isaiah 55:7) that you may be restored to fellowship with
Him.
2. The wages of sin is
physical death. Physical death is a result of sin. Death had no
claim on man until man sinned. Now all die, because all are in sin.
Death is universal; and since we have a universal effect, we must have a
universal cause, and that cause is universal sin. All men die - the good
and the bad, the young and the old - and man will continue to die until
death is destroyed by the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:26)
and is swallowed up in Victory (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
3. The wages of sin is
eternal death "The soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20).
This is eternal separation from the love of God (Revelations 20:14).
Once the soul passes beyond the portals of Hades he is lost and lost
forever. He will continue to exist, but without hope. He is damned and
damned to all eternity Eternal death is eternal separation from God.
(Luke 16:19-31).
"...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(Romans 6:23) The only remedy for sin and the consequential ruin of
man, is the Son of God, being made sin for us on the cross (2
Corinthians 5:21). The only way to receive this remedy is by faith in
Him as personal Savior. God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, who knew no sin,
to be sin for us. He paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross
for us, so that we may become the righteousness of God in Him.
Man, not willing to accept
God's remedy for his ruin, strives to bring about his own salvation by
human means.
1. He strives for
self-righteousness
2. He strives to reform
3. He strives to turn over a new leaf
4. He strives to be justified by the law
5. He strives to clean up the old man
6. He strives to be saved by good works
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should
boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9) The Grace of God is nothing
less than the unlimited love of God expressed in the gift of His Son,
our Savior. It is the undeserved love of God toward sinners.
How to get
to Heaven?
1. Admit
that you are a sinner
2. Accept Christ as you personal Savior
3. Invite Christ into your heart
...it's that simple.
adopted from the Christian
Life New Testament, with Master Outlines and Study Notes compiled by
Porter Barrington. |