What have you done that guarantees your entrance into heaven?
- Many people feel they deserve heaven.
- Many are working hard to get their foot in the door.
- Many are following faulty advice.
- Many have the eyes of their heart blinded by God’s enemy, the devil.
- Many think it really doesn’t matter where they end up; one place is as good as another.
“Various polls [taken around 1985] have estimated that perhaps fifty percent of Americans identify themselves as born-again Christians. But on the basis of the Bible’s description of true believers and the fact that few (cf. Matthew 7:14) really come on God’s terms, those estimates could not be remotely correct. By scriptural standards, it is hard to believe that even half of the church members in the United States are true believers” (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Matthew 1-7).
The Apostle Paul warned long ago that many in the last days will hold to a form of godliness but will actually deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5).
Matthew 7 reminds us to beware of the false prophet but also teaches against self-deception. Are you deceiving yourself?
“Not only can false prophets deceive us about the way of salvation, but we can deceive ourselves. [In Matthew 7] . . . the Lord warns men about themselves. Sinful man is biased in his own favor and, because of pride, tends to reject the true gospel” (MacArthur).
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; . . . (Matthew 7:21a, [NASB])
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matthew 16:26, [NLT])
A Man was walking through a cemetery and noticed a tombstone that caught his attention. The epitaph read:
As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, you are sure to be. So may I say, as now I lie, Prepare yourself, to follow me.
The man took out a piece of chalk and wrote two more lines under the epitaph:
To follow you I’m not content,
Until I know which way you went
What have you done that guarantees your entrance into heaven?
Jesus says,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”
John 14:6
God the Father loved humanity (His creation) so much, He gave His One, Perfect, Sinless Son to be the payment for man’s sinful self, and whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).
Jesus informs us it is not what you have done but whom you have believed. Trusting in Christ alone Who died and rose again for your sins is what guarantees you a place in heaven. Trust in Christ today so we all can know which way you went.
Does the one in whom you believe guarantee your place in heaven?
The Scarlett Road 