All roads do not lead to Heaven. I’m noticing more and more that most people in this country have the idea that everyone is going to Heaven. This applies of course to those who actually believe there is an afterlife. Anyway, from the liberal left even to some conservative circles, Satan is rapidly gaining ground in this monstrous lie.
This lie is being perpetrated especially by those who say; (1) there is more than one way to God, (2) God is love and would send no one to Hell. It doesn’t matter to them that
JESUS SAID:
“…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.” (John 14:6-11)
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (John 3:14-15)
“Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.” (John 10:7)
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
THE APOSTLE PETER SAID:
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)
THE APOSTLE PAUL SAID:
“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:38-39)
“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:22-24)
The entirety of God’s Word points to none other than Jesus as the only way to Heaven.
THERE … IS … NO … OTHER … WAY
It is very sad when a loved one passes away, but they are not going to Heaven because you loved them or because they were a great person (in your eyes). They won’t even go to Heaven because God loves them. God’s love does not save us. It is His grace that saves (Ephesians 2:8) and that can only be enjoyed by committed belief in His Son, Jesus Christ. If we do not, in true belief, come to Jesus for salvation, then we are not saved.
I’m at the age of always reading the obituaries in the newspaper. It is rare to not see glowing words of praise and a heavenly send off for the deceased loved one. That is expected, but is every person listed in the obituaries going to Heaven? One would think so after perusing the obits.
Many celebrities passed away over the years and in our current year of 2018. Nearly all of them have been sent off to Heaven with glowing reviews. To read what their family, friends and acquaintances say of the deceased, Heaven will be most fortunate to have them. Can it be that they went to Heaven because they were talented, wealthy, and popular? Could it be they are now in Heaven because they left so many great accomplishments while they were here?
The world is being duped by the greatest liar of all; i.e. Satan (John 8:44). I have heard over and over of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God, implying that God is the father of us all and Heaven is the destiny of us all. Let’s be very clear. We are only a brotherhood of man because we all came from Adam and Eve. We are only a brotherhood of God because we came from His creation, Adam and Eve.
There is only one thing that ties all mankind together in brotherhood and that is the fact that we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” ( Romans 3:23)
Only those who come to God through Jesus are brothers and sisters, and only those are children of God. Only those who come through Jesus will ever see Heaven. All others are of their father, the Devil, and will spend eternity in hell.
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
This is a hard article to write, but it must be said. The truth must be told, and the truth is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus’ words are Truth.
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37)
To reside in Heaven one must be righteous. Unfortunately, none of us are righteous enough for Heaven. We can say in unison with Isaiah:
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)
If we depend on our righteous acts to get us to Heaven, our sins will “sweep us away.” We must be clothed in a Heavenly righteousness, and that can only come from Jesus Christ. Those who call upon Him to be saved can repeat with the Apostle Paul:
“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” (Philippians 3:8-9)
Once clothed with the righteousness of our Savior and Lord we can freely enter Heaven and spend eternity with Him. We can freely worship at the throne of grace, offering thanks for the blood that set us free from sin and damnation.
In a sterile lab every effort is taken to prevent contamination. The same is true in the operating room of a hospital. Should any less be expected of God in preventing contamination to enter Heaven? Anyone entering Heaven without being totally righteous would defile it, and no one is righteous unless they are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Think of the requirements the High Priest had to follow to enter the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle once a year. Please recall what would happen if he failed to do as God required. He died on the spot.
No human being will ever enter Heaven by their own righteousness. Any attempt to do so will result in spending eternity in Hell, and Hell is not just eternal fire and damnation. It is also eternal separation from God. All those who have not called upon Jesus Christ as Savior will spend eternity without Him in Hell.
The Good News is that;
“… Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
If you still think we can all go to Heaven apart from Jesus, and then change for the better when we get there, God will show us one last proof that it can’t happen. It is a future period called the Millennium; 1,000 years of a perfect earth, without Satan’s influence, since he will be chained up for that time. What happens?
The Millennium starts with only those who are believers in Christ. Those believers living at the end of the Tribulation will populate the Millennium, but just as in the beginning with Adam and Eve, sin creeps back in again. Why? Those born during the Millennium will have old sin natures and each one of them will have to decide to follow Christ or not. At the end of the 1,000 years, when Satan is released, many will follow Satan in a rebellion against God, and King Jesus will finally put an end to all rebellion.
God placed us in the Garden of Eden, a perfect environment, then Satan tempted us and we failed. We sinned against God and lost everything to Satan.
God gave us the Law through Moses to show us how sinful we really are, and that we cannot keep it. It was given to us to guide us to the cross.
God gave us the Sermon on the Mount to show us God’s holiness is even higher than the Law. You guessed it. We couldn’t keep the Law, and we certainly can’t keep the Sermon on the Mount, which is even more stringent.
God gave us salvation by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ, and most reject it. This is where we are now in the Church age. All God asks is that we rest our faith in His Son.
In the future, perhaps near future, God will give us the millennial age, another perfect environment, but this time without Satan around to tempt us. Man can no longer make Satan the patsy. No one can blame him, because he will be chained up. Again, we will rebel because of our sin nature.
Why is it that from Adam onward we keep failing? We always fall to temptation. Sin abounds within us. Why is that? Since in Adam we died spiritually, we must be born again spiritually and that can only come through Jesus Christ. When Jesus saves a person, that person is born again. They are made anew. They are clothed in His righteousness.
All those who come to Jesus to be saved are sanctified by His blood. We are being sanctified daily. We will be sanctified in Heaven, meaning, total release from the old sin nature. It will be gone forever. Never again will we know sin. This will never be experienced however unless Jesus sets us free, and He cannot set us free until we come to Him in faith.
All those who know Jesus, the Son of God, as their personal Savior and Lord will be welcomed into Heaven because they are made clean by the blood of Jesus Christ. Those who refuse and ignore this one requirement of God will never see Heaven, but spend all eternity in the Lake of Fire (Hell).
If you want to go to Heaven when you die (or by the Rapture), there is only one way to get there, and that is through Jesus Christ. Any other way will send you directly to hell. Don’t listen to that liar, the Devil, listen to God.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html