Heaven: How to Get In

It's not popular in Christian circles to say so nowadays, but ...According to the Bible you go to heaven by doing good works.The Judge of whether you've done well enough is Jesus.Jesus says he'll make that determination based on whether you've done good or evil in John 5:29. He gives some specifics on what constitutes good or evil in Matthew 25:31-46. And he tells a few members of the church in Sardis that they will walk with him in white because they're worthy due to not defiling their garments. Since in Revelation garments are the righteous acts of the saints, this agrees with the other references.Paul is often said to contradict James and Jesus, but he doesn't. Paul believed that a person was transformed from an old creature, dead in sin, to a new creation in Christ by faith only, but going to heaven is always by works in Paul's writings (e.g., Acts 26:20; Rom. 2:5-8; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 2 Cor. 5:10; Gal. 5:19-21; 6:7-10; Eph. 5:5-8).James, of course, specifically says that we will be saved by works and not faith only in a famous passage.Peter has a couple of great explanations of this. One, he says in 1 Pet. 1:17 that you should fear the one who will judge according to your works. Two, in 1 Pet. 4:18 he says that the righteous are "scarcely saved."In other words, it's difficult for even the righteous to get into heaven.That's the reason for grace. You're never going to be good enough without both God's mercy AND God's help. That's why grace "teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly" (Tit. 2:11-12). It also breaks sin's power over us (Rom. 6:14; 8:3-4).So, if you're a Bible believer, that's the way you get to heaven. Historically, that's what the churches the apostles taught believed, too.If you're not a Bible believer, well, then it's going to be difficult because it's hard to find people living the way the Bible describes so that you can see the power of grace. There's nothing like seeing to create belief. Preaching across the internet really doesn't work, though sometimes it does pique enough interest to get someone to come see what God can do when people give up all the doctrinal battles, surrender to Christ, and follow God together.

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