Wide Road, Narrow Gate

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In a conversation the other day I was asked about people who claim to be Christians but who treat others poorly, compared to those who are agnostic or atheists, yet are loving and kind to others.  The question was, “Who goes to Heaven?”

Well, while the question is certainly beyond my pay grade, here are my thoughts on the subject:

Right now in church we’re doing a series called ENCOUNTERS.  So far, we’ve heard from a few different pastors - but in each sermon there was a common thread:  People who had a true encounter with Jesus were forever changed, and those changes prompted a difference in how they acted.

The Bible book of Matthew is rich.  Matthew was one of Jesus’ disciples and spent 3 years learning from Him.  Matthew 7 is a wonderful chapter and if you’ve never read it, I encourage you to check it out.  Everything it contains are words Matthew recorded as ones spoken by Jesus.

I think in Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus speaks pretty plainly about people who are “Christian” in name only.  It says, “It is not everyone who keeps saying to me ‘Lord, Lord’ who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the man who actually does my Heavenly father’s will.  In that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we preach in your name, didn’t we cast out devils in your name, and do many great things in your name?’ Then I shall tell them plainly, ‘I have never known you.  Go away from me, you have worked on the side of evil.’”

So, to answer my friend, I would say those who claim to be Christians but who treat others poorly are in for a rude awakening.  I do not think they are Heavenbound.

So then what about the people who are good, and kind hearted, who treat everyone fairly and nicely?  Shouldn’t THEY go to Heaven?  I don’t think so.  I don’t think being “good” is good enough.  The message of the gospel is clear.  We are all sinners, and as punishment we all deserve death.  But since the beginning, God promised a way to reconcile ourselves to Him and that way, is Jesus. 

Jesus lived the life God asked US to live – sinless and blameless.  Yet, so that we could have a way back to God, He bore the penalty for our sins when He died on the cross. 

John – another of Jesus’ disciples, recorded Jesus as saying, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the father except through me.” (John 14:6).  If we take Him at his word, it means Jesus is the key to our redemption.

Then, as if dying on our behalf wasn’t enough, He rose from the dead.  After He was tortured, crucified, stabbed with a spear and buried – three days later He was walking around.  The disciples and crowds of people saw Him.  Those sightings have been recorded, and they are the reason we know about Him today.

After Jesus died, the apostles weren’t going around talking about His teaching.  Instead, they were talking about the fact that they’d seen Him raised from the dead.  And that fact was so INCREDIBLE that they had to share it.  Even if it meant their own imprisonment, torture, or death.