. . . for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:23

 
How do I get to heaven?

Good Vs. Evil

People many times tend to think that if you are good then you get to go to heaven, whereas bad people cannot go to heaven. Recently one of our young people asked if a person could be guilty of horrible murders, and at the last moment of life repent and trust in God for forgiveness and so go to heaven. The answer to that is yes. The truth is, being good or bad does not have a whole lot to do with it, while on the other hand it is essential. What do I mean? When you think about human activity from what we consider good and evil, there is much that looks good to us. But it does not matter so much what we do but whether we have a faith relationship with God. A person can do great deeds of love and service in the world, but without love and trust in God, they are meaningless. As we have seen in the last few weeks, God reveals to us that because of our original corruption and separation from Him, we not only do bad things but we exist wrong -- cut off from Him. So all that we do is still done by a human being cut off from Him, and hence it is still evil.

But to become good is essential. However not in the way that we think. The Masonic lodge has a "mission statement" that is typical of how people usually think people get to heaven. Their purpose is to make good men better. They speak of metaphors like climbing a ladder of morality, ascending to become better and better people. Many of the religions of the world operate on this principle. They provide laws, practices, meditations, prayers, works of service; all of which are geared to help the person become worthy of heaven.

It is essential to become worthy of heaven. But human good works have nothing to do with it.

• NAB Romans 3:20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

So does that mean God just lets us in? That God does not care about our sin. That salvation is actually toleration, sort of like when a parent continues to allow a child to live at home irrespective of what destructive behaviors he is engaged in? Let’s ask God.

• NAB 1 Corinthians 6:9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,

So if we can accomplish about as much toward getting to heaven as a dead man can accomplish in his own resurrection, if our efforts to follow God’s law and be good cannot make us good in God’s sight, and God does not just overlook our sins: then how can anyone be saved?

The answer is Jesus, but a specific action of Jesus. His death on the cross makes heaven open for us all. The question is how do we get from the cross to people. How is it that what Jesus did in dying for our sins on the cross can make a difference in our lives and what sort of difference does it make.

This passage gives us the insight we need. We are saved by grace through faith and it is not something we do, it is God’s gift to us, it is not the result of our works or efforts.

Many people think that the way what Jesus did on the cross gets to us is that we commit ourselves to following Jesus’ path and try to be good as He was good and that Jesus rewards that with forgiveness. But this is the same thing as trying to become a better person. Salvation does not work that way. God’s children do not earn their ticket into heaven. The kingdom of heaven invites us in and pays the price for our admission through the blood of Christ. The way what Jesus did on the cross gets to us is through hearing the promise of God in the Gospel, that because of God’s love and not because of anything we do to earn it, God has grace on us. That grace is to forgive our sins through the action of Christ on the cross. This promise is one we can trust, for God is faithful to His promises. So we are saved by grace through faith, which is God’s gift to us. We do not earn heaven, we receive it.

But before we talked about how it is essential to get into heaven to be righteous. How do we become righteous if we cannot make ourselves any better? Again some teach that it is a process that happens throughout life, that God and I work together to make myself more righteous until finally I reach the point of being good enough for heaven. But what sort of hope would that have had for the thief on the cross who in the last moments of death cried out for mercy. Great insight is given to us in the words of Jesus.

• NAB Luke 23:43 And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."

The thief, indeed all people, are made righteous enough to enter heaven because God declares us to be righteous. He takes the righteousness of Christ and gives it to us. The way to be good enough for heaven is not though human works and efforts, it is through receiving Christ’s righteousness and the forgiveness of our sins as God’s free gift to us. This is why salvation is called rebirth in the Bible. We do not create ourselves, we are created: through birth we come into life. We do not save ourselves. We are saved through rebirth which is God’s action in us through the Gospel and the Sacraments.

So what is the way to heaven?

1. God has a plan. He created us to be in relationship with Him and wants to restore that relationship with all people.

• NAB Genesis 1:27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

2. We have abandoned God’s plan for life and gone off on our own. Our sin separates us from God.

• NAB Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

3. God provides the solution. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die in our place taking our punishment for sin and creating for us a perfect righteousness. So now we have:

forgiveness: NAB Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. . .

righteousness: NAB Romans 3:21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe;

peace: NAB Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

eternal life: NAB John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life. . .
 
 
 copyright Rev. David D. Reedy, 1998

Rev. David D. Reedy 2002

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church   

Dayton Tennessee   

423.775.4253

Prince of Peace is a LCMS congregation located in Rhea County Tennessee, serving the entire county of some 32,000 people.