What Gets us to Heaven

(Notes from a radio broadcast – Pastor J.B. Hixson)

10 Good Things that won’t get you into Heaven

Good Behavior

Good Intentions

Ability to argue rationally

Good Reputation

Being in the right religion

Membership in a good Church

Having a good Family

Your bank account

Having the right connections

A Good Education

The one and only thing that will get you into Heaven

Being justified through faith in Jesus Christ

Having the 10 attributes listed above is more of a checklist for good, clean living.  This is not what God is looking for from us.  God wants us to follow Him, listen and demonstrate obedience to His word, and to love one another as He loves each of us.

Because God’s standard is perfection, He does not want us standing before Him one day with the above checklist and saying “I’m not perfect, but I lived a good, clean and honest life.”

The standard of perfection is this:  Jesus was a sinless man who worked tirelessly to spread the good news of the gospel, guiding humanity to follow Him (and thereby teaching people to follow God and to live by His word).  No one can stand up to that kind of perfection.

God does not compare us to others as many believe.  He compares us to the perfection of Jesus Christ.  And compared to Jesus, we unfortunately can never meet that perfect standard.  We also need to understand that sin has a steep penalty. God has clearly laid out His plan for humanity (His word, as written in the Bible).  Remember, we cannot measure up to the standard of Jesus.

But God provides a way out for us:  a free gift--the gift of eternal life.  That gift happened the day Jesus died on the cross.  Jesus, a perfect and sinless man who was unjustly crucified on a cross, took our sins.  He defeated death when He rose from the dead 3 days later.

We are saved by faith, not by works.  When we ask God for forgiveness, we have faith that He will extend grace and mercy to us along with His forgiveness.  Our behavior, goodness, and works do not count because God’s standard is the perfection of Jesus Christ (not other people).  We can never compare to the perfection of Jesus.  This is why we need God’s forgiveness, grace, and mercy and we therefore ask God to forgive us of our sins.  We must have faith in the unseen and adopt the attitude of “I take seriously the concept that someone died a terrible death on my behalf so that I can make it to Heaven.”

For more information on this subject, read Matthew 19, 22, and 23 in the Bible.  Check out www.notbyworks.org authored by radio host J.B. Hixson from Grace Bible Church of Fresno.