I watched a documentary a few years ago where they set-up their cameras outside a large church and performed a type of exit poll. As people departed the church, the reporters asked them, “How do you know if you’re going to heaven?” The list of answers was anything but theologically or doctrinally sound. Most of the answers contained a mixed bag of treating people fairly and trying to be good. I’d say less than ten percent of them ever mentioned Jesus Christ. The one answer I seem to remember the clearest was a man who remarked, “Well, I never murdered anybody or anything like that.” I found it interesting because from my understanding, many people approach their understanding of the entry conditions for heaven in much the same way. “Well, I’m not perfect, but I’m better than most people!” The scriptures clearly destroy this thesis. In God’s eyes, we are condemned–no better than a murderer–if we don’t love our fellow man. The scriptures go on to say that we get the ability to love from Christ, by accepting his sacrifice for us., i.e., because He first loved us!
“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother IS A MURDERER, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.” 1 John 3:14-15 (Emphasis mine)
“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” 1 John 3:23
In Christ,
PastorJimKilby @Kilbin8er
Jim@JamesKilby.com
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