Tag Archives: going to heaven

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – We Are Held Securely

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“No one who has become part of God’s family makes a practice of sinning, for Christ, God’s Son, holds him securely and the devil cannot get his hands on him” (1 John 5:18).

“I am enjoying my new-found liberty. I know that I am a Christian. I know that I am going to heaven, but for the moment I want to do my own thing. I recognize that the Lord may discipline me for the things that I am doing which the Bible says are wrong. I was reared in a very strict, legalistic Christian family and church and I have never enjoyed life before, but now I am having a ball. I don’t see anything wrong with drinking and sex and the other so-called sins that I have been told all my life were so terribly wrong.”

Do you believe that person is a Christian? Of course I have no way of judging, but according to the Word of God it is quite likely that this person has never really experienced a new birth. Can you imagine a beautiful butterfly going back to crawl in the dirt as it did as a caterpillar?

It is possible of course, for a Christian, one who has experienced new life in Christ, to sin, and even to continue in sin for a period of time, but never with a casual, flippant indifference to God’s way as this person expressed.

In the second chapter of the same epistle, the writer says the same thing in different words: “How can we be sure that we belong to Him? By looking within ourselves: are we really trying to do what He wants us to? Someone may say, ‘I am a Christian; I am on my way to heaven; I belong to Christ.’ But if he doesn’t do what Christ tells him to do, he is a liar. But those who do what Christ tells them to will learn to love God more and more. That is the way to know whether or not you are a Christian. Anyone who says he is a Christian should live as Christ did” (1 John 2:3-6).

Though it is not possible for us in this life to know the perfection that our Lord experienced, there will be that heartfelt desire to do what He wants us to do. Therefore, anyone who is a child of God will not make a practice of sinning. Those who are inclined should consider the possibility that they could be forever separated from God on judgement day.

Bible Reading: I John 5:1-21

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I am assured of my own salvation through faith in Christ which is demonstrated by the transformation of my attitudes and actions. I will encourage professing Christians, whose lives do not reflect God’s desires, to appropriate by faith the fullness of the Holy Spirit and His power in their daily walk so that they, too, can have the assurance of their salvation and their place in God’s special kingdom.

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Ravi Zacharias Ministry – God and Good People

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“People are basically good,” writes one poet. “It is only their behavior that lets them down.”

It is remarkable today that despite religion, creed, or practice, many believe they are good enough to get into heaven. Perhaps there is so much bad news about others that they conclude by comparison they are superior, and thus, deserving of a place in eternity. But then it is even more remarkable that when Christians claim they know they are going to heaven, they are regarded as being conceited, boastful, and arrogant. People immediately ask: How can they think that they are better than everyone else?

The fact that the same person can think of himself as superior to others, while at the same time criticizing Christians for arrogance, underlines one of the effects of living in a world comfortable with inconsistency. Though the contradiction is frustrating, we all need to be able to respond coherently to the questions at hand: Why can’t I just be a good person? Isn’t it unfair of God to say that you can’t get into heaven unless you believe, even though you have been a good person? Who does God think He is?

Jesus was once asked a similar question by a group of inquirers: “What must we do to do the works God requires?” (John 6:28). Interestingly, the question was posed in plural form; it seems they were looking for a list of good things to do. But Jesus replied in the singular, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one God has sent” (6:29).

Of course, in the minds of those who feel they have lived a good life, Christ’s answer will not go unchallenged. What makes belief so special? Surely what we do is far more important than what we believe. How can a good person, who is not a Christian, be denied access to eternal life on the basis of belief?

The difficulty here lies in the assumption that is being made in each of these questions—namely, that there is such a thing as a good person. Jesus again offers further clarification in the form of question and answer. He was once asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). The theory of the questioner was clear: Jesus is a good person; good people inherit eternal life, so what must I do to be in the same group? But Jesus’s reply was surprising. “Why do you call me good?” he asked (18:19). He then answered his own question: “No one is good—except God alone.”

The simple truth is that the issue is not about good people not inheriting eternity. Alas, the problem is much worse! Jesus seems to define goodness in terms of being like God, and on that basis there are no good people anywhere. Thus, the real question is not about who is good enough to get in to heaven. The real question is how God makes it possible for anyone to know and follow and be transformed by an eternal God at all. The answer is that we need to be forgiven, and that forgiveness is won for us through the Cross.(1)

In fact, this is precisely why the Gospel is called Good News, and why Christians do well to declare it. The good news is that knowing and following God is first and foremost about forgiveness. And thus, the Christian testimony is, in fact, far from arrogant! If a Christian is sure that he is forgiven it is not because he is good, but because he has received that forgiveness by believing in Christ.

In other words, if we will trust in and rely on Jesus—his promises, his person, his life, death, and resurrection—we can be sure that we are saved and living in his presence. Christians are not good people because they live morally superior lives to everyone else. They have been made “good” in God’s eyes because Christ has made forgiveness possible—because Christ has extended his own righteousness to those who will believe.

Good people will certainly inherit eternal life. However, the path to real and eternal life today lies not in religious observances or respectable acts, but in the forgiveness of a good God, given to us through the Cross of Christ.

Michael Ramsden is European director of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in the United Kingdom.

(1) For further reading on this subject, I recommend The Cross of Christ by John Stott.

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Greg Laurie – A Real Place

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“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” —Matthew 10:28

The word “hell” is one of the most commonly used words in the English language, yet it is one of the least-discussed topics.

There is actually a place called Hell in the state of Michigan. The town got its name in 1841, when George Reeves, an early settler in the low, swampy place, was asked what he thought the town should be named. He said, “I don’t care, you can name it Hell for all I care.” So they did, and the name remains to this day.

But hell really is no laughing matter. According to the Bible, it is a real place. And most people don’t think they are going there. For every American who believes he or she is going to hell, there are 120 who believe they are going to heaven. So it appears that we believe in hell for some people, but certainly not for ourselves.

However, that is in direct contradiction to what Jesus said: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13–14).

Most of the biblical teaching on the topic of hell came from Christ Himself. Of all the parables that Jesus told, more than half of them relate to God’s eternal judgment of sinners. So we cannot go to the Bible and pick and choose things that personally appeal to us and throw the others aside.

As one theologian has pointed out, an endless hell can no more be removed from the New Testament than an endless heaven can.

So if you want an endless heaven, then you have to also accept an endless hell.

 

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Greg Laurie – Infiltrate, Not Isolate

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The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance—1 Peter 3:9

Far too often it seems that Christians don’t want to have any contact with unbelievers. Maybe they don’t want to talk to them for fear of being polluted spiritually. But the church needs to infiltrate, not isolate. And to reach our culture, Christians must go where people are.

I am not saying that we should spend time around unbelievers and stay silent about our faith. We should speak up for Christ when the moment is right. At the very least, we should live a godly life as an example of what it is to follow Jesus Christ.

We see Jesus demonstrating this as He adapted His approach with the people He spoke to. With Nicodemus, who was powerful and affluent, Jesus told him that he must be born again (see John 3:1–17). With the immoral Samaritan woman, He reached out to her and engaged her in conversation (see John 4:1–26).

Before we can reach people, we first have to care. And I think one of the reasons we don’t share our faith more often is because we don’t care. We might think another person’s eternal destiny is their problem. If an unbeliever argues with us, we tend to think, Forget it then. I am going to heaven. You can go to hell if you want to. It is not my problem.

But actually, it is our problem, because they need someone to engage them. They need someone to share the gospel accurately with them. So we need to pray that God will give us a burden for people who do not yet know Him.

The great commentator Alexander MacLaren said, “You tell me the depth of a Christian’s compassion, and I will tell you the measure of his usefulness.”

How deep does your compassion go?

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Rocky Road Hearers – Greg Laurie

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“The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation.”

—Luke 8:13

Some people like the idea of having their sin forgiven and going to heaven, but when it comes to Jesus’ command to deny themselves, take up the cross, and follow Him, their response is, “Uh, I don’t know. . . . That sounds a little hard. I don’t think I want to do that.” And they turn away.

I believe that if someone professes faith, falls away, and never comes back, it is not an issue of losing their salvation; it is an issue of someone who never was saved to begin with. I base that on 1 John 2:19, which says, “These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.”

However, I do acknowledge that you can make a commitment to Christ, fall away, and return. A prodigal always will come home. But people who leave and never return are not prodigals; they never were believers. Otherwise, they would return.

Maybe it was unbelief that set in and caused them to fall away. Every new believer, especially, will be hit by tests of their faith. And one of the first things the devil whispers in the ear of a brand-new Christian is, Do you really think God saved you? It isn’t real. That whole Christianity thing isn’t real.

But the assurance of our salvation is not based on our emotions; it is based on what God’s Word has to say. Our confidence should be in Christ Himself. And when we build our foundation on Him, we will be able to weather any storm.