A winner is

Why not give 100% in all that you do instead of 50%, 75%, or 99%? A true winner give a 100% regardless of the outcome win or lose in whatever they face in life. Pictured above are my winners and my heroes cause my kids give me 100% of their love to me and that is all I could ever ask for.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

By good works alone

We cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven by our good works alone. Many people think and believe that if they do good deeds alone they will go to heaven. People all across the world do good everyday but, lack the one thing that will allow you to enter into heaven. There a lot of good works that a person can do in their lifetime but, they are not enough to get one into heaven. Good works are only part of the formula to get into heaven.
What defines a good deed or good work? A good deed could be anything from shoveling a driveway, mowing the grass, giving to a local charity, and list could go on and on. None of these things mentioned are bad things to be doing for someone but, they simply are not enough to get into heaven. I can hear some people saying to me if a person does all this good surely they will be allowed into heaven. I would say back to them, “I hate to tell you this but; their good deeds alone will not get them into heaven.”
In the Bible there are many references about what one needs to do to be able to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Let’s look at a few of the verses that explain what a person must do to get into heaven. In Galatians 2:16 it states “know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” If you pay close attention to the beginning and end of that verse it clearly spells out what you must do. In the beginning it says we are not justified by following the law but, instead by faith in Jesus Christ. At the end it makes it clear again that just because you observe the law you will not be justified. In Ephesians 2:8-9 it reads “for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.” This verse spells it out very clear we are saved by grace through faith in God not by our good works. We can do all the good we want to but, if we only do the good we will unfortunately not make it into heaven. Titus 3:5-7 reads “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Once again if we read and listen carefully the beginning of this verse spells it out very clear that not because of the righteous things, but rather by his mercy. At the end it spells out what will get us into heaven that is being justified by God’s grace we will have the hope of eternal life. Clearly the Bible gives us many facts on what we must do to get into heaven. We have to be saved by God’s grace and have faith that what he tells us in the Bible is real and by doing this we shall one day enter into heaven not by good works but, by faith and grace.
I can understand the other side of the argument that surely a person who does good will get into heaven. I have heard those who believe a life like this to be the way to heaven say “surely the loving God would not let a good person go to hell.” I wish I could tell those people that God would not allow a good person to go to hell, but it is not God that allows them to do so it is the person. How can a good person let themselves go to hell? A question that is very easily answered by not believing in the almighty God and being saved by the grace he has given us through Jesus Christ. There are a lot of people that don’t believe in God and feel that if they do enough good during their lifetime they will get into heaven. The sad reality and truth is that the people that believe this are sadly mistaken because, no man will enter the gates of heaven by his works alone.
I used to believe that if I went to church and lived a good life that I would one day go to heaven. As time has gone by I have become to realize through reading the Bible, listening to sermons at church, and by asking for forgiveness that good alone will not cut it. The only way to heaven folks is through God nothing else or no one else will get you there. I lived the life trying to do good alone and it doesn’t work. If you just read throughout the Bible it clearly spells it out for you on what a person must do to inherit the kingdom of heaven. The famous verse John 3:16 reads “for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” I cannot say it any clearer than that verse does God loved me, you and the guy down the street and if we believe in him we will have eternal life in heaven plain and simple. I do not read anywhere in that verse or in the Bible where it states that good alone will get you into heaven. The verse keep saying the same thing that heaven in inherited by having faith and being saved by God’s grace not by doing good throughout your life.
People believe many different things and have many answers on how to get to heaven. Some are correct and others are not the one that I know for sure is incorrect is that by doing good alone a person can get into heaven. We have to be saved by God and have to believe in him to get into heaven period. We all know good people but, just because they are good does not mean they are going to heaven they must be saved by God’s grace and believe in him. We cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven on good merits alone, but rather by God’s grace, God’s love, and by our faith in him we can go to heaven.

No comments:

Post a Comment