Who Gets into Heaven?

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  John 14:15

What does it take to be a follower of Christ?  What does it mean to love Him?  Is it enough to be a good person?  To attend church on a somewhat regular basis?  To tell people you are a Christian?  If you have made a profession of your faith at some point in your life, can you then live as you please and expect to be forgiven?

I see many claims in the media, made by people themselves or others on their behalf, that a certain public figure…politician, celebrity, sports standout…is a Christian.  Do we then have a right to certain expectations?  It is not unusual after hearing such a claim to find out that the person is not really living in keeping with Christ’s commandments.

I understand that we are not to judge lest we also be judged, but I also understand that we are to recognize those who are Christ followers by “their fruits.”

One of the things that discourages me in this regard is learning that a “Christian” is living openly with their boyfriend or girlfriend as though this is totally acceptable.  I will grant you that it is acceptable to our society, but the Bible is pretty clear in its condemnation of this type of behavior.  Sexual sin is pervasive in our culture to the point where it is the norm.  However, it is a cancer that can destroy a person from within.  It is not something that harms only the person who is engaging in such conduct.  It harms those they love and who love them.

Too often sexual sin is shrugged off, because the person has “a good heart.”  They exhibit compassion toward the less fortunate.  They are philanthropic.  They give money to food banks or build houses or promote legislation meant to help the poor.  I’m sorry, but we don’t get to heaven on our “good works.”  We only get there through our understanding that we are sinners in need of a Savior.  If we truly understand that, we will love Him and want to keep His commandments.  In Matthew 15:19, Christ himself mentions sexual sins (adultery, fornication) as defiling a person.  I cannot reconcile openly flaunting Christ’s directive with being a Christian.  If we are caught up in such a sin, there is, of course, forgiveness available to us, but we need to repent…which means forsaking the sin.  In other words, stop what you are doing!

King David was a prime example of someone who seemed to love God whole-heartedly, but who fell into sexual sin.  He not only took another man’s wife, but then when he didn’t manage to pass off her pregnancy as a result of the marriage, he arranged for the man to be killed.  However, unlike the situations I’m thinking of today, David was totally repentant when confronted.  He did not shrug off his sin as part of the cultural norm.

I have seen the argument that some who claim to be Christians and legalistically adhere to rules of conduct are much less Christian in their actions than others whose morals are a bit loose.  Here’s the problem….this is not an either/or situation.  It is a both/and.  We cannot earn our way into a relationship with God.  We must acknowledge our sin and accept Christ’s sacrifice, BUT once we have done that our lives should demonstrate that we are in a relationship with God Himself.  All those “good works” should be evident in our lives in addition to the gospel we proclaim.

I am grateful that I do not have to make any decisions as to who will enter heaven and who will not.  But the divine judge has stated:  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’  Matthew 7:21-23

So, who gets into heaven?

*the star football player who is philanthropic but lives with a girlfriend

*the politician who claims to be compassionate, but supports abortion

*the well-know evangelist who turns out to have been a sexual predator

*the celebrity who has lived promiscuously, but says her bedtime prayers

*the pastor who sneaks a peek at porn whenever he gets a chance

*all of the above

*none of the above

Someone a whole lot wiser than I am will decide.