by Kevin De Silva Piques

Created on: November 09, 2009

One of my favorite things I hear from our pastor when he preaches are these simple words, "The bible says.." When it comes to questions about God and heaven, there is a temptation to try and answer those questions with our own thoughts and feelings. Unfortunately, what we think really doesn't matter. God has the answers and they are recorded in the scriptures. The path to heaven is clearly outlined in the bible.

Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". This verse clearly establishes the fact that everyone has sinned. Not one person has lived up to God's standard. In other words, no one is good enough to get to heaven on their own.

Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord". Clearly this verse tells us that because of our sin, we deserve to die, to be separated from God. We are not capable of being good enough to get to heaven.

Ephesians 2:8,9 says, "For it is by grace you are 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 tells us that we can not earn our way into heaven. It is a gift from God. We are saved by faith.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He makes a way for us to get to heaven because sin has separated us from God. Apart from Jesus' ultimate sacrifice for us, we would never get to heaven. We don't deserve it. It is only because of God's grace, his unmerited favor, that we are able to place our faith in Him and be saved.

How are sinful people such as ourselves, capable of determining if we are good enough to get heaven? Everyone may have a differing opinion of what is good. What is the standard we are measuring against to see how good we are? The answer is simple and perhaps sobering. We are not good enough and never can be. We need help. The good news of the bible is that God provides a way. It is through his Son, Jesus, dying for our sins, taking our place. All we need to do is to accept this gift...will you?

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