Why Should God Let You Into Heaven?
Q: If God asked you why He should let you into heaven, what would you say?
A: First, I’ll offer a word of caution. The phrasing of this question may imply that what we’re really concerned about is getting to heaven, as if that encapsulates everything there is in the Christian life. Of course, I want to go to heaven. I believe that heaven is real, and that people should be concerned about going there. In fact, they should be even more concerned about not going there. But being a follower of Jesus Christ, being saved, means a lot more than just going to heaven.
Going to heaven is a byproduct of salvation. Salvation means coming into right relationship with God. It’s being approved by God, accepted by Him, and coming into a right relationship with Him. We recognize that many people in this world feel like they’re already in a right relationship with God, or if they are aware of having a bad relationship with God, they don’t care. But salvation is the restored relationship with God.
Getting into heaven is not the primary goal or the first focus. The more fundamental question is this: How can a man or a woman be right before God? The Bible tells us the simple answer. We do not come into right relationship with God by earning or deserving it. We come into right relationship with God by putting our trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. I mean trust in the fullest sense, to trust in, rely on and cling to. That’s Biblical faith. That’s how you come into right relationship with God.
Going to heaven is a very real byproduct of coming into right relationship with God. I am right with God, not fundamentally because of me and what I’ve done, but because of Jesus Christ and what He’s done. If I fundamentally point to myself and say that my salvation is something I’ve done, that’s not the right answer. I must fundamentally point to Jesus Christ and His work on the cross and His resurrection; that is the right answer. My entrance into heaven, and my salvation itself, is because of who Jesus is and what He’s done.
So, how would I answer if God asked me why He should let me into heaven? I’d say, “Lord, it’s because I’m in right relationship with You.” If He asked, “Why are you in right relationship with Me?” I’d say, “I’m in right relationship with You because I’ve put my trust in Jesus Christ. I trust in Him. I rely on Him. I cling to Him, who He is and what He did to rescue me, especially what He did at the cross and in His glorious resurrection. Therefore, He has taken my sin and given me His righteousness. That’s how I’m in right relationship with You.”
When we arrive in heaven, I don’t think it will be a situation of God needing to be convinced, or that He’s standing there keeping people out. God’s whole desire is that everyone would come in. The way is open, but that way is exclusively through faith in Jesus Christ. I don’t get into heaven through trusting in myself, but in the way that God has provided. God is not willing that any perish, but that all would come to the knowledge of repentance and faith in Christ. God wants people in Heaven with Him. He has done everything that He can do to provide a way for people to be able to come into heaven. When we come to heaven, it isn’t by saying, “Well, I did this, and I did that.” No, it is exclusively through what Christ has done for us. He atoned for our sins on the cross. He rose again from the dead to give us new life. I won’t need to convince God let me into heaven. I trust that He has already made provision for me in Christ. Heaven is the end result of the life that we have now.
I believe in God’s election. I believe that God chooses, and I also believe that people put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I believe that the elect are those who believe, and those who believe are the elect. We don’t argue that we get into heaven because we are elect; we get to heaven because we trust in and rely on and cling to Jesus by faith.
One of the problems with the Calvinist view of election is that it centers your salvation on your election, rather than simply on the work of Christ. In response, they might argue that our idea centers the work of salvation on our faith, as if salvation was up to the individual and not up to God. I would protest against that. By faith, we simply receive the gift that God offers. I don’t regard that as a work at all.
Think about Numbers 21, when the people of Israel complained and God sent the fiery serpents among them. Under God’s instruction, Moses lifted up a serpent in the wilderness, and the people looked at it and lived. No individual who is dying from a poisonous snakebite would take personal credit for saving himself because he simply looked to God’s provision and lived. They received what God offered to everyone who would look and live.