Sealy honey, If being good was the prerequisite to entering heaven, how much good do you have to perform to equal out the bad you have committed? If God can't even look upon 1 sin, why do you think He grades your performance on a curve? One sin has the potential to keep you from your Father. Why cling to it when Christ offered you a sin free substitution?
Your good works fall short compared to Christ's work. You were purchased at an enormous price. It is Christ's work on the cross that cleanses a sinner, not his own work. I guarantee you, that if your record was good enough, Christ would have never have died on that cross. He is the bridge that leads home.
Why wait until your last breath to wonder if your opinion of heaven and hell was the correct one? The stark reality you will face is, what if I was wrong all this time.......
Well said. Also worth considering is that one can reach a point at which he/she is not able to turn back to the Lord because his heart will not let him return, as stated in Heb. 10:26-31, 32, 35-36:
"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God...
But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions...
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise."
The opportunity to turn to the Lord is NOW since God does not promise us another day, and those trying to find God on their deathbeds typically do not succeed (just read the quotes above).
A person can receive the hope of salvation by obeying what Jesus and the apostles taught in the New Testament. Without warning, one day Jesus will appear to bring judgment to all those who did not submit themselves to him in baptism and obedience to his teachings to enter the safety of the church of Christ:
"...when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." 2 Thess. 1:7-10
God bless those who seek the narrow and difficult way (see Matt. 7:13-27).
Jason
