When We All Get To Heaven ... Wait ... What?

If everyone is forgiven for their sins - why don't we all go to Heaven?

That's a question people have been tossing around for centuries I'm sure.

The thing is, everyone isn't forgiven for their sins.  That's a mistake.  Through Jesus' sacrifice, forgiveness has been made available for all humanity, but it must be received on God's terms.

Our need for Jesus stems out of a righteousness issue.  God is perfectly righteous.  His standard for heaven is righteousness ... that's why Lucifer (Satan) was cast out ... sin was found in him.  The whole huge rebellion of heaven (as it is presented) was simply a thought that Satan had (and other angels too) ... the painting never attacked the painter, neither did Satan ever pose a threat to God, his Creator.  BUT ... Satan stands at every judgment demanding that God's beloved creation (man) be given the same banishment he was ... hell.  Since God is a just God, the perfection of justice, He will not break His own standard.  Sin is sin ... and the penalty for it is death.  So He fulfilled it.  In Christ, our debt is paid, His justice is served, and we have grace.  But we must receive it ... and, as I said before, it must be on His terms.  So what are His terms?  Consider the following (often called "The Roman Road"):

Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God…

§  All men sin

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

§  Sin yields eternal death

Rom 5:8-9  But God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 9  Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

§  God has made an alternate plan to deal with sin

Rom 10:9-13  Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. 10  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation. 11  For the Scripture says, "Everyone believing on Him shall not be put to shame." 12  For there is no difference both of Jew and of Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call on Him. 13  For everyone, "whoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved."

§  Jesus is the Plan.  By giving our life to Him, we receive Salvation.  By confessing our sins to Him we receive forgiveness

Rom 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. 2  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.

§  Through faith in Jesus, we can do more than change our actions, we can change our thoughts and desires!

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Joh 10:28  And I give to them eternal life, and they shall never ever perish, and not anyone shall pluck them out of My hand.

1Jo 1:8  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

2Co 6:2  (For He says, "In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation, I helped you;" Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.)

§  Now is the time…receive Jesus now.   His terms are simple: confess that you have sinned and are guilty of unrighteousness, surrender your right to sin as you please, accept His Lordship, and abide in His love, growing though His Word.  See, when we repent, we literally accept our death sentence for our sin, only our will is put to death, and our soul is redeemed.  By accepting Jesus' sacrifice, we honor Him, and we acknowledge God's goodness.  There is no sin that the cross cannot carry.  There is nothing that can shame Jesus' victory.  There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.

Hell was not made for humans ... it was made for the angels who rebelled.  But, if we refuse God's provision, He honors our choice.  He is always beckoning for us to come, always until our last breath ... but it is our choice.  If He were to force that on us, He would not be just, He would be a tyrant.  The universe is a majestic creation filled with majestic order that demands the existence of a Creator who cares about laws and the order of things and holds Himself to the same.   That is God.  He loves us.  He desires for us to be with Him ... and He made a way ... but we must walk it.  It starts with the confession of sin ... it includes accepting His Lordship and turning our faces towards Him, and backs to the world ... and it ends being with Him and He with us.

I can't think of a better plan.

That's my take anyways.

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