Yes! The Bible tells us to trust in Jesus to save us rather than trust in our good character or good deeds. The problem is that we’d rather believe that we are good persons; that our good deeds earn us a place in heaven.
This is where people get defensive. Who wants to believe that he is worthy of @#!*% ? The Ten Commandments are to help us see that we are sinners. If you break one of the Commandments, you are guilty as a law-breaker and thus not acceptable for entrance into heaven. One commandment tells us not to covet our neighbor’s goods or wife (Exodus 20:17). If we wished we could have anything that the person near us has, we’ve broken this commandment, and we are sinners and in need of salvation from @#!*% . Justice must be served. But God calls us to believe in Jesus and he will forgive all. Continue with God and he will change us from the inside out.
It seems so simple – “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31a) – but people resist because pride holds them back. Pride in our religious or ethnic heritage, accomplishments, wealth, knowledge, and so on, can present excuses that prevent us from believing in Jesus. Society has taught us that those factors are good and important. The Bible tells us that these considerations are not enough to merit the righteousness we need for heaven. Only faith in Jesus will grant us that entrance.
God opens the door to heaven to all people in the world through faith. If you don’t have enough good deeds, wealth, knowledge, or family connections, or if you believe you have sinned too greatly, these factors are not enough to withhold God’s acceptance of you through simple faith in Jesus Christ.
Is faith simple? Yes! But not when you want to get into heaven another way.
What Do You Think?
a. Many people can’t believe because believing in something involves accepting something without evidence, or even in contradiction to plain evidence. Do you hold the same objection?
b. If God prophesied among more than one hundred times in Scripture that Jesus would be born in a certain city, die in a particular manner through no crime of his own, speak certain words, have certain tasks and purposes, experience opposition, and many other traits – all of which came to pass – wouldn’t that be enough of a foundation to believe?
c. Did you know that the world’s definition of faith and belief is different than the Bible’s definition? Jesus pointed out his miraculous works to John the Baptist to prove that he was the Messiah. In John chapter seven the people were evaluating whether Jesus was the Messiah by his miraculous works, while others compared the circumstances of his birth to Scripture prophecy to determine if he was the one God promised to send. Does that sound like the Bible is asking us to believe without evidence?
