Why Should God Let You Into Heaven?
On a scale of 1 – 10, with 1 as “not sure at all” and 10 as “positive”, how sure are you of your salvation? Why do you respond the way you do?
If God were to ask you why he should let you into heaven, what would you say?
Be honest, did you skip over those first two questions? If I were you, I probably would have too. But. Please don’t. Not this time. Go back and read them again. Take a spiritual inventory. As we continue on our Flourish journey, we need to know where we are personally starting. We’ll come back to these questions shortly.
We don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony with God in the garden. We tend to put human boundaries around things and because the defacing happens so early in Genesis, we convince ourselves it was soon. Maybe only weeks. Or even days. Ok, I might be the only one wondering that. Regardless of how long they were in perfect relationship, the fact is, ever since that fateful day in the garden, for the thousands of years recorded in history, we, God’s created image, have been out of perfect relationship with our Creator.
The Apostle Paul puts it this way:
“It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us” (Eph 2:1-3, The Message).
God did not lose his temper and do away with the lot of us. Even with Noah, he planned for salvation. Even in Israel’s long history of repeated disobedience he preserved a remnant to restored.
Even as a defaced image bearer, God’s love has never failed. God has always loved you.
When Jesus spoke the words “you are already clean” to the disciples, he was answering those first two questions for them. Questions they didn’t even know they needed to ask. Do we know we need to ask them of ourselves?
When I was serving in my church’s women’s ministry, I did a very unscientific survey, asking our ladies these two questions. Their responses fell into three primary categories:
- 42% responded that they were 100% sure of their salvation and their response to God’s question was something along the lines of
- because of his grace
- because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus
- because it’s a give and nothing I do.
This was a cause to celebrate! Nearly half of our ladies surveyed lived confidently as restored images of God. Hallelujah!
But.
That means more than half did not.
- 35% said they were 100% sure of their salvation but did not articulate that the reason they were sure was because of Jesus. The responses predominately expressed the answer to God’s question as because of something they did. They lived a good life. They earned the right.
These ladies believe they are restored, but that they did the restoring. We can’t restore ourselves. Only Jesus can restore us. Jesus. I do want to make clear that, while we cannot “good” our way to God, this does not mean you are not saved by Jesus if this is where you landed. If you have confessed your need for a Savior and believed in Jesus as your Savior, salvation is yours. This simply means that you have a doctrinal misunderstanding of how the grace of Jesus works. This, my friend, is something you can grow through and I believe this Flourish study will help get you started toward living in freedom.
- 23% responded that they weren’t sure of their salvation at all. There is an element of unbelief that holds them back. Interestingly, many in this category responded to God’s question with, “I don’t know why you should let me in. but Jesus said yes.”
This is such a gut honest answer isn’t it? If you are here, I believe God is delighting over you in particular. In your heart you understand you don’t deserve God’s grace. You know you are defaced and nowhere close to being perfect. Yet, you believe Jesus. You believe he has the power to overcome all that. You don’t understand grace, but you believe Jesus just because he said so. You, my friend, are poised to discover the new reality God wants you living in as his restored image.
Are you confident in your salvation? Do you want to be? #flourish journey Click To Tweet
God’s desire is for all of his creation to be confident that they have been restored into his perfect image. He wants you to declare with certainty that you are a 10 – 100% sure of your salvation. 100% sure that you are already clean. 100% sure that you are God’s restored masterpiece, his work of art, his image bearer.
Where did you land on your spiritual inventory? If not a 10, let’s get there right now. Will you pray with me?
“Holy God, I confess I do not bear your image well. I confess I am selfish and prideful. I confess my thoughts, my attitudes, and my actions are more in keeping with my culture than the faith you call me to. Lord, I confess I don’t understand your grace. I don’t understand that you give it freely. That I don’t have to earn it. Lord, I want to live in the freedom you promise in your Word. I surrender my defaced self to you and ask you to restore my image in Christ. I believe, God, that you sent your son Jesus to be my Savior. This day, Lord, I give myself to you and claim your promise of full restoration. Teach me to live with confidence of the gift of your grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Related #Flourish Posts:
In the Image of God
You Are Already Clean
Take this deeper:
Look these verses up and record your thoughts about them. Long before Christ, when we were mired in sin, God’s love for us never failed.
Now, let’s get what Jesus accomplished on the cross ingrained in our hearts. Record what the following verses say. Let these become your prayer of thanksgiving this week.
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