Salvation

FAQ: Do we have to wait until we die to find out if we’re going to heaven?

Mark Broadbent F.A.Q.'s , ,

The Problem…

Many of us assume that we can’t be sure. As a result, we end up living in fear of God. We never experience His love and intimacy because we’re not sure if He’s going to condemn us to hell. We do good works, but they can all too easily be motivated by a desire to go to heaven rather than a grateful heart.

The good news is that we can be sure.

We can be sure now because God wants us to be sure now…

When Jesus was on the cross, he hung between two criminals. One of them acknowledged his sin, and then placed his life and eternity into Jesus’ hands by saying: “remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). Jesus turned back and said: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Jesus didn’t grant the criminal eternal life and then keep it a secret. Rather He made sure the criminal knew for sure that he had a place in heaven before he died. 

The Apostle John concludes one of his letters by saying: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Again we see that God doesn’t just want us to have eternal life, He wants us to ‘know’ that we have eternal life.

We can be sure now because eternal life starts now…

Jesus made it clear that eternal life is not something we receive when we die, it’s something we receive the moment we become a Christian: “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). 

Perhaps the best way to think about this is to consider the crossover between our physical life and our spiritual life. Just as we enter into this physical life through a physical birth, the Bible teaches that we enter into eternal life through a spiritual birth. This spiritual birth takes place when a person becomes a Christian.

In this moment, the person crosses over from eternal death to eternal life. Though their physical life will come to an end, their life with God will live on for all of eternity.

Eternal Life Starts now

Conclusion

We can be sure now because God wants us to be sure now, and because eternal life starts now.

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ILLUSTRATION: Adam vs Jesus

Mark Broadbent Illustrations ,

Adam vs JesusMany of us believe that where we spend eternity will be determined by how we live our lives. But the Bible teaches that where we spend eternity is actually determined by how someone else lived their life.

One way to think about this is to picture two lines of people. The first line – the line we are born into – has Adam at the front. The second line – the line that we move into when we become a Christian – has Jesus at the front. Now suppose both these lines are standing before God. How does he determine who gets into heaven?

The Bible teaches that God will judge us based on who is at the front of our line. If we stay in Adam’s line, God will judge us by Adam’s one act of disobedience (eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil). If we stay in Jesus’ line, God will judge us by Jesus’ one act of obedience (dying on the cross to pay for our sin).

Neither our good works nor our sin matter at all. All that gets looked at is Adam’s one act of disobedience, and Jesus’ one act of obedience. We either stay in Adam’s line, and get judged according to what Adam has done. Or we place our life and eternity into Jesus’ hands and move into His line, and get judged according to what Jesus has done.

“Just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19).

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FAQ: Can we live a life of deliberate sin and still go to heaven?

Mark Broadbent F.A.Q.'s , ,

tumblr_m2f7eczPF11qaol32The Problem…

If it’s possible to live a life of deliberate sin and still go to heaven, then some Christians might choose to take advantage of God’s grace and devote their life to intentionally sinning every day.

If it’s not possible to live a life of deliberate sin and still go to heaven, then some Christians might spend their life wondering if they are going to hell because of their ongoing struggle with sin.

Why we can live a life of deliberate sin….

1. If we can’t live a life of deliberate sin, can we live a year of deliberate sin, or a month of deliberate sin, or a week of deliberate sin, or a moment of deliberate sin? Where do we draw the line? And what happens if we have a bad week or a bad month or even a bad year?

2. If we can’t live a life of deliberate sin, does this mean that Jesus only paid for accidental sin? If so, is it even possible to commit an accidental sin? Isn’t all sin to some extent deliberate?

3. If we can’t live a life of deliberate sin, what do we do with sins of omission? The Bible teaches that sin includes both sins of commission (i.e. doing wrong things) and sins of omission (i.e. failing to do right things). A day spent avoiding doing wrong things is not necessarily a day without sin.

4. If we can’t live a life of deliberate sin, why did Jesus expect us to sin daily? In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus says: “Give us today our daily bread”. So we know that this is a prayer that Jesus expects us to pray daily. He then says: “Forgive us our sins”. So no matter how much we may try not to sin, Jesus fully expects that we will need to confess our sin daily.

5. If we can’t live a life of deliberate sin, how do we make sure we don’t start thinking that we deserve heaven because of our willingness to avoid sin? The Bible teaches that we are saved by grace “so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:9). If our willingness to avoid sin affects where we spend eternity, we would have grounds to boast because we would feel that we are better than those who don’t avoid sin.

6. If we can’t live a life of deliberate sin, why does the Bible teach that some Christians will get to heaven and have nothing to show for their life, but will still be saved? “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

7. If we can’t live a life of deliberate sin, how could the Bible teach that we receive eternal life at the point of salvation? If the level of our sin affected where we ended up, our eternal destination could only be determined at the end of our life.

8. If we can’t live a life of deliberate sin, what do we do about the fact that our sinful nature continues to crave sin? “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it” (Romans 7:18-20)

What God does to motivate us not to sin. 

The Bible teaches that there are lots of reasons why Christians won’t want to live a life of deliberate sin. It’s just that none of these determine our eternal destination.

1. God motivates us not to sin by giving us the the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s job is to wage war against our sinful nature. There is no way a person can receive the Holy Spirit and stay the same.

2. God motivates us not to sin by reminding us of what He has done for us. We love because Jesus first loved us. We serve because Jesus served us. We forgive because Jesus forgave us. We live for God because Jesus died for us.

3. God motivates us not to sin by reminding us that sin is destructive. When a person becomes a Christian they ‘repent’. Repent means to change our mind. We know longer see sin as something to be embraced. We realize that it is destructive and that it destroys our relationships and our lives.

4. God motivates us not to sin by reminding us that He’s willing to discipline us. The Bible teaches that “the Lord disciplines the one he loves” (Proverbs 3:12). If we continue to embrace sin without any hint of repentance, God will discipline us so that we will get our lives back on track.

5. God motivates us not to sin by reminding us that there are rewards in heaven. The Bible teaches that where we spend eternity is determined by how we respond to Jesus. But our experience in eternity is determined by how faithful we were with the opportunities to serve God.

Conclusion

So in theory a Christian can live a life of deliberate sin because Jesus paid for all our deliberate sin. But in practice, there are many reasons why a Christian will find themselves not wanting to live a life of deliberate sin.

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ILLUSTRATION: The Knight and the Princess

Mark Broadbent Illustrations , ,

desktop_princess_dragon_knight_by_sarah_the_ninja_101-d37y8mkSuppose a princess has been locked up in a castle from the moment she was born. She’s being held captive there by an evil dragon. One day a knight in shining armor comes along. He risks his life to slay the dragon, and then offers to rescue the princess.

Now we’d naturally assume that the princess will jump at the chance to be rescued, but this is not necessarily the case. In order for the knight to rescue her, the princess needs to leave her old life in the castle behind, she needs to jump on the back of the horse, and she needs to entrust her entire life and future into the knight’s hands.

The same is true for us when it comes to Jesus.

We’ve been locked up in a prison of guilt and condemnation from the moment we were born. We’ve been held there by Satan, the most evil dragon of all. One day, our knight in shining armor, Jesus, comes along. He doesn’t just risk his life to slay Satan, He actually dies. Three days later He comes back to life and conquers death, conquers sin and conquers Satan. He does all of this in order to rescue us.

Now again, we would naturally assume that we will jump at the chance to be rescued. But in order to be rescued, we need to leave the prison of guilt and condemnation behind, we need to jump on the back of the horse and we need to entrust our entire life and eternity into Jesus’ hands.

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ILLUSTRATION: Lifesaver

Mark Broadbent Illustrations , ,

MW_100804_SLSA_IRBRescue_0059Many people believe that a person becomes a Christian by committing their life in obedience to Jesus. As a result, they are never really sure if they are committed enough. But what if becoming a Christian has nothing to do with our commitment to obey Jesus, and everything to do with Jesus’ commitment to save us?

When a lifesaver is rescuing a drowning boy, he doesn’t demand that the boy commit to becoming a better swimmer, or promise that he get swimming lessons. He simply asks the boy to stop trying to save himself and to trust him.

The same is true when it comes to Jesus. When he sees us drowning in our sin and despair, He doesn’t demand that we commit to being obedient. He simply asks us to stop trying to save ourselves, and to entrust our life and eternity into His hands.

Becoming a Christian isn’t about promising to obey. It’s about waving our hands up in the air and declaring our desperate need to be rescued.

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