Creekside Church, Sunday, June 19, 2022
How to Get to Heaven
Locations & Times
Creekside Church
660 Conservation Dr, Waterloo, ON N2J 3Z4, Canada
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:30 AM
Most people believe that to get to heaven you have to be good on earth.
Three reasons why:
· Religions and faith systems teach this.
· It seems fair.
· It meets our emotional need.
There are some problems, some unanswered questions and some contradictions that bring into question the position that you have to be good enough to enter heaven.
ISSUE #1 – The Grading Issue - What grade of good do you need to get into heaven?
ISSUE #2 – The Character of God Issue - If God is not good enough to tell us what it means to be good enough then God is not a good enough God.
ISSUE #3 – The Nature of Heaven Issue – The question, “How do you get to heaven?” is really a bit of a misnomer of a question. Heaven isn’t about a place it’s about a person.
ISSUE #4 The Trusting in Me Issue - If everyone gets to heaven on the basis of their own good deeds then we are going to be with a lot of people who owe it to themselves for their eternal bliss. Heaven then will be a world full of self-made, self-trusting, self-ordered people.
So, who then do we worship for getting us to heaven? Self? Who do we trust in? Self?
ISSUE #5 – The Bible Issue – It is interesting to discover that the bible never espouses the notion that if you want to be in a relationship with God you have to be good enough before he will take you. In fact, the bible teaches the exact opposite.
We are all dirty with sin. Even our good works are not pure. They are like bloodstained rags. We are all like dead leaves. Our sins have carried us away like wind.
Isaiah 64:6 ERV
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT
Even if you don’t give the bible any credit, you at least need to accept the fact that the bible never says being good enough is good enough to get you into heaven. In fact, on top of that, it actually says you can never be good enough to get to heaven.
So, what does the bible teach as the way to get to heaven?
Three reasons why:
· Religions and faith systems teach this.
· It seems fair.
· It meets our emotional need.
There are some problems, some unanswered questions and some contradictions that bring into question the position that you have to be good enough to enter heaven.
ISSUE #1 – The Grading Issue - What grade of good do you need to get into heaven?
ISSUE #2 – The Character of God Issue - If God is not good enough to tell us what it means to be good enough then God is not a good enough God.
ISSUE #3 – The Nature of Heaven Issue – The question, “How do you get to heaven?” is really a bit of a misnomer of a question. Heaven isn’t about a place it’s about a person.
ISSUE #4 The Trusting in Me Issue - If everyone gets to heaven on the basis of their own good deeds then we are going to be with a lot of people who owe it to themselves for their eternal bliss. Heaven then will be a world full of self-made, self-trusting, self-ordered people.
So, who then do we worship for getting us to heaven? Self? Who do we trust in? Self?
ISSUE #5 – The Bible Issue – It is interesting to discover that the bible never espouses the notion that if you want to be in a relationship with God you have to be good enough before he will take you. In fact, the bible teaches the exact opposite.
We are all dirty with sin. Even our good works are not pure. They are like bloodstained rags. We are all like dead leaves. Our sins have carried us away like wind.
Isaiah 64:6 ERV
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT
Even if you don’t give the bible any credit, you at least need to accept the fact that the bible never says being good enough is good enough to get you into heaven. In fact, on top of that, it actually says you can never be good enough to get to heaven.
So, what does the bible teach as the way to get to heaven?
