The reasoning faculties of our natural minds are capable of jumping to all manner of false conclusions about God and eternity. Especially if we choose to ignore the truth of God’s own words, we will be prone to substitute our own pet teachings. Often the motive for such wrong beliefs is to justify our living outside of God’s control, that is, in the flesh.
Prov 15:24 The way of life winds upward for the wise, That he may turn away from hell below. (How do we become this wise and turn away from Hell?)
2 Tim 3:15 …The Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
The first “Yes But”: “God loves the world, John 3:16, so how could He send me to Hell?”
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (by bearing our sins to reconcile us to God)
God’s wonderful love for us is beyond question. However that is not the issue which determines whether we end up in Hell or in Heaven. What is it? It is our love for God:
Deut 7:9 ….The LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant…with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
Ps 145:20 The LORD preserves all who love Him…
1 Cor 2:9 …The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.
Jam 1:12 ...The crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Jam 2:5 …Heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him.
How many more ways could God say it? God loves everyone, and Jesus tasted death for everyone (Heb 2:9) but not everyone truly loves God. Heaven is for those who do.
It’s so easy to say that we love God – but what does God say loving Him really means?
John 14:23-24 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words…”
1 Jo 5:3 This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome, NIV
Heb 5:9 ..He (Jesus) became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.
It really isn’t too complicated; if we truly love God we will obey Him. Ultimately our heavenly Father, who is love, is looking to preserve for Himself in eternity a spiritual family consisting of those who love Him. Who have proved they love Him while they still had the free-will choice either to love Him first or to love something other than Him first such as sin, their own flesh, pleasure, the world, money, that is, to love darkness:
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Many, including Christians, love darkness more than God. Will they be sent to Hell or are they themselves choosing the destiny originally created for the prince of darkness?
Matt 25:41 …The everlasting fire (of Hell) prepared for the devil and his angels:
Historically who has God consistently spared from Hell? Always, only The Righteous:
2 Peter 2:4-10 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell…and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness…and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, …and delivered righteous Lot…Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed…not afraid to speak evil of honored ones.
1 Jo 3:10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest (made known) whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God…
Matt 13:43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear let him hear; (how do we stay righteous?)
Rom 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness ?
It is always only the righteous who will be saved for eternity. Who are they, those who truly love God and therefore obey Him and keep His words, so making them righteous.
To obey God consistently requires dying to our flesh and living under the Spirit’s control
Gal 5:24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh…(our sin nature)
Rom 8:9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
We may have been born again, but Jesus only becomes our Lord (it means owner) when we voluntarily submit our wills to the control of the Holy Spirit. This will not be possible on a continuing basis if we haven’t yet believed that our old sin nature or flesh is crucified with Christ (Rom 6:6 and Gal 2:20). This is when we truly belong to Christ:
Col 3:3 For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God (in righteousness)
How do we; grow in love for God, insure we obey God, and therefore stay righteous?
We know that God is love, therefore The Father, The Word and The Holy Spirit (1 Jo 5:7) are love. The more of God in me the more love there is in me, both for God and for my fellow man. This means the more of God’s words that are in my heart and the more full I am of the Holy Spirit, that is, under His control, the more divine love I have:
1 Jo 2:5 But whoever keeps His word truly the love of God is perfected in him…
Rom 5:5 …The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit...
Since only the Holy Spirit can give me God’s own understanding of His words, do I see how crucial it is that I allow the Holy Spirit to take full possession of me? Without the Holy Spirit and the words of God He brings me, my love for God will be minimal and my love of other things will continue to dominate my life, and put my eternity at risk. Also it’s only by the power of the Holy Spirit, if I’ll submit to Him, God can cause me to obey Him:
Prov 1:23 Turn at my rebuke (over not living in submission to Me); Surely I will pour out my Spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.
Ezek 36:27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes (in My words), and you will keep My judgments (My words) and do them.
When we live in submission to the Spirit, we live in God’s Kingdom and in righteousness.
Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is…righteousness…in the Holy Spirit.
Our greatest assurance of Heaven is to never depart from God; God has made a way:
We have seen that the word of God when it is in our hearts is the very love of God. As God’s words in us increase, so does our love for God. Another expression the Bible uses for this “love for God” is the expression “the fear of God”. Because to fear God means to be utterly devoted to Him, to reverence Him, in other words to love Him. It shouldn’t surprise us therefore that not only is the word of God the love of God but the word of God is also the fear of God. If we will allow God, by His Spirit, to get more of His words into our hearts, the more we will fear Him, as in, be devoted to Him. God then makes this promise; we will never depart from Him. We’ve truly turned away from Hell.
Ps 19:7-11 The law…The testimony…The statutes…The commandment…The fear of the LORD…More to be desired are they than gold, Yes, than much fine gold…And in keeping them (My words) there is great reward.
Jer 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them…I will put My fear (My words) in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.
Do you really love God? Then you will love His words with your heart, and His words are able to make you wise for salvation and turn you away, permanently, from Hell. It all comes down to this, will I or will I not, have this Jesus to reign over me - Luke 19:14.
