How To Get To Heaven
There are two ways to get to heaven. The first is God’s plan, and the second, the Moral plan, or man’s plan. We could call God’s plan the D.O.N.E.-Done- plan. Everything that needed to be done to assure you a place in heaven was done by Jesus Christ, through His death and resurrection, 2000 years ago. The Moral plan could be called the D.O.-Do- plan. Everything that needs to be done to get you to heaven-doing work works, living a good life-is left for you to do. The catch is that the D.O.-Do-plan requires 100% perfection from birth to death. The D.O.N.E.-Done-Plan required Jesus Christ’s perfection.
Every religion in the world fits one of these two camps. Only one faith in the world is in the DONE category. That’s Christianity. Every other faith-Islam, Hinduism, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormans-teaches that your welfare in the afterlife is conditional on your morality in this life.
The moral plan is not a new plan. It’s been around a long time. In fact, there’s a story of a young, wealthy and influential guy-A G.Q. kind of guy-in the Bible who is a classic example of someone who was trying to ensure a heavenly future by working the Moral plan.
The Meaning of the Moral Plan
Matthew 19:16-22 tells the story. It starts, “Now behold one came and said to Him, ‘Good teacher. What good thing (notice the interest in morality) shall I DO (there’s the moral plan-D.O.) that I may have eternal life?’” (v16).
The first thing to notice about the moral plan is that it means attempting to get to heaven by doing good things-living a good life-and, in the example of our friend here, getting advice from good teachers. He is a classic moralist.
The moral plan is one of Satan’s greatest con jobs. It’s a con because it sounds so right. Do good! Who would argue with that?
The Goal of the Moral Plan
The aspirations of those who live according to the moral plan, are noble. This young man’s goal is to have eternal life. “What must I do,” he says, “that I may have eternal life?” He wants to get to heaven. There’s nothing wrong with his goal. Everything is wrong with his plan for getting to heaven.
So many good people live the moral plan with noble aspirations. They want heaven. But their plan is flawed. Our friend in the story is to be especially commended, because he has some characteristics that might have suppressed that desire for heaven. First, he was rich. Verse 22 says he was wealthy. Money has a way of inoculating a person from the ultimate reality of death and eternity. Second, he was young. Verse 20 and 22 both mention that he was a young man. Youthfulness has a way of suppressing eternal issues, and producing feelings of immortality. Third, he was powerful. Luke 18:18 tells the same story, and supplies the additional biographical detail that he was a ruler. He had power and authority. He wielded control over the destinies of peoples’ lives. Power has a way of going to the head, and backburnering the issues of eternal consequence.
Though he was rich, young and powerful, he was smart enough to understand that life is a vapour. It is so short. And he cared about ultimate realities.
The Standard For The Moral Plan
Jesus punches at this young man’s obsession with being good. In verse 17, Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One. That is God.” And Jesus takes this term “good” that is so subjective, and he defines it. So long as goodness is left in the abstract we can attribute goodness to anybody. We can all come off smelling like roses, morally speaking, depending with whom we compare ourselves. But Jesus applies a concrete standard to the concept of good. He provides a measurable definition. A standard by which all goodness can be measured. He says, “No one is good, but God.” There’s the benchmark of goodness. It’s the Holy Perfection of God. See, if you’re planning to work the moral plan to get to heaven, then you need to know the absolute standard of goodness. You need to know how good you have to be.
It is theoretically possible to get to heaven on the moral plan, so long as you meet the standard. And the standard is the holy, righteous, absolute perfection of God. In verse 17, Jesus says it this way, “If you want to enter into life (on the moral plan), keep the commandments.” And he means keep them perfectly. That means, not only from now on, but from the moment of birth till the moment of death. One slip, one blunder, one word of anger, would mean instant disqualification. James says, “For whoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (2:10).
So access to heaven on the moral plan is a theoretical possibility, but a practical absurdity. Unfortunately, our friend in the story doesn’t get it yet. He still thinks the moral plan is a good bet.
The Deception Of The Moral Plan
In response to Jesus’ statement to keep the commandments, the young man blurts, “Which ones?” He doesn’t get it that Jesus is describing a perfect, humanly unachievable standard, and yet he thinks it’s a manageable assignment. He thinks there’s a set of commandments that he can obey to such a degree that he can satisfy the perfectly holy standard of God, and qualify him for heaven.
So Jesus works with him, and lobs a few sample commandments his way. “Don’t murder. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Honour your parents. Love your neighbour as yourself” (v18-19). And as Jesus talks, our friend is adding up his score, and he’s feeling pretty pleased with himself. In verse 20 he says, “All these I have kept since my youth.”
This young man needs to be educated, and Jesus is about to enlighten him, and it’s not going to be pretty. The young man’s problem is that he thinks external conformity to a set of rules is sufficient to access heaven and satisfy God. But God is not interested in external conformity to a set of commandments-that’s religion. He wants your heart-that’s relationship. In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus said that it’s not enough to not murder people. If you’re angry with someone, you’ve broken the spirit of that commandment, because God wants your heart. Jesus went on to say that it’s not enough to not commit adultery. If you look at a woman with lustful thoughts in your heart, you’ve broken the spirit of that commandment, because God wants your heart.
See, Jesus could have gone after the spirit of each of those commandments that he mentioned to this young man. He could have said, “You mean, you’ve never become angry at someone, ever? Never gotten bitter? Never had a wayward sexual thought about a woman? Never massaged the truth? Never taken something not rightfully yours, ever?
He could have asked those heart probing questions and exposed the imperfection of this young man’s heart. See, man looks at the outward appearance of a person, but God looks at the heart. We measure with a yard stick, God measures with a dipstick. He goes inside, to the heart. Jesus could have exposed the nakedness of this damaged heart right there. But he didn’t. He decided to expose his heart in another way. In a masterful way actually. He does it by exposing an entirely different heart issue in this young man’s life. Different from all the issues he has raised up to this point. Before we get to that, let’s pick up another insight about the moral plan.
The Result of the Moral Plan
In verse 20, the young man says, “All these I have kept… What do I still lack?” This young man is still deluded. He still thinks his moral plan is watertight, and capable of getting him to heaven. He still hasn’t caught what Jesus is saying. He still feels that he is a good person. Good enough for heaven. “All these I have kept since my youth.” Yet, in spite of what he says, in spite of his wealth, his youthfulness, and his power, he knows something is still missing. “What do I still lack?” Sure as he is about the moral plan, he’s not sure he’s bound for heaven. He’s restless. No matter how good he thinks he is, he still has this nagging fear that he’s not ready to die. And he says to Jesus “What am I still lacking?” He doesn’t get this feeling just because of what Jesus has been saying. That feeling is evident in his opening question to Jesus. “What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” Implication? I’m missing something, and I don’t know what it is.
A lot of people who hope to achieve heaven on the moral plan, experience that same restlessness. That same nagging fear that they’re not ready to die. When I ask someone who is working the moral plan if they know for sure that they are going to heaven, they almost always reply, “I hope so, and I’d like to. But I can’t say for sure.” In other words, no matter how good they are, they’re not sure that they’re good enough. That’s the problem with shooting for a standard when you don’t know what the standard is. You never know if, or when, you’ve hit it.
God wants you to be certain that you are heaven bound. The Bible says in 1 John 5:13, “I write these things so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
The Fatal Flaw in The Moral Plan
In verse 21, Jesus says to this young man, who is so determined to live out the moral plan, “If you want to be perfect…” That’s a bombshell. The pursuit of perfection is the essence of the moral plan. Jesus is really saying, “Very well then, if you want to be perfect…” Jesus is describing the logical conclusion of the moral plan. If you plan to access heaven on the moral plan, then you’d better plan on being perfect. That’s the fatal flaw of the moral plan. It’s a plan with an unachievable goal. And because this poor guy hasn’t realized this yet, Jesus exposes one clear example of the corruption in this man’s heart that is so close to home for him, that he will have no alternative but to admit that he is not the model of moral virtue he pretends to be. Jesus can see inside his heart and knows that his dominant flaw is a greedy heart. So, to expose the greed, in verse 21, Jesus says, “Go, sell what you have and give it to the poor…” Jesus wasn’t saying that access to heaven was contingent on giving away all your money. He’s not even teaching that access is contingent on being generous, or on meeting the needs of the poor-important to God as all those things are. Because if that’s what He meant then Jesus was sanctioning and validating the moral plan. But He’s been doing the opposite all through this story. Besides, there are many examples of wealthy people in Scripture who loved God, and were never told to give away their wealth.
A careful reading of the text makes things clear. Jesus says in verse 21, “You will have treasure in heaven…” That’s a marvelous promise of eternal life that Jesus extended to this young man. And right before that He says, “Give your stuff to the poor.” But here’s the rub. The promise of treasure in heaven is not conditional on what He said prior to the promise, but rather on what he said after the promise. And what He said after the promise of heaven was “Come, follow Me.” Here’s the full text: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (v.21). The promise of heaven is dependent on the invitation to follow Christ, not the action of giving away your wealth. More about that in a moment.
Jesus is simply illustrating that no matter how good you are, you’ll never be good enough to earn heaven. And the tragedy of the story is that “when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful” (v22). The problem is not that he was sad. The tragedy is that he went away. Away from the only one who could end his quest for the life he so desperately wanted, but unfortunately wanted on his terms, not God’s.
The fatal flaw of the moral plan is that every heart is corrupt. Romans 3:12 says, “there is none who does good.” Let me illustrate this for you. We have a group of seniors at our church who carpet bowl. One day, while I was trying to pick up a few tips, Bob Shaw explained to me that every bowling ball has a bias. It’s weighted on one side, and when you throw the bowl, the weight makes it turn to the right or the left. That’s called the bias. The ball can’t help itself. It turns because of the bias. The Bible says inside every human heart is a bias, that turns us away from God and His plan. Isaiah 53:6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.” Romans 3:12 says, “They have all turned aside.” We’re all biased to turn away from God just like our friend in the story. That’s the fatal flaw in the moral plan. People try to work the moral plan with a biased heart, and it’s not possible.
The Alternate To The Moral Plan
So much for the moral plan, and its’ inadequacy to access heaven. What’s the solution? If not the moral plan, then what? In verse 21, Jesus says, “Come, follow Me.” Jesus is saying to this young man, “I’m the alternative to the merciless, impossible, moral treadmill you’re on.” In John 14:6, Jesus said the same thing in different words, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. He is the God-Man. He was virgin-born. He lived a perfect, righteous sinless life. He died on a cross to pay the penalty for your blunders, mistakes and wrong choices-the Bible calls them sin. He offers you complete forgiveness. There is no failure in your past that lies beyond the boundary of His willingness to forgive. He rose victorious from the grave. He is alive today, and through His Spirit lives in the hearts of men, women and children all over the world. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is worthy of your worship and the surrender of your life to Him. And He invites you also to “Come, follow Me.”
This guy’s problem wasn’t that he was rich, or that he wasn’t willing to give away his money. His problem was that he refused to abandon his moral plan, and he turned his back on Christ. It’s not sin that keeps people out of heaven, it’s a rejection of the Person of Jesus Christ. He went away sorrowful because Jesus told him to lose the money. But the real tragedy is that he lost his life. Unfortunately, our friend was heartbroken for the wrong reason. He missed the point. And unfortunately that’s the mistake everyone makes who is on the moral plan. They miss the whole point. The whole point of Easter, Christ and the Cross, is that you can’t get to heaven without Christ.
Perhaps you’re wondering where good works fit into God’s plan. Does God not care about good works? Yes, He does. When you become a follower of Jesus Christ, He begins to transform your life. Goodness and good works will be part of that transformation. You will produce good works in your life as an expression of gratitude because God has promised you heaven, not as a currency to earn heaven.
One last thing. God loved that young man. You know how much God loves you? Jesus Christ came to earth as a baby, and died on a cross, and rose from the dead, because of His great love for anyone who is religiously labouring at the moral grindstone.
Dear reader, you too face a choice. Will you stay on the moral treadmill, or will you follow Christ?
Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Jesus’ way is not a moral treadmill. His way is easy and light. The Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
To believe in Jesus Christ is more than a simple intellectual assent. People say they believe things all the time, but they don’t really believe. For example, when someone says, “I believe we should care about the environment,” but then proceeds to toss their garbage on the sidewalk, it is evident that they say they believe, but they don’t really believe. There is often a world of difference between someone who says they believe something, and one who really believes. Real belief always determines behavior.
Belief in the Lord Jesus Christ means you acknowledge his Lordship and surrender your will and heart to Him as Lord and Saviour. Belief in Jesus Christ will determine your behavior in every area of your life.
You can become a follower of Jesus Christ today by expressing your faith in Him. Should you decide to make the decision to follow Christ, I have written up the following prayer as an example and to help you make that commitment to God. If these words are the expression of your heart, just pray them to God right where you are.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe you are God who became Man.
I believe you are perfectly Holy.
I believe you died on a cross to pay the penalty for my sins.
I believe you rose from the dead.
I believe you are alive today.
I believe you are King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
I believe you are worthy of my worship, my allegiance, and my surrender.
I am sorry for turning away from you in my sinfulness and I humbly ask for, and receive, your forgiveness.
Thank you for the promise of heaven.
I freely surrender my heart and my will to your command.
I desire to follow Christ for the rest of my life.
In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray.
Amen.
