Young man: Okay, now I understand. But is the manner in which God takes us to heaven correct?
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Pastor: Consider this: A good but worldly parent cares deeply for their child. If the child arrives home lying and stealing something big, does the father kick him out, or does he have the youngster enter the house first, then discipline him?
Young man: Enter the house first and discipline him later.
Pastor: Because the Father loves his child unconditionally, he receives the child first and then takes action to correct him. Similarly, God wants to see all people in heaven as his children. So he first clears the way to heaven for all people through Jesus, and then he imposes laws upon them. Kindness comes first, and corrections follow. You can see it in the Bible.
- God plans to save Adam and Eve before expelling them from the Garden of Eden.
- God first saved Israel from Egypt, and then he provided the law. In this case, grace comes first, followed by the law.
- Similarly, Jesus first saves us and leads us to heaven, then he requires us to do good deeds in gratitude as citizens of heaven.
There are no regulations for returning to your father’s house, but you must obey the rules as a child while inside. So, by accepting Jesus, I am provided entry into heaven, and as a citizen of heaven, I must now keep the law. I do not commit good works or follow rules in order to get into heaven, but I do good works as a good citizen of heaven.
Young man: But people will continue to sin even if they are saved in this manner. People will say that Jesus saved them, so we can now sin as we like.
Pastor: Many people say so. All who believe and take Jesus into their hearts are God’s children, yet not all are followers of Jesus. There are differences between a disciple and a child. You can be your father’s son, but that does not mean you are his disciple. Similarly, through Jesus, one can be saved by becoming God’s child, but that does not make the child God’s disciple. Being a child is free, but being a disciple is not free. Those who believe that after receiving Jesus, we can sin as we like do not understand the gospel of Jesus. Jesus demands that we forsake our immoral ways. He desires positive outcomes in the believer’s life, so he told them to give up sin. The idea that we are allowed to sin is not from God but from Satan. Satan selects his preferred Bible verses to support his wrong idea and convince people to do immoral things. Many people, like Satan, ignore the teachings of repentance in the Bible and claim, “Now I can sin as much as I want.” They do not genuinely obey God’s will, but rather Satan’s or their own selfish desires. If someone accepts Jesus with the expectation that he will be able to sin, he should consider whether he has accepted the real Jesus or some other counterfeit Jesus to pursue his own will. If one accepts Jesus, his heart is bound to change and transform, perhaps not instantly but gradually. The God of the Bible expects transformation.
Young man: Are those who encourage sin via the teaching of Jesus wrong?
Pastor: Yes. They are teaching wrongly. Jesus commands us to stop lying and sinning. But they claim that lying is acceptable at times; there is nothing wrong with lying to save your life. If a true God supports any kind of lie, then there is an ideological problem with that God. The God of the Bible is not like that. In the case of sin, I can say that if you get drunk and ask for forgiveness from God, God will forgive you, but your liver will never forgive you. If you steal, lie, and ask forgiveness of God, God will forgive you, but this world and people around you might never believe you as the consequence of your work. Even you cannot believe a person similar to you. If you get drunk, beat your spouse, and ask for forgiveness, God will forgive you, but your family will not be a peaceful family. So sin has its consequences in this world, and Jesus will not accept those consequences. Sometimes, due to the humility of man and God’s grace, one can recover from the consequences, but they are never totally gone. So if you want bad consequences for you and your family, if you want evil spirits to conquer your life, you can sin, but God of the Bible does not permit it. Because he wants us to be children of God and warriors of heaven, not children of God and warriors of hell.
Young man: But could there be another way to heaven? Why is Jesus the only way? Isn’t it possible to take several routes to get somewhere?
Pastor: Of course, if pathways are built, there may be several ways to get to a destination. But God provided no alternative way to heaven. He revealed the only way to heaven, and Jesus is that way. Satan deceives us into believing that there are more ways to mislead us. Let’s look at the following image:
People throughout the world are drowning in sin. God sent ‘Jesus Christ’ as a life ring to save the sinner. If the man in the picture refuses to accept the given life ring and says, “I don’t want this color; I want a green life ring, throw it for me.” Then I can only think of him as a lunatic, stupid, or egomaniac. By doing so, he is disrespecting the ship’s captain. We insult God if we refuse to accept his road to heaven.
Satan can tempt by floating several life rings around the primary ring, claiming that these rings will lead to heaven or to the ship. But the life rings of Satan have nothing to do with boarding the ship. People can feel better for a moment by going a different way than Jesus. However, such a way never leads them to the final goal of heaven. This is why Jesus stated that the road to heaven is narrow, but the way to destruction is wide, and the way to destruction is easy to find. Many may present several routes to heaven, but they are all false.
Just as oil does not become water when it is named water, the wrong way does not become right when it is named the right way. If a friend of yours believes in many routes to heaven, encourage him to analyze his views critically. He may be unintentionally heading down the wrong road of destruction with real faith. Real faith in the wrong thing does not serve anyone but Satan.
Young man: Thank you. I’m a lot clearer now than before. What I hadn’t understood throughout my life became obvious after talking to you.
Pastor: Can you tell me now where you’ll go once you die?
Young man: I am confident that I will go to heaven since I accepted Jesus as my savior. My God assures heaven first. Unlike Satan, he does not cast doubt about heavenly matters. Satan promotes confusion; he even uses God’s Word to confuse us. Thank you for clearly explaining the gospel of Jesus.
Now Reader: A tough question for you:
Is the creator you worship really the true God? Have you put him to the test, or have you just trusted what you’ve heard since childhood?
- I couldn’t break my 9-year addiction to pornography on my own. I tried and failed. By the grace of Jesus, it was gone in less than an hour; no human help was needed.
- I had another addiction for 13 years, but it was entirely cured after 5 minutes of praying in Jesus’ name. In this scenario, God’s hand came first, followed by my mentor’s prayer.
- I have seen the casting out of demonic spirits, and I have seen healing in the name of Jesus. I also have cast out demons in the name of Jesus (not in my power). Jesus proves to me that he is still alive. Our God can be properly tested. Improperly examining God is forbidden. In the Bible, Satan and the people of Israel wrongfully tested God, which is prohibited. In some cases, God himself allowed him to be tested. The Bible shows us that Satan and the people of Israel wrongfully tested God, which is prohibited. A proper test of God shows that He is a living God. But just because a god lives does not require me to believe in him. That God must also have the characteristics of next page: