Many times we hear people say or read in an obituary that, “My mother
was a good person and she went home to be with her Lord in heaven.” If
the individual had not obeyed the Gospel and/or was not a faithful member of
the Lord’s one true church, this is only wishful thinking. The individual
may have been a “good person,” but being a good person is not the
only requirement for one to go to heaven. We read in II Thessalonians 1:7-9,
“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance
on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the
Lord, and from the glory of his power.”
Even though one is a good person, if he has not obeyed “the gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ,” he will be eternally lost in hell. Also, notice
that those who do not know God will also be lost in hell. “He that saith,
I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not
in him” (I John 2:4). To not know God is to not keep his commandments.
Those who do not know God include those who once obeyed the Gospel but fell
away and quit keeping his commandments. We cannot be good enough, on our own,
to go to heaven. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of
God” (Rom. 3:23). “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).
It is our sins that separate us from God (Isa. 59:2).
One must obey what God says, how God says, and for the reason God says if he
is to go to heaven and avoid hell. One must not obey any of the many different
plans of salvation which men have devised. One of man’s plans says that
all you have to do to be saved and go to heaven is to “accept Jesus as
your personal Saviour” and say the “sinner’s prayer.”
Then a week or so later they baptize the individual into their denomination,
but not for the forgiveness of sins so he can be saved because they say he is
already saved. Since one was not baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts
2:38; 22:16) so he can be saved (Mark 16:16), he still has every sin he has
ever committed and is still lost, even though he may be a “good person.”
I cannot think of a more flagrant crime against both God and man than to teach
lost sinners, who want to be saved, something different than what God says in
the Bible. Man’s plans will only lead one into hell.
For one to be saved and to go to heaven, Jesus says, “He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). One has to have help to
misunderstand this. What does the Lord do with those who are saved according
to his plan? Acts 2:47 says, “And the Lord added to the church daily such
as should be saved.” Then Jesus says, “Be thou faithful unto death,
and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). So we see from the
Bible that those who die and have not obeyed the Gospel of Christ, even though
they are a “good person,” will not be in heaven, but in hell. Also,
we see from the Bible that even though one has obeyed the Gospel but forsakes
the assemblies of the church (Heb. 10:25-26) and was not faithful until death,
even though he was otherwise a “good person,” he will also be in
hell.
“Let no man deceive himself” (I Cor. 3:18). Let’s make sure
that we and our loved ones have obeyed the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and
are faithfully serving him in his church. We cannot wish ourselves or our loved
ones out of hell and into heaven. It will be too late then.
By Ron Boatwright
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