Heaven?
By
John
Orlando
Heaven. Most people believe that there is such a place that people go to after they die, and most people believe that the only requirement for getting there is death. In other words, just live a “good” life, and regardless of your beliefs or moral shortcomings (so long as they are not too severe), all people go to heaven when they die; only the really “bad” people (e.g., Hitler, mass murderers, etc.) don’t make it there. All roads lead to heaven; just be sincere, and if you're a basically good person, you’ll have nothing to worry about.
This was the view that I heard articulated, more or less, in a sitcom recently. In the episode I saw, it was the holiday season, and the main characters were discussing the different celebrations that various groups (religious or ethnic) engaged in. Everything from Christmas to Hanukah, to Kwanzaa was addressed.
A discussion finally ensued between two of the characters, both evidently raised as Christians, over the fact that one of them was going to have her infant daughter, who was fathered by a Jewish man, participate in a Jewish ceremony whereby the infant would be officially made a member of the synagogue and raised in the Jewish faith. The other character objected on the basis that they were Christians, and that the Bible teaches that the only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ, and that she owed it to her child to raise her in the Christian faith.
The banter between these two went on for awhile, until finally a third character addressed the mother, and basically told her that she needed to realize that she could raise the child in a particular faith, but, the child still had to make her own choice…and besides, don’t all roads lead to God anyway? The question was asked rhetorically, and there was a long silence, and then the scene was over.
I thought about that for a minute, and how it so accurately captures the overall thinking of our culture today. What crystallized that fact even more is when I saw a video clip of cultural icon Oprah Winfrey espousing such a view on her show with the crowd giving their gleeful approval (you can watch it here: http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Wolves/oprah-fool.htm).
This view, though seemingly the majority report today, is no by means something new. Some theologians refer to this as the mountaintop view: God is basically at the top of the mountain, and everyone is just taking a different road to reach the top of the mountain. All of the roads are open and valid, and they will all take you to the top where God is if you are just sincere, and stay on whatever road you’re on (and if you’re not a really, really bad person).
Well, what about this idea that all roads basically lead to the top of the mountain? Is that true? Here are some things to consider:
1. The stupidity of the argument: I know that sounds harsh, but there really is just no other way to say it. Think about it. If all roads lead to heaven, does that include the various Islamic groups that believe that one enters immediately into paradise if they have died in Jihad? The people responsible for 911 had a strong belief in their god, and they were most definitely sincere and devoted to their beliefs, and every one of them that died expected to be ushered into heaven because they were willing to fly airplanes into buildings for the cause of Allah. So, do all roads still lead to heaven?
Or, what about the various cult groups that we hear about from time to time where mass suicides take place in an effort to get to heaven? Do those roads lead to heaven as well? What about child sacrifice? Does that road lead to heaven? What if I decided to start a religion where part of the devotional practices that would ensure our passage to heaven was that adherents must engage in promiscuous sexual behavior?
I could go on and on. But then someone might say, “Well, those obviously do not lead to heaven!” Well, two things: first, then you have already lost the argument because you stated that all roads do lead to heaven, yet now you say that all roads do not lead to heaven? Which is it?
Second, says who? The people that engage, or would engage, in the practices mentioned believe that what they are doing does lead them to heaven, and if they examined your life and beliefs, they would say that your “road” doesn’t lead to heaven. So, who’s right and who’s wrong? And on what basis do you make your claims? Do you have any objective way, other than your opinion, to determine the truth of these matters?
2. How do they know? This might seem like a very basic question, but just think about it for a moment. When someone presents any truth claim, surely they must be able to provide clear and compelling reasons that lend support to what they are saying.
So, how does a person know that all roads lead to eternal life? Did God Himself communicate this idea to the person? Did the person accompany each individual that held to different religious beliefs into Heaven before the judgment seat of God to see if in fact all roads lead to God and eternal life? Obviously, the answer is no.
So then, on what basis do people make the claim that all roads lead to eternal life? The only basis is personal opinion, based on pure sentimentality. In other words, there is no real compelling reason offered to lend support to their “theory.” This is just what seems to be true, because after all, how could a devout person that lived a good moral life, and obviously had a concern to be pleasing to his or her “idea” of God, ever not be pleasing to God or accepted by Him? But, is this a compelling reason to believe that all roads lead to Heaven? If we were honest, we would have to agree that it is not.
Think of it this way; are you willing to stake your life on whether or not that was true? Would you be willing to stand before God confident in that answer (not to mention to explain to Him how it is you came to that conclusion, and then saw fit to spread that as if it represented the truth of God Himself)? Are you willing to stake your eternal destiny on such a notion?
The truth of the matter is that people that make this claim have no way of knowing if their claim is true, and they are in serious denial about the reality of the situation, particularly as we see the differences among the various world religions. Which leads to the next thing to consider:
3. The exclusive nature of, and the differences between, the world’s religions. While there may be some similarities among the world religions, the truth of the matter is that there are radical differences among the world religions, particularly as it relates to what are considered as divinely inspired writings, the nature of God, the nature of man, sin, salvation, etc. The more one studies these things the more clear the differences are to see. For a brief comparison of some of the world’s major religions and their different teachings on sin and salvation, see the helpful and informational chart at this link: http://www.modernreformation.org/worldrelchart.pdf
Given the radical differences between all of these religions, or “roads,” how can one possibly maintain that all of these “roads” lead to the same place? The answer is they can’t, and to continue to maintain that position only demonstrates a severe lack of knowledge concerning the teachings of the world religions.
4. Does truth matter to God? If all roads really did lead to God, we must ask what this says about God. Isn’t God concerned with truth? If all roads lead to Him, then that means that He is not concerned with the truth, because all of the roads teach different things about the nature of God, the nature of man, and how it is that we are to approach God. If God is indeed holy, righteous, and perfect, then God can only be approached on His terms, not ours, and we would expect such a God to make it clear as to how He was to be approached and worshipped.
5. What about the innocent person that never heard about Jesus? Once Christian’s begin to assert the truth that salvation is found only in the person and work of Jesus Christ, they will almost be immediately confronted with the question about those that have never even heard the name Jesus. Are those people doomed just for merely not hearing about Jesus? This was the precise objection Oprah raised with a Christian woman in her audience who claimed that Jesus was the only way to the Father.
To answer this question, it must be realized that not getting to heaven is something distinct from getting to heaven. Let me elaborate:
a. The ultimate reason a person does not go to Heaven is because they are a sinner, not because they never heard of Jesus. The apostle Paul tells us in Rom 1:20:
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…”
Here we see that God has revealed Himself in creation, and Scripture also teaches that God has placed with our conscience a sense that God must exist and a sense of absolute moral values (Eccl. 3:11; Rom 2:15), and it is because of this revelation that Paul says that human beings are without excuse. The problem, according to Scripture, is that we suppress that truth in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18), and we go about doing things our own way and developing our own roads to get to God, but all of those ways and roads are not right.
Not only this, but we discover that our plight is dire indeed when we consider both the nature of original sin, and our actual sin. With reference to original sin, the Westminster Confession of Faith, Article 6:1-4 states:
By
this sin they [Adam and Eve] fell from their original righteousness and
communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the
parts and faculties of soul and body. They being the root of all mankind, the
guilt of this sin was imputed, and the same death in sin, and corrupted nature,
conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation.
From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and
made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all
actual transgressions."
Wikipedia also states:
“…that
humans inherit Adamic guilt and are in a state of sin from the moment of
conception. This inherently sinful nature results
in a complete alienation from God and the total inability of humans to achieve
reconciliation with God based on their own abilities.”
Adam was our representative in the Garden of Eden, and when he sinned, the guilt of his sin was imputed or credited to all of his descendant’s accounts as well. Not only is the guilt credited to us, but so is the corruption of our whole nature, so that all human beings are conceived in sin, and come into the world separated and alienated from God (Psalm 51:5; Col 1:21; Rom 8:7). This is what is known as original sin.
It doesn’t stop there though. Not only are we guilty in Adam, but we are also condemned for our own actual transgressions as well. We are all sinners that fall short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23), and because of our own willful rebellion and sin, we are storing up for ourselves wrath for the day of judgment (Rom 2:5).
Given
all of these facts, it becomes quite clear that from God’s perspective, there
is no such thing as an “innocent” person; all human beings that ever have or
will live justly deserve one thing: condemnation
(Rom 5:16). We
are condemned both because of the imputed guilt incurred as a result of original
sin, and because of our actual sins; not solely because we never
heard of Jesus. However, with that
stated, we also must recognize that:
b. The only reason a person ever gets to Heaven is because of the work of Jesus Christ on their behalf. The only road that gets to Heaven is Jesus Christ alone. As Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).
Jesus does all of the work to get us up the mountain. Please note, that the work to get us up the mountain is something objectively done apart from the individual. That is, the person has not done anything to get himself to heaven, because he is in fact a sinner and totally unable to remedy his condition. He needs to be rescued from his desperate condition, and this is what God does by sending His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus, the eternal Son of God, took upon Himself a human nature, and being fully God and fully man, He then perfectly obeyed God’s law (He succeeded where mankind has failed since the fall of Adam and Eve), and He then died the shameful death of crucifixion on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and rose from the dead to secure and guarantee the salvation of a multitude of people from all over the world.
That is the objective part; Christ has done all of the work to get us to Heaven. But, there is a subjective part to the equation as well. People, if they are to get heaven, must appropriate to themselves and receive that objective work. The way people do this is by repenting (i.e., turning from their way of doing things to God’s way of doing things), and receiving and resting upon the work of Jesus Christ alone as the only hope of their getting to Heaven.
Sounds easy enough, right? But here’s the catch: Man is incapable in and of himself of even doing that much because of the sin that has blinded him. Thus, it’s not that God has done His part, and then leaves it up to man to do his part by obeying the command to repent and receive Christ as Lord and Savior. Rather, part of the objective work of Christ is that He ensured and guaranteed the subjective work of the individual. As Pastor and theologian John Piper says, “What God requires, Christ provides.” God requires perfect obedience to law. Christ has provided that. God requires condemnation to those that break His law. Christ has borne the condemnation that was due to sinners. God requires that people repent and believe. Christ has provided for that as well, by securing all things needed for our salvation; to include the gifts of faith and repentance. The fact that Christ did all of this, to include purchasing the very faith that believer’s possess, sometimes surprises people…is the atonement of Christ that powerful that it would secure every aspect of our salvation so that Christ alone is the only cause of a person’s salvation? Yes! John Hendryx states:
What
does Christ do for us on the cross? Does He only take us halfway to salvation
and leave our fallen will to do the rest? No, on the cross He purchased our
redemption (from first to last) which will be applied to His people by the Holy
Spirit in a time of His sovereign determination. This redemption includes
everything necessary for us to be saved. God has personally set His affection on
us from eternity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit work in harmony together to bring
about the plan worked out in the eternal counsels of the Trinity (Eph 1:5).
http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/redemption100603.html
Hendryx goes on to quote the 19th century theologian R.L. Dabney:
Christ's sacrifice has purchased and provided for the effectual calling of the elect, with all the graces which insure their faith, repentance, justification, perseverance, and glorification…
So we see that salvation is all the work of the One true and living God, and what He requires of us He has graciously secured and bestowed upon us by the work of His Son and the Holy Spirit. As Hendryx noted above: “Father, Son and Holy Spirit work in harmony together to bring about the plan worked out in the eternal counsels of the Trinity.” With reference to the Holy Spirit, the perfect work of Christ is perfectly applied to those that will inherit salvation (Hebrews 1:14) by the Holy Spirit through the primary means of God’s Word being preached. Christ’s work over 2,000 years ago is applied by the Holy Spirit to all people of all generations that have been given to Christ by the Father from the foundation of the world (John 6:37; Eph 1:3-11).
In
conclusion of this point, the reason a person does not go to heaven is because
we he or she is a sinner. We justly
deserve to be condemned for our sins (not because we never heard of Jesus).
Yet, the only way a sinner can ever have any hope of getting to heaven is
by reason of the work of Jesus Christ alone on their behalf, and that work must
be applied to, and appropriated by sinners in order for him or her to get to
Heaven (note: if the work is
applied to the sinner, the sinner will necessarily appropriate the work, for it
is the application that results in the appropriation). This is why
Christians are tasked with preaching the Gospel to every creature. As the
Apostle Paul tells us:
Rom 10:14-15
How
then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a
preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who
bring glad tidings of good things!"
Obviously, much more could be said on this topic. The bottom line though is that all roads do not lead to heaven. As the one character in the sitcom I alluded to earlier noted, there is only one way to the Father and that was is through Jesus Christ alone.
How do we know that Christ is the only way? Because of His own testimony to the fact, and Jesus validated everything He taught by His resurrection from the dead. You see, there is an empty tomb that stands as a perpetual reminder to all men everywhere that Jesus Christ is who He said He was, and everything He taught is true. A person may wish to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to those facts, and wish to follow some other form of religious life thinking it will please God or result in some sort of personal enlightenment. But please, please, don’t tell us that all roads lead to heaven. It’s a stupid statement that is proved to be absurd when we consider some of the roads that are said to lead to heaven. It is an illogical statement incapable of verification by those that make it because they have no way of knowing that the statement is true. It is a statement that conveys a severe ignorance of the world religions, and if true would make God into nothing more than a confused relativist void of truth and holiness. It is a statement that is simply contradicted (and demolished) by the perfect work of Jesus Christ.
So, what about you? Are you one of those that believe that all roads lead to Heaven? Dear friend, life is too short, and eternity too long, to continue holding to such a lie. Consider all that has been written above, and then seriously consider the following verses from the God-breathed Scripture:
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
Rom 10:9-13
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."
Click here to learn more, and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior: http://www.eeinternational.org/dykfs/[email protected]
If you would like to discuss things even further, I am available either by e-mail for telephone. (e-mail first please, and then we can arrange a phone conversation if you like): [email protected]