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But what if I am not good enough?

 My dear friend,

You asked me how you could be certain that when you cross the threshold from this life into the next that you will be greeted by the welcoming arms of our Lord.  The very fact that you are questioning this core element of faith tells me something about your heart; it says much about the state of your soul.  You see, in one of Jesus' first sermons, he declared what God was looking for, what type of person might enter the kingdom of heaven..  

Matthew 5:3-5
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

You have looked deep into your heart and you know that you are not worthy of the Holy God Almighty.  You know your humanity, your weakness, your sin and you sense that you could never stand in the presence of a holy God, the God who IS worthy.  And with all of your heart you have worshiped Him as the only One who is worthy.  The poor in spirit, the meek, the people who know they desperately need God's gift of grace - those are the ones who are going to be in heaven.  


One thing that might help you lay down this doubt (or fear) is to remember HOW you got saved in the first place and what Jesus did for you.  If it was on your righteousness or on your good works, you would have every reason to feel uneasy.  But when we look at scripture we see that God saves us in spite of our failures and that He paid the price for our freedom and our eternal life.  

Romans 5:8 

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Our salvation from the punishment of sin comes only through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and not through any of our own efforts.  It was gift that we did not deserve, given freely with amazing love from the great Giver above.  The words used to describe what Jesus did for us on the cross include SAVED, RECONCILED,  and RANSOMED.  According to God's Holy Laws, all of us were doomed to hell, ever since Adam and Eve chose to defy God and sin.  Romans 6:23 tells us the wages of sin is death (eternal death).  So, we were enemies to God and we were on a path to death and condemnation.  So if Jesus's death saves us, what does that mean?  

1.  He paid an atonement for our sin, He paid the price, which cancels our debt (the wages of sin is death).  In essence, Jesus's sacrifice buys us entrance to relationship with God forever.  

Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

2.  He closed the gap between us and God.  Sin separated us from God, made us unholy and God cannot be in the presence of unholiness.  Jesus cleanses us and gives us His holiness so we can draw near to God.  Jesus made it possible for us to reconciled to God, to know God and to be embraced by God.

Hebrews 4: 16

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

3.  Jesus ransomed us from being chained to sin and death and His death brought us new life.  Eternal life.  This gift of eternal life comes through CHRIST alone, by FAITH alone, and by GRACE alone.

Another way to answer this question about your eternal destination is to consider WHO qualifies you for entrance into heaven.   He is a God who is SOVEREIGN, He is in control, He knows everything, sees everything and He is holding onto you!  

John 10:28

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

He is the God who saves, He is the God who created you and designed the entire universe, He is the God who has power over death and sin.  His power and His love, His justice and His forgiveness combine to make Him not only able to rescue us but to transform us and to cleanse us, to make us holy before Him.

Jude 1:24-25 
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

And lastly, remember how deeply He loves you.  He died for YOU.  He poured out His love for you and He will always love you!

Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.






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