It seems that the real joy of many professing Christians today is the thought of leaving this world and going to heaven when they die or are raptured, and to be in God’s heavenly kingdom forever. In this chapter, we will endeavor to determine if this joy is based firmly on the truth as revealed in scripture or if it is merely based on wishful thinking and the doctrines of man.

Let’s start by reading what Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’” (HCSB).

On that day, the day of judgment, everyone will stand before the Lord to give an account of the things that they did while living in their physical bodies during their time on this earth. “For we must all appear before judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

On that day, each will be hoping that in some way they might be found to be worthy of the kingdom of heaven. Many of those will be ones that never believed that there was a heaven or a hell, and lived accordingly, not expecting to ever have to give an account for the things they did while in their physical bodies.

Others may have believed there was a heaven and a hell, but were confident that, because they professed to be Christians, they would not be judged, but instead would be ushered directly into the kingdom of heaven. Their confidence may have been based on things they had said or done, or on the assurances that were given to them by their parents or by various religious leaders.

They may have said a prayer of repentance, feeling sorry for their sins and even asked Jesus to come into their hearts. They may have joined a church, perhaps even became a deacon or a Sunday school teacher. Maybe they attended a seminary or a Bible college and became a pastor, music leader, missionary, or some other Christian worker.

Perhaps they started churches, schools or hospitals and cast out demons and healed the sick. Maybe they just gave all they had to the poor or gave their bodies to be burned (1 Corinthians 13:3). Surely, God would gladly receive them into His heavenly kingdom.

What a blessing of peace and comfort these people experienced during their lifetimes resting on the promises of God. Knowing that God is love. God is rich in mercy. His grace, abundant and free, is sufficient for all our needs. His forgiveness is freely available to all who believe. These are all such wonderful truths found in scripture. And of course, God will surely receive us into His heavenly kingdom. Right?

Well, let’s look at that passage from Matthew chapter seven once again. It tells us that not everyone who claims to be a Christian, not everyone who calls Jesus ‘Lord’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven. No, only the one who does the will of the Father will enter.

What? How can this be? Our God is loving and kind, rich in mercy, forgiving, with grace abounding to all who believe.

The ones that were being denied entrance into the kingdom tried to make their case before the judge, Christ Jesus our Lord. They said to Him, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we do many great things in Your name? Didn’t we prophecy in Your name? Didn’t we drive out demons in Your name? Didn’t we work many miracles in Your name?”

They will stand there in total shock and disbelief as Jesus announces to them, “I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!”

In their agonized response they may cry out to Jesus, “We prayed to you. We read the Bible. We even memorized dozens of verses. We faithfully attended church. How can you say that you never knew us? We were assured that we were saved and could never lose our salvation. We were assured that you would never leave us or forsake us.

“Didn’t we confess you before men? Don’t you remember our confirmation confession? What about the confession we made when we were baptized? How can you call us lawbreakers? How can you claim that you never knew us?”

What did Jesus mean when He called them lawbreakers? To understand what Jesus was telling them, we need to look to the scriptures. The apostle John explains, “Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of the law” (1 John 3:4, HCSB)

Paul elaborates on this idea saying, “Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom” (Galatians 5:19-21).

“So I say this, and affirm in the Lord, that you are to no longer walk just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their minds, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves up to indecent behavior for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:17-24, NASB).

Paul, writing to Christians, warns, “I am afraid that on this next visit my God will humble me along with you and I will mourn for many who have been living in sin and have not repented of their impure relationships: of engaging in sex outside of marriage and of the unholy sexual behavior which they have been practicing” (2 Corinthians 12:20-21 TFL).

The apostles understood that we are in a spiritual battle. They understood that the flesh is warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit is warring against the flesh. Therefore, they repeatedly warned believers to be careful about how they lived.

They begged them, they implored them, and prayed for them that they would walk worthily of God, that they would be counted worthy to enter His kingdom. They exhorted them that they would not sin, that they would not love the world.

I “beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called” (Ephesians 4:1). We “don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, that you may walk worthily of the Lord” (Colossians 1:9).

 We “implored every one of you, as a father does his own children, to the end that you should walk worthily of God, who calls you into his own Kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12). “Your perseverance and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure . . .  is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of God’s Kingdom, for which you also suffer” (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5).

John writes, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He (Jesus) walked” (1 John 2:1-6, NASB).

“Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s. The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

Peter assures us, “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. By these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 

“For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. Therefore, brothers, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied to you.” (2 Peter 1:3-11, HCSB).

Jesus and the apostles warned the believers to be careful not to be led astray. Jesus answered the Sadducees that were testing Him saying, “You are deceived, because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God” (Matthew 22:29).

When we don’t know the scriptures, we are easily deceived. The indwelling Holy Spirit teaches the born-again believer all things. This teaching by the Spirit of Christ within us protects us from the deception of false teachers. Professing Christians that do not know the scriptures and are not being taught by the indwelling Holy Spirit will be easily deceived.

John reminds us, “These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you remain in Him.

“Now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not draw back from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also has been born of Him” (1 John 2:26-29, NASB).

The merely natural man, using his natural intellect, cannot discern the truths hidden in the scriptures. Therefore the merely natural man will be easily deceived and will be carried to and fro by every wind of doctrine. He will have itching ears and will embrace one doctrine of man after another. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal these truths to us. We must be born of the Spirit. We must be taught by the Holy Spirit, only then can we truly understand the scriptures and know the power of God.

John reminds us, “We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

“Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him.” (1 John 3:2-6, NASB).

As we are led by the indwelling Spirit, He directs us and reveals to us areas in our lives that are not pleasing to God. The Spirit then empowers us to have the courage to repent and humble ourselves and give our Lord Jesus Christ permission to do whatever is necessary in our lives to purify ourselves from whatever it is in our hearts that is not pleasing to Him. The indwelling Spirit then empowers us to obey His leading as He directs us as to whatever we must do to put off the old man and put on the new man that has been renewed in Christ.

John continues, “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:7-8, NASB).

“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. But whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him? Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. . . This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (1 John 3:16-18, 23-24, NASB).

 Paul reveals to believers his heart toward the things of the flesh and his heart toward the things of the Spirit.  He explains how the things he values in his heart determine how he lives his life.

“For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and take pride in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself could boast as having confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he is confident in the flesh, I have more reason: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

“But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

“Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, all who are mature, let’s have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that to you as well; however, let’s keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.

“Brothers and sisters, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even as I weep, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who have their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our lowly condition into conformity with His glorious body, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:3-21).

Paul continues, “We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ. It is not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. 

“Whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:4-5, 16-18).

When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the ones that will be found worthy of the kingdom of heaven are those that have done the will of God. They are the ones that have submitted totally to the Lordship of Jesus in their lives. They are the ones that humbled themselves and allowed the Holy Spirit to do His sanctifying work in their hearts. They are the ones that by the power of God working within them have been transformed and were conformed to the image of Christ. This transformation is from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Don’t be deceived! When Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “We will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet,” he is not talking about our soul being conformed to the image of Christ. He is speaking of our body being changed from the natural body to the spiritual body.

This is clearly explained in the preceding verses. “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.

“So also it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. 

“As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable.

“Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.”

The transformation of the soul must happen now, in this life. If we wait until we meet the Lord, it will be too late. Our destiny will already have been sealed. Don’t be fooled. You cannot live for the flesh now and expect that the Lord will make everything okay when you meet Him. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. We will reap what we sow.

Paul warns us, “Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8).

Peter encourages us, revealing the goal of our faith, saying, “You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:7-8, HCSB).

Now, in this age, we are receiving the goal of our faith, the salvation of our souls. Today is the day of salvation. This salvation of our souls, this being conformed to the image of Christ, is not something that will happen in the next age. It must take place now, between the time we are born again until we go to meet the Lord.

Peter continues to exhort us saying, “Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ— as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy; for I am holy.’ 

“If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear . . . Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever” (1 Peter 1:13-17, 22-23). 

Those that will be found worthy of the kingdom of heaven will be those that have gained Christ in this life. They will be the ones that will be found in Him, not having a righteousness of their own, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. They will be the ones that know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings and have been conformed unto His death.

They will be the ones that were careful about how they walked, realizing that the time is short. They will be the ones that walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. They will not be foolish. They will understand what the Lord’s will is and they will live according to it, that they might be pleasing to Him in all things.

How is it with you? Are you living a life that is pleasing to God in all things? Does your life honor Him in all you do and say?

“God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has set a day when He is going to judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).

Remember, it is never too late to repent and turn back to God. Jesus is still calling to the weary, heavily burdened sinners to come to Him that they might find rest for their souls.

How is it with your soul?

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth 
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light  -  Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.