Also see: The Entrance Into The Eternal
2 Peter 1: verses 3-11
There are many ways to live your life, many religions and philosophies of man, many faiths to follow. Whatever you call yours, we become engrossed by it during our stay upon this globe.
They all have their gatekeepers. Gatekeepers welcome or guard the entrance into their paradise. But Jesus is the one and only gatekeeper of Heaven’s Gate. He is The One who grants entrance into the awesome Kingdom of Creator God. Is that awesome, or what?!
Other gatekeepers
Are you trying other gatekeepers? They will fail you. (See all references or individually: Hebrews 1:2; John 1:18; John 3:13; John 3:18; John 3:36; 1 Corinthians 15:27; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17)
Don’t be fooled to hell by the chic PC want-ta-be gatekeepers who teach wishful thinking. It is all around, these days, that mamby-pamby (feeble) “all is well with any soul” any way they choose – religion. That is a false teaching. Jesus did not teach that. Spouting an “all roads lead to God” philosophy – is not what the Bible teaches.
The good news Jesus taught is unique. He died for His own very exclusive Truth: God’s Justice System required God’s intervention into history. Mankind on our own is under judgment. But God has provided legal forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
The gatekeeper is Jesus
John 14:6 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Jesus said to him,
“I am the [only] Way [to God] and
the [real] Truth and
the [real] Life;
no one
comes to the Father
but through Me.
[by accepting Him as Lord and Savior]
has the life [that is eternal];
he who does not have the Son of God
[by personal faith]
does not have the life.
Have you been granted entrance? If you haven’t here (on earth)… then you will not “there” (in Hell). [1 John 5:10]
Our entrance into the Eternal Kingdom of Creator God is only granted to those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord God – and follow Him here on earth. The Apostle Peter wrote:
11 …the entrance into the eternal
kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
will be abundantly supplied to you.”
– 2 Peter 1: verses 3-11
A faith of the same kind as ours
First, Peter says, the entrance is only for “those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1: verse 1). God does not accept a faith of your kind, created by you. Creator God created us for Himself, and has provided the only way to Himself.
“To those who have received
a faith of the same [b]kind as ours,
[c]by the righteousness of
our God and Savior, Jesus Christ”
– 2 Peter 1: verse 1
We cannot create our own way to Creator God. How preposterous is that!? To think that the clay pot can tell the Potter how things are going to be! How incredibly vain and arrogant.
There is a way provided by God that enables us to freely enter into His Holy Presence. You must be born again, Jesus said. Are you?
Or are you still not? Not living for Him — not saved by Him.
Still creating your own way? This passage speaks to this issue:
2 John 1:9
Anyone
who runs on ahead
and does not remain
in the doctrine of Christ
[that is, one who is not content with what He taught],
does not have God;
but the one who continues
to remain in the teaching
[of Christ does have God],
he has both
the Father and the Son.
I am so concerned especially for those who “think” they are saved because way back when …they said a prayer and now claim to be “Christian”, but, live a life that is anything BUT sold-out to Christ. God sees the heart and knows falsehood.
Do you really think God forgives a half-hearted repentance followed by allegiance to who knows what (except that it is not His ways)? I think not. Jesus said:
Luke 10:27
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
Acts 8:37
And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
The type of “believe” here in the Bible is not a mental assent type of “I believe that…”, but rather a total “buying into” from the heart type of “believe”. Don’t fool yourself. Be a wise virgin (from Matthew 25).
A faith from God, by God
The other truth expressed here by Peter is that this faith is “by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” This faith, our salvation, is not by our being so good, or by us earning it, but rather it comes to us from Jesus — by His righteousness.
Salvation is about His grace. Nowhere in the New Testament is our salvation dependent on us being good enough. It is always about God and His grace being sufficient enough.
Salvation is not about our being sinful or not sinful. Salvation is about our yielding to God in confession and repentance — and then following Him.
Following Him as a born again believer – will produce a less sinful life. That is the “proving part”. The actual “saving part” is totally by God.
You are saved by God’s grace and His justice system. Then the “living part” kicks-in — the genuineness factor which shows whether you were really saved or not.
I would not count on entering The Gate — if your life shows you are living contrary to Jesus’ ways.
Faith is followed by works
If you are not following Him in obedience — then what kind of a salvation did you receive?
You received a different kind of faith, not a New Testament, New Covenant, type of faith. That faith of a different kind (different from Peter’s and John’s) is a type of willy-nilly faith (random; haphazard) that leads down a very wide road.
A salvation experience that does not lead to obedience to Christ, is not “a faith of the same [b -value] kind as ours“, as Peter says (2 Peter 1:1). [See also: Hebrews 10:29] With that kind of faith, you are still lost, still unsaved, still damned, faith-less, fickle and deceived by the Evil One.
You are kidding yourself, with that kind of “faith”. You have passed-by your only hope.
God’s forgiveness is so powerful and so mysterious. But we know what He requires of us. We have His Word, the Bible.
He requires that we come to Him just as we are, with all our imperfections and weakness, and lay it all down before Him, and with our volition speak to Him.
It is impossible to clean-up and clear-out our sinfulness on our own. Forget about it! Don’t even try. Just come as you are. Our sin requires the work of the Holy Spirit.
Outsiders looking in…those who like it
We can do our own thing, create our own “faith”, even enjoy the fellowship of true believers, but if you are not truly born again, then you are the tare living alongside the wheat (Matthew 13).
You are what is described in Hebrews 6:4-9: those who like it but don’t stick with it, and never were actually a part of it. Outsiders looking in.
Yielding
When we yield to him all of who we are, no matter how sinful we are — “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 KJV version)
We receive eternal forgiveness — not on the basis of any amount of good deeds we do, nor by our faithfulness to Him, but rather on the basis of His grace, His provision of salvation to all who will believe and follow Him.
(KJV)
If
we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us
from all
unrighteousness.
Ephesians 2:8-9
Amplified Bible (AMP)
For it is by grace
[God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ]
that you have been saved
[actually delivered from judgment
and given eternal life]
through faith.
And this [salvation]
is not of yourselves
[not through your own effort],
but it is the [undeserved, gracious]
gift of God;
not as a result of [your] works
[nor your attempts
to keep the Law],
so that no one
will [be able to] boast
or take credit in any way
[for his salvation].
Make sure you are “knock, knock, knock’in…” at the right gate, heaven’s door. That gate is at the end of a narrow road. (Or are you on the broad road “that leads to destruction”?)
FOR MORE:
The Kingdom of God is very exclusive, very luxurious, very special
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