Can anyone go to heaven?

Message / Question

What's the difference between being a liar and lying? And if there's no difference between sins, that means being a sexual sinner is the same as being a liar. Which is the same as lying. So if you can't go to heaven for being a sexual sinner, you won't for lying. Who can go to heaven then? And isn't that legalism?

Response

How many murders does one have to commit before being branded a murderer? I guess the answer is “One”. It seems reasonable to apply the same principle to lying and stealing, and cheating etc.

You ask “Who can go to heaven then?” and you are absolutely right – the answer is no-one. That’s the reality, none of us deserve to go to Heaven, because we’ve ALL sinned, we’ve all missed the standard – some have missed it by a very LONG way, some maybe by a lot less, but the result is the same for all – we’ve fallen short of the standard and don’t deserve to go to heaven. That’s where the grace of God comes in – God SO loved the world that He gave His only Son so that anyone who believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life. We deserve to be excluded from Heaven, but God in His infinite grace and mercy offers us the opportunity to turn away from our sin, receive His free gift of salvation and the righteousness of God that comes with it, and become fit for heaven.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

That’s the great thing about God’s gift of salvation – the moment we receive it, He washes away our lies, cheating, our stealing even our murdering and sexual sin – God cleanses us from all of that and makes it possible for us to enter heaven. So the answer to your question “Who can go to heaven then?” is simple – YOU can, even though you have sinned and fallen short of His standard, if you simply receive the gift of God, which is eternal life.