Tilling and Planting

Tag: Heaven

  • Salvation Defined

    Salvation Defined

    Intro

    I’ve mentioned several times the concept of salvation. Especially in my last two posts about Heaven and Hell. At the time I said that I wasn’t going to get into the details about salvation and what it means, etc. However, since I teased it so many times and since it is a foundational concept in Christianity, I think now is the time to address it.

    The Basics

    When it comes to the word, salvation. What does that mean? According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word salvation means “preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss”. To be saved from drowning is deliverance from death and the preservation of your life. And when it comes to Christianity and Biblical salvation, it is deliverance from sin, Hell, and oppression from Satan. And it is an eternal preservation of your spirit to dwell with God in Heaven. Now if that were all, this would be a very short post. But there is so much more to salvation. Especially the questions of “Who’s saved?”, “How are you saved?”, etc. So let’s get started.

    Why Do I Need Salvation?

    The first question to answer is why. Why does mankind need salvation? I hinted at it before in my definition of salvation from a Biblical perspective. But I’ll expand upon that here.

    To put it simply, we have sinned. Mankind lives in open (and closed) rebellion to God and His commandments. The Bible teaches that all have sinned. Nobody can make the claim that they have not sinned.

    If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8 (NIV)

    And being a holy and just God, He cannot allow sin to go unpunished. The punishment for sin is death and eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire.

    For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NIV)

    Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20: 14-15 (NIV)

    Can’t Save Ourselves

    In addition to pointing out the main problem, I also need to point out that we are wholly unable to save ourselves. No amount of good works or money or whatever can save us. The Bible declares that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) and all “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It doesn’t matter what we do, we can never measure up to the holiness of God – which is the only standard that can get us into Heaven. Only perfection gets us into Heaven. And I think we all can agree that none of us are perfect.

    Now that I’ve established the problem, let’s take a look at God’s solution.

    The Plan of Salvation

    The Bible says that before the foundations of the world were laid, Jesus was chosen to die (1 Peter 1:19-20). That means that God knew that mankind would sin and reject Him and He still created us. All because of His great love. That alone is mind boggling. But God also planned out how to buy us back from the devil.

    The What

    God’s plan entailed coming to Earth as a human being (Jesus) (John 1:1), living a perfect life (2 Corinthians 5:21), and sacrificing Himself to satisfy the righteous requirements of God to cover all sin for all humans for all time – past, present, and future (Hebrews 10:10). The fact that He lived a perfect life is key. Because of that, Jesus did not deserve to die. He deserved to live forever. However, because He died a willing, sacrificial death, God could place upon Jesus the sins of all people from the past, the present, and the future and consider all of them atoned for. And God demonstrated His acceptance of the sacrifice by raising Jesus from the grave. Furthermore, His sacrifice and resurrection defeated death, Hell, the grave, sin, and Satan.

    The How

    “That’s all well and good, but what do I have to do to ‘get saved’?” The process is very simple. While Jesus did all the heavy lifting, He does ask you to do one thing. Believe. Yep, that’s it. In Acts 16, a man asked Paul what he must do to be saved, and Paul responded with “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31 NIV).

    Many religions have lists of things to do in order to get to their version of paradise. Biblical Christianity says, “God already did it, just believe.” God only requires that you have faith in Him and His sacrifice. After you’ve prayed a prayer of faith to receive salvation, the righteousness of Jesus covers all your sin and brings your spirit back to life and places Holy Spirit within you. After that, you are a new creation, and you will find yourself living a new life. A life pleasing to God.

    And before you ask, God offers salvation as a gift. He doesn’t force it upon anyone who doesn’t want it and won’t receive it. Think about a gift for a minute. If you give someone a gift, they have to open their hand and accept it in order to benefit from it. That’s why Jesus’ sacrifice didn’t automatically make everyone saved for all time. Everyone can still choose for themself whether they want to accept the gift or not.

    This actually leads into a heresy that I wish to briefly address.

    Universalism

    I don’t intend on spending a lot of time on this topic, but I do feel like I need to address it. And that’s this idea of Universalism. Universalism claims that all people will go to Heaven. No matter which religion you subscribe to, you end up going to Heaven. People come to this belief usually through one of two ways. To some, the thought of people being tormented for all of eternity makes them uncomfortable and search for an alternative. Or they emphasize God’s love and goodness while downplaying His righteousness and justice. But the Bible clearly teaches that people go to Hell when they die. And they will ultimately be thrown into the lake of fire for all of eternity (see my post on Hell for Biblical evidence of that).

    I agree that God is full of love and compassion. In fact, 2 Peter 3:9 reveals that God doesn’t want anyone to perish. But God cannot allow sin into His presence so the sin must be covered. And that’s where Jesus’ sacrifice come into play. For that love and compassion drove God to send Jesus (and made Jesus willing to go along with it) to Earth to die so that we may live. Jesus declares in John 14:6 that “no one comes to the Father except through me.” Time and again, the Bible reveals the exclusivity of the road to Heaven. It’s a narrow path and few find it. The way to Hell is broad and many more walk that path.

    From this, we can conclude that Universalism doesn’t exist as a Biblical truth. It’s a dangerous heresy that we must not fall for and must be ready to demonstrate – in love – the truth of the gospel.

    Wrapping Up

    I did my best to explain in simple terms what salvation is. I hope you find it useful as you explain to others the wonderful news of the gospel. It’s especially important to understand salvation when talking to the lost. A lack of understanding leads to people not actually being saved but believing they are. That’s a bit scary to think about.

    One last note, the Bible doesn’t talk about a “salvation prayer”. The Bible says to “declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead” (Romans 10:9) in order to be saved. So, we do need to open our mouths and profess to God that we believe and accept His sacrifice. How that prayer looks varies. The specific words don’t matter so much as the heart behind them.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Heaven: Home

    Heaven: Home

    Intro

    Heaven is generally thought of as the place where God dwells and where Christians go when they die. And while this is true, it’s so much more. Jesus describes Heaven as a paradise to the thief on the cross. In Revelation, John describes a sea of glass. He also mentions that Heaven has its own temple and ark of the covenant. And this only scratches the surface. Let’s discover the majesty of God’s dwelling place together.

    Which Heaven?

    This might surprise some of you, but the Bible talks about multiple heavens. Crazy right? Because of that, I’m going to briefly cover all three heavens and then get on with the main event.

    The First Heaven

    The first heaven (not called that specifically in the Bible, but a good label for clarity) is what we call the sky, or atmosphere. James 5:17-18 contains a great example of the Bible calling the atmosphere “heaven”.

    Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. James 5:17-18 (NIV)

    The Second Heaven

    As we move up the list, we also move “up” in a more literal sense. What we call outer space – or the cosmos – is also referred to as “heaven” by the Bible.

    And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon, and the stars – all the heavenly array – do not be enticed into bowing down and worshipping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. Deuteronomy 4:19 (NIV)

    The second heaven consists of all the stars, galaxies, planets, and everything else that exists in the cosmos. There is far more majesty here than in the first. And that pattern continues when we move on to the third – and final – heaven.

    The Third Heaven

    When we get here, we have now entered God’s dwelling place. God sits enthroned above the universe from the third heaven. This is the only one of the three that is explicitly referred to by the name “the third heaven”. Found in 2 Corinthians 12, Paul tells the story of “a man” that he knew that had been caught up to the third heaven. Many scholars believe this man was Paul himself, but because of all the things he couldn’t talk about, avoided questions by not naming himself.

    I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know – God knows. (NIV)

    After laying all this groundwork, I’m now going to turn my attention to describing what the Bible has to say about this third heaven and what it means for Christians.

    The Descriptions

    The Bible records various things about heaven including physical descriptions, what life will be like, who will all be there, etc. I’m going to cover some of these and try to show you through these passages the incredible home we have to look forward to.

    What Does Heaven Look Like?

    Humans are visual people. That’s why pictures are so popular. And if you lived before the invention of the camera, it would be paintings – though you had to be fairly wealthy to get one of those. So, it’s no surprise that one of the first questions people have about Heaven is “What does it look like?” And while the Bible doesn’t give details about every aspect, there is some pretty powerful imagery to give us a glimpse of the majesty and beauty of our future home.

    Heaven’s Throne Room

    The throne room of God Almighty is a sight to behold according to John in Revelation 4. Look at the descriptions he gives it. “A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne…From the throne came flashes of lighting, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing…Also in front of the throne was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.” Wow! I’m trying to picture this concept of a rainbow shining like an emerald, and I admit, I have questions. But what I can picture is amazing. And I know that it falls short of the truth.

    The New Jerusalem

    Revelation also gives a description of the New Jerusalem, the city that comes down from Heaven to be the home of the saints for all of eternity. Now you could argue that this is the future home and not the current home. I say, so what? Whether the New Jerusalem will be current Heaven brought to Earth or something God creates (or has created and is currently waiting) as separate, is entirely irrelevant because they have the same designer and are going to have similar majesty and beauty. This gives me confidence that many of the features of this city reflect what Heaven is like today.

    And those descriptions include walls made of jasper, streets made of gold, foundations made of various precious stones, and the gates made of pearls (Revelation 21). Talk about incredible! Talk about majestic! I can’t wait to live there for all of eternity. The majesty of it is only topped by the majesty of God Himself – who will be living there among us.

    What Will We Do In Heaven?

    For some reason, an idea got started and circulated that living in Heaven will be boring because all we will do is sit on clouds, play harps, and maybe fly around and talk to other people. There is so much more than that! Ever hear of the marriage supper of the Lamb? That’s right, there’s food in Heaven! As my pastor likes to say, “If you’re looking for me, I’ll be over by the chocolate fountain.” So, we’ll be chatting with friends and family over food. Coming from the Midwest, this will be both fun and normal.

    Incredible People

    And speaking of talking to others, what’s so boring about that? Being able to hang out with people who have died before you and talking to them. Talking to people in your family tree whom you’ve never met or hardly knew. Or how about talking to Biblical characters? Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, etc. Or other people throughout history. The Bible indicates that we will see them and be able to interact with them. Talk about all the stories we don’t have written in the Bible. And if you’re worried about seeing someone you had a rough relationship with here on Earth, don’t worry, all things are made new – even relationships.

    Worship In Heaven

    But more importantly, we will worship God. Again, in Revelation, John describes numerous scenes of worship around the throne. Look at Chapters 4, 5, 7, 13, 15, and 19 to see incredible scenes of worship to God and to the Lamb. There will be no end to the worship of God. Does that mean that all we will do is fall on our face and sing to Him? No, how can you eat and sing at the same time? What it does show is that there will always be someone singing in worship. And further, it also shows that worship is more than just singing. It’s a lifestyle. And once we get to Heaven, we will be perfect so everything we say and do will be a form of worship to the one who created us.

    Learning New Things

    The Bible hints that all throughout eternity we will continue to learn and discover new things. New things about God and new things about all that He has created. That’s a lot of discovery and I’m excited about it.

    Who Will Be In Heaven?

    And now, perhaps the most controversial question: Who will be in Heaven? What are the criteria to spend eternity in this incredible place? The reason this is controversial is because no one wants to spend eternity in the alternative to Heaven. Consequently, various religions put up very lax requirements to get to their version of Heaven. Even within Christianity, there are some differences on who goes to Heaven and how you are saved. This post is not about the criteria for salvation – though I’ll get to that at some point since I’ve been covering a lot of the basics since I started blogging – so I won’t go into the details about that.

    Those Included

    That said, here’s some verses that tell us exactly who gets to go to Heaven.

    And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession — to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV)

    Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 (NIV)

    Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” John 3:3 (NIV)

    A good summary of these verses is that only those who are children of God, or born again, will be in Heaven. Again, I’m not going to define all that it means to be born again, or saved, or even “what about the Old Testament saints” question. I’ll address those at a later time.

    Those Excluded

    Equally important to know is who won’t make it into Heaven. People you see here will not enjoy God’s presence for eternity and will instead suffer for that same period.

    Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. Revelation 22:15 (NIV)

    Anyone who loves and practices these things (and this isn’t a comprehensive list) will not be enjoying the marriage supper of the Lamb. Of note, it says those who love and practice these things. If you are someone who struggles with it and are praying through it and fighting to be free, be rest assured that this verse does not apply to you. It applies only to those who do it, love it, and have no intent or desire to change.

    And I bring to you a warning as well. A warning found in Matthew 7:21 “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 who is in heaven.” Beware that you do not fool yourself into believing you are good just because you “do good works for God”. It may be good. But is it what God asked you to do? Are you in His will? Do you truly know Jesus? Or are you trying to earn your way into Heaven?

    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 who is in heaven. Matthew 7:21 (NIV)

    Wrapping Up

    While we’ll never fully comprehend heaven here on earth, the Bible gives us a glimpse that gives me assurance that no matter how bad it gets here, this world is not our ultimate home. Take confidence in that, my brothers and sisters. Let that knowledge fill you with hope today.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!