A Reddit post I ran across recently asked why, if Jesus paid for our sins, isn’t everyone going to heaven. Why indeed—what’s the answer?
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh [sinful desires]will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Galatians 6:7-8 NKJV)
It took me a long while to correctly understand these verses. I always imagined this referred to God somehow giving me what I deserve (and it does), but I don’t think that quite captures it—it makes it seem as if God is somehow a cosmic bad guy, randomly saying “acceptable—let him in” or “unacceptable—don’t let him in.”. Rather, I’ve come to believe, this verse is revealing the truth of a much more direct process of cause and effect instituted by Him.
You see—and I know I’ve said this before—we each of us become what we do, live, act and say throughout our earthly life. Each and every one of our choices during the time we’re alive is building who we will be shown to have been at the moment of our death. It’s not random, anymore than what results from the individual Lego blocks a child uses—it’s a direct consequence of each and every piece chosen. That’s why it’s really important to build well.
Sometimes we feel that a bad choice won’t matter for eternity—that it’ll get erased with time or forgotten. But I counter that we shouldn’t think that way: we should choose—each and every time—the best pieces we can. Sometimes life doesn’t give us good choices and we have to select from “bad” or “worse,” but that can’t be helped. Always choose the best piece possible at whatever it is you’re doing.
But what about forgiveness? Doesn’t God forgive bad choices? Yes, He absolutely does, but forgiveness requires repentance. Let me repeat: in order to be forgiven, you first have to recognize and genuinely believe what you formerly did was wrong, and turn away from it; you have to repent. That’s the answer to the Reddit question—not everyone is going to heaven (even though Jesus’ death paid for everyone’s sins), because not everyone acknowledges their sins and turns away from them in faith.
But why do we need faith to turn away from our sins? Well, because otherwise we just won’t—unless we believe, there’s no real reason to do it. Let’s be honest: a lot of sin just feels and seems good—that’s why we keep doing it. If we don’t get to the point where we recognize the historical person Jesus Christ was divinely conceived by God’s Spirit, and because of that was able to live a life without human sin and therefore pay for everyone else’s sin—that He was the Word of God become a human, doing for us what we couldn’t for ourselves—if we don’t get to the point where we realize and genuinely believe that, we just won’t stop sinning. Why? Because repenting is hard, and costs us. Jesus clearly said:
“…If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man [Jesus’ nickname for Himself] will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.” (Matthew 16:24-27 NKJV)
Living for ourselves with little to no consideration for how it affects others is so deeply engrained in our DNA that it’s impossible to do otherwise on our own. That’s why our New Year’s (or any other) resolutions go by the wayside pretty quickly. Repenting requires faith because at the moment we believe Jesus is God, He puts His Spirit in us, who teaches us, and helps us persevere and go the distance.
The Bible is full of what seems like a contradiction: we’re told that salvation is a free gift of God through faith in Jesus, but we’re also told to perfect holiness in faith. So which is it? Is heaven free, or do we have to do something to get it?
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV)
Coming to faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is a gift of God; He’s the one who opens our eyes to see and also the one who paid the penalty of damnation for our sins on the cross:
“Just as He [God the Father] chose us in Him [Christ Jesus] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved [Jesus Christ]. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:4-7 NKJV)
We are accepted in the beloved of God, Jesus Christ, the Word of God eternal in the heavens from the beginning. Yet, we are forgiven and accepted through Jesus for a purpose—for “good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
So God calls us, opens our eyes so we see and believe, forgives and accepts us because we believe in the forgiveness we now have through His Son, Jesus, and fills us with His Spirit to do the good works He’s planned for us to do.
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them…I, therefore…beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 2:1-10 , 4:1-3 NKJV)
Dear Lord God,
Helped me not be deceived—help me not think my life is a process of somehow fooling You. Help me realize the inevitable cause and effect of refusing to allow You to work in me to perfect holiness, through faith in the forgiveness You freely give through Jesus. Help me repent, believe, and walk worthy of the calling I was called! Amen.
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