There Is No Golden Ticket Straight To Heaven

"Not everyone who calls out to me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter." Matthew 7:21

If we do not surrender the ungodliness in our life, we cry out in vain.

So there is no golden ticket straight to Heaven once we pray the sinner's prayer? You do receive a ticket good for boarding the train when you are baptized in the name of the Lord, but whether it is accepted depends on your heart and life; whether you are walking in the footsteps of Christ or not. It is not punched for the final destination.

I am reminded of the perspective so many have concerning the prayer of salvation and the misconceptions I carried when I first came to Christ.

Paul tells us in Romans 10:9-13, "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” an...d believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Twice here we are told we are saved by declaring with our mouth Jesus is Lord or calling upon His name. But it does not stop there. There is more we are to do . This is ongoing.

Trusting in Him and doing God's will, as we are warned in Matthew 7:21, is only one way Jesus warned that we must do His will in order to truly be His disciples. “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter."

I can think of so many more...Matthew 25:31-46, “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Jesus told us to LOVE the hungry and sick stranger or prisoner.

"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation.." 2 Corinthians 7:10

Working out our salvation with fear and trembling and obeying God's law (the Torah) is all part of loving Him with all our heart. We simply are compelled to obey. It is in us to do so. I am so grateful our pastor teaches from the Old and New Testaments, reminding us the law did not go away, but we now have grace through the Blood of Christ. They do go hand in hand, but the Torah is not the only aspect of God's will, as we see throughout the New Testament.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34

Look at what Jesus said when he heard the crowd putting so much emphasis on His earthly mother, "‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, ‘Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother’” Matthew 12:46-50

What constitutes someone as a true brother or sister? DOING the will of the Father; hearing the Word of God and keeping it. Doing the will of the Father is the same thing as hearing and keeping the Word of God. Simple obedience. Doing what the Father wants. Not hearing only, but hearing and doing. Keeping his commandments, loving one another, rejecting/rebuking evil, not worshiping treasures of the world (money), and above all, loving Him with all of our being.

Simply crying out to the Lord in our hour of need or praying the sinner's prayer does not punch a golden ticket to Heaven. Neither does getting baptized. Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again with the Holy Spirit.

"Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." John 3:5-6.

Baptism by both the water and the Spirit. From the lips of Jesus. Your ticket is issued upon receiving your baptism by water. But it is worthless if you do not receive Baptism by the Holy Spirit, an infilling that lasts a lifetime. Those that are baptized with water in the name of Jesus that later turn to crime or do not follow and actually serve God are subject to the judgment that may result in confiscation of their ticket and a toss off the train into the lake of fire. Their hearts were never right, their souls were never filled with the right ingredient. The Holy Spirit had not validated their ticket.

There is so much more. Followers of Jesus are meant to be discipled and to disciple others. Becoming a new creation in Christ takes a desire to let go of OUR ways and our worldly perspective in exchange for God's will and living through a Heavenly lens.

Will Jesus open the book, check your ticket and declare “I don’t know you!”, or will your life since baptism prove good enough? Let’s pray it is the latter. If you are afraid you don’t measure up, please don’t panic. Go to your church and ask for guidance on how to get on the path God wants you to be on. Find a spiritual mentor who will disciple you.

My prayer is that my heart proves true and worthy of joining our Father and Heaven and my ticket is punched and turns to gold. I pray yours is too.