A good friend of mine posted an article by Oprah about how she believes there is more than one way to God. Let me start off by saying in big, bold letters....
I AGREE 100%
Romans 14:10, 12 says that "Each of us will stand personally before the judgement seat of God, each of us will give a personal account to God." This awaits us all. Every. Single. One. Of. Us. We will all have to account for our lives to Him.
2 Corinthians also says that we will appear before the judgement seat of Christ so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things we did, whether good or bad.
Matthew 7:21 says that not every one that says to Him, "Lord, Lord" shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only the ones that do the will of His Father which is in Heaven.
So...what does that mean exactly? We have to do good to get into Heaven?
No. Ephesians 2:8-9 says that we are saved by grace through faith, and not of ourselves. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that we can't boast about it.
So no matter how much good we do, it's not good enough. So...what is this salvation? How do we obtain it?
We must believe that Jesus Christ is exactly who He says He is. He is the eternal Son of God. He willingly took our sin and guilt upon Himself and was crucified upon the cross for you. He was buried in a tomb and three days later rose again.
We must believe and accept this as truth. We are helplessly and habitually sinners. There is nothing we can do to change that and our condition. We have broken at least some of God's 10 commandments and we all deserve Hell. Left to ourselves, we are self-centered, self-willed and rebel against God and His Law. Romans 3:23 says for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:10 says that there is none righteous, no, not one. Romans 5:!2 says that just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, death spread to all men.
We must humbly ask God for His mercy and grace then repent of our sins. That means we must admit that we are indeed a sinner and we see our sin the way God sees our sin. It is defiling, evil, corrupt, wicked and destructive. We must renounce our sin and turn our hearts from it. Romans 5:8 says that God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us. (In other words, we don't have to wait to be perfect before we can be saved....if that were the case, it would never happen.
We must ask God to forgive our sin. We must surrender to Him our will and our whole life, choosing to live for Him and to love Him with our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Romans 10:9-10 says that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be save. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.
Roman 10:13 seals the deal when it says for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Jesus died ONCE for all of our sins. Past, present and future. Isn't that incredible?
So, yes, while all roads do lead to God...only one leads to an eternity with God in Heaven.
Disclaimer: My friend that posted the article posted it not because she also believes that way, but because she also believes that Jesus is the only way to Heaven.
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