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``I
wish I could think that I have come just a short distance
toward being as prepared as he was,'' a woman said to me
recently concerning a man who had died. Her statement was
intended to be an expression of confidence in the deceased,
and I shared her confidence, but the truth is: if that lady is
living a faithful life in Christ, she is fully as prepared as
any other person in Christ.
Entrance into heaven will not be based upon a long list of
credentials built up accumulatively through the years (so many
new converts, so many passages memorized, so many lives
influenced, so many years in the service of the Lord, so many
sermons preached, etc.), the person's chances of going to
heaven being enhanced with each new credential.
Entrance into heaven will be based on the merit of
Christ's blood. One prepares for heaven by entering into
Christ through faith, repentance, and baptism (Gal. 3:27; Rom.
6:3); living a faithful life in Christ; and dying in Christ.
``Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord" (Rev.
14:13). This is the true basis for one's hope, whether he has
been a faithful Christian for fifty years or is just rising
from baptism in newness of life.
Now if the lady had said, ``I wish I could think that I have
come just a short distance toward being as Godlike as I
believe he was,'' that would have been different. Here is the
prevailing purpose of every Christian, to become more like God
every day. ``And every man that hath this hope in him
purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John 3:3).
Regular worship, liberal giving, unceasing prayer, concerned
benevolence, unfeigned love of the brethren, self-control,
etc.--all of which are commanded of God--are a means to the
end of becoming like Him, or as stated by Jesus, ``That ye may
be the children of your Father which is in heaven" (Matt.
5:45). One who ignores these commands shows his contempt for
God, becomes unfaithful, ceases to be like God, and loses his
hope of heaven. On the other hand, one who does
conscientiously obey the commands of God becomes more Godlike,
and the person who has done so for fifty years will obviously
have attained a greater degree of Godlikeness than one who has
just begun the Christian life. But while we recognize
different levels in attainment toward becoming like God, all
who are faithful, and are thus purifying themselves as He is
pure, share equally the hope of heaven. None has earned his
way to heaven. All are dependent on God's grace, and His grace
is extended to all the faithful.
Let not the young in the faith, then, be intimidated by the
attainments of the more mature in the faith. Let not the
mature become proud and over-confident. All must be faithful.
All must be growing. All must become more and more like God.
And all must die in the Lord. And to all who do so, the Lord
will say, `"Well done, thou good and faithful servant:
thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee
ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord."
Bill
Hall
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