Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: ROAD (05/19/22)
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TITLE: The Road To Heaven | Previous Challenge Entry
By Doug Laird
05/26/22 -
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“There is a way which seems right to a person, But its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14: 12 NASB).”
"The heart is more deceitful than all else… (Jer. 17: 9 NASB).”
The Rev. 20: 15 lake of fire is going to be filled with many souls who believed that they had been on the road to Heaven.
Religion consists of all that Man tries to do to make himself right in the eyes of God, and promotes itself as the means to receive divine blessings on Earth, and reward in Heaven.
All religions share some common beliefs, such as the existence of a divine being, human accountability, and some type of after life based on human performance while here on Earth.
Man-made religions appeal to the fallen nature within us. Fallen Man is inclined to believe that by participating in Man-made religion, he can save himself and earn reward.
This is where Biblical Christianity and Christian religions differ.
Participating in worship rituals (1), good behavior, and good deeds have their place and purpose in the p-o-s-t salvation spiritual life of born-again believers, but such things are not the means to get on, or to stay on, the road to Heaven.
Until one is first born-again (2), he or she is spiritually dead.
Just as a physically dead person can't do anything in the natural realm, a spiritually dead person can't do anything in the spiritual realm, in or outside of a house of worship.
One’s first step along the road to Heaven is taken after one is born again. According to Matt. 7: 14, only a few (minority) finds the road that leads to Heaven.
Satan works long and hard to see to it that souls are given the wrong set of directions.
The devil is most successful when these wrong directions come from apostate pulpits, leaving those who listen to them with a false sense of security. They place their trust in the religious rituals performed by men; in their own good behavior; and in their good deeds to make themselves right with God.
Jesus,taught otherwise.
Many souls will come to the end of the road that they have chosen before the sun sets today, with their departure being the last thing on their minds when they got up this morning.
Going to a Christian Church and going through the motions does not means that one has been born again; no more than going to an Italian restaurant will make you an Italian. You may enjoy the moment, but are no better off when you walk out than when you walked in, if nothing of a spiritual nature takes place.
Spiritual activity involves the evangelization and or the edification of the soul.
One can be born again at any time and in any place that the omnipresence of God the Holy Spirit chooses. God the Holy Spirit uses a host of different means of communication to present one with the Gospel Message, but it is He who calls the recipient (3).
With the freewill that He has given to each and every soul, we are free to choose which one of two roads we want to travel on, but we are not free from having to make that choice.
It is not God’s desire (4) that anyone be tossed into the lake of fire, but has made the lake of fire the final destination for all unbelievers (5).
Q. Disbelief in what?
A. Disbelief in the Gospel Message, encapsulated in John 3: 16, 18.
To fulfill His 2Pet. 3: 9 desires, God provided the means (6) and made it the mission of the Church to make the way known (7) to a lost and dying world.
The good news is that no matter how long one has been on the wrong road, one can repent (change his mind), be saved (8), make a U-turn, and rest assured (9) that he or she is now on the road to Heaven.
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(1)Heb. 10: 25/1Cor. 11: 24, 25. (2) John 3: 5, 7 (Heb. 3: 15) (4) 2Pet.3: 9. (5) Rev. 20: 15 (6) 1John 2: 2 (7) Matt. 28: 20 (8) Rom. 10: 13 (9) Rom. 8: 1
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