The thief who got into heaven

 The thief who got into heaven

"Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him (Jesus) to be executed.  

When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left....

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  

We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” 

Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” 

Luke 23:32,33,39-43.

I heard this the other day. A man walks up to the gates of heaven and is asked, “Why are you hear?”

He replies, “The man on the cross told me to come”

Though it is just a story about the criminal who believed in Jesus getting into heaven. What he did while hanging on the cross is something we all are called to do.

First of all he believed Jesus was innocent and that Jesus was who He said He was the Son of God. 

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”

Second he confessed his sins saying,

“We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 

In reply Jesus said,

"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." 

Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God Saviour of all who believe in Him?

Will you confess your sins directly to God right now. The apostle John writing,

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”1John 1:9.

John also writing,

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12,13. 

The criminal on the cross that day with Jesus believed who Jesus was confessed his sins and was forgiven. Thus giving him entry into heaven.

Please think about it.

A Criminals Confession

  A Criminals Confession

In the Gospel of Luke we read of this conversation between the two criminals who were crucified with Jesus and Jesus.

Luke records,

"One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" 

But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?  

We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." 

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.'" 

Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:39-43.

It has been pointed out to me that the criminal that Jesus said would get to heaven (Paradise) never said the sinners prayer.

I pointed out the sinners prayer isn’t seen in the Bible and that the criminal that believed in Jesus did everything he was called to do to enter heaven.

He believed Jesus was who he claimed to be. And he confessed his sins.

The apostle Paul pointing out,

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and 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 confess and are saved. Romans 10:9,10.

The apostle John stating,

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  

If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." 1John 1:9-10.

Is this you today? 

Do you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord?

Have you confessed your sins to God?

If you truly did this you are on your way to Heaven.

Please think about it.

Beware of "the Formula"

  Beware of “the formula”

The apostle Peter said,

"And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" Acts 2:21

Today in North America we have what amounts to a formula for getting into heaven. It consists of a simple prayer that states, 

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Saviour.”

The origins of this prayer are debated. Some claim it came out of the early protestant revival movement while others say it came from the late eighteenth century revival movement. While others place it in the early twentieth century. 

Irrespective of when it originated it does not originate from biblical times.

The late British/American evangelist Leonard Ravenhill said of the prayer,

“The sinners prayer has sent more people to hell than all the bars in America.” Leonard Ravenhill

And he’s probably right. The prayer had become so ingrained into North American Christianity that it gives a false sense of security.

We don’t see such a prayer in the Bible. What we see is what the apostle Peter states in the Book of Acts, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”

We see the apostle Paul writing,

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and 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 confess and are saved.  Romans 10: 9,10.

This is what happened on the day Jesus was crucified. One of the men crucified with Jesus said,

"We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." 

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.'" 

Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:41-43.

There was no formula. Jesus did not ask the criminal to pray the prayer of salvation. It was simpler than that.

This criminal believed Jesus was who He said He was. And proclaimed it with his lips. Admitted his sin and simply asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom.

This is what God asks all of us today. 

He asks that we confess our sins to God.

He asks that we sincerely believe in our heart that Jesus is the Son of God. Saviour of mankind.

And He asks that we confess with out mouth Jesus is Lord.

Have you done this?

Do you truly believe Jesus is the Son of God. The Saviour of mankind. The Way to Heaven?

Please think about it.

The way to Heaven

The way to heaven
The following is what Christians believe is the way to heaven. I place it here so that you the reader may decide for yourself if you agree with it or not.
The writer of Hebrews tells us,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3  
Christians believe Jesus is God incarnate. God in the flesh. That He came to earth to show mankind the way to heaven.
Jesus speaking of himself said,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,

 but to save the world through him.” 

                                                         John 3:16,17.

Christians believe that no one can live a life good enough to stand before a Holy God. That we sin. Sin is failing to do what God wants us to do, consciously or otherwise. The apostle Paul tells us,

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

 and are justified freely by his grace 

through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

                                                                                 Romans 3:23,24.

The apostle John noting,

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins 

and purify us from all unrighteousness.  

If we claim we have not sinned, 

we make him out to be a liar

 and his word has no place in our lives.” 

                                                               1 John 1:9,10.

The apostle Paul tells us,
It is by faith we get to heaven, by the grace of God. We cannot work our way to heaven.,

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith

and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

 not by works, so that no one can boast.”  

                                                             Ephesians 2:8,9

Faith defined by the writer of Hebrews as,                                              Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

and certain of what we do not see.” 

                                                 Hebrews 11:1

The same writer noting

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, 

because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists 

and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”

                                                                     Hebrews 11:6

Thus the question becomes. Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God, God incarnate, the Saviour of mankind. The one who died for your sins?
If so are you willing to confess your sins directly to God and accept God’s saving grace that comes through Christ Jesus?
Please think about it.

A Personal God

A personal God

Genesis states,
“the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” 
                                                                            Genesis 2:7
When God made man, He created man that He could have a personal relationship with man. Not as one has with a pet or a robot. God gave man the ability to think logically. He also gave man a freewill. Man the right to choose between right and wrong.
Man chose wrong in disobeying God’s and thus was banished from the garden.
God however still wants to have a personal relationship with man. That’s why He chose the Abraham. Through Abraham all the world would be blessed.
That’s why God instituted the practice of sacrifices to cover the sins of man. That each and every man would realize they are sinners in need of God’s forgiveness.
Today Jews all over the world celebrate Yom Kippur the day of atonement.
Yom Kippur as I understand it was instituted as a time each year when each person confesses their sins to God asking His forgiveness.  It is as I understand a persons last appeal, a last chance to change the judgment, to demonstrate their repentance and make amends.
As a Christian I believe God took things one step further.
God in the form of Jesus entered this world to show not just mankind in general how far he would go to have that personal relationship with him. But to show each and every person how far He would go to have a personal relationship with them.
The other reason I believe God in the form of Jesus had to enter the world was to prove he was a just God.
A God who is everything Christians and Jews believe, all powerful, all knowing omnipresent etc. I believe, realized that man could stand in front of him and quite rightly say, “you do not understand fully understand what it is to be human. Intellectually you may understand, but because you have only experienced absolute power you don’t fully understand.”
In coming to this world in the form of Jesus, God experienced from a human prospective what it is like to be human. He felt everything from the mundane things such as sun on His face to the rain. He experienced the joys of life, the love of devout parents and friends. At the same time he experienced what it was like to be rejected, persecuted, brutally beaten and put to death for a crime he didn’t commit. Put to death for simply political expediency.
And he did all this that we may be reconciled to God.
The Apostle Paul states,
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  
For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  
Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
                                              Romans 5:6-11
Jesus himself said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
        John 3:16,17.
Now I know those who are not Christians will disagree with what I have said. And I personally cannot change anyone’s mind. I as a believer in Jesus believe however have an obligation to say what I have said.
It is between God and the individual reading this to decide for themselves if what I have said is right or wrong.
C. S. Lewis said,
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
                                                      C. S. Lewis.
It is up to you the reader to decide for yourself the importance of Christianity. The importance of Jesus.
Please think about it.