“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” – Psalm 119:105

Aug 3                                                                                                                  2008

Bill Hall

Hope Is to Be Found in Christ

Entrance into heaven will not be based on a long list of credentials built up through the years (so many new converts, so many years in the service of the Lord, so many sermons preached, etc.) No, a person’s hope of going to heaven will be based on the merit of Christ’s blood. One prepares for heaven by entering into Christ through faith, repentance, and baptism (Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:3); living a faithful life in Christ; and dying in Christ. 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.

Here is the prevailing purpose of every Christian, to become more like (in the manner of) 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” (Matthew 5:45).

One who ignores these commands shows his contempt for God, becomes unfaithful, ceases to be like God, and1oses his hope of heaven. On the other hand, one who obeys the commands of God grows to become more God-like. And while we recognize different levels in this growth, 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 self-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 hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”