Going
to church and knowing God is not a guarantee that you can enter Heaven
after death. In Matthew 7:21 the word of the Lord said,
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Then
knowing God and calling Him Lord is not enough but it requires us to do
the will of God(Father who is in heaven). We shall then ask what is the
will of the Father?
I. Become like Little Children -
Matthew 18:3 "And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
What is in a child that we need to be transformed and change like them? Basically, little children
are happy and is always playing right? Sometime they fight with each
other for toys and games they played but few moments later they're
friends again. They always forgive those who hurts them. And they forget
the past fight and live as friends beyond. If fighting happens to older
men and women possible it would not end the way a fighting ends on
little children.
II. Be Born Again -
John 3:3 "Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
To make things clear in here, Born Again is not a religion
. As I can say that there's no religion stated in the bible that God wants us to become instead in Bible Jesus Christ himself stated "be born again". On John chapter 3 there a man named Nicodemus who asked Jesus how to be born again. Jesus answered in John 3:5-7 " 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’" Thus being a born again is living a new life and is being reborn through water and Spirit in baptism. Take note: no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again, and no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and Spirit.
III. Doing the Will of God
Matthew 3:13-17 in Amplified Version "13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.
14But
John protested strenuously, having in mind to prevent Him, saying, It
is I who have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?
15But Jesus replied to him,
Permit it just now; for this is the fitting way for [both of] us to
fulfill all righteousness [that is, to perform completely whatever is
right]. Then he permitted Him.
16And
when Jesus was baptized, He went up at once out of the water; and
behold, the heavens were opened, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and alighting on Him.
17And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I delight!"
Baptism
is doing the right thing before God and with it He will surely be
delighted. In the past we don't know this law according to Acts 17:30
"In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent."
But now that we know this law or command then we are accountable for
it. As you can see on Matthew 3:13-17 it states about Jesus being
baptized in water and after that is He's been baptized by the Holy
Spirit when the Spirit of God descended from Heaven.
These
are the steps of baptism first is Repent, be baptized (through water)
in the name of Jesus Christ and then you will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit according to Acts 2:38
"Peter replied, “Repent and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit." Then surely you cannot say that the Holy Spirit is absent
this days since if there is no Holy Spirit today then all of us will
never enter the kingdom of God for the bible says, "no one can enter the
kingdom of God unless they are born in water and in Spirit". Both
baptism are highly needed.
Jesus Christ is the baptizer of the Holy Spirit, as stated on Matthew 3:11 where John the baptist says,
“I baptize you with
water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than
I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with
the Holy Spirit and fire." of which he is talking about Jesus Christ. And in baptism we can be called as
Children of God
(Matthew 3:16-17) since accepting and receiving Him can only give us a
right to become a child of God. You cannot be suitable for baptism if
you won't receive Jesus Christ as stated in John 1:12
"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— " receiving Him can give us a
right to become a children of God. That means we need to know and accept Jesus first. In Revelation 3:20 the Lord said,
"
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with
me." and He is still knocking at the door of your heart right now.
If
you want to receive Jesus Christ now you can receive Him through prayer
and faith. You can talk to him and tell Him you are opening your heart
for Him. I have a prayer which is a guide for you to talk to Jesus, you
can use this prayer in accepting Him today:
Lord
Jesus, I know I am a sinner since the day I was born until now. I'm
sorry Lord for doing so. I open my heart today and accept You Jesus as
my King, Lord and Savior. Come into my heart and life, rule over me and
let Your will be done in me as I am Yours. Give me thirstiness and
hungriness in Your holy words so I may read, listen and follow what it
says. Thank you for coming into my life. Be my guide, friend, Father,
King, Lord, Savior and everything to me in the mighty name of Jesus
Christ, Amen.
If you said this prayer and
wholeheartedly accepts Jesus today, congratulations! You have now the
right to become a children of God! Then you can follow these three steps
to enter heaven one by one.
For more information or if
you do have any question, please write a comment of contact me.
Continue in your faith and be blessed!