Are you striving to enter into heaven? You must! If you are not, you will not get there!
I know that sounds like bad theology. It sounds like we have to earn our way to heaven, which is contrary to the gospel. The gospel says that we do not get to heaven by our own effort. God gets us there by His own effort by His Son’s death on the cross. However, that does not mean that it’s automatic for everyone to be saved. There must be effort on our part as well!
What kind of effort? Listen to this: “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:11
The “rest” here is clearly talking about heaven. But what does it mean to “strive” to enter into heaven? It means to keep believing!
“For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” Hebrews 3:14
Believing takes work! It is by no means automatic. It will take certain discipline to keep believing. For example, we must not neglect meeting together (Hebrews 10:25). We must shun evil (3:13). We must encourage one another to keep believing (3:13)
And we must live by faith!
What would show that you still believe in Jesus? When you put heavenly rewards before your earthly rewards. When you care more about what God thinks of you than what people think of you. When you handle difficulties as God’s treating you as his child rather than punishing you.
Keep believing to the end!
PH
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