Who is going to be in heaven and why?
Matthew 22:14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Who is going to be in heaven and why?
Bring up that question in many circles and you will ignite a lively discussion. There are any number of schools of thought on first of all who will be in heaven. Some people believe and teach that all people will end up in heaven someday, one way or another. People arrive at that teaching with the thinking that there is no way that a loving God could not let everyone into heaven or by thinking that the “good” things people do will help them get over the threshold.
It is true that the Bible teaches and God desires that “All people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:4). But that needs to be put in the context of our verse for this week. While God wants all people to be in heaven and many people are given the opportunity to be in heaven by having the message of Jesus as Savior shared with them, there remains the clear teaching of the Bible that “few are chosen”, in other words not everyone will be in heaven.
That leads us to the second half of the question posed at the beginning and often asked by many people when they are told and even have it pointed out to them from the Bible that not everyone will be in heaven – why?.
This is often an emotionally driven question and the stark reality of the answer is hard for many to accept.
The simple answer to the question of “why” everyone is not going to be in heaven is simple – sin. You have probably figured out that people have all sorts of ways of dealing with sin from minimizing it to coming up with creative ways of dealing with it. The Bible tells us clearly that sins needs to be paid for and that Jesus paid the price for our sins with his death on the cross and “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16).
The more in depth answer to the “why” question about eternal destiny comes down to a matter of faith or lack of faith in Jesus as Savior.
So the question for each of us is this: “Have you done all that you can to invite as many people as possible?”. Have you shared the message of Jesus with every one of your family members and have you worked to make sure that those closest to you share the same saving faith in Jesus that you do? However our responsibility, really our opportunity, is not just to make sure that those closest to us having saving faith. We have the opportunity, really the responsibility, to share Jesus with every last person whom we meet in our life here on earth.
Let’s go back to the question which began this devotion – “Who is going to be in heaven and why?”. As you ponder that question it is a reminder to each of us that we are God’s instruments and an opportunity to ask yourself how you are being used as God’s instrument.
A tool does no good and can’t do anything if it is sitting on the workbench or in the toolbox. So, get out of the box and let God use you as he sees fit to touch as many lives as possible so they can be with us in heaven!