Seven Things That Accumulate Building Materials

Dear saints,

In 1987, a Korean pastor named Yong Park died tragically, and experienced both heaven and hell. He observed that some saints are richly rewarded in heaven, while others do not receive any reward; some saints have great big, glorious mansions in heaven, while others live in little, group homes. In fact, he saw that his own house was still small and unfinished, even after serving the Lord his whole life and pastoring a 5,000-member mega church (Mt 6:19-21). During this heavenly experience, he was told the reason for all these things. 

There are seven things you must do to build up materials, in order to build your heavenly home:

1. Worship and Praise to God

The first is your accumulation of worship and praise to God. 

Scripture says you were created to praise the Lord (Isaiah 43:21), and you are commanded to praise Him (Ps 148:5). You are commanded to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5). You are to do so at all times (Heb 13:5; Psalm 34:1), even with clapping and shouting (Ps 47:1). Another way the Scripture teaches us to praise Him is with the holy dance (Ex 15:20; 2 Sam 6:14, 16; 1 Chr 15:29; Psa 30:11; 149:3; 150:4). Whenever you do these things with love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1Ti 1:5), you accumulate building materials in heaven that are used to build your home there.

2. Reading the Bible 

The second is your time spent reading the Bible. 

Read the Word, meditate on it, and scrutinize it, so you won’t be deceived (Ps 1:2; Ps 119:11, 105; Mt 4:4; 2 Tim 3:16). This also results in building materials being sent up to heaven that are used to build your mansion.

3. Praying to God

Third, your time spent praying to God. (1 The 5:17; 1 Tim 2:8; Phil 4:6; Mt 7:7). According to E.M. Bounds, in his book on the power of prayer, the average pastor only prays about five minutes per day. That is called prayerlessness, which is a sin. It was the same way in the garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus prayed, and all His disciples were sleeping. But Jesus said, "Couldn't you men keep watch with me for one hour?" (Mt 26:40). He asks you that same question today, "Could you not spend one hour with Me in prayer?" This must be a priority for each of us, because prayer is our lifeline to God.

If you have been guilty of the sin of prayerlessness, the first step is to confess it to God, repent, and ask forgiveness. Do this, rather than simply trying harder or making a resolution to pray more, because we cannot reform ourselves. Once you repent and ask forgiveness, the Lord will set you free from that sin, and you will then be able to obey Him as you ought to.

As you pray, plead the blood of Jesus, put on the full armor of God, shout to the Lord, lift your hands straight up to God, attack the demons, and engage them in battle. Ask the Lord to give you true contrition for sin and tears of repentance. Seek His face (Jer 29:13; Ps 27:8). Pray in tongues (1 Cor 2:4-5; Jude 1:20; Eph 6:18). Pray that you may love with same love with which He loves you. 

As you pray, building materials are being sent up to heaven that are used to build your mansion.

4. Evangelizing Those Who Don't Know Jesus

Fourth, your time spent evangelizing to people (Mt 28:18-20; Mk 13:10; 16:15). The reward you receive from the Lord for this does not depend on the response of the people with whom you share the gospel, but rather on your obedience to God in sharing with them. This is the Great Commission that the Lord has given to us. He who has all authority in heaven and on earth -- who gave his life on the cross for our sins and the sins of the whole world, who is not willing that any would perish, but that all would come to repentance -- has commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations. As you do so, whether it is across the street or around the world, building materials are being sent up to heaven for your mansion to be built.

5. Tithes to God

Fifth, your obedient tithes to God. The Lord commands us to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, and He promises that when we do, He will throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that we will not have room enough to receive (Mal 3:8-10). You can read more about this in my article on Christian tithing. 

A man named Emmanuel Agyarko had a vision of hell, in which he said: “I saw four pastors in hell, who were there because they did not pay their tithes. One was called Albert and another was Daniel, a pastor of Church of Christ and this church does not believe in tithing. Daniel said he told his congregation not to pay tithes, as it was no longer necessary. He was in hell for basically two things: first of all, he was not paying tithes himself; and secondly, because he also stopped others from paying it. For Albert, his church believed in paying tithes, but he thought it was meant for only the congregation, and that pastors were excluded from paying it. He wished he could come back to earth to start over again and pay his tithes. The other two pastors also did not pay, and one of them, thought simply he did not think he had to pay it even though he knew he should be paying it, and the other thought ministering before God is not working, so he thought there was no need to pay any tithes.” 

In Angelica Zambrano’s visit to hell, she said she saw a man who said, “I have stolen from God...At this very moment there are many people on Earth that are robbing the Lord like I did. When you return to Earth, tell all those people who don't want to give their tithes and offerings, not to steal from the Lord, otherwise, they’ll wind up in Hell, and no thief will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”  

Another Korean pastor named Yong-Doo Kim says, “People who did not properly tithe are ending up in hell.”

When you give to God, do it with love, and give to the Lord with true love. As you do, building materials will be sent up to heaven for your home.

6. Offerings to the Lord

Sixth, your offerings to the Lord (Mt 6:19-21; Lk 6:38). We are not only to give our tithes to the Lord, which is the first ten percent, but also our offerings above and beyond that. While tithes are to be brought into the storehouse where you are fed and cared for spiritually, offerings can be given to the church, or they can be given to Christian ministries and missions, as well as anyone who is doing the Lord's work. He who sows generously will reap generously, and he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly (2 Cor 9:6). One man gives freely yet gains even more, another withholds unduly and comes to poverty. A generous man shall prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed (Prov 11:24-25). Offerings include our alms to the poor as well. He who is kind to the poor will be blessed, because he honors the Lord (Prov 19:17). Whenever you give offerings, you will be accumulating building materials in heaven for your home.

7. Serving the Body of Christ

Seventh, your time spent serving the church in any way (Mt 20:28; Gal 5:13; 6:10; 1 Pet 4:10). You should have a servant's heart and do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

The fruit God wants is your personal love, your personal help, and your personal concern. When you see an individual hurting and your own heart actually hurts with them, this is when you care! God's desire is that we be like Jesus, and we will always find Him moving in the areas of human need.

God desires for us to do good to all men, especially to the household of God (Gal 6:10). He wants us to represent Jesus and to be like Him. When you are helping people, you become a living word to them which says, "I care and God cares for you!" We become a word that is alive to them -- a living word.

Any Christian can accumulate building materials every day, because there are people who need help every day! When we care for them, we are bringing the heart of God to them in their place of need. When we do this for God, something goes into our storehouse in heaven!

Closing Words

This message is only for those who have been born again, and know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This message is not explaining how to get to heaven, because you cannot get to heaven by your own good works, rather you must be born again. 

These are the deeds or works of obedience in which one who is saved accumulates materials for his Heavenly home. If one is lacking in these areas, he will have no materials to build his home. Whenever you do something with faith, whatever it is, Jesus will build your house bigger and higher.

Attributes: Most Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, all rights reserved, used by permission. Image may be subject to copyright, used per the Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes only.

Author's note:  If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Faith in Action, Run with Endurance, Faith Works, Walking by Faith, Obedient to the Heavenly Vision, The Four Tallest Homes in Heaven, Living on Earth as They Do in Heaven, Bearing Fruit in Every Good Work, Living a Life Worthy of the Lord, and the other posts available through the links on the Home page. You may also access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Him.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe. 

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Conditional Security of the Believer

If a picture paints a thousand words, then we should picture the word "if" in golden letters. You see, God has spoken this simple, two-letter word in the Scriptures with regard to our great and glorious salvation, yet so many seem to have missed it.

The popular view of the New Covenant of grace is that reaching heaven is automatic for all Christians. It is assumed that once a person gives his life to Jesus, he is going to make it into the kingdom of heaven no matter what. However, the Bible teaches that there are specific conditions of the New Covenant, just as there were also conditions of the Old Covenant. Let's look at some of those conditions in God's Word, as well as some warnings, which are negative conditions.

I will not include all the conditions, but primarily the ones that contain the golden word "if", which is a primary particle of conditionality. That may be a little word, but it has significant implications for each one of us, when used in the context of the conditions of the covenant in Christ's blood. Therefore, in this article, I will capitalize the word "IF" for emphasis.

Positive Conditions
We begin with the positive conditions.

Enter Through Christ Alone
Jesus said, "I am the door; IF anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (Joh 10:9)

Hear the Lord's Voice and Open the Door of Your Heart
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; IF anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev 3:20)

Deny Yourself, Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
“And He was saying to them all, ‘IF anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.’” (Luk 9:23)

Become United with Christ in His Death
“For IF we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection…” (Rom 6:5)

“Now IF we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him…” (Rom 6:8; cf., 2Ti 2:11)

“But IF by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Rom 8:13b)

Suffer with Christ
“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, IF indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Rom 8:16-17)

Keep His Commandments and Keep His Word
“And He said to him, ‘Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but IF you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’" (Mat 19:17)

“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘IF you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’" (Joh 8:31-32)

"Truly, truly, I say to you, IF anyone keeps My word he will never see death." (Joh 8:51)

"IF you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (Joh 14:15)

Jesus answered and said to him, "IF anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” (Joh 14:23)

“"You are My friends IF you do what I command you.” (Joh 15:14)

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, IF we keep His commandments.” (1Jn 2:3)

“As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. IF what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.” (1Jn 2:24)

Hold Fast the Word
"Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, IF you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain." (1 Cor 15:1-2)

Love One Another
“No one has seen God at any time; IF we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.” (1Jn 4:12)

Walk in the Light as He is in the Light
“But IF we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1Jn 1:7)

Judge Ourselves Honestly
“But IF we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.” (1Co 11:31)

Eat of Christ, the Living Bread
"I am the Living Bread that came down out of heaven; IF anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh."  (Joh 6:51)

Be Freed by the Son
"So IF the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” (Joh 8:36)

Become a Son
“Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and IF a son, then an heir through God.” (Gal 4:7)

Be in Christ and Belong to Him
“Therefore IF anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2Co 5:17)

“And IF you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise.” (Gal 3:29)

Do the Deeds of Abraham
“Jesus said to them, ‘IF you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.’” (Joh 8:39b)

Forgive Others For Their Transgressions
"For IF you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Mat 6:14; cf., Mk 11:25)

Your Eyes Must Be Clear
"The eye is the lamp of the body; so then IF your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.” (Mat 6:22)

Confess with Your Mouth Jesus as Lord, and Believe in Your Heart That God Raised Him from the Dead
“…IF you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved: for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Rom 10:9-10)

"Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.” (Mat 10:32)

Hold Fast Our Confidence and the Boast of Our Hope Firm Until The End
“But Christ was faithful as a Son over His house--whose house we are, IF we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.” (Heb 3:6)

“For we have become partakers of Christ, IF we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,” (Heb 3:14)

Continue in the Faith Firmly Established and Steadfast, and Not Moved Away from the Hope of the Gospel
"And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- IF indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister." (Col 1:21-23).

Endure to the End
“IF we endure, we will also reign with Him… IF we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” (2Ti 2:12a,13).

"But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved." (Mat 24:13)

Your Heart Must Not Condemn You
“Beloved, IF our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God…”(1Jn 3:21)

Those Who Have Strayed from the Truth Must Turn Back to God
“My brethren, IF any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (Jas 5:19-20)

Confess Our Sins
“IF we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1Jn 1:9)

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And IF anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;” (1Jn 2:1)

Warnings Against Failing to Meet the Conditions
In addition to all the positive conditions listed above, we are also warned in Scripture of the following negative conditions.

Do Not Harden Your Hearts
“He again fixes a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, ‘Today IF you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’" (Heb 4:7)

Do Not Refuse Him Who Speaks
“See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For IF those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.” (Heb 12:25)

Do Not Neglect Salvation Through Transgression and Disobedience
“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape IF we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard…” (Heb 2:1-3)

Do Not Fall Away
“For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but IF it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”  (Heb 6:4-8)

Do Not Fall Short of the Promise of Entering His Rest
“Therefore, let us fear IF, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.” (Heb 4:1)

Do Not Go On Sinning Willfully After Coming to Know the Truth
“For IF we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,” (Heb 10:26)

Do Not Shrink Back
“But My righteous one shall live by faith; and IF he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” (Heb 10:38)

Do Not Become Weary in Doing Good
“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap IF we do not grow weary.” (Gal 6:9)

Do Not Lose Heart When the Lord Rebukes You or Make Light of His Discipline
“But IF you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” (Heb 12:8)

Do Not Become Tasteless Salt
"You are the salt of the earth; but IF the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” (Mat 5:13)

Do Not Fail to Deal Radically with Sin to Remove It
"IF your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” (Mat 5:29)

"IF your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Mat 5:30)

Forgive Others from Your Heart
"But IF you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Mat 6:15; cf., Mk 11:26)

"And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. "My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, IF each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."  (Mat 18:34-35)

Do Not Hate Your Brother
“IF someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1Jn 4:20)

Guard Your Eyes, So That You Do Not Become Filled with Darkness
"But IF your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Mat 6:23)

Do Not Become Entangled Again in the Defilements of the World
“For IF, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.” (2Pe 2:20-21)

''But IF that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,' and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mat 24:48-51)

Do Not Fail to Carry Your Cross and Follow Jesus, Even at the Expense of Family Relationships
"IF anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Luk 14:26-27)

Do Not Fail to Listen to Moses and the Prophets and Believe Christ's Words
"But he said to him, 'IF they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'" (Luk 16:31)

"For IF you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But IF you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" (Joh 5:46-47)

Do Not Have Dead Faith without Works
“What use is it, my brethren, IF someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?… Even so faith, IF it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” (Jas 2:14,17)

Do Not Love the World nor the Things of the World
“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. IF anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1Jn 2:15)

"For what is a man profited IF he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luk 9:25)

Do Not Worship the Beast and His Image or Receive a Mark on the Right Hand or Forehead
“Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘IF anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." (Rev 14:9-11)

Do Not Fail to Abide in Christ
"IF anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” (Joh 15:6)

Do Not Be Arrogant nor Fail to Continue in God's Kindness
“But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but IF you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for IF God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, IF you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.” (Rom 11:17-22)

Do Not Live According to the Flesh
“For IF you are living according to the flesh, you must die…” (Rom 8:13a)

Do Not Walk in Darkness
“IF we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;” (1Jn 1:6)

Do Not Deny Your Own Sin
“IF we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1Jn 1:8)

“IF we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” (1Jn 1:10)

Keep a Tight Rein on Your Tongue
“IF anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.” (Jas 1:26)

Don't Fail to Wake Up
“'So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore IF you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.” (Rev 3:3)

Don't Destroy the Temple of God
“IF any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.” (1Co 3:17)

Don't Deny Christ
“IF we deny Him, He also will deny us.” (2 Tim 2:12b)

"But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” (Mat 10:33)

"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." (Luk 9:26) 

Don't Fail to Love the Lord
“IF anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha.” (1Co 16:22)

Putting it All Together
As we have seen in God's Word, reaching heaven is not automatic once you say a prayer to accept Christ. It is not a foregone conclusion. Nor is it assumed that you will reach heaven, simply because you sincerely gave your life to Jesus at one time and still consider yourself a true believer.

There are clearly some conditions we are required to meet. We must do the following: Enter through Christ alone. Hear the Lord's voice and open the door of your heart. Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus. Become united with Christ in His death. Suffer with Christ. Keep His commandments and keep His Word. Hold fast the Word of God. Love one another. Walk in the light as He is in the light. Judge yourself honestly. Eat of Christ, the Living Bread. Be freed by the Son. Become a Son. Be in Christ and belong to Him. Do the deeds of Abraham. Forgive others for their transgressions. Your eyes must be clear. Confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. Continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Endure to the end. Your heart must not condemn you. Those who have strayed from the truth must turn back to God. Confess your sins. This is not a complete list, but it gives you a good idea of the conditions God requires for those who wish to reach heaven. Examples of other conditions include the following: (Heb 12:14; Mt 19:21; Lk 9:24).

Those who meet the conditions of the New Covenant receive the following promises: We will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. We will be true disciples of Christ. We will know the truth and the truth will make us free. We will be free indeed. We are new creatures; the old things passed away; all things have become new. We will have continual communion with the Lord. We will come to share in Christ. We will be the Lord’s friends. We will have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. A multitude of sins will be covered. We will be forgiven our sins and cleansed from all unrighteousness. Our whole bodies will be full of light. We will have confidence before God. We will have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. The Lord Jesus and the Father will love us, and will come to us and make Their abode with us. We will be God’s house. God will abide in us, and His love will be perfected in us. We will abide in the Son and in the Father. We shall be in the likeness of Christ’s resurrection. We shall also live with Him. We will enter into life. We will live forever. We will never see death. Our souls will be saved from death. We will be children of Abraham. We will be heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. Jesus will confess us before His Father who is in heaven. He will present us before the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach. We will also be glorified with Him. We will also reign with Him. We will have treasure in heaven.

There are also many warnings in Scripture against failing to meet the conditions. The following are some examples of these warnings or negative conditions: Do not harden your heart. Do not refuse him who speaks. Do not neglect salvation through transgression and disobedience. Do not fall away. Do not fall short of the promise of entering his rest. Do not go on sinning willfully after coming to know the truth. Do not shrink back. Do not become weary in doing good. Do not lose heart when the Lord rebukes you or make light of His discipline. Do not become tasteless salt. Do not fail to deal radically with sin to remove it. Forgive others from your heart. Do not hate your brother. Guard your eyes, so that you do not become filled with darkness. Do not become entangled again in the defilements of the world. Do not fail to carry your cross and follow Jesus, even at the expense of family relationships. Do not fail to listen to Moses and the prophets and believe Christ's words. Do not have dead faith without works. Do not love the world nor the things of the world. Do not worship the beast and his image or receive a mark in your right hand or forehead. Do not fail to abide in Christ. Do not be arrogant nor fail to continue in God's kindness. Do not live according to the flesh. Do not walk in darkness. Do not deny your own sin. Don’t open your mouth easily. Don't fail to wake up. Don't destroy the temple of God. Don't deny Christ.

Some of the negative consequences for failing to meet the conditions include the following: Being in a worse state than before you ever came to Christ. Being disqualified to be a disciple of Christ. Being illegitimate children and not sons. Being devoid of the truth. Having worthless religion that does you no good. Being useless to God. Being caught off guard by the return of Christ, as a thief in the night. Being denied by Christ before His Father who is in heaven. Being denied forgiveness by God. God’s soul would have no pleasure in you. Failing to enter the promised eternal rest. Being unable to escape eternal punishment. Losing your life. Being destroyed by God. You must die. Being handed over to the torturers. Being thrown out and trampled under foot by men. Being cut to pieces and assigned a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Your whole body would be thrown into hell. Being in darkness. Being unable to repent. Being cut off.  Being burned. Tormented with fire and brimstone. Being accursed.

Therefore, Scripture clearly teaches definite conditions that must be met by those who have entered into the New Covenant with Christ, and if we want to reach heaven, we must meet these conditions. Otherwise we will suffer an even worse punishment than the wicked.

This message is not being preached or taught in most churches, because it's not popular and it doesn't feel good. People like to preach only the positive side of the gospel or the benefits we receive, but they neglect speaking about the negative side or the warnings we must heed. Nevertheless, both the positive and negative sides are part of the gospel. All of these are conditions that must be fulfilled.

I hope you take it to heart and let it encourage you as well as warn you of areas where your soul is in danger. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything in your life that is hidden that must go, and then when He does, repent with all your heart and cry out for forgiveness. Mercy is only available while you are on earth. God's standard for heaven is high and He's not going to lower it for anyone. It's high time we get back to the true gospel, seeking holiness and consecration to God.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, unless otherwise noted.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy New Testament Books Disproving Eternal Security, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Drifting Away, Is Obedience Optional?, The Apostasy Parables, Obedience by the Spirit, The Obedience of Faith, Holy Living in a Perverted World, Aim for Perfection, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Baptized with the Spirit, Holy Fire Baptism, The Straight and Narrow Path, Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God, Pleasing the Lord, The Burning Ones, Only the Holy -- Three Shocking Testimonies, Ask for the Ancient Paths, Living a Life Worthy of the Lord, Keeping a Good Conscience, Separation from the World, Having a Servant's Heart, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, Righteous Deeds and White Robes, Doing What is Right, The Ways of Life, and Listen to Jesus, Who Upholds Moses and the Prophets. You can find more of my articles related to Working God's Way on the Home page of this blog. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_______________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org

Faith Works!

I'd like to address the claims some people make, who say that being saved by grace through faith in Christ means we don't need to do anything.  They say that God does not require any outward or external changes, and it is only the heart that He is looking at.

They claim it is legalism to preach on the need for godly attire, as I have done in Garments of Godliness and Godly Attire and Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations.  They also say it is legalism to preach that anyone who refuses to be conformed to the image of Christ this way will miss heaven and not see God's face.   They charge that it is "another gospel" any time we say obedience is required in any area, such as I have written about in my articles Is Tithing Required?, Keeping Sundays Holy, and The Lord's Day. 

Although I have already refuted such claims in many other blogs already, such as the ones above and others that I will list below near the end of this post, I would like to make it clear once again that faith works.  If you have true, saving faith, it will be evidenced by your works.  It must show on the outside, and if it doesn't, then it's not saving faith.  Yes, grace works!

Circumcision was the Main Heresy Paul Refuted
Although the word "legalism" or "legalistic" is not even in the Bible, people use the apostle Paul's epistle to the Galatians as the basis for their claims of legalism.  Yet in order to properly understand Paul's letter, we have to read it in context.  That letter was correcting a specific error, namely the false teaching (heresy) that says you must seek to obtain justification through the law by circumcision, in addition to your faith in Christ.

He specifically addressed the practice of Judaizing, which means to compel Gentiles to live like Jews. That is what he rebuked Peter for doing (Gal 2:14). The Greek word "Ioudaizo" in that verse means "to live like Jews."  In other words, Peter was compelling or forcing Gentiles Christians to adopt the Jewish customs or way of life. He did so by by beginning to draw back and separate himself from the Gentile Christians who had not been circumcised.

Yet Paul specifically and primarily addressed circumcision as one thing that Gentile Christians must never be forced to do, which would be a sign that they had converted to Judaism. In fact, the word "circumcision" occurs six times in that epistle and "uncircumcision" occurs twice (Gal. 2:12; 5:2,3,6,11; 6:15). He also alluded to circumcision indirectly in another instance by suggesting that the proponents of it should emasculate (castrate) themselves (Gal 5:12).

Paul's main point in this epistle was: "Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace." (Gal 5:2-4)

We are free from ritual or ceremonial laws, such as circumcision. We are free from Jewish customs, such as observing days and months and seasons and years (Gal 4:10).  We are free from all mixtures of Judaism.  In fact we are dead to the Law and cannot be justified by observing it.  We are not trying to attain our goal by human effort (Gal 3:3). We are not endeavoring to keep up the law of Moses in conjunction with the gospel of Christ.  We are justified by faith in Christ alone.  But we must not receive the grace of God in vain. It is not a license to sin -- to do what God has commanded we must not do or to neglect what God has commanded we must do.  I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.

Paul says elsewhere, "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God." (1Co 7:19; cf., Ro 2:13 and 2:26).  What matters is the keeping of God's commandments.  Paul never said we are excused from keeping God's commandments.  He and the other apostles like John and James taught this in their epistles, as Jesus also taught in the gospels.

We Must Preach the Whole Counsel of God
We must preach the whole counsel of God, not just the popular topics.  In Paul's final meeting with the Ephesian elders, he told them, "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God." (Act 20:27). 

Preach Against Sin
We must preach against sin, just as Jesus and the apostles did (Mat. 12:31; 18:21; Mark 3:29; John 1:29; 5:14; 8:7,11,21,34,46; 9:41; 15:22,24; 16:8,9; 19:11; Acts 7:60; Rom. 3:9,20; 4:8; 5:12,13,20,21; 6:1,2,6,7,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,20,22,23; 7:7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 17, 20, 23, 25; 8:2,3,10; 14:23; 1Co. 6:18; 7:36; 8:12; 15:56; 2Co. 5:21; 11:7,29; Gal. 2:17; 3:22; Eph. 4:26; 1Ti. 5:20,22; Heb. 3:13; 4:15; 9:26,28; 10:6,8,18; 11:25; 12:1,4; 13:11; Jas. 1:15; 2:9; 4:17; 1Pe. 2:20,22,24; 4:1; 2Pe. 2:14; 1Jn. 1:7,8; 2:1; 3:4,5,8,9; 5:16,17; Mat. 7:23; 13:41; 23:28; 24:12; Rom. 6:19; 2Co. 6:14; 2Th. 2:3,7; Heb. 1:9; 1Jn. 3:4).

Preach Repentance
We must preach repentance, even as they did (Mat. 3:2, 8,11; 4:17; 11:20, 21; 12:41; Mark 1:4,15; 6:12; Luke 3:3,8; 5:32; 10:13; 11:32; 13:3,5; 15:7; 16:30; 17:4; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 8:22; 11:18; 13:24; 17:30; 19:4; 20:21; 26:20; Rom. 2:4; 2Co. 7:9,10; 12:21; 2Ti. 2:25; Heb. 6:1,6; 12:17; 2Pe. 3:9; Rev. 2:5,16,21,22; 3:3,19; 9:20,21; 16:9,11).

Preach on Hell
We must preach on hell, even as Jesus and the apostles did (Mat. 5:22,29,30; 7:19, 21-27; 8:12; 10:28; 13:42,50; 18:9; 22:13; 23:15,33; 24:51; 25:30, 41-46; Mark 9:43,45,47; Luke 12:5; 13:28; John 15:6; Jas. 3:6; 2Pe. 2:4, 17; Jud 1:11-13).

Preach on Righteousness, Self-control, and the Coming Judgment
We must preach on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment as they did (Acts 24:25; also see Mat. 5:20; 7:2, 12; 10:15; 11:22,24; 12:36,41,42; Luke 6:37; 10:14; 11:31,32; John 3:19; 5:22, 24, 27, 29, 30; 8:16; 9:39; 12:31; 16:8,11; Ro 1:18; 2:1-8, 12; 3:4; 11:22; 1 Cor 11:31-32; Eph 5:6; Col 3:6; 2 The 2:12; 5:9; Heb 6:1-2; 10:26-31; Rev 11:18; 16:5; 19:2; 20:12-13).

Preach Holiness
We must preach on the need to pursue holiness, without which no man will see God (Heb 12:10, 14; Rom 1:4; 12:1; 2 Cor 7:1; Eph 1:4; 2:21; 4:24; 5:27; Col 1:22; 1 Tim 2:8; 1 Pet 2:5,9; 3:5; and 2 Pet 3:11).

Name Specific Sins
We must name sins that will land people in hell, as they did (Mat 5:22, 27-48; 7:1; Rev. 2:4,14,20). And Paul gave a partial list when he wrote in Galatians 5:

"Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal 5:19-21). Also see my article, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven.

Your Body Matters
To those who say that what a woman wears externally does not matter, and that jewelry, makeup, and other artificial adornments are not a problem for Christians to put on their bodies, this is what the Lord says.  He says the "property of Jezebel" that the daughters of God are wearing just like the world are not pure.  They are not of God.  Jezebel "painted her eyes and adorned her head" to make herself sexually attractive, in order to deceive and seduce men, probably in the hope that Jehu would not kill her (1 King 9:30b).  That is impurity.   It is also sensuality, since it lends itself to exciting sexual desires.  And it can also be idolatry, since they love those things of the world that they wear, just as the men likewise love them.  They do not want to part with them.  And it also causes men to idolize women, as if they were goddesses, because of the way they are artificially adorned with worldly things.  It also leads to lust and envy, as well as carousing, and "things like these."  Paul clearly forewarned us that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God; they will miss heaven.

To those who insist that the property of Jezebel is not impure, sensual, or idolatrous, I say that you are badly mistaken.  Don't you know where all those worldly things originally came from? Do the research as far back as you can go, and see for yourself. Those things were introduced into the world by satan through his angels.

The apostle Paul wrote:

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it." (1 Thes 5:23-24)

"And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God." (Rom 6:13)

"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." (Rom 12:1)

"Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience." (Col 3:5-6)

"Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body...Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." (1Co 6:13,18-20)

Paul explicitly taught that we must keep our bodies holy and pure.  These days it is popular to eat things that are considered "natural" and "pure".  There's nothing wrong with that.  But we must not neglect the more important matters in the sight of God, and that includes keeping our bodies holy and pure.

The Spirit of Truth Guides Us Into All Truth
The problem is that the Church has become so worldly that it is no longer able to correctly recognize as sin the worldly practices it has embraced.  Now when most people read the Word of God, they read it through a filter.  Some of the filters we use are the opinions of men, such as a commentary or our pastor. Other filters include our neighbor.  We look to our left and right and see that everyone else is doing it, so it must not be a sin.  Yet we must never read the Word of God through any filter, but let it speak for itself.  Open your Bible, shut out all the other voices, bind every lying spirit in Jesus' name, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth.  I assure you that He will do so, because He is the Spirit of Truth, Who guides us into all Truth. The Lord always leads His sons and daughters into all Truth, just as He has done for those to whom He has given revelations by the Spirit, calling us back to sound biblical doctrines that have been lost or abandoned by the Church.

Obedience is Essential for Disciples
Here are just some of the other blogs I have written, which provide a clear and biblical response to the concerns that my obedience doctrine is legalism, especially the first two in the left-hand column:

Is Obedience Optional? The Law of Christ  The Law Fulfilled in Us The Law Established Through Faith The Cost of Discipleship The New Covenant Costly Grace Deleted Scriptures in the Bible? Did Jesus Nail the Law to the Cross? The Obedience of Faith Is Practical Righteousness a Lost Truth?

The Law is Good if Used Lawfully      Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God Aim for Perfection Righteous Deeds and White Robes Doing What is Right Your Rewards Are Based on Your Practice Partaking of the Divine Nature Walking in the Perfect Will of God Pressing on Toward the Goal Obedience by the Spirit What Then Must We Observe?

Putting it All Together
Dear friend, we are saved by grace through faith, not by works, but obedience is required of every disciple who claims to follow Christ.  We must preach the Word of God as it is written.  We must not dissect it into little pieces and give people what their itching ears want to hear.  We must preach the whole counsel of God, not just the popular topics.  That means that in addition to preaching the true gospel of salvation by grace through faith, we must preach against sin, which includes preaching repentance. It is always, "Repent and believe the gospel!" We must preach the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and not only that He is our Savior.  We must preach on hell. We must preach on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment.  We must preach holiness.  We must name sins that will land people in hell.

The devil hates it when we preach like this, because it destroys his works, and keeps people from being deceived into hell.  It brings Light into the darkness, and the Light dispels the darkness. It's the heart of Jesus, and it brings true salvation to mankind.

Since the devil hates all of this, his strategy is to lie and call this "legalism" or "another gospel" of works. He will try to say that this will not be popular, and nobody will ever want to get saved this way. But Jesus never preached what was popular.  He always preached the Truth, and warned that it is a narrow Way, which few will find (Mt 7:14).

If you struggle with what I have just presented, and you are still not sure about things like tithing, keeping Sundays holy, or godly attire and adornment, then you need to seek the Lord about it with all your heart.  Ask Him to show you these things in His Word.  Ask the Spirit of Truth to guide you into all Truth, and He will. If you really want to know the Truth at any cost, you will find it.  If you have never been baptized with the Holy Spirit, then you need to pray for that and receive it.  He will give the Holy Spirit to His true children who ask believing.

Remember that faith without deeds is useless (Js 2:26).  Grace really does work, and faith works, too!

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. "Faith Works" image courtesy Media Machine.

Author's note:  If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Godly Attire and Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations, Garments of Godliness,  Is Tithing Required?, Keeping Sundays Holy, and The Lord's Day, Is Practical Righteousness a Lost Truth?  Practicing Your Righteousness, The Ways of Life, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Abominations in the Sight of God, Pleasing the Lord, Holding Fast the Faithful Word, Led by the Spirit, No Flesh Will Be Justified by Works, Never Trust in Your Own Good Works, and the other posts available through the links on the Home page.  You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Him.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

__________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Your Rewards Are Based on Your Practice

In my previous post, Doing What is Right, I showed from Scripture that the righteous do what is right, and the recompense given at the eternal judgment is based on each person's own deeds.

Today I would like to expand on that theme from Jesus' own teaching:

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds." (Mat 16:24-27)

In this passage, the Lord said He is going to come back in His Father's glory with His angels, and He will pay back every person based on his deeds.  The word for "deeds" here in the Greek is "praxis", which means here a "practice, act, deed, or work" (Strongs).  According to Thayer, it may mean "1) a doing, a mode of acting, a deal, a transaction, such as the doings of the apostles, or in a bad sense, wicked deed, crime, wicked doings (our practices, i.e. trickery).  It may also mean 2) a thing to be done, business."

According to Walter Bauer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, the word "praxis" as it is used in this passage in Mat 16:27 means, "acting, activity, or function."  As the NIV Bible translation puts it, "For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done."

This word "praxis" was also used by the apostle Paul in his epistle to the Romans.  He wrote, "So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds (praxis) of the body, you will live." (Rom 8:12-13).  Paul said that if you are putting to death the "praxis" or "deeds of the flesh," you will live. 

This explains why Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." (Mt 16:24)  The only way to put to death the praxis, or deeds, of the flesh is to deny yourself daily, take up your cross and follow Jesus.  You've got to lose your life for Jesus, in order to find it.

If you do so, then your praxis will be His praxis.  Your practice will be what He practices. You will do the deeds that Jesus did, and even greater deeds.

Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father." (Joh 14:12)

God will reward each person according to what he has done.  Anyone who says that is not true shows that he does not know what the Bible says.

King David said, "Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done." (Ps 62:12)

King Solomon said, "Will He not repay everyone according to what they have done?" (Pr 24:12b, NIV)

Jesus said, "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done." (Rev 22:12).  The Greek word for "what he has done" in this verse is "ergon", meaning "toil, deed, labor, work." (Strongs).

Paul said, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." (2Co 5:10).  The word for "done" here in this verse is "prasso," meaning to “practice”, that is, "perform repeatedly or habitually." (Strongs)

The Scripture is clear that if you practice evil, you will be recompensed for it at the judgment.  Jesus said you would lose your life. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it..."  (Mt 16:25).  Paul said, "for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die..." (Rom 8:13a).  Don't forfeit your own soul for the brief and passing pleasures of this world!  As I've said before, when you are judged before God, if your deeds were evil, you will be punished eternally.

However, if your deeds were righteous, you will inherit eternal life.  The only ones who will inherit eternal life are those who repent from evil practices, and through faith in Christ practice righteousness.  They live according to the pattern of God's and do His will. You must walk by the Spirit to do so.  This is the way to enter the eternal kingdom.  This is how you are fit for heaven.  If you are righteous, you must continue to practice righteousness. Heaven is the home of only those who practice righteousness.

Please take a moment to ask the Holy Spirit to shine the floodlight of illumination on your heart.  Ask Him to show you if there is anything hidden in your life that must go.  Are you habitually committing evil deeds?  Are you doing certain other things unworthy of God?  Are you actions unpraiseworthy?  Or are you doing deeds consistent with repentance? Are you acting in a manner consistent with the gospel?  If you are a believer, but the Lord shows you a few things in your life that you need to give up yet, then you go and give them up, and follow Jesus.  Make His practice your practice.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Most other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, unless otherwise noted. The Good Samaritan by Dan Burr of Dan Burr Illustration copyright 2013 used by permission.
 
Author's note: The message I've just taught in this article has been beautifully expressed in a couple of poems my young daughters have written, called Perfect for the King and Reward of the Overcomer.  I encourage you to take a moment to read those.  And if you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the links on the Home page, such as Doing What is Right, Faith Works!,   Righteous Deeds and White Robes, and Practicing Your Righteousness. Remember to Never Trust in Your Own Good Works.  Some other related articles are:

Law of Love in the New Testament	The Law Established Through Faith	Costly Grace
Is Obedience Optional?	The Cost of Discipleship	Obedience by the Spirit
The Law Fulfilled in Us	The New Covenant	Deleted Scriptures in the Bible?

You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Him.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_______________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Righteous Deeds and White Robes

Is it necessary to have a white robe to live in the Holy City of heaven?  If so, how do you get one of these special robes? And how do you keep it clean? Is this all done for you, or do you have any part in it? Let’s see if there is a relationship between our white robes and our righteous deeds. 

We All Have a Destiny
The Bible teaches that we each have a destiny. “If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.” (Rev 13:10; cf. Jer 15:2b; 43:11)

For thousands of years, men have believed in and worshipped the god of Fortune or Destiny, their lucky stars, which govern the events of their lives (Is 65:11-12).  These are mere idols and not gods at all. In fact, there is One, Who predestines events to occur, and His name is Yahweh.  If we worship Him alone and obey Him, we will be blessed.  He has a wonderful plan for our lives (Ps 139:16; Eph 1:5, 11; 2:10; Rom 8:29-30). 

However, Scripture teaches that we have choices to make.  "Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy." (Rev 22:11)

Each person has a free will, and if it’s their desire to do wrong, let them do wrong.  God will not force obedience from you.  If you’re a filthy person, you have that option and God will let you continue to be filthy until you choose the Lord’s way.  But as long as you continue in those sinful ways, you will not enter into the kingdom heaven. If you are righteous, you must still practice righteousness.  If you are holy, you must still keep yourself holy.  It’s not just a moment in time, but a deliberate lifestyle.  “Keeping yourself holy” is an act on your part, as is “practicing righteousness.”

Your Robe Can Become Filthy
When you come to Christ, you're cleansed from sin and made white as snow.  But as I've just said, if you do not continue to practice righteousness, but practice sin instead, your robe will become filthy.  There is a passage of Scripture about this in Isaiah.  The prophet says:

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities. (Isa 64:6-7)

Many take this out of context, and use this Scripture to teach that the righteous deeds of every disciple of Christ are like filthy rags.  This is not correct.

The reason the righteous deeds of the Israelites at that time were like filthy garments was because they had sinned and continued in sin for a long time.  This is found in the verse immediately preceding the one above.  Isaiah says to the Lord, "You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in them a long time; And shall we be saved?" (Isa 64:5)

The same happens to any believer, who continues in sin.  They stain their robe. Your robe must be kept pure white and spotless.

You Must Wash Your Robe
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.” (Rev 22:14, NASB)

The King James Version translates it differently to say that those who do his commandments have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the Holy City. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” (Rev 22:14, KJV). So in the King James, the phrase “those who wash their robes” is translated “they that do his commandments.”  It’s not necessary to spend a lot of time, as some have, trying to determine which translation is correct, because there are plenty of other Scriptures that teach we must do God’s commandments to enter life (e.g., Mt 7:22-27; Mk 10:17-19; Jn 15:10; He 5:9; Js 2:17, 26; Re 12:17; 14:12). 

If you look at the context of Rev 22:14-15, you can clearly see that the ones who do not wash their robes are the ones who continue to do wrong and continue to be filthy.  John wrote, “Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.” (Rev 22:15).  So it doesn’t matter if you call Jesus your Lord, or even if you are a pastor of a church, if you continue in these things, you will not enter the Holy City.  It’s that simple.  Washing your robe is connected with what you do – in other words your lifestyle of obedience to the Lord. 

Let me be clear about doing the commandments.  All religion which teaches that salvation is by religious works is false.  As the American evangelist, Bob Jones, Sr., once said, “A Christian does good deeds, but just doing good deeds does not make a man a Christian.” Jones also said, “The acid test of our love for God is obedience to His Word.” 

Remember that it is only the ones who practice lawlessness that Jesus ultimately rejects. "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' (Mat 7:23).  Lawlessness (Greek, anomia) is a violation of the law, illegality, unrighteousness, and wickedness. The very word “lawless” in English has the word law in it – Law-less.  We cannot define the word lawlessness as used in Scripture without making any reference to the Law of the Lord. Jesus does not care how gifted you are.  What matters to Him is whether you practice righteousness and do what He has commanded.  You must wash your robe.

How do you wash your robe?

Now that we’ve established the fact that you must wash your robe in order to enter heaven, we need to find out how to wash it.  This is like the garment care instructions on the clothing tag.

The apostle John wrote in his Revelation: “Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, ‘These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?’ I said to him, ‘My lord, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’” (Rev 7:14).  So in this passage, the ones who came out of the great tribulation have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That’s still the same way that we wash our robes.  His precious, sinless blood alone can wash away every sinful stain. 

But the Scripture has more to say about obtaining white garments.  In the message the Lord gave to John for the angel (messenger) of the church in Laodicea, He said: “I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.” (Rev 3:18)

Why would a messenger of a church, such as a pastor, need to buy from Jesus white garments so that the shame of his nakedness would not be revealed? How could the Lord tell him that he was wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked? If you believe that grace automatically covers all his sin, no matter how he lives, then the command of the Lord to the angel of the Laodicean church would make no sense.

How would he buy white garments from Jesus?  Just through confessing sin asking forgiveness and then continuing in the same sin?  No, we need to be overcomers, which requires that we persevere in our faith to the end, forsaking sin, and continuing in righteousness.

'He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Rev 3:5)

Overcoming is not a passive act, but a very active one.  It comes from the Greek word “nikao” meaning “to subdue (literally or figuratively), conquer, overcome, prevail, or get the victory. It is only the one who overcomes who will be clothed in white garments! 

What does fine white linen stand for?
"Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Rev 19:7-8)

Notice the Bride makes herself ready.  Since the Bride makes herself ready, this requires both a decision and action on her part, which is motivated by her desire and love for the Bridegroom.  The fine white linen stands for the righteous acts of the holy ones.  Righteous acts are good deeds, equitable actions, good things God’s people do, or righteous deeds.  The fine, white linen does not stand for simply a positional righteousness. It does not refer only to a spiritual state of being righteous that is devoid of accompanying actions. Righteous acts are the things that God's holy people do that have his approval. 

Here are some other translations of Rev 19:8:
(CEV)  "She will be given a wedding dress made of pure and shining linen. This linen stands for the good things God's people have done."

(ESV)  it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"-- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

(GNB)  She has been given clean shining linen to wear." (The linen is the good deeds of God's people.)

(GW)  She has been given the privilege of wearing dazzling, pure linen." This fine linen represents the things that God's holy people do that have his approval.

Contrary to the teaching that all our righteous deeds are like filthy garments, for the overcomer, who washes his robe, the Lord delights in his righteous deeds.  As the prophet Isaiah says in the Scripture I mentioned earlier, "You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in them a long time; And shall we be saved?" (Isa 64:5).  The Lord welcomes the person who rejoices in doing righteousness.
 
So why would someone say that this is legal teaching?
While you are saved by grace alone, once you are saved and become righteous, you must continue to PRACTICE righteousness.  Once you are holy, you must continue to BE holy. “…let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy." (Rev 22:11b)

The Greek word of interest to us in Rev 19:8 is dikaioma.  According to the Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich Greek Lexicon, this word means a “righteous deed.” This same Greek word is used by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans to refer to the righteous act of Christ on the cross. He says, “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.” (Rom 5:18)

This same Greek word is also used by the apostle John in his Revelation to refer to the righteous acts of the Lord God Almighty. He wrote: “And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,  ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." (Rev 15:2-4)

Look closely at the lyrics to this song and notice how the saints who sing this song are repeatedly singing about the WAYS of the Lord God, which are righteous and true.  They are singing about his marvelous WORKS.  They are singing about his righteous acts.  And the word used for the Lord’s “righteous acts” here is dikaioma, which is the same word used in Revelation 19:8 for the righteous acts of the saints. 

According to Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, this word in other contexts also means a regulation, requirement, or commandment.  For example, when Luke describes Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist, he says, “They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.” (Luk 1:6).  The word dikaioma in this context literally means righteous deeds, but by implication it is referring to the Lord’s righteous requirements.  So we could say that this couple was walking blamelessly in all the commandments and righteous deeds of the Lord.  They were DOING the Lord’s good deeds by being obedient servants.  They were “walking” blamelessly, which refers to how they were living their lives.  This is about their lifestyle.  It’s about their way of life, their daily activities, which were based upon the commandments and righteous requirements of the Lord.  You cannot have righteous deeds without the underlying commandments and righteous requirements of the Lord.  They go hand in hand. Therefore, if we understand the word dikaioma this way, we can correctly understand the righteous acts of the saints in Rev 19:8.  Certainly the righteous acts of the saints are based upon the Lord’s commandments and righteous requirements.  That is their premise.

Paul also uses the word dikaioma to refer to the requirements of the Law.  He says, “So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?” (Rom 2:26).  He speaks of the uncircumcised man in a good light here, showing how such a man would be regarded as if he were circumcised if he keeps the Lord’s righteous requirements. 

Paul again uses this word to refer to the righteous requirements of the Law as they relate to the life of the saint. He said, “…that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Rom 8:4).  This is a key verse, because it teaches that if we walk according to the Spirit, and not according to the sinful nature, the righteous requirements of the Law will be fulfilled in us. This word “fulfilled” is pleroo, which means to execute something, so that the requirements are fully carried out or completed perfectly or done to the fullest extent.  You could say that as we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh, the righteous requirements of the Lord are executed in our lives, so that God’s righteous requirements are fully carried out, or completed perfectly, or done to the fullest extent in us. 

Paul uses this word dikaioma to refer to the righteous requirements of the Lord when he says, “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” (Rom 1:32). He was saying that the wicked people know that those who practice such deeds deserve death, because the Lord’s righteous requirements (dikaioma) teach this.  Yet even though they know the ordinance of God, they practice the very things they ought not to do. 

Putting it All Together
We all have a destiny. What’s your destiny?  Rest assured there is One, Who predestines events to occur, and His name is Yahweh.  He has a wonderful plan for your life. If you worship Him alone and obey Him, you will be blessed.  But you’ve got a free will, and until that will is surrendered to the Lord, it’s going to get you into trouble.  You’ve got choices to make in life, which are going to be based on your desires.  You also have a very real enemy who hates you and wants to keep God's plan for your life from being fulfilled.

If you wish, you can be like the wicked that perish, who know the Lord’s righteous requirements and do not practice them. Many Christians today – even pastors and missionaries -- have chosen to do this.  They are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. If they do have robes, their garments are dirty and wrinkled.

Instead, we must be like the saints in glory who have made themselves ready by doing or practicing the righteous requirements of the Lord.  They have washed their robes and do the Lord’s commandments. They  do not rely on obedience to the Law to save them, because it is only by grace that we are saved through faith (Eph 2:8-10).  But as they keep His commandments, they abide in His love (Jn 15:10).

Yes, my friend, there is something you must do. Wash your robe! Your robe must be washed in the blood of the Lamb. But then afterward you must also continue to be holy, as well as practice righteousness. The fine, white linen of the saints stands for their righteous deeds.  Always remember that.

I encourage you today to practice righteousness, and be sure your righteousness is more than merely an external one for men to see.  Do it from the heart, through faith in Christ, by the power of the Spirit, and for the glory of God.  And always remember that apart from the Lord Jesus we can do nothing (Jn 15:5).

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: The message I've just taught in this article has been beautifully expressed in a couple of poems my young daughters have written, called Perfect for the King and Reward of the Overcomer.  I encourage you to take a moment to read those.  And if you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the links in the side bar, such as the companion messages, Your Rewards Are Based on Your Practice, Doing What is Right, and Is Practical Righteousness a Lost Truth? I also recommend Restored Truth and God's Amazing Plan for Your Life. Some other related articles available on the Home page include:

Law of Love in the New Testament	The Law Established Through Faith	Costly Grace
Is Obedience Optional?	The Cost of Discipleship	Obedience by the Spirit
The Law Fulfilled in Us	The New Covenant	Deleted Scriptures in the Bible?

You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Image credit: "Welcome My Child" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist. The "Christ's Bride" drawing is from my fifteen-year old daughter, C.V. Lacroix, and may be found in the art gallery at A Brush with Life.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Him.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.