Christians: are you SURE that ticket to heaven you say you have is valid?

Question

Matthew 25:37-46:
The righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

It seems getting into heaven requires a little more work than just 'being saved'. See also James 2:13-17.

Answer 1

Ah, if only I could be the stamper of validity at the gates of Heaven! One by one the Christians shall come and I will raise my stamp over and over and over - "INVALID!" "INVALID!" "INVALID!" A few of the those who believe in fairy tales yet choose to act charitably and generously to advance mankind will receive "valid" stamps, and be greeted immediately by the Great Bong, which will make them feel terrific immediately without damaging brain cells.

Then the atheists, the agnostics, Pagans, Asatruars, and other random religious tolerant folk will come and one by one I shall joyously stamp "VALID!" upon their certificates, for rather than worshiping the King by threatening others and misrepresenting his words, they have been the greatest contributors to humanity - helpers of the weak, the homeless, the ill, the infirm, the lifeless, etc. Most will have lived their lives in deference to humanity and the gift of life by having true empathy and compassion for their fellow (wo)man. And on they will run into paradise!

You ever hear that song with the lyrics "She's got a ticket to ride, and she don't care"? Did you ever know what happened to 'her'? She forget to check the ticket, realized she had paid incorrectly for the last stop anyway, and was never heard from again. I hear she roams the streets of Liverpool moaning "invalid...invalid..." and haunts the children's dreams.

Answer 2

Yes. The only people who will not be in heaven are the people who do not want to be in there.

Paul tells us how to become a Christian, and the half brother of Jesus goes more into detail what is expected from us once we are Christians.

I believe that we ALL are saved by the mercy and grace of God when we accept Jesus as out Lord and Savior. And when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we need to repent. What is repenting, it is the change of mind about the ways we are thinking and doing things, Jesus is calling us to have this change that produces changed life.

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we believe that He saves us. And this change enables us to do good even though we are not saved for it. It is kind of proving to Jesus that we follow Him. The greatest command is to love one another and help each other out when we can.

If you want to be saved, He will save you. And you are going to be in heaven. Eternity is like God's VIP party. The offer is the same for everyone, but you need to let Him know that you are accepting the offer. You have time to think about it until you die. : )

Answer 3

Look a little farther in James and you will see that what he meant was that having faith or being saved is evidenced by good works. James says "I will show you my faith by my works." I am surprised that you ended your citing of James before the crucial sentence in verse 18.

I feel like this is one of the biggest problems facing Christianity today. People take a small section of the bible and use it completely out of context. I encourage you to read the whole book of James and it will be clear what he is trying to say.

Answer 4

The works that Jesus speaks of in Matthew are a natural progression and expectation of the salvation experience not an integral part of justification or
the declaration of righteousness.

You are correct to point these passages out,however..they are an encouragement and a warning to all who will hear

thank-you

Answer 5

My master Pastor Melissa Scott says the tickets she sells are the only valid ones to get into heaven. You have to pay her tithes and offerings and be her slave for life and do her will. Better not disagree with her or she'll swat you with a newspaper or whoop you up side of the head. Call and get a reservation to start buying your ticket now. She says to forget those dirty disease infested poor people. They will always be with us and they might be crazy and have a weapon. I just bark at anything scary.

Answer 6

Faith without works is dead. Being saved does not mean a free ticket in the secular or unbelieving sense. With being saved should come the desire to do good works. We're not perfect but by His grace we can be forgiven.
Happy Easter

Answer 7

Once a person is saved are they always saved? When people come to know Christ as their Savior, they are brought into a relationship with God that guarantees their salvation as eternally secure. Numerous passages of Scripture declare this fact. (a) Romans 8:30 declares, "And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified." This verse tells us that from the moment God chooses us, it is as if we are glorified in His presence in heaven. There is nothing that can prevent a believer from one day being glorified because God has already purposed it in heaven. Once a person is justified, his salvation is guaranteed - he is as secure as if he is already glorified in heaven.



(b) Paul asks two crucial questions in Romans 8:33-34 "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." Who will bring a charge against God's elect? No one will, because Christ is our advocate. Who will condemn us? No one will, because Christ, the One who died for us, is the one who condemns. We have both the advocate and judge as our Savior.



(c) Believers are born again (regenerated) when they believe (John 3:3; Titus 3:5). For a Christian to lose his salvation, he would have to be un-regenerated. The Bible gives no evidence that the new birth can be taken away. (d) The Holy Spirit indwells all believers (John 14:17; Romans 8:9) and baptizes all believers into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). For a believer to become unsaved, he would have to be "un-indwelt" and detached from the Body of Christ.



(e) John 3:15 states that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will "have eternal life." If you believe in Christ today and have eternal life, but lose it tomorrow, then it was never "eternal" at all. Hence if you lose your salvation, the promises of eternal life in the Bible would be in error. (f) For the most conclusive argument, I think Scripture says it best itself, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). Remember the same God who saved you is the same God who will keep you. Once we are saved we are always saved. Our salvation is most definitely eternally secure!

Answer 8

Good question, no one can be certain what will happen when they die. Or even if there is an afterlife. Those who claim to be so sure about their afterlife destination are only deluding themselves. The only thing that is certain is that all good things must come to an end, life being one of those things.

Answer 9

Yep...to be a Christian is to fallow Christ. What Jesus is referring to here is people who claim to be believes but have never received Christ as Lord and Savior nor in doing so have done good works. A saved person douse good works period.

Answer 10

You must first be saved. For it is by faith we are saved and not by works. Our works will not get us into heaven. Once you are saved you will want to do good. You want to help others. There are so many who claim to be Christians but are not really.