How can anyone get to Heaven? How can you possibly follow every rule given?

Question

OK before you start spouting John 3:16, shut up and listen or a second. Where in the Bible does it say that one verse is the ultimate above others? So anyway, there are at least 8 steps that you must follow. So I'm going to list the verses, maybe summarize them...and can you explain

Luke 10:25-28 says that all you have to do love God and your neighbor. Easy enough.

Luke 18:18-22 says that you have to follow the commandments and you have to sell everything you have and give to the poor. OK that one is a bit...who is going to buy my ratty underwear? What if I can't sell every thing?

Luke 14:26-27 says that you have to hate your parents, your siblings, your life, your neighbors...how do you honor your mother and father if you have to hate them?

John 6:53-54 says you have to eat his flesh and drink his blood. I'm sure that is figurative but...ew.

John 3:3-8 says you have to be born again, baptized I guess. Hm.

Matthew 18:2-3 says you have to become like little children....huh?

Matthew 5:20 says you have to follow all the rules that the pharisees do and all the teachers of the law. Like, those 613 laws of the OT? Animal sacrifice and stuff?

and of course John 3:16 says you just have to love Jesus.

so all of those things...how can you follow them all without contradicting another? How can you follow them all, literally? Can someone explain to me?

Answer 1

exactly. If it is about grace (which would be what, living under the influence of god? isn't that itself subjective to what the influence of god is?) then why would all those things be written as such?

it is obviously clear that with all the contradictions that all the authors weren't checking with the others and just made up their own stuff.

Answer 2

Question: Luke 10:25-28 says that all you have to do love God and your neighbor. Easy enough.

Answer: Not always. Can't you think of anyone that you don't especially love?

Question: Luke 18:18-22 says that you have to follow the commandments and you have to sell everything you have and give to the poor. OK that one is a bit...who is going to buy my ratty underwear? What if I can't sell every thing?

Answer: Jesus was speaking to the rich ruler because He knew that the ruler was not sincere about following Him. You need to always ask; who, what, why, where and when when reading the Bible. He was not speaking to all of us.

Question: Luke 14:26-27 says that you have to hate your parents, your siblings, your life, your neighbors...how do you honor your mother and father if you have to hate them?

Answer: Jesus was telling us that He must be more important than anything or anyone else in your life. You are to honor your mother and your father. Jesus did not mean for you to really hate them. If they told you to do something other than what He has told you to do, then hate that.

Question: John 6:53-54 says you have to eat his flesh and drink his blood. I'm sure that is figurative but...ew.

Answer: He wants us to meet together and drink fruit of the vine and eat unleavened bread in His memory until we meet again with Him. "Do this in remberance of Me."

Question: John 3:3-8 says you have to be born again, baptized I guess. Hm.

Answer: Born again means become a Christian. Leave the sinful person behind and become like Jesus.

Question: Matthew 18:2-3 says you have to become like little children....huh?

Answer: He means that little children are trusting and open to following.

Question: Matthew 5:20 says you have to follow all the rules that the pharisees do and all the teachers of the law. Like, those 613 laws of the OT? Animal sacrifice and stuff?

Answer: Read that again. Jesus says, "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven". He very much disliked the Pharasees and the teachers of the law telling everyone that the law saves.

Question: and of course John 3:16 says you just have to love Jesus.

Answer: When you love Jesus, you will automatically love God and others. This is what He is all about. This completes what He wants of us.

Question: all of those things...how can you follow them all without contradicting another? How can you follow them all, literally? Can someone explain to me?

Answer: You accept Jesus as your Lord and your Savior. You depend upon the Holy Spirit of God to guide you to do and be the example that Jesus wants you to be.

However, you can not follow perfectly. That is why Jesus died for you. He died for your sins, your mistakes, your shortcomings, and your inability to always do the right thing. He is perfect. We are not. This is why we need Him to do it for us.. God bless.

Answer 3

Luke 10:25-28 - meaning you love god put him first (this is for after you are saved... not how you get saved.) then everyone else is your neighbor. Love them, put them before you and behind god. This is more telling you how to live not how to be saved.

Luke 18:18-22- You don't have to sell everything, what that means is nothing can be before god, for example how can god use you if your to busy with you wii that you never pick up the bible. Keeping the commandments is something very important... but if you mess up then no worries cuz if you are saved just ask Jesus for forgiveness you'll be fine.

Luke 14:26-27- That does not mean hate everyone... that means you must put Jesus first!

John 6:53-54- This also confused me but what i think it means is that if Jesus didn't die there would be no way to heaven.

John 3:3-8 - Means you have to be saved! All these verses are for the saved believers, To be saved you have to believe jesus is lord, believe he's the only way to heaven and confess you are a sinner.

Answer 4

Jesus spoken in parables,, So not everything you mentioned you are suppose to do exactly..Such as John 6;53-54, Jesus was speaking of the Crucifixion, He gave His Body and Blood so that we could live,, Be forgiven of our sins,, So when you have a Last Supper/ or Communion in Church you are honoring what Jesus did for us on the Cross..

The Greatest commandment given to us, Is to Love one another,, Luke10;25-28

After Jesus gave his Life for us on the Cross. We were able to live under Grace and Mercy. ( We couldn't live up to all the Commandments,, Thats why we have Jesus )

Grace: getting Something we don't deserve. ( We are saved by Grace )

Mercy: Not getting something we deserve,, ( Eternal Death )

You don't give everything to the point of putting yourself on the street,, You have to look at it this way,, Everything you have,, you have because of God's Grace,, So in turn you give back what you can,, Tithing the church 10% of your earnings,,And giving more when you can,, God will always meet your needs when you follow his ways..

Luke 14:26-27 another parable,, You should Love God above all others,,God should come first in all you do..Yes before your mother and father / family,,

You are to still honor your mother and father.. you just don't put them befor God..

And yes you should be born again,, Baptized,, it should be done to Honor what Jesus did for you by dieing on the cross,, Its your way of dieing to your old self, and becoming a new person in Christ..

Your really making it harder that it seems,, Yes he said pick up your cross and follow me,, Meaning being a Christian isn't always easy, but you now have Jesus to help you along the way..

Answer 5

Of course, not everything is literal. If you follow the Ten Commandments, you'll do well. We all are sinners, even after we accept Jesus as our Saviour, we will continue to sin. Now, you can ask forgiveness and have a clear slate when you get to Heaven. That doesn't mean you won't be tempted, not have to go thru pain or suffering and you could even be ridiculed for your beliefs. Have faith and do what is right. You'll be much more at peace.

Answer 6

1. Loving God is definitely one of the things we need to do to walk as a Christian but this usually comes into full maturity after salvation, as we learn more about God and become closer to Him.


2. Luke 18: this was a particular interaction with someone Jesus wanted to test to see if he was truly serious about following him....it wasn't about being saved.

3. Luke 14:26-27: This is about loving God more than anything/anyone else; if you put anything/anyone before God it says "he cannot be my disciple" not "he cannot be saved".

4. "Jesus uses this graphic image to explain what kind of belief he is talking about. He's saying it is not enough to mentally assent that he is the Messiah, or that he alone contains the life of God, or that he died for our sins. He is saying that we must personally receive him and his death for our sins." --www.xenox.com

5. This is just a reference to salvation; accepting Christ and being born again (becoming a new creature in Christ).

Answer 7

Some of these things you do not do literally. Like carrying your cross. That just means you become selfless and serve others.

About the "sell everything you have" does not always mean you're going to literally SELL EVERYTHING YOU OWN. It just means that you choose to love God more than material possessions and if He wants you to literally sell everything (which most likely He won't.) He will give you the strength to do so.

Grace saves, not rules and religion. Grace means even if you are trying your best and you mess up anyway, God still loves you and you're still going to heaven.

Answer 8

Jesus while He lived on the earth, spoke of the Kingdom of God, but no one understood. He even had to explain it to His disciples.
in Jn 3, Jesus speaks of being born of the Spirit b/c w/o His Spirit INSIDE you, your mortal body will NOT change to immortal to rapture to heaven.

unsaved christians (believers) don't understand the new birth process. it is well explained in the book of acts. when PEter was asked HOW to be born again, he said (acts 2:38)...
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
that's how you are born again.
but if it is still not clear... read acts 2, 8, 10 19.

you must obey the Gospel to be saved. the Gospel is the:
- death (repentance)
- burial (baptized in Jesus' Name - not "in father, son, holy ghost... these are only titles of Jesus... there is no power to remit sin in a title. only Jesus can do that through His baptism -acts 2:38)
- resurrection (receive the infilling of God's Spirit w/ the evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. acts 2:4, john 3)

you're definitely on the right track w/ john 3!

only those that truly hunger will find the truth of salvation. scripture says that most will not enter heaven ... for narrow is the way that leads to salvation & broad is the way that leads to death.

2 thess. 1:8 tells what will happen to those who DO NOT OBEY the Gospel....
these people don't even know God (even tho they think they do)

"In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that KNOW NOT God, AND that OBEY NOT the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:"

Answer 9

Great question. Christianity does have a lot of teachings. The wonderful thing is your going to Heaven isn't earned by keeping them. Rather, your keeping of them shows that you really do accept Jesus as the Messiah, as the Son of God who is to be honored just as the Father. Jesus said, "If anyone LOVES me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."John 14:23 (NIV)

Going to Heaven is an act of grace, a FREE gift through accepting the blood of Jesus as the "payment", through confessing Jesus as Lord, turning away from sin, being baptized in His name.

Following Jesus' teachings enables you to become more and more like Jesus. When you are adopted into God's family, there will be a lot of things you'll want to change to "fit in", just like being adopted on earth. Try not to think of them as "rules", rather as guidelines that will bless you greatly.

In the Bible, the apostle Peter addressed this issue.

"Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that He accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for He purified their hearts by faith.
Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." Acts 15:7-11 (NIV)......

'It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell." Acts 15:28-29(NIV)

Once you are born again, you can use this as a general starting point, especially abstaining from sexual immorality.

Being filled and refilled with the Holy Spirit will enable you to live the abundant life Jesus came to bring us. Remember that "with God all things are possible."

Answer 10

It's not just about rules and regulations. Without them, we would have anarchy in the Church just like the world. Would you take a flight from where you to another country, if all the pilots decided that they would not follow the rules of air traffic control? Without rules, there can be no freedom. Without the commandments of the Scriptures and Teachings of Jesus Christ, there would be chaos in our lives and no freedom as disciples of Jesus Christ. I encourage you to visit a compellingly effective website, [www.WayOfTheMaster.com] about true and false conversion. Changed my life and affirmed my faith in Jesus Christ! [(\o/)(XP)]