How Will You Enter Heaven?

This question has been on a lot of peoples’ minds lately due in large part to the eclipse earlier this week. A lot of fear-mongers and misguided people used the eclipse to strike fear into people about where they will spend eternity. The eclipse was, of course, a sign that the world is crying out for its Creator to return; it was a sign like any other that Jesus covers in Matthew 24—earthquakes, plagues, famines, etc. Regardless, many people pondered the question, “How will I enter heaven?”

"Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6)

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

We could fill the rest of this blog post up with Scriptures that make clear the fact that Jesus is the only way to Heaven, but that is not what I mean when I ask the question. Jesus is obviously the only way to Heaven. What I mean when I ask, “How will you enter Heaven?” is what state will you be in? How will you get to heaven in the Matthew 5 sense of things?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Matthew 5:27-30)

Will you enter heaven disfigured or will you enter hell fully intact? Many argue that Jesus was not speaking literally here and I don’t disagree, but I’m not quick to put Jesus in a box. I think He meant it both ways. If you are so enslaved to sin that you need to pluck your eye out or cut off your hand, it’s better you do that than get thrown into hell because you chose your sin over obedience to God. The larger application, however, is that Jesus is speaking hyperbolically to emphasize how serious we need to take sin. I don’t see many movies and television shows for this very reason; in seeing them, my eye would potentially be causing me to lust and sin. My “plucking of my eye” is avoiding those shows, regardless of how much I miss out on here on Earth. Other people install software on their devices to block bad websites, which is another way of plucking out the eye. So, how will you enter Heaven? Are you plucking out your eye and cutting off your hand or do you take all the world has to offer with no filter? Will you stand before God, whole and filled with the world? Or will you stand before Him, missing many parts for the world’s sake and filled with the Word? How will you enter Heaven?

To the glory of the Lord God, whose I am, and whom I serve.