Weekly Devotional 11-21-16
Approaching The Door, The Door of Heaven
Why, when seeking entrance into a building does a person look for its door? It is, of course, for the purpose of entering. It is the same with seeking the entrance into heaven. Heaven does have a door of entrance, but unlike a building that may have more than one door, there is only one door into heaven. Many sincere people are convinced that there are many ways or many doors into heaven, but the word of God emphatically states that there is only one way, one door. Jesus emphatically declared, “I am the door of the sheep” (John 7:9). He didn’t say that He was a door, but the door. A little later in his account of the life of Jesus, the apostle John recorded these words of Jesus; “1Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4And where I go you know, and the way you know… 6bI am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:1-4; 6).
I don’t know about you my dear reader, but there were many years that I believed that my entrance into heaven was not through Jesus but by establishing my own righteousness. That If I did enough good things over against bad things, I would be allowed into heaven. I believed that good works were the door. Maybe you are struggling with this same belief. Let me ask then, how many good works will qualify you for heaven? Is it ten? One thousand? Ten thousand or more? The Apostle Paul answers that question for us when he wrote, “8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV).
Writing about his own countrymen, this same Paul wrote, “1I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, 4who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God… 10:1Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” 6But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame” (Romans 9:1-5… Romans 10:1-11 NKJV).
It could not be clearer. The righteousness that is required to enter into the presence of Holy God is a righteousness that is the gift of God, not any amount of our own works. This righteousness is found only in Jesus Christ, the door of heaven.
stevelampman@comcast.net stevelampman.com
Transforming Power; The Work of God on Behalf of Man