The Bible clearly tells us who will be saved when Jesus comes back.
1. Matt 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” NIV
Have you noticed that those who proclaim they should enter heaven are basing it all on their own good actions: 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' They may have done some great deeds, but they won’t enter heaven because they are basing their salvation on works! They had no relationship with God. God says to them: “I never knew you.”
God is a God of relationship my friend!
2. Eph 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.” NIV
The Bible cannot be clearer than that. Salvation is not based on how faithful you are to your church. Salvation is not based on your good works. Salvation is obtained by faith (having a close relationship with God) through grace. Salvation was made possible through God. He reached down to us, not the other way around!
Only through Jesus Christ, God’s son, is salvation possible. He’s the One who came down to this Earth and died for our sins. He is the only One who made salvation possible. Any other means of obtaining salvation is making a mockery of Jesus Himself! Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” NIV
3. Matt 25:31-46 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40 "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.'
41 "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. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 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.'
44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." NIV
Here again we notice that those who can enter God’s kingdom do not enter because they were faithful to their church or because they were faithful in following certain doctrines. Their salvation is based on following in the footsteps of what Jesus would have done. They had a close relationship with Jesus!
Some could argue that these people mentioned here are saved by their good works. But notice their question: “When did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?…” They had no notion that they were doing these things to obtain salvation. They were doing these things because of their relationship with Jesus!
Our God is a God of relationship my friend!
Click here to go to: C. Our guide in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.