The Bible is very
specific about what is necessary for men to gain entry into heaven. It takes
much more than just being a “nice person.” Consider Matthew 7:13-14 that says
“Enter through
the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to
destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the
road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
In other
words there will be more people who don’t make it to heaven than there will be
those that do make it. So why is this so? After all, the Bible was written on a
level a fourth grade student could comprehend so why is it so hard to get into
heaven? I believe the answer is in the nature of man. Man has free will, the
ability to make decisions in this life for himself. He can decide if and when
he wants to do something, including how he will respond to God’s instructions
on how to attain eternal life in Heaven. Often subscribing to God’s directions means
leaving behind things of this world that provide excitement and thrills and for
most men that is just too much to ask because they fail to see the “long game.”
Of
course no man knows with a certainty what state of submission to God another
man is at the time of his death. Had he heard, believed, repented of his sins
and confessed Jesus as the son of God? Had he been immersed in water
(baptized)? Had he then continued living a life devoted to God? Those are the
things we do not with a certainty know when someone passes away. In the case of
celebrities we often have a good indication to the answer of those questions
because they live their lives in the public eye, but then we still do not know
with a certainty. But we do know with a certainty that had they passed away and
had followed the “broad road” they most certainly will not be resting in peace.
For
myself I often said “RIP” more in a sense of compassion for the family of those
who passed than for the deceased. But I believe in the future I can find a
better way to express condolences to the family, after all expressing a desire for
a departed soul to rest in peace is pretty well useless since their destination
is in death determined.
No comments:
Post a Comment