No Gate Crashers in Heaven!
In the bad typical culture of most Filipinos, it becomes a problem that people who aren't invited come crashing in to parties they aren't invited to. But guess what in Heaven there will be absolutely NO gatecrashers- only Christians! Only those who are saved, forgiven, twice-born will enter and it is not by works or by religion, only faith in Jesus Christ. Sadly many people miss the free gift of salvation because they love their sins, they never repented of their sins, they want to sin all they please and they hate the life-changing power of salvation or worse, stuck in their pride thinking they are good enough for Heaven. I could remember the number of times Paul Washer, John Macarthur, Robert Charles Sproul and Ray Comfort had preached about true and false conversions. There's a huge distinction- true converts do good works by God's grace while false converts do good works to cover up their sins. In fact, while reading a copy of Revival's Golden Key by Ray Comfort or some books by John Macarthur like "The Gospel According to Jesus". In fact, it's time to really make sure if whether or not you are a gate crasher or not.
In Matthew 7:21-23 it's a very solemn warning that there won't be gate crashers in Heaven- people will try to justify their own goodness but in the end, the Lord Jesus will declare how so much unsaved they were to start with by saying He never knew them and calling them doers of iniquity. Sin was still present in their lives in the sense, they still continued in their sins because they were unsaved and they only did good works to try and make up for their sin rather than good works because they were truly saved. Notice that they try to get themselves invited but they fall short of God's glory. Have we not, have we not done many works in the name of Christ? But sadly, they are fraudsters who were never born again. They dare call Jesus as Lord but He wasn't their Lord to start with. If Jesus is not your Lord and Master, then He is not your Savior to start with. I preach a Lordship Gospel, that is Lordship salvation which I once thought was just a synonym to works salvation. In fact, Christ is Lord of all but not all accept He is Lord of all. For the Christian, even baby Christians are aware of the fact that He is Lord indeed! Besides, I have every reason to doubt those who keep saying "Praise the Lord" and in Luke 6:46 we read, these people do not even obey. They don't obey because they are not saved to start with. Salvation results to obedience, converts doers of iniquity to doers of righteousness. In fact for every person who thinks they are saved and are reveling in their sins, they are just as Hell-bound as the works salvationist. In fact, almost every works salvationist I've met thinks they're saved just because they do some good works to cover up their horrible lifestyles that can even be made public like habitual sexual immorality, gambling, fraudulent transactions, etc. I have no reason to think such people are saved just because they said a sinner's prayer then later fell away because they never came to Christ but only pretended to- they never repented. Salvation is NOT asking the Lord to come into their heart IF there is no repentance of sin, brokenness and saying, "Lord be merciful to me..." crying mightily unto God from a repentant heart. No, the sinner asks the Lord to come into his/her heart not by mere uttering of words but by true, broken self. When I was still a lost sinner, I could see myself as a dirty person and I could only beg for forgiveness... and I knew only He could change my life and He did!
In John 3 we read Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus that ONLY people who have been born again can enter the Kingdom of God. The conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus was obviously that, Nicodemus realized he was a lost sinner. Christ showed Nicodemus how lost the latter was. John 3:3-5 demands that a man be born again. Why is that? Men by nature are wolves, tares and bad trees. Try a wolf must with sheep's clothing, it will always be a wolf. Tares will only bare tears and bad trees will only bear bad fruit- that is why rebirth is NECESSARY. Of course being born again of water is NOT water baptism but rather, the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit or as Ezekiel 36:25 that God would sprinkle clean water upon the lost sinner to cleanse them from the filth of sin. That means only by God can wolves become sheep, tares become wheat and bad trees become good trees. Man in his effort is but a gate crasher to Heaven. Jesus also warned in John 3:20 that men however refuse to come to Christ lest their deeds be reproved which in John 5:40, sinners will not come to Him for forgiveness. The example of this would be like the ungrateful leper who for example was delivered by Jesus complained he got healed of leprosy since he would no longer make a living by begging. People are so engrossed in their sins they refuse to get forgiven and sanctified, they want to continue in their sins. Sadly many people like them belong to the works salvation and the Arminian crowd!
In John 10:1-2 we read that those who enter not by the door are trespassers, in verses 7-10 in the same chapter we read that Jesus is the only door to Heaven. The sheep know His voice and they follow Him, the rest do not follow and these are NOT Christians who fell into sin but rather, unsaved people. Christians do sin, sometimes horribly but they follow Christ and are restored to repentance. In John 14:6 it specifies that He is the only Way to the Father or that He is the only way to get an invitation. Specifically, Jesus said that there is no other Way to the Father but by Him. But sadly man tries to say, "Hey I'm good enough for Heaven." That is the mentality I've read and I've been reading some books of Buddhism, Taoism, Roman Catholicism, Islam, etc. that continue to insist that salvation must be gained through works rather than salvation results to God's work in the believer. James 2 DOES not teach works salvation, rather James was showing how true faith results to real works and that real dynamic faith. Ephesians 2:8-10 shows salvation by FAITH then Christians are created to do good works that God has foreordained for them to walk therein- not to stay saved but only because they are saved. Titus 2:11-14 also walks in harmony with James saying that God's grace changes lives- like I used to worship idols, follow superstition, etc. and when I got saved, God slowly changed my life even if it took some time. I could say my temper changed overtime, I became less sinful and will someday be perfect by God's grace alone!
In Revelation 20:15 we read that whosoever was not found in the Lamb's Book of Life were cast into the Lake of Fire. It's obvious- Jesus allows no gate crashers and that salvation is INTENSELY individual issue, not a group issue. No saved person can bring in some unsaved persons and get them in, no the unsaved persons must repent and believe the Gospel by themselves individually. Matthew 7:13-14 talks of the strait gate that is, it will only allow ONE person at a time showing salvation is too individual, people do not get saved in groups nor do they get saved because others are saved. Question is- are you an invited guest or a gate crasher to the wedding supper of the Lamb?