What Do You Mean All Disciples Won’t Get into Heaven?

Wait! What do you mean that all people professing to be disciples will get into heaven? This devotion looks at how we can ensure what God is really looking for from us.

Nuggets

God isn’t looking for a fake disciple.
God is looking for sincere disciples.
No one who hasn’t made a sincere profession of faith can enter heaven.

Devotions in the What I Believe series

Devotions in the End Times category
Judgment Day Focus

What Do You Mean Not All Disciples Will Get into Heaven?

I had planned on looking at several passages in this devotion, but when I sat down to write it, I felt I needed to stick with one passage.

We’ve touched on this passage before, but I had been planning to dig into it more. I guess today is the day. Quick note – I have been having technical problems all day, so I hope this makes sense.

We mentioned in the last devotion that those thinking they are sheep but end up in the goat’s line will be in for a rude awakening. Let’s look at what submitting to God really means.

Let’s Put This in Context #1

The Holman Bible Dictionary defines judgment day as “time of God’s punishment and refining of the evil in the world, especially of the final, history-ending time of eternal judgment.”

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Let's Put It into Context #2

We talked before about Jesus separating the sheep and the goats. Matthew 25: 31-46 does say that those who fed Him, clothed Him, and visited Him when He is sick and in prison gain entrance to heaven. Those who didn’t, don’t.

Jesus defined “me” as “… as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Mt. 25: 40 ESV).

To read a related devotion, click the button below.

Glossary

We also talked about lip service. Jesus explained to the Pharisee that it isn’t what you put into the body that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of the body (Mt. 15: 11). God said basically the same thing to Peter: “… Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean” (Ac. 11: 9 NLT).

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The Disowned

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt. 7: 21 CSB)

Have you ever wondered about the type of “believer” to whom Jesus was talking? We probably most often think it is one of the back-row onlookers.

You know the type. They may be there faithfully, but they really don’t participate in the service. They sorta listen to the sermon. They don’t join the small groups. Once they are out of the door, their obligation to God is done until the next Sunday service.

Yep. That is probably who Jesus is talking about.

What if it isn’t?

Buxton wrote that “it is easy enough to assume the character and manner of a Christian, but to live the Christian life is not so easy.” Being a disciple has to be more than us playing a role in a movie of our life. It has to be real.

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God isn’t looking for a fake disciple.

But We Were Your Disciples!

“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’” (Mt. 7: 22 CSB)

What if it is a church leader? They may be trying to influence the congregation to compromise with the worldview — all the while thinking they are doing God’s Will.

The polar opposite of that is the Crusader Disciple. You know. Like Danny Gokey’s song says, “So much has been said Even doubted my name.” We generally think we can spot the fanatics, but can we?

Song

Danny Gokey

What if it they appear to be sincere disciples? But in reality, their relationships with God isn’t what it really should be????

God is looking for sincere disciples.

Away!

“Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’” (Mt. 7: 23 CSB)

Judgment day comes — and ooo, baby, were they wrong! Fatally wrong!

“… I never knew you …” (Mt. 7: 23 CSB). This isn’t a case of backsliding. This is a case of never was.

No one who hasn’t made a sincere profession of faith can enter heaven. “But nothing that is impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of the living will enter the city” (Rev. 21: 27 GNT).

I know. We all lie at some point. I take that to mean that we are a pathological liar – an unforgiven pathological liar. God will forgive those whose sincerely ask His forgiveness.

But it is also more than just confessing with our mouths. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10: 9 NIV). I think it is a number of things we have to do.

We have to change our hearts. They are very important. The greatest commandment tells us to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.

Glossary

We are also supposed to change our lives. We are to give up old priorities to make God our new priority.

“… Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’” (Mt. 7: 23 CSB). We talked recently in Will There Be a Judgment Day? about Hebrews 10: 26. “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Heb. 10: 26 ESV). This is about a deliberate sin.

Making the Connections

Okay. Let’s take a different path.

Kelly wrote, “It is evident that a person may have much which bears the semblance of piety, while he is far from feeling its genuine influence.”

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Piety is defined as reverence and blameless. Today, the word is translated as righteousness. Righteousness is the result of a solid relationship with God built by a sincere life of conscientious obedience to God’s laws and commandments.

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We talked before about being a nominal disciple. Nominal disciples are those boasting they loved God without even trying to imitate Him — those who dig on religion and its rituals without having a change in heart.

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We have to hook that onto obedience. Obedience means to hear and carry out the instructions that God gives us.

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When we confess God as Sovereign Lord, we have to submit to His Will. We have to obey what He tells us to do and not to do.

Completely. If we aren’t completely obeying God, we aren’t completely submitting to God.

We can’t just say we are a Christian. We can’t be lukewarm.

Wait a second. We talked about that, too. Remember, the letter to the church at Ephesus in Revelations?

To read a devotion in the First Love series, click on the button below.

Remember. On the surface, everything looked like Ephesus was a good, solid church. The problem was with church at Ephesus is that they had fallen out of love with Jesus.

We have to be genuine. We have to make our profession of faith change our lives. We have to practice what we preach.

Thomas wrote that “… the teachings of Jesus are only understood as they are put into practice.” I can explain to you how to do a crochet stitch. Until you get your hook and your yarn and actually do it, you are going to say, “I don’t see it.”

Resource

If we don’t put into practice God’s laws and commandments, we are going to show that we don’t think they are important enough to follow. We don’t think we have to submit to God and do them.

What does our disobedience and false profession tell others about the kingdom of God? It sends the message that what God requires is not important.

Wrong picture.

We’ve got to come to the Father submitting to Him – doing His Will. We have to sincerely put our faith and trust in Him.

Cuyler described God’s kingdom as a kingdom of fruit. But a fruit doesn’t stay the same – it grows. We are expected to grow as disciples. He said that “the proof of sincerity is doing.”

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But it isn’t just being tolerant like worldview people think. It is sincerity in doing things God’s way. We must be keeping His laws and His commandments His way.

God will plainly tell us how He wants us to live our lives. He wants our character to imitate His character.

It isn’t just doing works. If we work and work and work – even though we are working the way God calls – without working for Him, we aren’t working for Him. We have to do things God’s way.

Making the Connections to Self-Discipline

We’ve been asking these questions all along so we can prepare for when we are asked to defend our beliefs. Here is the worksheet again. How would you sincere disciple, and how would you explain disciples who are not sincere?

What does the Scriptures say?
What do I believe?
Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?

How Do We Apply This?

Bottom line is we have to bear fruit for God. We have to be totally committed to living our lives for Him.

We can look at the First Love Evaluation again. We don’t want to be lukewarm. We want to be on fire for God.

The Disciple’s Job Description

What do you think?

Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.

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Seeking to imitate God in our lives