What Could Keep A Christian Out Of Heaven?

[Abraham] did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. Romans 4:20-21

I know there are plenty of people who don’t believe in God or heaven. I want to say to them, you may not know God, but He knows you. But this blog post is not about unbelievers.

I also know there are a lot of folks out there who do believe in God and heaven but are not sure how to “get to” either one. I would say to them, study the New Testament. The word of God is “a lamp to [our] feet and a light to [our] path.” We don’t have to wander in the dark. But this blog post is not about seekers either.

Many people do know what God’s word says to do, but they either have not done it or they have only done it in part. People in this group doubt their salvation because they know there is something they need to do. For these I pray that they would do that thing before it is too late, but this blog post is not really about that either.

This post is for those who doubt their salvation even though they have done what the Bible says to do to be forgiven of sin. They still wonder whether they will really make it to heaven.

I think it’s natural for us to feel this doubt. We know we are sinners. We know we don’t deserve to live in eternal joy in the presence of a perfect, divine Being. Our sense of justice can make it difficult to accept the amazing free gift of grace. We feel like hypocrites because most of the time we are all about making sure things are fair. And look at what a hard time we have accepting gifts from each other. We often say, “You shouldn’t have done that!”

Still, you can either accept a gift or reject it. We talk about our obedience to the gospel as our acceptance of the gift of salvation. But acceptance also means understanding that once I’ve become a Christian, at that point to doubt my salvation is to doubt God’s faithfulness, His word, and His promise. It’s like saying I don’t believe God will keep His end of the bargain.

Back in Moses’s day, when God was ready for Israel to enter their promised land, only two of the twelve spies believed they could be victorious against the Canaanites. The other ten spies convinced their brethren that the enemy was too big and powerful. So God didn’t give them the land. He allowed that faithless bunch to wander in the wilderness for forty years until a new generation had grown up to take their place and receive the promise.

“Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief,” (Hebrews 3:17-19).

God had proven His power and faithfulness in leading them miraculously out of Egypt. But when it came time for the next step, they looked at their own weakness and did not believe that God would do what He had promised.

In contrast, their forefather Abraham “was fully convinced” that God would make good on His promises (Romans 4:21).

Sometimes there’s a fine line between humility about our sinfulness and lack of trust in God’s goodness. The same God who delivered Israel from Egypt has promised to forgive our sins. Do we believe Him? What could keep a Christian out of heaven is the same thing that kept a generation of Israelites out of the promised land.

Listen to Jesus’s words in John 14:1-2 from The Message Bible: “You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you?”

As disciples of Jesus we can be fully convinced that he will keep his promises. The gift of salvation is not offered because of our goodness but because of His.

Dear Heavenly Father, I know it is Your good pleasure to give us the kingdom. If there is still something I need to do to be right with You, please guide me to that knowledge and give me the resolve to do it. Then help me not to waver at Your promise through unbelief. Help me to be fully convinced that what Jesus has promised, He is able to perform. In His holy name, Amen.

by Christie Cole Atkins

P.S. I’m so grateful to all the people who have taught me over the years. I believe it was my friend, Sally Perz, who made this point about unbelief to me a long time ago!