Life Success
Life Success only has real meaning if it aims at achieving something that is lasting. Thus, it is difficult to have a successful life since life is short and all that can be achieved is not lasting. It is folly to think that accumulating as much as possible in terms of things and pleasure will be anything but temporary. Additionally, accumulating “stuff, relationships” brings concerns over losing all that has been gained. On the other hand, if you live in a way to achieve heaven then there can be never-ending success. Life Success is then defined in terms of living in a way that allows you to achieve an eternal goal. Regardless, if you believe in God, or in existence after death when you die all will be gone. The things you thought defined success, no longer exist. Then as you realize (and you will) that existence continues after death, you will know whether your life was truly successful or not. Those who understand life, seek truth, find it, obey it and live it can know before their death (too late) what is required to succeed in life.
It is amazing, astounding that the vast majority of people go through life not understanding why they exist and what defines success in life. The reasons are obvious and can be simply stated as:
- People live for today and for the near future, which they assume they will have and are constantly in pursuit of the best possible earthly future
- There is effective indoctrination from science that is taught in schools and supported by the media in relation to a godless existence
- There is effective indoctrination from religions that misleads people about success in life. Religious teaching in its inconsistency and deceit results in confusion and distaste for religion. This distaste in religion then leads to an alienation against religions and God.
In view of this we end up with a very few people who possess the truth despite God delivering His truth with great accuracy and perfection. Yet, God has done exactly what He wanted in terms of sorting out those who love the truth from those who do not. God’s purpose will be achieved with the majority of humankind failing of their own choice to see what was “before them.”
For Those Who Want To Succeed In Life
Here Is What You Must Do
This is not a formula as there are many ways describing the pattern for success, but we need to begin considering the state of belief or disbelief of each person. We need to start with a couple of assumptions.
- You are a person who really wants to be successful in life
- You will seek truth at all costs and do what ever it takes to live consistently with the truth
- You have doubts about God and even doubt you will exist after death
OR
- You might be one that is religious, but have concerns if what you believe is the truth
You want to know where to start. How can you get on the road to heaven? Those teaching the truth have a single directive – Preach the word!
The word contains ways to bring you along a path that will allow you to succeed. As you reach a certain level of knowledge you may at that point ask, “What must I do.” You may be there now – many people are there. We will assume you are NOT there yet – so how do the scriptures help you to reach the point where you ask this (or equivalent) question? Of course, a person preaching the truth, simply speaks the truth in love and that is done by preaching the gospel message. Again, we are beginning with a person who wants to succeed, but needs a little more background.
1) You are a person who truly wants to know if God exists. The word of God provides this answer and says you can by observation know that God exists independent of the scriptures.
Romans 1.20
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse
There are many pages at Heaven Coach that can help, here are some of them:
- The Theory of Organic Evolution
- Why Does God Exist
- Nothing Should Exist
- Nothing Is As It Seems
- The Gospel Message
2) You now believe there is or may be a God, now which God? Seeking God is the next step. We will use the bible to answer that question as there is no other reasonable source that can help you seek God. Also, if you find using the bible to answer the question of “Which God” is unfair you can still start there and determine if it is viable.
Realizing there is a God, a creator and maybe with some reservation, nonetheless it is still a beginning. You need to go beyond realizing there is an intelligence, a creator. I will call this seeking God or seeking truth or we might say, seeking “which God.”
The bible is clear about the need to seek God.
Jeremiah 29.13
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Hebrews 11.6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
The effort required to find God in a world pulling people away from the God of the bible is a challenge. You will be required to make some difficult decisions that will involve living a different life.
3) Your study results in understanding that God is the God of the bible. Now, you can ask, “what do I have to do?” The world you realize has been misleading you, but your problems in coming to the truth are far from being resolved. The vast majority of people who know God is the God of the bible do not know the true answer to “what must I do.” Catholics and Protestants will give you their answers and try to show how their teachings are consistent with the scriptures. They are not and if you want the truth you easily will be able to see through their deceit.
You have reached the point where you ask, “What must I do.” We might say you are asking what must I do to go to heaven. We will not assume that you know what you are asking in terms of the answer you will receive. Many people do know, but we will again assume you may not. Since the answer is going to involve sin, it is fair to ask if you understand sin at least to some minimal extent. Sin is a transgression of God’s law. Sin is well defined in the bible and as you begin living the truth your understanding of sin will improve. Even with only a limited understanding of sin, in principle you recognize things that are sinful and that you have sinned. You may even recognize that it is sin that will keep you out of heaven. People often use the term saved in relation to what is needed to get them on the road to heaven or even assure themselves of heaven. The scriptures talk extensively on this subject of being saved or as often referred to as salvation. Here are a few scriptures:
John 5.34
34 Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.
Acts 4.12
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
1 Corinthians 1.18
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
2 Thessalonians 2.10
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
What are you saved from? The answer is saved from sin, the very thing that will keep you from heaven. The bible also uses the term free in reference to knowing the truth.
John 8.32
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Free from what? Of course, free from sin. The scriptures in the process of salvation is referring to the forgiveness of sins, but with the distinction being the forgiveness of past sins. The first reason to understand salvation as the forgiveness of sins is the necessity to repent of sins. This is a changing of your life, a commitment to not sin in the future. A good question would be what makes me a candidate for salvation? The answer is believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Certainly, at this point your sins are not forgiven. The only way to have your sins forgiven would be to do what God says you must do for forgiveness of sins.
You can find some verses that tie believing to salvation because believing is a necessity, but not all that God requires to place you in a saved state. Likewise you can find verses that tie repenting, confessing Jesus and baptism to salvation.
God places baptism as the place where sins are forgiven. It is the place where a person participates in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
Romans 6.3,4
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
The conversions of the New Testament provide consistent examples of how one is saved.
Also helpful is God’s definition of BELIEVE, which He so graciously provides to those who want the truth.
It should not be necessary to lay out the steps needed to be saved as the bible provides great clarity. However, even in this most straightforward subject there has been much deceit. So, if we list the steps they would be hearing or reading the truth as part of your seeking God and truth and then obeying the gospel. The first step leading to all the others is to believe Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and be willing to confess that truth before men. God requires repentance or a changing of your life by putting sin out of your life. Then finally, being baptized into Christ and in this step receiving the forgiveness of sins. You should immediately beware that as a child of God you need to be holy, separated for God such that you can spend eternity with Him. That will require you to remain faithful unto death.
Some of The Frightful Excuses for Failing In Life
That We Believe, But Seriously Mislead Us
They are frightful because we live in the comfort of thinking the excuse provides a route to heaven.
- I was indoctrinated
- I trusted science
- I trusted the media
- I believed some of the great philosophers
- I believed the religious teachings of family and friends
- I believed the godless philosophies of friends
- I was not capable of understanding the scriptures
- The religions of the world all seem to teach different doctrines
- The religions of the world are behind much of the terrible atrocities
- The religions of the world are behind most of the wars
- I am as good as most people, probably better
- I was raised and live in a religious system where opposition means alienation, suffering and even death
- I am loved by the people who appreciate my adherence to their beliefs and could never reject their teachings
- God’s love will look past my shortcomings
None of these are valid excuses, in fact there is no excuse for failing to find, obey and live the truth. Life is a tough test and God wants and will get those who love Him. Their love will be seen in overcoming the difficulties and thus demonstrating their allegiance to Him. By observation, you might think that FEW will achieve heaven. You would be correct.
Matthew 7.13,14
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it.
God clearly wants you to succeed.
2 Peter 3.8,9
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Certainly, you can succeed and in that process you can move the FEW to be more. During your lifetime as a child of God you can have a huge impact on souls. You can do much more than you think because in the process to heaven you have Christ in you, and as Paul said in Philippians 4.13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Everything changes for you if you can “climb over the fence” and become a child of God, in the Body of Christ, “In Christ.” Now, living for Christ and the Gospel you are in a new life headed for heaven, but you must remain faithful.
note: “Christ in you” is the idea found in Galatians.
Galatians 2.20
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
This does not mean in any way that Jesus is forcing you to do His will – far from it as you still make choices. You have certain advantages when Christ is in you such as, you are on the road to heaven. Such as, you have an advocate with the father for seeking forgiveness. Such as, you can reach the Father in prayer through Christ. Such as, you can grow in the grace and knowledge of God. The key is that you live your life in the flesh by faith and that always means living obediently. Thus, as you look into the word of God you will be able to find ways to do all things and when combined with prayer it can be quite powerful.
In addition to realizing the excuses (few mentioned above), we need to look at the things in our life that we consider as the good and realize their true value. This can be hard, but looking at things from God’s point of view, from an eternal point of view is essential.
The Value of The Good We Do
1) We help others as we see the need. This is of course good and was something (along with other things) that Cornelius did on His way to becoming a child of God. It is a requirement for God’s children as indicated in Matthew 25.35-45. Yet in no way will this get us into a relationship with God – doing good is needed to keep us there. Cornelius’ attitude in this regard was helpful as those things he did came before God placing him in a favorable light.
2) We raise our children in a way that provides for their needs. Indeed, we cherish them, love them and in the process we sacrifice to achieve what we want for them. Very good and we have done the right thing. Ultimately, if we do not nurture them in the way of truth what have we really accomplished. When you look at life as a brief period of time that brings each person to a single result, either success or failure – have we done our best for them? So in our love for them, do we have the fortitude to strive to know the truth ourselves and live faithfully? There is no easy road for us or our children and yet in the end for each one of us only one thing matters – the salvation of our souls.
3) Almost everything we fight for in our earthly existence has no ultimate value, but is as the scriptures indicate of temporary value. We work so hard to lay up treasures on this earth and the accumulation of stuff blinds us. In the twinkling of an eye it will all be gone and you are left with a single wish that you had lived differently. In this short lifetime you may have nothing in life or be a great philanthropist, but if you do not have Christ you will be lost for an eternity. Looking good to those people around us has no meaning except maybe to puff up our pride. Looking good to God cannot be faked since God knows the heart. He knows more than your good intentions are essential for your success, namely did you keep the commands of God? If you love God you will keep His commands (John 14.15).
Success in Life – Difficult
This subject is not the sort of thing that attracts people to believe something and consequently we have the “Christian religions of the world.” These religions typically warn a person of an awful end. Then provide an easy or relatively easy means to succeed.
Who conceived that getting to heaven would be easy – certainly the scriptures do not teach this. Is giving up the things you want an easy thing? Religions are popular because they tell you heaven will be yours, while living this earthly existence the way YOU WANT as opposed to living for Christ and the gospel. People to this day pick and choose verses and read into them what they want. The message from God is perfect and does not condone as many meanings as there are people and each with their own interpretation. The scriptures are of no private interpretation and that means you and I might see things differently and thus one of us is wrong and one is right or both are wrong. The world looks for freedom to interpret the scriptures as they please and so we have in the “Christian World” all these different names or denominations and varied doctrines. They are in no way Christians because that requires obedience to the will of God and the Lord adding you to the body of Christ – His Church. One of the things needed to be successful in attracting people is to talk about God as love. Indeed, God is love, but this does not mean God is liberal, flexible in allowing a personal interpretation of the scriptures. So many teach the God of love will look past your faults and provide all sorts of freedoms. The God of the bible does not look past your faults, but forgives all your past sins when you obey the gospel. Searching the scriptures to validate what you want to believe will normally be successful because it is what you want and you can twist, spin the scriptures to support what you want. There is perhaps nothing as offensive to God as those who misuse His word in this way. Here is an example from Galatians 5.1.
Galatians 5.1
5 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Religious persons so-called love to make this verse support whatever they want to do and yet the liberty is not freedom to do as you please – but the opposite. Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection provided the way to freedom from sin and thus opened the door to heaven. The warning here is not to go back into perdition and once again become a slave to sin. There is no deviation allowed from living according to the doctrine of Christ.
The Jews they could also understand this to mean that in Christ there is a freedom from sin not offered in the temporary forgiveness of sin provided in the old law – but permanent forgiveness of past sins in obedience to the gospel. Also, the Old Law being nailed to the cross no longer held them in bondage. They no longer should be trying to live under that law.
Succeeding Is Difficult, Consider The Following
People have no time for spiritual matters, or maybe just a little time here and there. Life is all about priorities. In some parts of the world the priorities are food, shelter and clothing. Much of the world lives working 40, 50, 60 hours a week to fulfill the basics in life, but then has time to themselves, perhaps for their families and friends. There are many things to do and many distractions and somehow there is no time for God. You just do not have time for anymore than you are doing in life. You die and wonder why you never knew the truth. You realize you spent so much time in pursuing the things you wanted that this was the reason you never knew God and accordingly lived for Him. Perhaps your “free time” was spent in sports activities or watching sports and it was an obsession. Maybe you read books about various things all of which now have no meaning. You loved movies and television and perhaps you even knew that this was wasteful, but it took your mind off the many concerns in your life. People become dedicated to their hobbies and if you notice often the things that kept you from finding God were NOT inherently wrong, however, now they might be seen by the lost person as evil. EVIL, yes because they were costly to your eternity. There were hundreds of things we filled our days with and always taking away from what we needed in order to be successful during our lifetime. Why in the world didn’t someone tell me about the seriousness of life, about the seriousness of God’s word and what God said is what He meant – no interpretation needed? No one ever told me that God’s word has a singular meaning and it can be understood by the consistency of the overall message. So, how much of my free time (time outside my job, and my reasonable commitments) should I spend on spiritual matters? The best answer from the scriptures would be all your free time. So, is success in life difficult? Yes, but only for those who cannot give up what they want to do and replace it by what God wants of them. As people pick and choose verses from scriptures, it is interesting how they avoid much of the teaching, such as:
Ecclesiastes 7.2
2 Better to go to the house of mourning Than to go to the house of feasting, For that is the end of all men; And the living will take it to heart.
The contrast God makes between what is good for you is pretty dramatic in terms of “partying” and being in a place of mourning. Better to be in a sad state, although God does not want you to be in a sad state. Paul suggests we think of things that “are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” It is the contrast here in Ecclesiastes 7.2 that we need to understand. The state of mind and participating in places of feasting can bring much trouble and it is not worth the risk to your soul, it would have been BETTER to be in a place of mourning.
Then below in Matthew 12.36, Jesus points to the seriousness of our speech in something that most would think is a trivial thing – idle speech. There is such emphasis in the scriptures on using the time we have wisely even our every action and all that comes from our mouth.
Matthew 12.36
36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
Of course, humankind does not like the straightforward, unmistakably direct statements in reference to failing in life.
1 Corinthians 6.9,10
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
There are two ways to respond to verses like 1 Corinthians 6.9,10 and one is to explain what (you think) God means using exceptions and promoting His love for humankind, which in some way reduces the severity of what He says. OR
To take what God says exactly as He said it and believe it and live accordingly. Which do you think will please God? Could God have been clearer in His meaning? All those who love the things God condemns will give some justifying explanation or more than likely just reject the scriptures, reject God. In that process those persons characterize themselves as unworthy of heaven.
When the end comes there will be no chance to change anything, then you will know how unimportant the things that filled your life were in relation to where your “time” should have been spent. Our life’s are filled with so many things that totally distract us from what is really important. So much of what we do is viewed as “neutral” or harmless and thus there is no concern those things may be keeping us from being successful in life. It is not unusual that there are a number of things that fill our days and become obsessive, an addiction. Sports seems innocent, as might be shopping or health and fitness or a hundred other things and yet these things are harmful in terms of stealing our time – time that needs to be spent understanding life’s purpose. Certainly, these “innocent things” are not evil and yet they identify our true love in life – where our heart is. In the end we will see the cost. We might very well see them as evil. We believe in certain teachings and take comfort in our life believing we will succeed in the next life. We never had the time to really question and dig and be diligent in relation to our beliefs. The reason we had no time was because we filled in our life with our obsessions. It took me a long time to see the waste, the distraction provided by these “innocent things” that we “live for.” The things we love and develop some expertise in and it might be literature and yet what good is it? You cannot wait to to start the next book. We have such a little time and we need to make the most of it with a view towards the eternal.
Here Is The Message That Does Not Get Through
To The So-Called ‘Christian” Religions
God is not someone who we fit into a compartment of our life – “here is God’s part in my life.” The Protestant religions make becoming a child of God easy, as easy as a mental acceptance of God’s Son and then make it such that you cannot be lost and then say God is love and all is well. The truth is God needs to be at the center of your life.
Yes, there are things to be forgiven and that happens in the gospel and then remaining faithful you achieve heaven. God’s children remain faithful day by day and God is the reason they do things and how they do them. They do not bury what God gave them, but are active in prayer pretty much continuously. They grow and are capable of more – not babes with milk in handling Gods word.
Has there ever been a period of history when the world was aligned with God, the God of the bible?
It is fair to say there has never been such a time.
- At the beginning with Adam and Eve – two people, two failures
- The days of Noah, evil so filled the world that God destroyed all but eight souls
- From Noah to Moses was a time of the Law and disobedience and evil done to God’s prophets
- From the time of Moses to David and Solomon – all the disobedience and idolatry
- From Solomon until Christ arrived and walked into a world where God’s word had been changed taking the form of the traditions of humankind.
- The time following the death of Christ when the gospel was being confirmed until it was completed was marked by people changing it almost as it arrived
- Finally, the time from near the end of the first century until this day. All you have to do is compare the gospel message of the first century to what people teach today. There is no fear of the Lord and thus no knowledge “in the land.” The world is characterized by the very things that will keep people from being successful. The humility and selflessness that is needed has been replaced by pride and selfishness.
What does this mean?
The world knows little of the truth by their own choice. Many nonetheless, believe in an afterlife and believe that most will achieve heaven and that is based on an incorrect understanding of God’s love. The one source of knowledge about God is the scriptures and it provides a picture of few achieving heaven. By observation of history, of present day people it is easy to see the rejection of God and His Son. A growing number of people do not believe in God and the vast majority of people that do are not following the doctrine of Christ.
Placing Your Trust in the Wrong Places
The people thought to be the great minds of humankind are likely the most pathetic. As a group these great people of history and into the current times have failed to understand the most basic and important things of our existence. If they get this wrong aren’t they really the most ignorant of people, really the most foolish? The most fundamental thing in life is that God exists and He is the God of the bible. Undoubtedly, there is likely a small number of recognized so-called brilliant minds who know the truth about life. They would not be supporting their fame, but downplaying it and even trying to suppress it. They know all glory belongs to God and the good they have done comes from Him. So much of the fame people achieve belongs to others and achievement is often obtained though deceit and self-promotion. The wise person credits God for their blessings. People are susceptible to the advice of the famous, powerful and wealthy individuals. Their influence can be very powerful. Maybe they are recognized experts in how to live or even in religion. Nonetheless, your trust needs to be in God and His word and no-place else. Success in life is only found there and absolutely no-place else!
So many people will go through life downplaying the scriptures and never coming close to understanding its message, its critical nature in relation to each person’s success. It is sad because they may become very knowledgeable to the ways of the world, but never compare its obviously temporary nature to the eternal. The reasons for this are almost always the same inasmuch as they discover what they like and nothing else really matters. The scriptures are not aligned with the things people typically want in life, but often the opposite. Yet the scriptures are designed by God to find the kind of person who fits HIS requirements for heaven. Every person who fails will regret their lives for their selfish, prideful, stubborn insistence to do things their way. In their stubborn nature they never sought God, never sought the truth and as the scriptures say had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2.10-12
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
God is direct and holds nothing back as to the fate of those who fail in life. Although He wants all to succeed and is patient in this regard, He also will not have those who live for themselves, who very clearly do not seek Him, and do not love the truth. He will allow those to be deceived, allow them to be strongly convinced that evil is good. Such will go through life doing things against God (unrighteous things) and have pleasure in them. They choose the things of the world for their short-term, often immediate value and in the process ignore God.
There is this great naive, gullible nature obvious in the adherents of the religions of humankind. It is like watching automatons or robots follow instructions. God, the God of the bible, the Creator designed human beings to make choices to serve Him or not, but the “devout” followers of the inventors of religion close their minds to even the most basic errors of what they believe. They have the truth – they are so sure. There is no excuse for not having a love of the truth, for seeking God. The words naive and gullible are used because what they believe is very distant from the truth and obvious to anyone who wants the truth. Not only are the doctrines of humankind distant from the truth, but usually the opposite of what God has directed. Someone might say you are assuming the scriptures are correct and from God. Well, I did not start out believing such, but after many years of study there is nothing like them in terms of consistency in all things. There is nothing like the bible message from God, which provides His purpose and the reason we exist. In the scriptures one can see the perfect test that separates those who love the truth from those who love themselves. The scriptures separate those who are proud and selfish from those who are humble and unselfish by their choices. In the scriptures you are dealing with perfection, with the absence of evil and the God of perfect love and justice. The religions of men and women are nonsense, invented, illogical and inconsistent in their concepts and usually designed to benefit some person or group. There has never been a more powerful tool to subdue men and women to a cause than to say God is the one they are following. Gullible, naive people will fill the ranks of the lost, of those who failed in life – THEN what they unfortunately followed and why will be obvious. It is fair to imagine that some of the pain of being lost is how you closed your mind to the truth and followed easily recognized error. The gap between truth and error is like the distance between galaxies and that is why your foolishness will be so painful. You did not have the time, you liked what you currently believed, others you respected believed as you did and all the reasons now seem so foolish as the cost is, “heaven lost.”
START HERE
Ultimately The Cause Of Our Failing In Life
Certainly, there may be many contributing factors to our failure to achieve heaven. However, there is just one thing you can point to as the cause and it will be YOU. Quite often it will be your pride that has characterized your attitude and is observed in your stubbornness. We are so certain we are right. Indeed, there were influences that affected your decision making. One of the most powerful is our religious beliefs (or lack thereof). We become followers of some doctrine and might even be willing to sacrifice our lives in support of what we believe. We can become very stubborn in relation to what we believe. The magnitude of that obstinate attitude overwhelms your very person to the point of closing your mind.
Isn’t this also the case (becoming obstinate) if what you believe is the truth? There is a difference between appearing to be obstinate in your beliefs and it is a difference in attitude. Those who seek God and find Him in the scriptures got to that position because they love the truth. They become convinced of the truth because the scriptures are unique in content inasmuch as they fit everything together perfectly. They found God as the result of having an open-mind to the truth. They never stop searching the scriptures and testing their beliefs. In the process, they grow stronger more knowledgeable in relation to God and His purpose. At every turn, they become better at handling God’s word. There is a continual building up of their confidence. This is quite different from the one who closes their mind and depends on others to defend what they believe. God built this process of growth into the local church by having no head other than His Son and no doctrine other than His word. Each person is responsible to grow in the grace and knowledge of God and the source is the word of God. In one case, we have stubbornness born in believing things that are taught by men and women and in the other an assured and growing confidence in God’s word. The child of God knows he/she cannot be self-righteous and very simply because righteousness resides in God. They need to remain humble servants not only in outward appearance, but in their hearts.
There is a very clear delineation between truth an error. Error crumbles under investigation and is actually silly, and really the nonsense is pathetic since the souls of so many are forfeited. The thing that keeps error alive is the stubbornness of its believers. Catholicism, Protestantism and the other religions invented by humankind make no sense in view of the scriptures. The indoctrination is effective to the point of closing the minds of their followers. One of the amazing things is how the errors are so fundamentally wrong that the message people need for salvation is hidden from them. In view of all the easily discerned serious soul destructive error there is a cement holding it together and it is the pride, stubbornness and selfishness of individuals. Life success will require you to be STUBBORN in relation to accepting nothing less than the truth and making this a life-long pursuit. This stubbornness is being open-minded to the truth. That path will have you being continually prayerful, thoughtful, thankful and diligent – we might say being faithful to the principles of God.
Life Success has one ultimate measure and it is, “Did You Achieve Heaven?”
It is amazing, astounding that the vast majority of people go through life not understanding why they exist and what defines success in life. The reasons are obvious and can be simply stated as:
In view of this we end up with a very few people who possess the truth despite God delivering His truth with great accuracy and perfection. Yet, God has done exactly what He wanted in terms of sorting out those who love the truth from those who do not. God’s purpose will be achieved with the majority of humankind failing of their own choice to see what was “before them.”
Here Is What You Must Do
OR
The word contains ways to bring you along a path that will allow you to succeed. As you reach a certain level of knowledge you may at that point ask, “What must I do.” You may be there now – many people are there. We will assume you are NOT there yet – so how do the scriptures help you to reach the point where you ask this (or equivalent) question? Of course, a person preaching the truth, simply speaks the truth in love and that is done by preaching the gospel message. Again, we are beginning with a person who wants to succeed, but needs a little more background.
1) You are a person who truly wants to know if God exists. The word of God provides this answer and says you can by observation know that God exists independent of the scriptures.
2) You now believe there is or may be a God, now which God? Seeking God is the next step. We will use the bible to answer that question as there is no other reasonable source that can help you seek God. Also, if you find using the bible to answer the question of “Which God” is unfair you can still start there and determine if it is viable.
Realizing there is a God, a creator and maybe with some reservation, nonetheless it is still a beginning. You need to go beyond realizing there is an intelligence, a creator. I will call this seeking God or seeking truth or we might say, seeking “which God.”
The effort required to find God in a world pulling people away from the God of the bible is a challenge. You will be required to make some difficult decisions that will involve living a different life.
Free from what? Of course, free from sin. The scriptures in the process of salvation is referring to the forgiveness of sins, but with the distinction being the forgiveness of past sins. The first reason to understand salvation as the forgiveness of sins is the necessity to repent of sins. This is a changing of your life, a commitment to not sin in the future. A good question would be what makes me a candidate for salvation? The answer is believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Certainly, at this point your sins are not forgiven. The only way to have your sins forgiven would be to do what God says you must do for forgiveness of sins.
God places baptism as the place where sins are forgiven. It is the place where a person participates in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Also helpful is God’s definition of BELIEVE, which He so graciously provides to those who want the truth.
It should not be necessary to lay out the steps needed to be saved as the bible provides great clarity. However, even in this most straightforward subject there has been much deceit. So, if we list the steps they would be hearing or reading the truth as part of your seeking God and truth and then obeying the gospel. The first step leading to all the others is to believe Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and be willing to confess that truth before men. God requires repentance or a changing of your life by putting sin out of your life. Then finally, being baptized into Christ and in this step receiving the forgiveness of sins. You should immediately beware that as a child of God you need to be holy, separated for God such that you can spend eternity with Him. That will require you to remain faithful unto death.
That We Believe, But Seriously Mislead Us
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Certainly, you can succeed and in that process you can move the FEW to be more. During your lifetime as a child of God you can have a huge impact on souls. You can do much more than you think because in the process to heaven you have Christ in you, and as Paul said in Philippians 4.13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Everything changes for you if you can “climb over the fence” and become a child of God, in the Body of Christ, “In Christ.” Now, living for Christ and the Gospel you are in a new life headed for heaven, but you must remain faithful.
In addition to realizing the excuses (few mentioned above), we need to look at the things in our life that we consider as the good and realize their true value. This can be hard, but looking at things from God’s point of view, from an eternal point of view is essential.
Who conceived that getting to heaven would be easy – certainly the scriptures do not teach this. Is giving up the things you want an easy thing? Religions are popular because they tell you heaven will be yours, while living this earthly existence the way YOU WANT as opposed to living for Christ and the gospel. People to this day pick and choose verses and read into them what they want. The message from God is perfect and does not condone as many meanings as there are people and each with their own interpretation. The scriptures are of no private interpretation and that means you and I might see things differently and thus one of us is wrong and one is right or both are wrong. The world looks for freedom to interpret the scriptures as they please and so we have in the “Christian World” all these different names or denominations and varied doctrines. They are in no way Christians because that requires obedience to the will of God and the Lord adding you to the body of Christ – His Church. One of the things needed to be successful in attracting people is to talk about God as love. Indeed, God is love, but this does not mean God is liberal, flexible in allowing a personal interpretation of the scriptures. So many teach the God of love will look past your faults and provide all sorts of freedoms. The God of the bible does not look past your faults, but forgives all your past sins when you obey the gospel. Searching the scriptures to validate what you want to believe will normally be successful because it is what you want and you can twist, spin the scriptures to support what you want. There is perhaps nothing as offensive to God as those who misuse His word in this way. Here is an example from Galatians 5.1.
Religious persons so-called love to make this verse support whatever they want to do and yet the liberty is not freedom to do as you please – but the opposite. Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection provided the way to freedom from sin and thus opened the door to heaven. The warning here is not to go back into perdition and once again become a slave to sin. There is no deviation allowed from living according to the doctrine of Christ.
The contrast God makes between what is good for you is pretty dramatic in terms of “partying” and being in a place of mourning. Better to be in a sad state, although God does not want you to be in a sad state. Paul suggests we think of things that “are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” It is the contrast here in Ecclesiastes 7.2 that we need to understand. The state of mind and participating in places of feasting can bring much trouble and it is not worth the risk to your soul, it would have been BETTER to be in a place of mourning.
Then below in Matthew 12.36, Jesus points to the seriousness of our speech in something that most would think is a trivial thing – idle speech. There is such emphasis in the scriptures on using the time we have wisely even our every action and all that comes from our mouth.
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
There are two ways to respond to verses like 1 Corinthians 6.9,10 and one is to explain what (you think) God means using exceptions and promoting His love for humankind, which in some way reduces the severity of what He says. OR
To take what God says exactly as He said it and believe it and live accordingly. Which do you think will please God? Could God have been clearer in His meaning? All those who love the things God condemns will give some justifying explanation or more than likely just reject the scriptures, reject God. In that process those persons characterize themselves as unworthy of heaven.
When the end comes there will be no chance to change anything, then you will know how unimportant the things that filled your life were in relation to where your “time” should have been spent. Our life’s are filled with so many things that totally distract us from what is really important. So much of what we do is viewed as “neutral” or harmless and thus there is no concern those things may be keeping us from being successful in life. It is not unusual that there are a number of things that fill our days and become obsessive, an addiction. Sports seems innocent, as might be shopping or health and fitness or a hundred other things and yet these things are harmful in terms of stealing our time – time that needs to be spent understanding life’s purpose. Certainly, these “innocent things” are not evil and yet they identify our true love in life – where our heart is. In the end we will see the cost. We might very well see them as evil. We believe in certain teachings and take comfort in our life believing we will succeed in the next life. We never had the time to really question and dig and be diligent in relation to our beliefs. The reason we had no time was because we filled in our life with our obsessions. It took me a long time to see the waste, the distraction provided by these “innocent things” that we “live for.” The things we love and develop some expertise in and it might be literature and yet what good is it? You cannot wait to to start the next book. We have such a little time and we need to make the most of it with a view towards the eternal.
To The So-Called ‘Christian” Religions
Yes, there are things to be forgiven and that happens in the gospel and then remaining faithful you achieve heaven. God’s children remain faithful day by day and God is the reason they do things and how they do them. They do not bury what God gave them, but are active in prayer pretty much continuously. They grow and are capable of more – not babes with milk in handling Gods word.
Has there ever been a period of history when the world was aligned with God, the God of the bible?
It is fair to say there has never been such a time.
What does this mean?
The world knows little of the truth by their own choice. Many nonetheless, believe in an afterlife and believe that most will achieve heaven and that is based on an incorrect understanding of God’s love. The one source of knowledge about God is the scriptures and it provides a picture of few achieving heaven. By observation of history, of present day people it is easy to see the rejection of God and His Son. A growing number of people do not believe in God and the vast majority of people that do are not following the doctrine of Christ.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
God is direct and holds nothing back as to the fate of those who fail in life. Although He wants all to succeed and is patient in this regard, He also will not have those who live for themselves, who very clearly do not seek Him, and do not love the truth. He will allow those to be deceived, allow them to be strongly convinced that evil is good. Such will go through life doing things against God (unrighteous things) and have pleasure in them. They choose the things of the world for their short-term, often immediate value and in the process ignore God.
There is this great naive, gullible nature obvious in the adherents of the religions of humankind. It is like watching automatons or robots follow instructions. God, the God of the bible, the Creator designed human beings to make choices to serve Him or not, but the “devout” followers of the inventors of religion close their minds to even the most basic errors of what they believe. They have the truth – they are so sure. There is no excuse for not having a love of the truth, for seeking God. The words naive and gullible are used because what they believe is very distant from the truth and obvious to anyone who wants the truth. Not only are the doctrines of humankind distant from the truth, but usually the opposite of what God has directed. Someone might say you are assuming the scriptures are correct and from God. Well, I did not start out believing such, but after many years of study there is nothing like them in terms of consistency in all things. There is nothing like the bible message from God, which provides His purpose and the reason we exist. In the scriptures one can see the perfect test that separates those who love the truth from those who love themselves. The scriptures separate those who are proud and selfish from those who are humble and unselfish by their choices. In the scriptures you are dealing with perfection, with the absence of evil and the God of perfect love and justice. The religions of men and women are nonsense, invented, illogical and inconsistent in their concepts and usually designed to benefit some person or group. There has never been a more powerful tool to subdue men and women to a cause than to say God is the one they are following. Gullible, naive people will fill the ranks of the lost, of those who failed in life – THEN what they unfortunately followed and why will be obvious. It is fair to imagine that some of the pain of being lost is how you closed your mind to the truth and followed easily recognized error. The gap between truth and error is like the distance between galaxies and that is why your foolishness will be so painful. You did not have the time, you liked what you currently believed, others you respected believed as you did and all the reasons now seem so foolish as the cost is, “heaven lost.”
Isn’t this also the case (becoming obstinate) if what you believe is the truth? There is a difference between appearing to be obstinate in your beliefs and it is a difference in attitude. Those who seek God and find Him in the scriptures got to that position because they love the truth. They become convinced of the truth because the scriptures are unique in content inasmuch as they fit everything together perfectly. They found God as the result of having an open-mind to the truth. They never stop searching the scriptures and testing their beliefs. In the process, they grow stronger more knowledgeable in relation to God and His purpose. At every turn, they become better at handling God’s word. There is a continual building up of their confidence. This is quite different from the one who closes their mind and depends on others to defend what they believe. God built this process of growth into the local church by having no head other than His Son and no doctrine other than His word. Each person is responsible to grow in the grace and knowledge of God and the source is the word of God. In one case, we have stubbornness born in believing things that are taught by men and women and in the other an assured and growing confidence in God’s word. The child of God knows he/she cannot be self-righteous and very simply because righteousness resides in God. They need to remain humble servants not only in outward appearance, but in their hearts.
There is a very clear delineation between truth an error. Error crumbles under investigation and is actually silly, and really the nonsense is pathetic since the souls of so many are forfeited. The thing that keeps error alive is the stubbornness of its believers. Catholicism, Protestantism and the other religions invented by humankind make no sense in view of the scriptures. The indoctrination is effective to the point of closing the minds of their followers. One of the amazing things is how the errors are so fundamentally wrong that the message people need for salvation is hidden from them. In view of all the easily discerned serious soul destructive error there is a cement holding it together and it is the pride, stubbornness and selfishness of individuals. Life success will require you to be STUBBORN in relation to accepting nothing less than the truth and making this a life-long pursuit. This stubbornness is being open-minded to the truth. That path will have you being continually prayerful, thoughtful, thankful and diligent – we might say being faithful to the principles of God.
Life Success has one ultimate measure and it is, “Did You Achieve Heaven?”
