God’s Requirements

Luke 10:25-28, John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:21

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Over the course of my ministry, I’ve often asked people if they think they’re going to go to heaven when they die. A lot of people respond. I think so. I hope so. And when I delve a little bit deeper and ask them, why do they say that? Well, they usually say, well, I’ve tried to be a good person.

What does that mean to be a good person? And is that God’s standard when it comes to getting into heaven? You know we often set a standard for getting to heaven, whether someone’s a good person or a bad person. But shouldn’t we really be looking at what God says in his word, what his standard is? After all, he’s the one in control of who gets to heaven or not.

So what does God say and what are God’s requirements to get into heaven? A good place to look is in Luke chapter ten verses 25 through 28, where we hear this man who’s an expert in the law and he comes up to Jesus and he wants to know what he must do to get to heaven. And Jesus asks him what is written in the law. The man responds,

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

Jesus responds,

“You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” (Luke 10:28)

So what are God’s requirements to get into heaven? Well, according to Jesus, he says that one must love God perfectly and love his neighbor perfectly as well. So how have you done when it comes to God’s requirements to get into heaven? I know you probably say, Well, I’ve tried to love God with my whole heart, with my whole strength, with my whole mind. I’ve tried to love my neighbor as myself. That’s not what God asks. That’s not what God demands. That’s not His requirements to get into heaven. He says, Love him perfectly, love your neighbor perfectly. And if we’re honest with ourselves, all of us have fallen short.

But we cry out, I’m only human! But that doesn’t change God’s requirement. Thanks be to God, though, that he has provided another way. And we hear of that way in a very familiar passage of Scripture. John 3:16 where Jesus himself says this

For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

God has provided a solution to our problems. None of us could ever be good enough to follow God’s requirements to get into heaven. And so God has sent his Son Jesus Christ. He has given him to suffer and die on a cross, said all who trust in him as their Savior will have eternal life. But how does that work? Doesn’t God require that we be perfect to get into heaven? Well, Jesus has been perfect for you. And God says this in Second Corinthians chapter five, verse 21. Saint Paul writes,

God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

It describes God’s plan, which was to put our sin on Jesus and to give us Jesus Holiness, His perfection, His righteousness through faith in Him. Through faith in Jesus, God no longer sees our sin, but He only sees Jesus holiness and perfection. And so He welcomes us with open arms into heaven.

Trusting in ourselves, we have no hope of eternal life, but trusting in Jesus, we can be sure that we are going to go to heaven when we die. Amen.