"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3, KJV)
The above text makes it clear, there are no exceptions to this truth. If a person is not born again, he or she can never get to heaven, or "see the kingdom of God" as today's text says. Yet some will argue, but "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, NASB). Then they will say, "You see, since I "believe" in God, I am therefore going to heaven." Yet their belief is only superficial. It is not really based on the principle of faith that the Scripture talks about. They have a belief without repentance. There belief is based more on what they think, than what the Word of God actually teaches. They want a loving God who will overlook their sin, and not judge them for it. They argue, "If God loves me so much, then He should accept me the way I am." The fact is God loves us way too much to leave us the way we are, "dead in [our] trespasses and sins." (Eph. 2:1). Such people ignore the significance of John 3:3, 7, 16. They also ignore such Scripture passages that say, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:36, NASB). I like how the ESV version translates the last part of this text: "but the wrath of God remains on him." The key word here is "remains" or "abides" (NASB) on him. The truth is, it is not enough to just "believe" in God, you must "trust" in Him for salvation. As long as a unbeliever holds to a belief in God without repentance, the "wrath of God" will always "remain on him" For "even the demons believe--and tremble" for they well know they are going to be judged for their wickedness (see James 2:19, NKJV).
I don't mean to come across as unkind here, but isn't it funny how many funerals will present a deceased loved one as automatically going to heaven by the minister conducting the service, in fear of offending the people present, they get a free pass to go to heaven? Is not the minister being dishonest here? Is this not a greater unkindness in withholding the truth? Yet, it was known among family and friends that the deceased person in their life time had no time for God, or Church, or anything that had to do with the Bible. The person wanted nothing whatsoever to do with Christianity. To him or her they were all a bunch of hypocrites. Such a person gave no sign or evidence of ever being "born again." Instead, the person mocked God, and became a self-appointed judge over God. In a sense, the deceased person in their life time were their own little god, he or she got to decide what was right or what was wrong for them. So here the deceased person in their life time spent so much time judging God, that they never gave thought to the fact that the One they were judging was going to be the Judge of all judges he or she was going to face!
My friend, there are no exceptions here. "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." There are no free passes to heaven, none! The price for man's redemption came at such a great cost in God the Father sending His only begotten Son to die for our sins on the Cross. "For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 6:23, NKJV). Dear reader, do you feel the burden of your sin weighing you down? Do you sense your hopeless, lost condition before the Lord? Well, there's hope in Christ to those who repent of their sin and place their faith in the work of redemption that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross for you. There may not be a free pass to heaven, but the pass to heaven has been paid for at such a great infinite cost, through the precious blood of Christ that was shed for sinners. Oh trust in Him today, while there's still time.
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