4 ways to miss heaven - john macarthur

Truth is spoken out of love for the lost.

I advise all of you to read this.

4 ways to miss heaven.

A bit of what it contains

"These Jews were trying to earn salvation, like a lot of other folks. In all the world of religions of human achievement, all the religions of the world that attempt to earn salvation by human effort fall into the same category. They believe they had by their own works satisfied God's requirement, and thus they had achieved salvation, were headed for heaven. And the only place Jesus would go where they wouldn't be would be in Hades in some dark pit of hell belonging to those who kill themselves. So, you guarantee that you'll die in your sin by just being self-righteous. Just be certain that you're not a sinner. Just be certain that you don't need saving. Just invent a life style of religion that fits you. Don't admit you need a Savior. Don't pound on your breast and say, "God, be merciful to me a sinner." Trust your works, trust your religion, trust your rituals and I'll guarantee you you'll die in your sin."

"How do we have any difficulty understanding that this is the Christ whom we must believe? This is the truth and this is what Christians believe. If you don't believe that, you're not a Christian. You say, "Well what about people who believe in God?" They're not Christians, they will die in their sins. "Well what about the people that believe all of that about Jesus but also believe that they do have do some works...get baptized or do some ceremonies or keep some laws in order to add to their salvation?" They won't...they won't get to heaven either, they'll die in their sins and go eternally to hell. Why? Because they will not recognize that Christ alone and Christ completely is the sacrifice for sin to which nothing can be added. It is by grace through faith alone. And any attempt to add anything to it negates it, grace is no more grace. Anything you try to do to earn any part of your salvation misunderstands the sacrifice of Christ. And any misunderstanding of the meaning of Christ in His sacrifice is something less than the gospel. Believe it, Christianity or Christendom, as such, is full of people who have a lot of information about what I've just said regarding the gospel but who do not have that total trust in Jesus Christ alone being who He is and being the only and the complete sacrifice for sin, therefore trusting in nothing of their own efforts or works. Sad to say, many, many who name the name of Christ and say, "Lord, Lord, we did this, we did that," are not known to Him and will die in their sins and where He has gone they will never come."

"We use the word "world" in that way. We talk about the world of politics, the world of business, the world of medicine, the world of sports. What we mean by that is the environment or the sphere in which those things dominate. And there is a world in which we live as human beings, it is the organized system of satanic lies and deception raised up against the knowledge of God, Satan's system opposing Christ's. And in Luke 16:8 Jesus calls the unbelievers "children of the system." They buy into the ideology somewhere. The system is hostile to God, it's hostile to Christ, it is dominated by materialism. That is to say a preoccupation with that which passes away. It is dominated by humanism, the worship of man and the elevation of man's mind even to the place where he can redeem himself. It's dominated by sex, by physical fulfillment in pleasure, by carnal ambition, by pride, by greed, by self-pleasure, by self-desire. Its opinions are wrong. Its aims are selfish. Its pleasures of sinful. Its influence is demoralizing. Its politics are corrupt. Its honors are empty. Its smiles are fake. Its love is fickle, etc., etc. That's the world system. It is a lot of philosophies and psychologies and religions and ideologies that make up unregenerate, ungodly, unbiblical thinking. And it is a world that will be destroyed. The world and all that is in it will pass away, John said. And that's why he said in 1 John 2:15, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world; for anyone who loves the world can't love the Father; where there is the love of the world, the love of the Father doesn't exist."

"You want to die in your sins? Just continue in your course, just believe you're good enough the way you are. Just carry on with your love affair with human ideologies. Just refuse to believe the great truths concerning Christ. Love your sin so much that you choose the darkness and are willfully ignorant. But to do this you're going to have to stumble over the cross. That's right, you're going to have heartlessly, irreverently trample Christ's blood because you know the gospel. So you're going to have to stumble across the cross. Even this morning as we come to the Lord's table the cross is going to be demonstrated again and you're going to have to reject it again to continue the course you're in. Inconceivable, really, why will you die when you can live? Why will you not be like those many who believed and didn't want to die in their sin? Why will you not accept an atonement for your sin? That's the all encompassing question. And the answer is your self-righteous, you're good enough the way you are, you love the world too much, you refuse to believe or you love your sin and you cherish the darkness and the ignorance that comes with it. In any case, the price is eternal."

gosh, I need to pray for my friends and my coworkers and everyone i just pass by.

=_=.