Some two weeks ago I WhatsApp to friends in a chat group the reasons why I think it is very difficult to enter heaven, following another question someone asked me a question what would I like to be if I was given another chance to be a king, queen, president of a country, prime minister, millionaire, a professional as a scientist, doctor and researcher once again here:
Question: What Would I Like to Be If Given a Chance to Be Born Again?
I also explain why it is very difficult for a human animal to enter heaven.
Following that, I received a reply seeking permission from a friend by the name of Mr. Hor Meng Yew in the chat group if he may give his reply in the same WhatsApp chat group? I assured him it is definitely fine with me, as ours is to share.
Here’s what he replied:
I refer to the post by Dr Lim JB some time ago about the conversation between the rich young ruler and Jesus in the New Testament in Matthew chapter 19 verse 16 to 22. The concluding remarks of the post was that it is quite impossible for us to enter heaven. It was rather discouraging. So, I looked up the passage and read it through. I noticed that Jesus had a discussion with His disciples following the conversation from verses 23 to 30.
In verse 25 the disciples had the same feeling of not being able to enter heaven " When the disciples heard it they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?""
Jesus replied in verse 26, " But Jesus looked at them and said to them, with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.""
Moreover, in Luke chapter 23 verse 16 Jesus said to one of the thieves who was crucified next to Him, " And Jesus said to him," Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise."" All the thief did was to humbly admit his sins and through faith sought Jesus' help and he certainly had no opportunity to do any good works. This is not to say that we do not need to do good works but to illustrate that salvation is not earned by doing good works. Salvation is God's free gift to us which we receive by confessing that we have sinned against God and profess faith in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. Thus, we receive eternal life from Jesus Christ. After having done this, we submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who guides and empowers us to live the new life in Jesus Christ.
Jesus also said in John chapter 10 verses 28 and 29, " _And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."
Jesus said in John chapter 14 verse 16, " And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever."
And in verse 18," I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."
We as believers in Jesus Christ are not meant to make it alone. As we journey on our new life in Jesus Christ, He will walk with us in the person of the Holy Spirit. This is why it is important to cultivate a close relationship with God.
In the model prayer that Jesus gave us in Luke chapter 11 verses 2 to 4, He included this, ". . . And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us."
So, Jesus anticipates that we will not be perfect and have a need to confess and repent of our sins on our journey of sanctification which will make us more and more like Jesus Christ and good works will be produced.
So, God with our side we will surely make it to heaven.
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Here’s my reply to Mr. Hor.
Thank you for your views Hor Meng Yew
This will give us hope if these were the words actually came from the mouth of Jesus. Unfortunately, most of the books and verses written in the Bible were not written by Jesus as Jesus did not write a single word by Him or about Him.
All the books in the New Testament were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and later after Jesus died it was Paul or one of his followers or an apostle who wrote all those love letters (epistles) to the early churches throughout the Mediterranean and Asia Minor.
For instance, it is often believed that Jesus changed Saul's name to Paul on the road on his way to Damascus when the Lord Jesus commissioned him to take the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 9:1–19). However, at the time of Saul’s conversion, Jesus still addressed him as “Saul.” Later, Jesus told Ananias to find “Saul” in Damascus and restore his sight. Acts 9 goes on to describe “Saul” as increasing in spiritual strength and understanding of Jesus as the Messiah. So, it was not Jesus who changed his name on the road to Damascus. But it was and still believed it was Jesus who changed his name from Saul to Paul. Actually, Paul's Jewish name was "Saul" and I do not think it was Jesus who changed his name
Unfortunately, most of those verses you mentioned were written by Paul when Paul was just another preacher to the early churches similar to all the preachers, pastors, elder brothers, workers, etc, in today’s modern churches.
Just like Paul all of the churches today have their own personal versions of what Jesus taught. That's why all the churches today take their own way, and change the names of their churches differently from others just like Saul changing his name to “Paul”.
Furthermore, what was taught and written by all the four books of the gospel by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were different from what were written by Paul, and I do not think Jesus gave all those easy promises into heaven as Paul did as well as the current modern churches do the easy way.
I think it is still very difficult to enter heaven unless we are prepared to give up everything material, especially our wealth and possessions and follow Jesus with nothing
As far as I am concerned, I don’t think I have the slightest chance as given in Luke 18:24-34 here:
24 Jesus looked at him and said, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' 26 Those who heard this asked, 'Who then can be saved?' 27 Jesus replied, 'What is impossible with men is possible with God.'
28 Peter said to him, 'We have left all we had to follow you!' 29 'I tell you the truth,' Jesus said to them, 'no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.'
‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it’
(Matthew 7:13) and I don’t think Paul will wish to write and remind the early church members these. So, Paul made it easier for others to enter heaven as the first preacher. I am always reminded that Satan is not sleeping and is always active to cause humans to stray away taking the easy way, many not even believing there is a God, let alone Jesus.
Somehow, something made me write to tell that 99.9999 % of everything we buy and possess in life except only food and water we don’t even use at all or use only once and twice and hang up somewhere in the house to collect dust till we die to forcefully release every atom of what we gather here in this world.
I think we need to be extremely, extremely careful not to take the easy way thinking that it is the grace of God through Jesus that any Dick, Tom, and Harry who merely believe that Jesus is the Son of God and do nothing else than just believing will enter heaven.
Personally, I don’t think it is as easy as that for sure, and I don’t think I have that chance. Our question is, are we willing and prepared to give up everything in life, everything that is material except food as much as Jesus did who had nothing in life when He came to this world to tell us how to enter heaven. I am strongly reminded of the rich man and Lazarus who had nothing in life and was rewarded in heaven, and I think this belief is also held by Chinese traditional cultures who have nothing to do with Christian beliefs. I don’t think I have a chance by taking the easy way as was clearly said by Jesus in the 2 or 3 above and other verses elsewhere.
The example of the thief whom you quoted who was crucified along with Jesus may not have anything in life to cause him to steal. It could also be an exception or a grace given personally by Jesus in their last moments in life on earth.
All they send in the chat group is about local politics, or about covid or about damaging effects of vaccines all the time with no other fresh ideas using their own knowledge
Nevertheless, I thank you Meng Yew for your views which I appreciate and perhaps we need to consider. But we still need to be extremely careful not to take the easiest way, which of course is the path of the least resistance, and I don’t think going to church every Sunday to hear the easy way to heaven is going to help (Matthew 7:13). Jesus has never asked us to go to church made of bricks, stones, bricks, cement and concrete, let alone on Sunday, and I have no clue who wrote that instructions – definitely not Mathew, Luke, John, Mark or even Paul
But I know that Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 this:
‘And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’.
I think Jesus was referring to a living church, and not one made of bricks, sand, cement and concrete.
The word ‘living’ here means our hearts to surrender to all we have in this life and temporary world, and NOT a non-living church made of bricks, cement and stones the easy way.
That was the reason why I wrote that I want to be a just a simple animal living in the wild than to be a human animal living here in this temporary world if given a chance to be physically born again
I wrote my reasons here:
https://scientificlogic.
My problem wanting this is that we ask for unnecessary things in life, and the risk of losing our soul after that, when none, absolutely none of all other non-human animals need all those things that only human animals like myself need
I have much to write that even animals and all living creatures too have a soul and all of them will be transferred to another world to live happily there as they are now here in this world except human animals like myself. None of the animal’s sin like us, and none of them need a prophet or Jesus to come down to teach them how to live, in order to enter into another world or heaven after death
Somehow all those things I wrote and did for the last few years seemed guided by His Hand and were not my own since as a child I have always ask for vision and wisdom to be guided. I have never asked for wealth or to strike a lottery. I only asked for wisdom to be guided
They all seemed to fall in line since my working days and especially before this Covid pandemics started in 2018 I was unknowingly guided to study how life started and evolved and on completion went to study astronomy especially on life elsewhere in this Universe.
Then came all these verses in the Bible that fell in line with all that I learned at Cambridge and Oxford in 2018 till 2020
I think God has guided me all along in this world, but I am unsure if this will give me a place in heaven?
I personally think is extremely difficult to enter heaven as I have just written in reply to Mr Hor Meng Yew views which I have also posted here along with my reply
Lim ju boo
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