If I sell my possessions do I get to heaven?
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| English: Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me” (Matt. 19:21).
God wants His children to be assured that He loves them. We can be certain of that love if we trust His promises, clinging to Him and to His people, the church. Those who despise His people despise Him. Those who claim to follow Him, yet despise His laws, do not really follow Him. But those who try to obey, trusting Him for forgiveness when they fail and living in community with other believers, have every reason to believe that they are saved.
There are some people who think they are Christians and are certain they will go to heaven when in fact they are deluded. Such people think that God will let them into heaven based on their own performance.
We can divide these people into two groups. Some have no idea what God’s law demands. They think they are Christians simply because they are nice, normal people, as measured by society. Others have an idea of what God requires, but they foolishly think they measure up. There are people, for instance, who actually believe they never sin. In their own eyes, they are perfect.
In fact, they are sadly deluded. Anyone who really understands what the Bible says about God’s requirements knows that he or she falls far, far short. Nobody who really understands God’s law can ever believe salvation is attained by his or her own good works.
Remember the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16–22? The man came to Jesus and asked how to be saved. Jesus replied that to be saved a man must keep God’s Law. The young man professed that he had done so. Was there anything else he should do?
Jesus then told him to sell all his possessions and follow Him. Was this some new, extra requirement? Is this something God requires of each of us? No, not literally. Jesus was actually testing the man in terms of the very first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Far from keeping all the law, as he had proudly announced, the rich young man failed at this first point of testing. He failed to put Jesus before everything else. Christ’s perfect fulfillment of the Law allows us to trust His righteousness, not our own. Remembering the rich young ruler, ask yourself, “Which one of the Ten Commandments might Jesus use to test me?” Your failure even in the slightest degree proves your need of a righteous Savior.
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