The Scale

When I was in Bible College, one of the requirements was to do a door-to-door survey. Among the series of questions we were to ask was, "In your opinion, how do you get to heaven? The vast majority answered by doing something: Keeping the Ten Commandments, obeying the Golden Rule, or just doing the best you can. In most world religions, man has always tried to earn his way to heaven. Matthew 19:16

After 30+ years of ministry, I have discovered the formula that most people believe that will get them into heaven. It is the principle of the scale. In the past, merchants would use a pair of balance scales to weight goods. On one side was a true weight and on the other were to goods to be purchased. When the scales "balanced" you knew you were getting the exact amount you were paying for.

In the spiritual realm, people have a set of "scales" in their mind. On one side is all the good things they have done in life, on the other is all the bad things. They reason as long as they have done more good than bad, that should grant them admission into heaven. They trust their eternal destiny on this principle. But their logic is false. Two problems come to my mind.

1. No one can ever be sure if they have done enough 'good works' to grant them entrance to heaven. After all, how much is enough?
2. The Bible clearly states that nothing WE DO will merit us eternal life. Romans 3:20  Ephesians 2:9 Scripture clearly teaches that only by trusting what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross will we enter heaven. His death paid for ALL our sins and by confessing our sins to Him and receiving Him as our personal Savior and Lord is all that is needed for eternal life.

Remember it is never Jesus PLUS something else. Jesus is all we need.