By Faith

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Monday morning, the 6th of May, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Isaiah 64:6: 

“And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;…” 

Wow! That is a powerful statement made by God. Our good works, He says, are like filthy rags. 

Then we go straight to the New Testament, to the Book of Philippians 3:9: 

”…and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;…”

We will never get to Heaven by doing good deeds or by doing good works. Now, I am going to say something that is controversial and a lot of people don’t like it when they hear it, but it is the truth, and that is that good people don’t go to Heaven, believers go to Heaven. If it was good people who went to Heaven, I want to tell you that people from other faiths would get to Heaven before most of us Christians. It is not by our efforts. It is purely by faith in Jesus Christ that we get to Heaven. You say, “Well, prove it.” Do you remember the thief on the Cross? He wasn’t a good man, he deserved to die and go to hell, but just before he died, he said to Jesus, “Lord, please remember me in Heaven.” He believed that Jesus was the Son of God, and Jesus said to him, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”

I remember officiating at a funeral of a man. He wasn’t a good man, he had made many bad and poor choices in his life. His family was in a bit of a mess, he had done lots of things that he wasn’t proud of, but that man loved the Lord Jesus Christ, and at his funeral, we were standing by his grave. I said to the people, “This man is going to be with Jesus in Heaven, because I knew him and he loved God and he repented of his evil ways, and I really believe that he is going to Heaven, because good people don’t go to Heaven, believers go to Heaven.” After the service, a man who was furious, came up to me and said, “How can you say that good people don’t go to Heaven?” I said, “Because it is in the Bible, our good works are like filthy rags before God, that is what He said. We go to Heaven because we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and because we repent of all our sins.”

Today, remember it is faith in God that will save us, nothing else.

God bless you and have a good day,
Goodbye.