The Only Door to Heaven - Part 1

Welcome to this weekend's In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley. Today you'll hear the foundational message of grace, how Jesus bridges the gap between God and humanity as the only door to heaven. There is only one door into heaven. And the question is, have you ever entered that door? There are no side doors. There are no back doors. There's no trap door on the bottom, and there's none on the top. There's only one door into heaven, just one.

You say that's very narrow-minded. Well, it's very interesting that the God who created heaven is the one who said there is only one door. In fact, Jesus said it. He said, I am the door. Again, He said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Jesus Christ, who is God in the human flesh, said there is only one way to enter heaven. Now, my friend, you may have the idea that you're broad-minded and that there are many ways. Well, you have to ask yourself the question is this.

Is my broad view true or is it not true? You see, Jesus on one occasion said, except you be born again, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Again, He said, except you be born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. He said, I am the door. I am the way. I am the bread of life. I am the water of life.

I am the light of life. The truth is that the way to heaven is indeed very narrow through one person, through one experience which Jesus Christ called the new birth. So I want you to turn, if you will, to John chapter 3.

And let's see what Jesus said about this because I want to ask you two or three questions. Number one, many of you claim to be believers, that is that you are a Christian, that is you're a follower of Jesus Christ. So I want to ask you today, can you go back at some particular point in your life and say at this point or somewhere in this period of time, something happened to me that absolutely changed my life. I never have been the same since. Or are you one of those persons that would say, I've always been a church member. I've always been a Christian.

I just grew up that way. Then I want you to listen very carefully because there are multitudes of people who sit in church pews week after week who have made a decision about Jesus, made a decision about the church, made a decision about baptism, made a decision about confirmation, who will die and be eternally separated from God because they have never entered the only single door into heaven. Here's the way Jesus said it. He said if you intend to get to heaven, you must be born again. There is no exception to the law of God.

Now I know what some of you say. You say, well, that's very narrow-minded, number one. Secondly, I believe in a God who is a God of mercy and love and goodness and kindness and He would never narrow the way of salvation into one single door. And besides that, does not the Bible say that God says it's not my will that anyone should perish but that all should come to the truth? And if that's true, surely God would narrow this down to one single person and one way.

Well, my friend, the question is what is the truth? Not what do you and I feel, not what do we think, not what does our idea about life provide, but what is the truth that God teaches in His Word? So chapter 3 of John gives us that explanation. So if you'll turn there and let's read a few verses together. Now, let's give you this much freedom.

You're one of those persons who believes that there are lots of ways. All I want you to do is to be honest enough to listen to the truth of God's Word and to ask yourself a couple of questions. Let's begin in verse 1. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews. Now, the Pharisees, the leading religious group in Israel and Nicodemus, ruler of the Jews, was an instructor. He was a teacher.

He was a leader, highly respected. He was a student of the Word. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, Rabbi, teacher, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God be with him. Immediately Jesus responded to Nicodemus, Truly, truly I say to you, unless except one or anyone and everyone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus responded by saying to him, How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time to his mother's womb and be born, can he? And Jesus answered, Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, speaking of physical birth. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not marvel, and listen to what Jesus said now, Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again.

Now, let's look at it for a moment. What in the world did Jesus mean when He said, Except a man be born again? The new birth is an experience. It is a spiritual experience, and a person may have many events in their life that lead up to it so that we could say that it may cover a period of time, but the experience itself is an instantaneous momentary experience when at that given moment, a person recognizing their sinfulness and acknowledging that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sin and paid their sin debt in full confesses and repents of their sin and acknowledges their need of Christ, their dependence upon Him for the forgiveness of their sin and receives Jesus Christ by faith as their personal Savior for the forgiveness of their sins and commits themselves to the person of Jesus Christ, recognizing that Jesus Christ is none other than God Himself. That is what is called the new birth experience. The truth is that the new birth experience is exactly what God says it is. It is a new beginning.

It is a new birth. Paul said, If any man be in Christ, he has become a new creation in Christ so that a person who is born again, not only is there a forgiveness of the sin, not only is there a wiping away of the guilt, but there is the coming of the Holy Spirit into that person's life to give them a new spirit. That is, something transpires whereby a person who is born again cannot ever be what they were because they have been born into a new life. Now they have a new spirit, a new life, and that life is the Lord Jesus Christ.

That spirit is the Holy Spirit living and abiding and dwelling within them. Now, so that a person who is born again is someone who has begun a new life, a person who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, in whose life Christ has become their life, whose desires and goals should be those of God, now that they have the life of God. Now the question is why did Jesus say, You must be born again? Why couldn't He have said, Just be good.

If you'll stop doing some sin and just be good, you'll get to heaven. Here's the reason. Because all the righteousness and all the good works of man are all based on wrong motives. You say, Oh, but now wait a minute. I give to benevolent causes.

Why? The truth is, you and I could trace every single act and attitude if it is not based upon a new relationship in Jesus Christ. Ultimately, it gets back to our own sense of pride and selfishness of what it's going to do for us. He says, Not by works of righteousness which you've done, but according to His mercy He saved us. There's only one way and only one door. Now, why is it that Jesus said, You must be born again, except a man be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God. He cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Jesus says, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. What did He mean by that? Was He talking about being baptized?

No. Well, let me explain exactly what Jesus is talking about. Remember, He's talking to a Jew who is a man who does everything in his power to keep the law.

He's been through all the rights. What He's saying to him is this. It is not enough for one to be cleansed. Not only is there cleansing, He says, not only with water, but by Spirit. It is not enough for a person to be forgiven of their sin. That which makes us born again is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, the Bible says, for all of us who are saved have been baptized by one Spirit into Christ Jesus.

It is the presence of the Holy Spirit abiding and dwelling in you, which makes you a child of God, born again, sealed, the Bible says, unto the day of redemption. Now, talking about water baptism, and I'll tell you another reason He's not talking about water baptism. Jesus said, I didn't come to baptize.

If He came to seek and to save that which is lost, why did He not only teach the truth and preach the truth, but baptize those who believed in Him? Because baptism is an act of obedience that signifies and pictures beautifully what happens to every single person who is born again, because every person who is born again, first of all, having accepted Jesus Christ as personal Savior, having acknowledged that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh, repents and confesses their sins, the Bible says, they die to their old way of life buried in Christ and risen to walk a new kind of life. Baptism is an act of obedience. Baptism is a testimony, what has happened in your life, what you have done. For example, you say, well, can a person be saved without baptism? They sure can, because you're not saved by baptism. You're saved by the grace of God and follow that in baptism. I want to be baptized because I love what it represents.

I'm in love with the person of Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, the Son of the living God. He's not talking about baptism here. He says, the forgiveness of sin is one thing. It's one thing for a person to be forgiven of their sin. Listen, that's the cleansing part.

Now I've got to live my life. And so He says, unless a person is born of water and of the Spirit, that is, it is one thing to be forgiven of my sin. The Spirit of God must come into my life and to indwell me and to seal me as a child of God. So that every single believer, the Bible says, has been sealed how long? Until the day of redemption, that is, until Jesus Christ calls you home. Now, why did He say, though, that it's a must?

Not a maybe, not an ought to, not a should, not a could, but a must. He says, you must be born again, number one. The first primary reason that a person must be born again is because of the sinful condition of mankind. A person who has not been born again is dead in their Spirit to God, blind in their mind to the things of God, has no love for God, cannot communicate with God, devoted from God, and is an alien and an enemy of God.

And my friend, you cannot change all of that. The only thing that changes that is a new Spirit, a new life, which is a gift of God. The gift of God is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

God gives the gift of His Spirit to those who are willing to receive Him. So first of all, there has to be a transformation of character. Secondly, because God wants to develop a relationship with us, there must be a change. And that change is a transformation of a person's Spirit, whereby now in trouble the Holy Spirit, you and I, on the level of our Spirit, communicate with God. Now we talk to Him with our lips, but it is in our Spirit, our Spirit with His Spirit, that you and I relate to Him.

Likewise, the Bible says that you and I have a new destiny. Listen, my friend, many of you who think you're going to heaven, who have no love for God, no devotion to Him, no desire for His Word, no hunger for Him, you do not go to church except when it is convenient, you do not believe in a judgment, your God is a God of all mercy and all goodness and all love. My friend, listen, let me tell you why you're not going to heaven. First of all, your whole idea of heaven is distorted. Heaven is a place for holy people. Heaven is a place for righteous people. Heaven is a place for those who love God and cherish God and who have a desire for Him. You mean to tell me that you think that you're going to live your life down here, no devotion, no love for God, no hunger, no thirst for Him, no forgiveness of your sin, but only in your good works. And one of these days, having lived your life in the flesh like you choose, one of these days you're going to die and go to heaven, do you not realize that you would be totally out of place? You'd be absolutely miserable up there with the rest of us. Because we're going up there because we love the Lord Jesus Christ, our sins have been forgiven, washed in the blood, cleansed, we've been clothed in the righteousness of Christ and we want to live all of eternity loving Him and praising Him and serving Him and you don't want to do any of that down here and you mean to tell me that you think you're going?

No way. My friend, one of the reasons he said you must be born again is because that's the only way you can be made acceptable in the eyes of God. Everything else is human effort. I know you see that broad idea of, well, listen, don't be narrow-minded. There are other faiths in the world besides the Christian faith. Now, I'm not talking about whether you're a Baptist or Presbyterian or a Roman Catholic or anything else. I'm just talking about the truth of God's Word. He says there's only one way to get to heaven. Jesus said, I'm the door. I am it. You say, well, that's narrow-minded.

Let me ask you a question. Would you call God narrow-minded? And if that's narrow-mindedness, would you not agree that if God is omniscient, He must have had a very specific, clear, divine reason for making all of man's redemption for all of mankind be channeled through one person, Jesus Christ? You see, if you're not born again by the Spirit of God and your sin debt paid by Christ, then who's going to pay your sin debt?

You say, well, I'm going to pay it. Do you know the only way you can pay your sin debt is to die and to be eternally separated from God because the Bible says the wages of sin is physical, spiritual, eternal death, period. So you see, all of your good works and joining the church and listening to sermons and all of these things, none of that's going to get you to heaven.

And here's the tragedy that multiplied millions of people who sit in churches week after week, who passively come and give a little money and stand up when the prayer time comes, sing a song or, you know, it's part of their social life. This is a wonderful place to find friends, but primarily it's the place to find Jesus. When you find Him, you find life's greatest friend. You can have all the friends in the world without Him and you're friendless. Because when you get to torment where there are flames and outer darkness, friendship won't count anymore.

You see, there isn't any other way. I know you think you're broad-minded and I know that you think, well, anybody who's so narrow-minded to think that Jesus is the only way that something's wrong with them. Is something wrong with God? Did God make a mistake?

Did Jesus blow it somewhere when He said, you must be born again? You see, here's the reason He said you must be. He knows the character of man. He knows our ultimate destination.

He knows what it takes to communicate with us. He knows what it takes to develop a relationship with us and He knows that means a total transformation of character that is a newness of life, that is the giving of a new spirit, a new creation in Christ Jesus, becoming something we've never been. In order to be somebody we never have been. And remember He said He predestined you and me to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. Do you think you could ever grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ apart from having a new spirit, a new desire? Who is it that places that hunger and thirst and yearning in our heart for God?

It is Christ living on the inside of me that places that hunger there. He said you must be born again. And if you think that's narrow-minded, I'm here to tell you, friend, that's exactly right. He says narrow is the way.

Narrow is the gate. Few there be that find it and who are they? Those who drop their pride, their arrogance, their selfishness, their self-righteousness and acknowledge they are destitute before God to do anything about their sin problem and acknowledge that His death on the cross paid for their sins in full and in confession and repentance received Jesus Christ as personal Savior. That is the only hope you'll ever have of getting to heaven. And there's not a single verse in all of God's Bible from Genesis the Revelation that even implies hints at in any way that you can get to heaven apart from a saving faith in Jesus Christ. Thank you for listening to The Only Door to Heaven. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.