- If you were to die this day, where will you be going?
- If you were to meet God in the gates of heaven and He were to ask, "Why should I let you in?" What is your answer?
It's crazy but somehow the only faith that I know of that has good answers to both questions is Christianity.
As a Malaysian teenager, I still recall during the high school years that we did a study of the various religions - Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, etc. The purpose is that we have an understanding of the beliefs of each faith so that we can harmoniously live with each other in a multi-racial society. Inevitably, this also gave me the exposure to each religion, what they do and what they believe will allow them to reach the higher plane of existence upon death. We call this Nirvana (Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, etc.) or Heaven (Islam, Christianity). The underlying principle of achieving the higher state is this is done through one's own efforts - by doing good, by doing philanthropy, by meditation, by regularly visiting certain places of worship, if we cannot do it at our first attempt, we try again...
So why is Christianity different? Simple: the one doing the work is not us but God himself.
It's not that difficult to fathom - basically, we are just not able. Sure, there are people who are rich and strong, charismatic and can command the masses. But all will fall...through sickness, thru mistakes. We can do 100 great things but that single mistake we do leads to our downfall. In short, we need someone perfect to come save us.
And that is what Jesus did - instead of us doing the work, He did it for us by dying on the cross and reconcile us to God. All we need to do is to say, "Yes, I accept" and the job is finished....
So the 2 answers:
- I am going to heaven because that is what Jesus said he will bring me there.
- You will let me because Jesus has died on my behalf...it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me.