Joseph
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
- Do you have to be perfect and not sin
at all to get into Heaven?
- If not, then what does the Bible say about
getting to Heaven?
Joseph
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Do
you have to be perfect
to get into Heaven and, if not, what does the Bible say on
getting there? }
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John
replied:
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Joseph,
The answer is yes we have to be perfected to
get to Heaven, however, we can't
be perfected by our own strength.
We are saved by grace through faith,
as Paul wrote to the Ephesians. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Salvation is a dynamic process by
which Christ who begins a good work
in us is faithful to complete it, (as
Paul wrote to the Philippians)
(Philippians 1:6), but we must, through our free will,
cooperate with that work of grace.
We must surrender to Christ, first
accepting Him by faith, and then
by being obedient to His Church.
Grace is not only some external or
forensic means by which we are declared
righteous. It is also the power of
God in our lives to:
- be what He wants us to be, and
- do what He wants us to do.
As John wrote in his Gospel:
to them that believed, He gave
the power to become sons of God.
(John 1:12)
John
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Paul
replied:
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Joseph,
With respect to the question you
asked, the only perfect people who
ever lived are Jesus and Mary.
No, you don't have to be perfect;
only forgiven. Christ's crucifixion
won for us the opportunity to be
forgiven; and forgiveness enables
us to be in union with God.
- That gets us to Heaven and what
does forgiveness require?
Faith in the Forgiver, who is God
through Christ (and through His
priests in the sacrament of Confession).
It requires true contrition, a resolution
to follow Christ to receive His Grace
and do His Will. We may not be perfect
in this, the Christian life, but
it is in the perseverance of this
process that God saves us.
In short, it is the Love of God that
saves us, and our openness to that
Love by the cooperation of our lives.
Peace,
Paul
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