The belief that the purpose of receiving Christ is that we may go to Heaven when we die, and that going to Heaven is God's solution to the problem of sin in our life, is not scriptural. It cannot be supported by the Old Testament or the New Testament.

Here we have one of the fundamental beliefs of Christianity; yet it is without foundation in the Scriptures.

The purpose of accepting Christ is not to go to Heaven. This is not to say there is no Heaven for there surely is a place in the spirit realm where the Father, Jesus, and the saints and angels dwell. But the purpose of receiving and following Christ is not that we may go to live forever in the spirit Paradise. The purpose of accepting Christ is to reconcile us to God so we may be saved to God's new world of righteousness, to the Kingdom of God.

Jesus is the Way to the Father, not the way to Heaven.

I had a student argue with me one time. He said, "The Bible says Jesus is the way to Heaven." You judge.

One might exclaim, "But there is no difference!"

No difference between desiring to go to the Father and desiring to go to Heaven? Indeed, there is a very great difference between desiring to go to the Father and desiring to go to Paradise!

Multitudes of believers reveal by their actions that they care little for the Father or for His Christ. They may protest that this is not so but their lives show there are any number of things and persons more important to them than being in the Presence of God, than living in fellowship with God.

They cling to the belief that God will bring them to Heaven when they die. Do they desire to go to Heaven in order to be with God? Not at all! They desire to go to Heaven because they fear Hell and because they think they want to enter Paradise. However, they would not be content in the Paradise of God.

They do not enjoy holiness, righteousness, and obedience to God now. They do not enjoy praying or worshiping God now. Why would they enjoy such a life in the spirit realm? They would not enjoy Paradise. What they would enjoy is to continue in the sinful pleasures of the world without punishment. This is why they flock to the current preaching of "grace." They actually have no love for God or His Christ!

The Christian ministry talks much about Heaven and Hell as though Jesus came to save sinners from Hell so they could go to Heaven. This is not scriptural. The Lord Jesus referred to Hell, to the fire of Gehenna, and to outer darkness; but never to Heaven as the escape from these places. The Apostles of the Lamb had little to say about Hell or Heaven.

The Lord Jesus did not come to save sinners from Hell. Sinners belong in Hell. Jesus came to save sinners from sin so they no longer belong in Hell. When we are delivered from sinful behavior we do not belong in Hell but are fit for the Presence of God.

Do you really want to be with God and the saints? Are you sure you want to live in a place where there is no sin? Do you enjoy praising God in church? (from Deliverance from Sin)