When people think about salvation, there are lots of ideas which fill their minds. In Revelation 21, John describes a vision of “the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” This magnificent city has twelve gates comprised of “twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl.”
Portraits of people standing before the “pearly gates” are ubiquitous in our society. These scenarios often involve a person of some celebrity or notoriety. Oftentimes they’re humorous. But the idea of standing in judgment before Almighty God is of the utmost seriousness.
Catholics Christians especially imagine St. Peter guarding the gate of heaven, based on Matthew 16, where Jesus declares, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Evangelicals picture a similar scene, but with Jesus himself at the judge and heavenly gatekeeper.
Revelation 20 describes “a book of life” containing the names of those who will be welcomed into God’s kingdom. But what precisely qualifies a person to be included in the book of life?
Evangelicals often insist that “faith alone” is the key, with “faith” being defined as belief or trust, completely independent of human effort or action. I’ve argued at length that this is inadequate. The Greek word often translated as “faith” also includes the concepts of fidelity, loyalty & allegiance. True Biblical faith goes beyond mere belief in Jesus; it requires loyalty to him in thought, word and deed. The best definition of a Christian is a person who follows Jesus.
Once we grasp this central truth, we can readily understand why the scriptures consistently affirm that at the final judgment, our conduct will determine our eternal destiny. God will vindicate those who have demonstrated allegiance to King Jesus by repenting of sin and pursuing righteousness. But those who reject the authority of Jesus and persist in wickedness will be condemned.
The scenario of people standing before the pearly gates of heaven has some strengths, but also some glaring weaknesses.
Strengths: The Bible affirms that there will indeed be a decisive moment when all human beings will face God’s judgment. And Jesus the Messiah will be the one who will execute God’s judgment. As the Apostle Paul writes, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
Weaknesses: As this blog has often discussed, God’s future is not to evacuate his people to some heavenly realm, but rather to rescue the creation itself. God will one day destroy all the dark and evil forces which seek to corrupt his world. Those people who have chosen to remain in rebellion against his authority will be condemned. The creation which we presently inhabit will be cleansed and restored, so that it might become the glorious place God always intended.
Another substantial weakness of “the pearly gates” scenario is that the entire emphasis falls upon the moment of judgment. Christians seldom consider what’s beyond the pearl gates. What does God have in store for us in eternity?
In order to answer this question, we must consider why God created humans in the first place. The creation account tells us, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (Genesis 1:26)
God fashioned human beings so that they might govern the creation wisely, allowing the world to flourish & thrive. When people properly reflect God’s character, the world is full of abundance, joy, peace and life.
Of course, the scriptures describe how humans utterly failed to fulfill this noble vocation. The man and the woman ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They rejected the wisdom and goodness of the creator and instead sought to become gods themselves, determining right & wrong. Human rebellion plunged the world into violence, misery and death.
In Psalm 8, King David reflects in wonder upon the fact that God has given mankind the noble task of reigning over his creation: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You have made him a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.”
When the Bible speaks about salvation, we must always keep God’s original intentions in the forefront of our minds. Far too many Christians mistakenly believe that our God-given responsibility to exercise dominion over the world was merely a temporary assignment, merely a prelude to our eternity in “heaven.” But this is manifestly not the case!
Biblical salvation has nothing to do with people escaping to heaven. In fact, it’s precisely the opposite. True salvation involves bringing the rule & reign of God back to earth. It’s important to notice that in Revelation 21, God’s holy city descends from heaven to earth. God will not abandon his handiwork, but is determined cleanse his world from sin and death.
This task requires restoring human beings to the exalted role given them at the beginning. The New Testament insists that Jesus is the ideal human being, perfectly reflecting the image of God. The Apostle Paul writes, “[Jesus] is the image of God, the invisible one.” Or as the book of Hebrews says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” As such, Jesus is the one human being who is fully qualified to govern God’s creation.
But that is not all. For God intends that all his people will share in the glorious reign of the Messiah. This reality is reflected in passages like Revelation 5, which records a song of praise to Jesus the slaughtered lamb: “With your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
God’s entire plan and purpose is to conform his people to the likeness of Jesus so that we too might be fit to govern the redeemed creation. This amazing reality will not be completely achieved until we are raised from the dead. Our resurrection bodies will be totally empowered by the Holy Spirit. Sin & death will no longer have any hold on us. But we are called in the present time to anticipate God’s future by striving (in the power of the Holy Spirit) to become the kind of human beings that one day we shall be.
Armed with this knowledge, we may now reflect further upon the concept of salvation. Full and complete salvation requires human beings who are completely filled with God’s Spirit, perfectly imitating the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve often made the biblical case that altered human behavior is necessary for salvation. But when we bear in mind God’s ultimate plan for humanity, this claim becomes a matter of sheer logic. In order for us to share in Jesus’ reign over the earth, our conduct must be radically altered. We need to be completely conformed to the character of our Lord.
The scenario of the pearly gates focuses upon the decisive moment of judgment. Will we be welcomed into God’s kingdom or shut out? But it’s important to remember that the final judgment is inextricably bound up with God’s future purposes. These realities are organically connected in a way that cannot be severed.
This is why the Bible insists that behavior is the key for inclusion in the Lamb’s book of life: “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
