đď¸ Filthy rags before a holy gate...
You canât enter heaven clothed in sin. Only Christ can make you clean. âď¸đÂ
You are not fit for heaven. Not even close.
Too much sin.
Too much rebellion.
Too much self.
You canât waltz into a holy place clothed in corruption. You canât enter Godâs perfect Kingdom soaked in the very sin He died to rescue you from. Heaven is holy. God is holy. And you're not. Thatâs not a cheap insultâitâs a soul-level warning. You're unfit for heaven. Can you handle that?
The most devout men of Jesusâ dayâchief priests, scribes, Phariseesâwere utterly unfit for heaven. They preached sermons, memorized Scripture, wore the garments of religion... and still stood condemned. Why? Because their hearts were unwashed. Their pride was untouched. Their sin remained. And the same is true for you. And for me.
Thereâs not a single human being who can stand before God and say, âI deserve heaven.â
Not one.
We are all infected by sin. All polluted.
All guilty.
All unfit.
Except Jesus.
He alone walked this earth in flesh and bloodâtempted in every way, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He didnât just come to set an example. He came to do what we could never doâmake us fit for the presence of a holy God.
đ Nicodemus came by night...
But he left with a truth that could only come from heaven: âYou must be born again.â (John 3:3) đď¸đĽÂ
You can call yourself Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, Reformed, Orthodoxâor just âChristianââbut if youâve never been born again, as Jesus told Nicodemus, then you are still unfit for heaven (John 3:3,7).
Nicodemus was a Pharisee. A theologian. A ruler.
He kept the laws, wore the robes, held the titles... and Jesus looked him in the eye and said, âYou must be born again.â
Nicodemus didnât come to argue. He came with respect. He approached Jesus at nightâperhaps in secrecy, perhaps in humilityâand began with flattery: âRabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs unless God is with him.â But Jesus had no time for empty admiration. He didnât let Nicodemus settle into a theological discussion about miracles. Jesus cut straight to the heart of the matter: âUnless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.â No warm-up. No small talk. Just truth.
And what became of old Nicodemus? Did he ever truly believe? Scripture doesnât give us a full biographyâbut it gives us a glimpse. After Jesus was crucified, it was Nicodemusâalong with Joseph of Arimatheaâwho came to prepare the Lordâs body for burial. The same man who came by night now came by daylight, carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes, costly and weighty. Was he a secret follower? Perhaps. But by then, it was no secret. When others scattered, Nicodemus stepped forward. Quiet, faithful, and forever changed.
Somewhere between that midnight conversation and that late-afternoon burial, something happened in Nicodemus. The rigid robes of religion had started to unravel, thread by thread, until all that remained was a man quietly surrendering to the truth. Thatâs what being born again does. It replaces pretense with conviction, pride with repentance, fear with faith. Nicodemus started with credentialsâbut he ended with Christ. And thatâs the only way anyone becomes fit for heaven.Â
In that moment, his goodness meant nothing â and Godâs standard meant everything. đââď¸đâď¸đĽÂ
Let me ask you something.
Do you think you're good enough for heaven?
Most people do. We measure our goodness by comparison: âAt least Iâm not a murderer... I give to charity... I try to be nice.â
But God doesnât grade on a curve.
He judges by His law. His standard. His holiness.
Have you ever lied?
Stolen anything, even as a child?
Used Godâs name in vain?
Lusted?
Hated someone in your heart?
You just admitted you're a liar, a thief, a blasphemer, an adulterer at heart, andâaccording to 1 John 3:15âa murderer in spirit.
Thatâs not my judgment. Thatâs Godâs.
And if He were to judge you by His Ten Commandments today, you would be declared guilty on every count. Not because Heâs cruel, but because Heâs just.
You may think those sins are small, but in Godâs eyes, theyâre seriousâdeadly serious. Thatâs why Scripture says, âThe wages of sin is deathâ (Romans 6:23). Even a single sin carries the weight of eternal judgment. So when you stand before the holy standard of Godâs law, there wonât be any hiding behind your good deeds, religious background, or church attendance. The question wonât be whether you tried hard or meant wellâthe question will be: Were you born again? Were you washed, forgiven, and clothed in the righteousness of Christ?
We like to think of sin as behavior, but at its root, sin is rebellionâturning our backs on the God who made us. And rebellion, even when itâs dressed in decency, is still rebellion. God's courtroom isn't swayed by reputation or rĂŠsumĂŠ. On judgment day, only one covering will standâthe righteousness of Christ. Nothing else will do.
đĽ âYouâve Walked This Far⌠But Youâre Not Ready for Whatâs Next.â
The glow on the wall isnât a warningâitâs a verdict. âď¸đЏđłď¸
(Romans 6:23 â âFor the wages of sin is deathâŚâ)
âThe wages of sin is deathâ (Romans 6:23). Thatâs not poetic exaggeration. Itâs a divine legal declarationâa just sentence pronounced on every sinner, including you and me. In Godâs courtroom, there is no plea deal for being âmostly moral.â No spiritual probation for the churchgoing crowd. Sin is treason against a holy God, and the only fitting sentence is deathâspiritual death, eternal death, separation from the very One who gave us life.
God doesnât grade on a curve. He doesnât wink at rebellion or overlook ârespectable sins.â We imagine heaven as a reward for decency, but Godâs standard has never been âdecent.â Itâs perfect holiness. Heaven isnât for the well-behaved. Itâs not for the charitable, the kind-hearted, or even the deeply religious. Heaven is for the redeemedâthose who have been washed clean, forgiven, and made new by the blood of Jesus. And that redemption came at an unspeakable cost.
This isnât fear-mongeringâitâs reality. If a holy God were to let sin into heaven, it would no longer be heaven. His justice demands payment. His righteousness demands separation from all that is evil. And the sobering truth is this: no amount of religious effort, personal sacrifice, or moral behavior can pay the debt you owe. You could spend your entire life doing good deeds and still fall short of the perfection required to stand in God's presence. Thatâs the devastating weight of Romans 6:23âit doesnât just describe death as a consequence; it reveals death as the earned result of sin. And unless somethingâor Someoneâintervenes, that death sentence stands forever.
You havenât just made mistakesâyouâve earned a wage. Death. Thatâs your paycheck for a life infected by sin. And whether youâve committed big sins or ârespectableâ sins, the verdict is the same: Guilty. And the sentence? Death. Eternal separation from God. A hell you didnât just stumble into, but a hell your sins earned you. But before you shut this page or scroll past this momentâlisten. Because what comes next isnât just good newsâitâs the best news you will ever hear.
Your good deeds?
Filthy rags. Grease-stained remnants of a life still soaked in sin (Isaiah 64:6).
You canât wash yourself clean.
But Jesus can.
God saw your helpless condition and sent His Sonânot to condemn, but to redeem. Jesus lived the perfect life you couldnât. He fulfilled every command you broke. And then He stood in your place.
He took your sentence.
He died your death.
He absorbed the full wrath of God that had your name on it.
And just before He gave up His last breath, He said three world-shaking words: âIt is finished.â
The debt was paid.
The ransom settled.
The veil torn.
The door to heaven unlocked.
đśââď¸ He walked out of his old lifeâ
and heaven robed him in grace.
đď¸ No more shame. â No more striving. âď¸ Just Jesus.
(Romans 13:14)Â
Thereâs only one way to be made fit for heaven: You must be born again.
You must repent of your sinsânot just feel bad, but turn from them with sorrow and a deep hatred for the sin that separates you from God, confessing your need for mercy.Â
Then you must trust Jesus aloneânot your church, not your baptism, not your record, not your âinner lightââjust Jesus, crucified and risen.
Thatâs it.
Repent.
Believe.
Be born again.
đ¨ď¸ Max Lucado put it this way:
âImagine a perfect, holy God who receives sinners into His presence. How can this be? Because we are clothed in Christ. Apart from Him, God is inaccessible. But in Him? We are welcome.â
God is not asking you to get your act together first.
Heâs not demanding perfection.
Heâs offering pardon.
Right now.
You donât have to clean yourself up. You come to Him dirty, and He washes you clean. You come with filthy rags, and He clothes you in His Sonâs righteousness.
Heaven isnât for the proud, the polished, or the religious.
Itâs for the redeemed.
Itâs for the forgiven.
Itâs for those who cry out, âGod, have mercy on me, a sinner!â
Donât stand before God on Judgment Day hoping Heâll overlook your sin.
He wonât.
But He will remove itâif you come to Christ now.
Today is the day.
Donât wait.
Your soul is on the line.
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Everything you need is right there.