Introduction

There are so many people in the religious world today who believe that they are Christians and will go to Heaven but haven’t actually done what was asked of them by Jesus or God the Father, himself.

Jesus said, during his sermon on the mount, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

The emphasis is placed on, “the will of My Father”. This is all about obedience. Jesus also said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16) And yet, people don’t believe that baptism is essential. Below are some examples of individuals who were very religious but condemned due to a lack of obedience.

Those Condemned Because They Didn’t Obey

The individual known as the Rich Young Ruler (Mt. 19:16-22; Mk. 10:17-22; Lk. 18:18-23) was a very religious individual. He stated that he knew all the commandments from a child up. And he knew he lacked something and asked Jesus what was missing. However, when he was told what he must do, he turned down the idea and went away sorrowfully.

Many misinterpret this story that Jesus expects everyone to give up their riches and yet there’s no scripture to support it. The facts here are that this young man was very religious but is condemned to suffer eternal punishment because he wasn’t obedient.

Another example is that of King Agrippa (Acts 26:1-32). We know from this chapter that the king was well-educated in the scriptures and, according to Paul, knew what the prophets taught (vs. 27). However, when given the opportunity to obey, he dodged the situation and made light of it (vs. 28, 30). This shows obedience to the faith is just as important as simply being religious or simply believing.

Those Condemned but then Obeyed

In Acts 10 we are introduced to a man named Cornelius. Let’s look the first two verses, There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always (Acts 10:1-2).

Here we see he is a very religious man with his whole household and yet he was not saved. The reason is that he was instructed by an angel to send for Peter and, “He will tell you what you must do.” (vs. 6) Had he, and his household already been saved, the angel wouldn’t have told his to send for Peter. He would have told him that he was already saved. Again, obedience is key as well as “doing something”.

By the end of the chapter, we see Cornelius and his whole household baptized as they obeyed the commands of Jesus that were confirmed in the preaching of the word by the apostle Peter.

Another example is that of Saul of Tarsus who later became the apostle Paul. We are first introduced to Saul near the end of Acts 7 when Stephen was stoned to death. Those who participated laid their clothes at the feet of Saul (vs. 58). Although he may not have been an actual participant of the stoning, he had consented by being there and guarding the clothes like a coat check clerk.

But we know that he was a well-studied and very religious individual (Acts 22:3; Phil. 3:5-6). Yet, even with all this knowledge he was still condemned to an eternity in Hell as he yet knew not the truth of Jesus.

It was on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, that the truth was revealed to him and Jesus had Ananias sent to him to preach the gospel to him (Acts 22:12-16). Again, it was through obedience to the gospel that Saul was saved as he was baptized and added to the church (Acts 2:47).

Conclusion

As you can see, being religious, being a strong student of the scriptures, or simply believing that Jesus is The Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross for the sins of all is not enough to put you on the road to Heaven. It’s through the obedience of God’s word.

So many people say that they love God but don’t show it. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) Prove your love through the obedience of God’s word and His Will (Mt. 7:21).