Can love get you to heaven?

Answer 1

Genesis 26:4,5 says: "And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." Reward for obedience gave Abraham certain blessings and promises. Yet it was faith that made a right relationship with God. "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Romans 4:3.

In Jeremiah 7:23, it reminds Israel: "But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you." Verse 24, however, shows their failure, a consistent pattern with man: "But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward." Jeremiah would later say: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" We fail at truly loving God and doing His will.

In this failure the Prophet Samuel points out: And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." 1 Samuel 15:22,23. God's chosen people often rebelled.

Yet, it is God's love and mercy, not man's failing efforts that makes the difference: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (for our sins)." Romans 5:8. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10. This love makes the way for us to be forgiven, and to be made right with God, giving us eternal life, or the blessing of going to Heaven.

After we have taken the step to trust God for our forgiveness and salvation from sin, we then can be led of God to properly love Him and mankind, for whom Christ had died. But this is a mark of unbelief: "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." 1 John 4:8. "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." 1 John 4:11,12. Then, as in v. 16, we have the capacity to love as God loves: "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."

Through Christ we can truly fulfill the Great Commandment, as Jesus ed the Scribe: "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." Mark 12:30. This involves obeying the first four of the Ten Commandments. As Christ continued: "And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." v. 31. This involves keeping the last six of the Ten Commandments. The problem is nobody has done this perfectly, thus has "sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23.

But because of God's love, He has made the way possible to go to Heaven and to be made righteous through Christ, thus gaining Heaven: "For He (God) hath made Him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21. Christ paid for our sins, so that by trust in Him we can be fitted for Heaven. Yes, love can get you to Heaven. But it depends on how that love is expressed. Different belief systems have different teachings in this regard, but a fundamental tenant through many religions is that we should demonstrate compassion for our brothers and sisters across all walks of life.