All who enter, WILL WIN

All who enter, WILL WIN

While watching cartoons with Isaiah there was a commercial about a contest to win a gift cards to several place to make your child’s birthday awesome. The last line of the commercial said “Many will enter. Few will win.” That phrase caught my attention. My immediate thought was I am so glad that God is not that way.

Could you imagine if the way we were able to enter into Heaven is if God put our names into a big tub, spun it around and pulled out a name like a Bingo ball? But instead He sent His son to give us Grace, so that ALL may enter. ALL WILL WIN!  How do I know that? Here is what John 3:14-18 has to say:

^“14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

John 3:15 Says EVERYONE who believes, not some, not a select few, not a random drawing of those who believe but EVERYONE!!

Okay. So you believe. Where do you go from here? Romans 10: 9-10 says

“^“9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

If you declare with your mouth and believe with your heart, YOU WILL BE SAVED!  Again, it’s not a selection process. There are no pre-requisites, no conditions, no ifs, ands or buts.  You WILL be saved.


You may say to yourself, you don’t know what I’ve done. You don’t know the things I have thought. The places I have been. But let me assure you, you have never done, thought, or been anywhere to dark that Jesus, the light of the world, cannot find you.


Here is how I know.


King David, who is said to be highly favored by God, committed adultery with Bathsheba, they conceived a child, the problem was her husband Uriah was away at war. When King David found out she was expecting he had Uriah brought home, thinking/hoping he would lay with his wife. However, Uriah refused to go home when his brethren were still on the battlefield.


When King David sent him back to war, he sent along a messenger to tell Joab to put Uriah up on the front lines and then pull back to insure Uriah’s death.


How does this relate to us…. one of the most favored Kings was an adulterer and murderer and who knows what other sins he committed. If God loved him then there is nothing we can do to remove God’s love from us.  


So how do we move forward from sin into our calling? Into the prosperous life God for us?


Psalm 51: 1-15 lays out four steps of Restoration which David took:

Confession, Cleansing, Creating and Calling.


Now I can’t claim the four parts of restoration as my own thoughts. I am doing a Bible Study Called “It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way” ByLysa Terkeurst and some of this is her words. But it is so relevant to this topic and I must share it and elaborate what I see in these words.


CONFESSION: Psalm 51:1-6

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.”

I see this as a two part step. Confession your sins and confess your faith. Lord, I know I have sinned. I have fallen short. But I believe your son Jesus Christ died for me. I have faith that you will blot out my transgressions.


CLEANSING: Psalm 51: 7-9

“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.”


This step you are using faith to believe for cleansing. Jesus spilled his blood on the cross to wash away our sins. To wash us white as snow. The cleansing process is turning from the sins we are committing and trying our very best to walk in God’s word.


CREATION: Psalm 51:10-12

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me”


God will heal the part of us that wants to commit sin and help us have an unwavering, firm purpose.


CALLING: Psalm 51:13-15

“Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
¹⁵ Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise”


This is where to Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) comes in when Jesus tell us to go into the Nations in His name and teach them his commandments. We all have a calling. We have a part to play. One thing that Lysa Terkeurst said that caught my attention was, before we can step into our full calling we must do the first three steps: Confession, Cleansing and Creation.


It can be difficult to take a good long look at our inner self and see where we need confession, cleansing and creation. But it is so worth it. At the end of my life, I look forward to hearing the words well done, good and faithful one!


Entering into Heaven’s Gates is not a contest. All who confess with their mouth and believe with their heart will enter, WILL WIN.


There are four easy steps Confession, Cleansing, Creating and Calling.

Well Done - The Afters