Who do you think will be in heaven? Jesus told a parable about 2 sons to answer this and challenged the proud and judgmental religious leaders of His day who liked to look down on others.
“But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.
“Which of the two obeyed his father?”
They replied, “The first.”
Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.” (Matthew 21:28-32 (NLT)
People will not be living in the new heavens and new earth because of what they believed, what they said or how they lived their lives. We are all miserable sinners so none of us deserve to be in the Kingdom of God so we can’t earn our way to eternal life.
We will only be living eternally with Jesus if we humbly turn to God for mercy and grace, responding to the invitation God has given us through Jesus. As Jesus said, that means that corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes who repent will be in the heavenly kingdom before the righteous and religious churchgoers. That means that there is nothing on earth that you have done that will keep you out of the Kingdom of heaven.
All it takes is for you to make one decision to make Jesus your Lord and Saviour.
Lord Jesus. I come to you as I am. I am sorry for all the shameful things I have done in my life. Please forgive me of all the evil. I want you to be in charge of my life. In Jesus I thank you, Amen.