Once upon a time, an old man, a moral man, died. He walked along a path looking for The Gate to enter heaven. The first gate he came to had the inscription “The Gate of Good Deeds” posted high up on the iron bars. He clanged the iron door knocker, and waited for the gatekeeper. Surely my good deeds – giving a hitchhiker a ride, paying for a neighbor’s storm-damaged tree to be hauled away, giving to the poor – would count in my favor, he reasoned. I’m sure of it.
The gatekeeper did not smile as he said, “God desires that everyone do good deeds and to be kind. However, good deeds alone will not gain entrance for you. I am sorry for you.” After hearing that he was denied entrance, the old man with shoulders slumped, turned and walked away.
The old man continued his walk until he came to the next gate: “Gate of Regular Church Attendance.” He rubbed his hands together
in anticipation of being admitted to heaven. Again, he clanged the iron knocker. He looked expectantly toward the gatekeeper as he made his way to the gate. The gatekeeper said, “You have come to my gate, but I do not have a key to open it. You see, going to church, even if you attended regularly, is not enough to be admitted to glory .” When the old man hung heard those words, he hung his head and walked away.
With shoulders slumped and head down, the old man continued his walk. It was not long before he came to the gate with this inscription: “Gate of the Ten Commandments.” It was here he began to weep. He remembered the words he had heard in church, “No one can keep the Ten C
ommandments perfectly, and they are not meant to save you. They are only a guide to lead you to the One who can save you; the One who died to pay for your sins.” He began to understand that he was not rewarded for the good things he had done in his life, but rather he was judged for his sins. He did not even raise his hand to the door knocker as the heaviness of guilt and shame of his many unconfessed sins brought him to despair.
As the old man turned to walk away, he notice that this gate, like all the other gates, had never been opened. Then he spied another gate – a much narrower gate – and was amazed to see a young man being welcomed into heaven. He ran to “The Gate of Faith.” The gatekeeper had very kind eyes and the old man looked hopefully into them. “Have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior? Have you believed in His name?” The gatekeeper’s words were tender.
The old man wept uncontrollably. “No. I knew about Him, but I never…” He sobbed so much he could not speak. He trembled as he heard his sentence: Eternity separated from God, where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. The old man looked in the distance and saw a gate with the inscription above: “Those who enter here have no hope.” “Please, please,” he begged, but the gatekeeper just shook his head slowly.
If only I would have believed, I would gladly have done good deeds, I would have delighted to go to church, and I would have been eager to let the ten commandments be a guide to the Savior. If I only had faith. If only…
Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one come to the Father, but through Me.” John 14:6