Obeying God On His Own Terms

Roland Worth, Jr.
Richmond, Virginia

Though men can go to Hell on any terms they wish to set for themselves (the Devil is a very flexible negotiator), they can go to Heaven only on the terms set by God and revealed through His Son, Jesus. We have all heard the song "everybody wants to go to Heaven but nobody wants to die." Equally true would be a song, "everybody wants to go to Heaven . . . if they can do it their own way."

We do not have that kind of flexibility. God does not ratify the foolish inventions of men, conjured up by mortals more interested in the illusion of progress than in obedience to the Divine will. Rather, He reveals how men should act and expects men to live up to that standard, not in violation of it or in subversion of it through hair-splitting distinctions that preserve a verbal image of obedience while gutting the substance. God wants man to be fully obedient to His will, both in act and in intention.

"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:13-14).

Truth Magazine, XVIII:23, p. 14
April 11, 1974