Happy Mother's Day to mothers; may God bless you :-)
Every day pray that everyone you know will either become a Christian or influence others to become a Christian, and please share this online book with others - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com
Worship music - Please click the links and sing along if you know the words (You can also click skip ad to go straight to the songs) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEENmENsLrw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05hhZ0oFEIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zCZLthz2vc
How They Got It Wrong
After reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, it's obvious that many of the scribes and Pharisees didn't go to heaven. They were notorously proud and looked down upon others. An example of this is Luke 18:9-14
9And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Like Luke 18:11-12, they also had the wrong idea as to how people became qualified to go to heaven, because it was based on rule keeping and human effort. There's no denying that they were extremely determined to make it to heaven, due to their attempts at obcessivly following God's instructions perfectly. An example of this is Matthew 23:23-24
23Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. (The scribes and Pharisees were careful to obey small rituals, but they ignored the more important parts of the law—judgment (There is equal standing of God's children.), mercy (helping those in need and also displaying forgivness and not trying to punish others who did wrong to you and trying to make their lives miserable), and faith (This can have different meanings: 1. When you pray, you believe that God will answer your prayers. 2. When you are going through trials, you don't give up living the Christian lifestyle, and you believe that God is in control of the situations and something for your benefit will be the results. 3. People should “depend” on you. For example, people should depend on you to come to church regularly, help those in need, pray for others regularly, and do things for the Lord regularly.) 24Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. (This is referring to them straining their water so they won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, which according to the law was unclean, but figuratively they swallowed a camel. This was another way to say that being very cautious about following every detail of ceremonial cleanliness "on the outside" didn't matter, because their hearts "on the inside" were corrupt.
So, there wasn't anything wrong with them being very cautious in following God's instructions, but they believed that simiply following God's instructions in paying tithes of mint and anise and cummin, for example, qualified them to make it to heaven when they died. Eventhough they followed God's instructions, their actions, thoughts, and words were sinful. First John 3:10 says, “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” Someone who does something that is unrighteous is sinning. A similar verse is 1 John 5:18 which states, “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not (This means - does not continually sin on purpose.); but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” So, this verse proves that whosoever is born of God (which means is a Christian) doesn’t continually sin on purpose.
The only way they could have changed their sinful behavior was if they became Christians. Second Corinthians 5:17 teaches us, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." If someone is a Christian, their sinful ways will begin to change more and more over time.
If you have not prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, please follow chapter 41 of this book - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com
If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you are not sure you are really a Christian (Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 21:18-22, 1 John 5:14, and Hebrews 11:1), please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven
If you have asked Jesus into your heart, believed that Jesus is your Savior, or trusted Jesus' death on the cross and His shed blood to erase your sins and let you into heaven, etc., but you have been living the way the scribes and Pharisees lived, please follow chapter 10 of this book - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com