We are all the same in many ways. We are born. We die. And in between we do some good deeds and some bad deeds. We’re all a mixture. The very best people among us have done some bad deeds and the very worst people among us have done some good deeds.

There Are Immutable Laws

Scientists tell us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is an established, proven law in science.

The Bible also says the same thing in different words. It says “Whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap”. (Gal 6:7) In other words, if you plant tomato seeds, you will reap a crop of tomatoes. You won’t get corn or beans or cucumbers - just tomatoes.

Obviously, the Bible is not trying to teach us about farming. Instead, it’s using farming as an illustration to teach us about our good deeds and our bad deeds. God wants us to understand that He will reward us for every good deed we have ever done. He also wants us to understand that He will punish us for every bad deed we have ever done.

This is an immutable, unbreakable law that is just as certain as the scientific laws of conservation of energy and motion. There are no exceptions. Every good deed is rewarded and every bad deed is punished.

Why Don’t People Believe This?

Sometimes people don’t believe this law because they were taught a lie. They were told that God does not exist or that He will not judge us. That is simply not true. The Bible clearly teaches that God does exist and that He can and will judge us and indeed He has the right to judge us and punish us. He rewards every good deed. He punished every bad deed. No exceptions.

Other people don’t believe the truth of this law because they see evil people prospering. They see these people living in large houses and driving fancy cars and they conclude wrongly that God is not fair. But the truth is that God is fair. The prosperity of the wicked is proof that God rewards every good deed, even the good deeds of evil people.

The mistake these people are making is that they are only seeing part of the picture. They are only looking at what is happening in this life here on earth. They are failing to see the bigger picture which does include this life here on earth, but also includes the next life after we die.

What Happens When We Die?

The Bible teaches that there is life after death. After we die some people will enter Heaven where they will be rewarded with good things for all eternity. Other people will be taken to Hell, where they will be tormented for all eternity. .

However, while we’re still here on earth, it’s true that oftentimes evil people prosper. And this can be misunderstood and can make us conclude wrongly that life is unfair. But it’s not. These evil people will ultimately go to a place of eternal torment.

We need to understand that God cannot reward evil people in Hell. It is not possible to reward them for their good deeds after they die. God can only reward them for their good deeds here on this earth. So He does. God’s justice demands that every good deed be rewarded. And this life on earth is the only time and place that God can reward the good deeds of the evil people who are going to Hell.

But, on the other hand, for the righteous people who are going to Heaven God has the option to reward these people in the next world too. And so He often does that.

Indeed the people who will get the greatest rewards in Heaven are often the people who prospered the least in this earthly world.

But you may wonder: If every person is essentially the same in the sense that we are all a mixture of good and bad, why do some people go to Heaven and others go to Hell?

That’s a good question.

To understand the answer to this question we must first understand the penalty for our sinful deeds.

The Death Sentence

The Bible says “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23) It doesn’t matter what the sin is. It could be big. It could be small. And it doesn’t matter how many sins we have committed. They could be many or few. The existence of any one sin of any kind makes us guilty and demands the sentence of death. No exceptions.

The Bible says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) and the history of mankind is undeniable testimony to this fact. No man - rich or poor - great or small - has escaped the sentence of death. All the billions of dollars we have poured into medical research have been totally unable to change this immutable fact.

So how does knowing that death is the penalty for sin help us get into heaven?

By itself it doesn’t. We must also understand that Jesus lived a perfect life. He is the one and only exception to the general rule.

Jesus was born of a virgin, so He did not inherit a sin nature from his parents. He lived for 33 years without committing a single personal sin either big or small. So He was not under the sentence of death like the rest of us. Death could not take him. Jesus could not die. Since Jesus had no sin and the wages of sin is death, it was not possible for Him to die. He would still be alive today in the same physical body he had 2000 years ago if it were not for one thing.

Imputation

That thing is imputation. Impute is a word found in the Bible 13 times in the King James Version and even more times in the original languages. It is an accounting term which means to credit someone’s account.

When Jesus died 2000 years ago he died because of imputation. It happened this way.

God loves the disobedient, sinful people He created. And even though we’ve rebelled against Him and have gone our own sinful way, and even though we brought the sentence of death upon ourselves, God still loves us.

However, as judge He could not ignore the sentence of death we had brought upon ourselves. The penalty had to be paid. No exceptions. What we sow, we shall also reap.

This law is just as certain as the law of gravity. But like the law of gravity that can be overcome by the law of aerodynamics, God found a way to restore his fallen creation and reconcile us to Himself without violating the law and without violating the righteous sentence that the law demands.

He did this by sending His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to earth to live a perfect life and then die as our substitute to pay the penalty for our sins.

This is where imputation comes in. While Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross of Calvary 2000 years ago, God took all of our sins and transferred them to Jesus by imputation. The Bible says that “God has made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (II Cor 5:21) Having been made a sinner, Jesus was able to die. And because He died for us, He paid the penalty in full for your sins and mine.

Your Defense Attorney

And since the penalty for sin was paid in full, God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day. And now Jesus is in Heaven, in a real physical body that will never die.

Now Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God the Father, where he is our defense attorney. Whenever a charge is brought against us in the Court of Heaven, Jesus presents the evidence to the court to show that the penalty has already been paid and the charges against us are then dismissed.

And because of this, not only did Jesus come back from the dead, but every man, woman and child on earth will be resurrected and live for eternity in real physical bodies that will never die.

But we do not automatically go to Heaven because we have been resurrected and have real physical bodies. There is one more thing needed to gain entrance into Heaven. We need to complete the other side of the imputation transaction.

Any person who has ever worked in accounting knows it takes two sides to balance an accounting transaction.

One side of the imputation transaction was completed when our sins were transferred to Jesus Christ while he hung on the cross of Calvary. The other side of the transaction is completed when Christ’s righteousness is transferred to us through imputation.

It’s this second side of the imputation transaction that seals the deal and gains us entrance to Heaven. It’s not just the absence of sin that gets us into Heaven, but the presence of righteousness. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ died “for the sins of the whole world.” (I John 2:2) This means that every person, including the people who go to Hell, have had their sins transferred to Jesus Christ on the cross. The unbeliever’s sins have been paid for just like the sins of the believers. The real difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is the presence of Christ’s righteousness in him.

And this is what you get when you trust Jesus Christ and make him your savior and lord.

You don’t need to have faith to have your sins transferred to Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. That was done for you by God without your knowledge or consent 2000 years ago. But to receive the gift of Christ’s righteousness through imputation does require your knowledge and consent.

What God Wants You To Do

God is asking you to believe His word and to enter into a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. He is asking you to believe the facts of the gospel - that you are a sinner - that Jesus is not a sinner - that you deserve to die for your sins - that Jesus does not deserve to die, but took your place and died as your substitute. And God is asking you to believe that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day.

God is asking you to receive Jesus Christ as your savior and lord - to allow His Holy Spirit to come into your life to regenerate you and empower you and take control of your life so you can be a new creation in Christ Jesus.

If you do that - in that very moment - the righteousness of Jesus Christ will be transferred to you through imputation and you will have, as it were, a pardon which qualifies you to get into Heaven. But even more, you will become a child of God and you will immediately enter into a personal relationship with God that can transform your life in ways that you can’t imagine.

Your Plea Agreement

Essentially, you are being offered an amazing plea agreement where you plead guilty to what you actually did and Jesus takes your punishment. God is the judge of the whole world. (Psm 94:2) So if this is the plea you want to make, then tell it to the judge.

In the Court of Heaven, there is mercy available for guilty sinners who ask.

Written by David Blasco

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