Five Things God Cannot Do: #2

[The following post is based on a sermon series presented in January-February 2006 while I served as pastor at Exeter Area Christian Fellowship in Newfields, NH.]

Heaven: it is a place most everyone aspires to reach, but comparatively few will attain.  Why is that?  Why is it that of the numberless people that have ever lived, only a percentage will spend eternity in the presence of God?  The reason lies in another thing that God cannot do.

God cannot allow sin into heaven.

Let us allow Psalm 15 to instruct us in this (NIV text in italics throughout).

David begins with the key question: ¹Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?

Rewording this for today, the question would ask, ‘How can a person get to heaven?’  The terms ‘sanctuary’ and ‘holy hill’ are literally the tabernacle and Mt. Zion (Jerusalem).  Symbolically they represent ‘heaven’ (refer to Psalm 2:6, 9:11; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 14:1).

David lived in the city of Jerusalem in the days in which the Ark of the Covenant sat in the Holy of Holies.  He had access to the literal objects, so his question delves much deeper.

No one actually lived in the Tabernacle or could permanently dwell in the sanctuary because it was where the Holy Presence of God was manifested.  David desires to know what it would take for someone to be worthy enough to actually and permanently live in the Presence of God.

He therefore begins to list what he understands to be the pathway to this desire.

~He whose walk is blameless- someone perfect; without defect or error.

~One who does what is righteous- one who is perfectly just.

~One who speaks the truth from his heart- a person with no double motives; integrity; what is said and done are in line with truth.

~One who has no slander on his tongue- one’s words are never evil or false.

~One who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman- one who lives in perfect harmony with all people.

~One who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord- a person who always perfectly discerns good from evil and responds correctly to them.

~One who keeps his oath even when it hurts- someone who perfectly keeps their promises.

~One who lends his money without usury- a person who is perfectly generous with no hint of greed; who gives with no thought of gain.

~One who does not accept a bribe against the innocent- someone who never acts unjustly.

He who does these things will never be shaken.  A person who can pull all this off will never have cause to worry about their place before God.  This is the person who can dwell on God’s Holy Hill.

Does this describe you?  No.  Nor does it describe me.  David’s question and answer is a glimpse at the harsh reality that no one is or can be perfect; no one is worthy to dwell in God’s sanctuary or live on His holy hill.

Well let’s be fair.  Won’t God applaud our efforts, even if we miss one or two of these?  How good do we have to be?  How close to perfection do we need to get?  Think on this: the Baseball Hall of Fame favors players who have a batting average of .300 or better, but that average represents a success rate of a mere 30%; basketball players and teams are happy if they shoot around 50%; the very best football quarterbacks complete around 65-70% of their passes.

So what if we reach 80% or 90% perfection?  Would 99.9% be good enough?  Let’s consider…If 99.9% is good enough, then it is okay that:  

~Two million documents will be lost by the IRS this year

~1,314 phone calls will be misplaced by telecommunication services every minute

~12 babies will be given to the wrong parents each day

~268,500 defective tires will be shipped this year

~103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly this year

~2,488,200 books will be shipped in the next 12 months with the wrong cover

~Two plane landings daily at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago will be unsafe

~3,056 copies of tomorrow's Wall Street Journal will be missing one of the three sections

~291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly this year

~20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written in the next 12 months.

Would we say 99.9% is good enough in any of these worldly instances?  So by what right do we insist that a Perfect and Holy God should settle for less than perfection?!  It is 100% or it doesn’t count.  If we could be perfect, we would have no problems; God would be obligated to let us into His heaven.  But that will never happen. 

The Apostle Paul, quoting from the Psalms, wrote: ¹⁰There is no one righteous, not even one; ¹¹there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. ¹²All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. (Romans 3:10-12 NIV cf. Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3)

The fact of the matter is this: God cannot allow sin into heaven.  God is perfectly holy.  He cannot and will not coexist with sin (refer also to Psalm 5:4; Habakkuk 1:13).  Nowhere in the Bible do I read that this has changed.

The key, then, is to be sinless.  But we have already said that it is impossible!  Considering the qualifications of Psalm 15, is there any one of us who could ever live up to those standards? 

There is only One Who did meet all the standards that we read about in Psalm 15.  One for Whom that passage in Romans 3 does not apply.  His Name is Jesus Christ.  He is the perfect One.  He is the only One qualified to ascend the hill of the Lord, to dwell permanently in the presence of God.  In His mercy, God has graciously allowed Jesus to bring some friends along with Him.

Entrance to heaven is gained only through a person receiving God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Through faith, the perfection of Jesus is credited to our account (see Romans 5:12-19).  The essential qualities of Psalm 15 become ours by our association with Christ, the One who embodies those qualities.

God cannot allow sin into heaven.  We must seek entrance only through Jesus Christ.