New Living Trans- lation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by ... · A key to the success and...
Transcript of New Living Trans- lation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by ... · A key to the success and...
A key to the success and longevity of
the R
oman
Em
pire w
as an
expansive system
of
roads. The
rst proper
Rom
an road,
the A
ppian W
ay, w
as constructed
in 312
BC
to
provide fast,
reliable com
munications and supply links, in
wars w
ith the well arm
ed Sam
nites.
Historian Logan Thom
pson states, �“This route follow
ed a remarkably
straight, direct,
well-drained
122 m
ile course,
rmly
topped w
ith neatly fashioned blocks of volcanic lava. It is com
mendable that R
oman
engineers and surveyors managed,
with
their rst-ever
route, to
incorporate most of the construction
principles so closely followed during
the next 700 years. Thereafter, route netw
orks constantly
expanded in
every direction,
like the
spokes of a w
heel, with R
ome as a hub.�”
The phrase developed, All roads
lead to Rom
e. Today it can mean
that the route or method one takes
to get somew
here isn�’t important,
as long as the journey reaches the sam
e destination.S
adly, when it com
es to the subject of
making
Heaven
one�’s eternal
home, this philosophy is not valid
because God has speci cally told
us, in the Holy B
ible, His guaranteed
way or plan for us to get there.S
aul of
Tarsus, later
know
as P
aul the Apostle, w
rote over half of the N
ew Testam
ent part of the B
ible. He w
as a Rom
an citizen w
ho had
a personal,
life chang-
ing encounter with G
od. Afterw
ard, he w
as taught about heaven and the supernatural w
orld by a divine revelation of Jesus C
hrist (see Ga-
latians 1:12). By w
ay of a vision, G
od took Paul to heaven w
hile he
was still alive (see 2 C
orinthians 12:1-7). P
aul had this to say about his w
ritings:...w
hen you received His m
essage from
us, you didn�’t think of our words
as mere hum
an ideas. You accepted w
hat we said as the very w
ord of G
od�—w
hich, of course, it is. �– I Corinthians 14:37 Paul
traveled to
Rom
e by
ship, and w
alking along the Appian Way.
He
wrote
a letter
to the
people he planned on m
eeting there. By m
aking a compilation of verses from
that letter, a road m
ap to Heaven is
formed.
1. In God�’s system
of justice, none of us, by hum
an effort, can get to heaven because no one, on his ow
n m
erit, is right with G
od.
No one is righteous�—
not even one.�– Romans 3:23
2. We have lost our ticket to H
eaven because w
e sinned against God by
breaking His Ten C
omm
andments.
For everyone has sinned; we all fall
short of God�’s glorious standard.
�– Romans 3:23 3. This disobedience to G
od has a present and eternal consequence�–a broken relationship w
ith God now
, and
being banished
from
God�’s
home hereafter.
For the wages of sin is death,
�– Romans 6:23a 4. There is a w
ay out! God loves us
so much, that H
e came to earth in
the Person of Jesus C
hrist. Jesus perfectly
pleased H
is H
eavenly Father. H
e became the only m
an w
ho deserved
to go
to H
eaven. H
e died on a cross in our place to pay the penalty (debt w
e each ow
e to God) for our sin, m
akingheav
en a
vaila
ble
to u
s.B
ut G
od s
how
ed H
is g
reat
love
for
us
by
send
ing
Chr
ist
to d
ie f
or u
s w
hile
we
wer
e st
ill s
inne
rs. �–
Rom
. 5:8
5.
Now
, co
mpl
emen
ts
of
Jesu
s C
hris
t, G
od o
ffers
us
Hea
ven
and
eter
nal l
ife a
s a
free
gift!
...bu
t th
e fre
e gi
ft of
God
is e
tern
al
life
thro
ugh
Chr
ist J
esus
our
Lor
d.�–
Roma
ns 6
:23b
6. R
econ
nect
ing
our r
elat
ions
hip
with
G
od,
and
mak
ing
a re
serv
atio
n fo
r H
eave
n fo
r ete
rnity
, isn
�’t an
aut
omat
-ic
x.
God
req
uire
s ou
r re
spon
se b
y do
ing
two
thin
gs.
If yo
u co
nfes
s w
ith y
our
mou
th t
hat
Jesu
s is
Lor
d an
d be
lieve
in
your
he
art
that
God
rai
sed
Him
fro
m t
he
dead
, you
will
be
save
d. F
or it
is b
y be
lievi
ng in
you
r he
art
that
you
are
m
ade
right
with
God
, an
d it
is b
y co
nfes
sing
with
you
r mou
th th
at y
ou
are
save
d.
�–
Roma
ns 10
:9,10
Firs
t, w
e m
ust b
elie
ve th
e hi
stor
ical
fa
cts
abou
t Je
sus
Chr
ist
foun
d in
G
od�’s
Wor
d, t
he B
ible
: Je
sus
died
on
the
cro
ss f
or o
ur s
ins,
and
God
ra
ised
Him
from
the
dead
, giv
ing
Him
an
im
mor
tal
body
, th
e ki
nd H
e ha
s pr
omis
ed to
giv
e us
whe
n H
e re
turn
s fro
m h
eave
n to
rule
the
earth
.S
econ
dly,
God
wan
ts e
ach
of u
s to
m
ake
a co
nfes
sion
with
our
mou
ths
(out
lou
d) t
hat
Jesu
s C
hris
t is
our
pe
rson
al L
ord
and
Sav
ior,
and
one
day
He
is ta
king
us
to H
eave
n.Th
is is
acc
ompl
ishe
d by
pra
ying
the
follo
win
g pr
ayer
:D
ear
Jesu
s, c
ome
into
my
hear
t. Fo
rgiv
e al
l m
y si
ns.
Was
h m
e in
yo
ur b
lood
. W
rite
my
nam
e in
you
r B
ook
of
Life
. Fi
ll m
e w
ith
Your
H
oly
Spi
rit,
so
I ca
n se
rve
and
obey
You
. In
Jes
us�’
Nam
e, A
men
.
7. O
ur a
ssur
ance
of m
akin
g H
eave
nou
r ete
rnal
hom
e is
bas
ed o
n G
od�’s
ab
ility
to
keep
His
Wor
d (H
is B
ible
pr
omis
es).
Eve
ryon
e w
ho c
alls
on
the
nam
e of
th
e LO
RD
will
be
save
d. �–
Rom
10:13
Als
o, w
hen
we
pray
ed a
nd a
sked
Je
sus
to c
ome
into
our
hea
rts, G
od
the
Hol
y S
pirit
cam
e to
live
in u
s as
an
inw
ard
witn
ess
that
we
are
now
a
part
of th
e fa
mily
of G
od.
For
His
Spi
rit jo
ins
with
our
spi
rit to
af r
m th
at w
e ar
e G
od�’s
chi
ldre
n.
�– Ro
mans
8:16
Scrip
ture
quota
tions
are
take
n fro
m the
Holy
Bibl
e Ne
w Liv
ing T
rans
-lat
ion, c
opyri
ght ©
199
6, 20
04, 2
007
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ynda
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use
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e Pu
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ers,
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am,
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