Fit for heaven! How could any mortal man, with his old nature still clinging to him, say that he was fit for heaven, where the four living creatures rest not day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come?”
On the other hand, how can anyone be taken to heaven unless he is fit to be there? How could the Lord say to the thief on the cross, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise,” unless that poor culprit had been made fit to be there? Or how could Paul speak so positively that to be absent from the body was to be present with the Lord?
It is well known that people generally refer the fitness to some gradual improvement during life, or to some change on the deathbed while others expect a process of purification will be effected in another world. But for these things there is not a particle of evidence in the scripture, and what can we possibly know of the future except what God has been pleased to reveal in His word?
It is not happy to be living in any uncertainty as to this fitness for heaven. We are quite sure that there will be a glorious company there, and we are quite sure that they will not be taken there unless they are fit; the only question is when and how does anyone become fit to be there?
We must first see what God says about our fitness for heaven, for He alone is the One that can judge of it. The apostle wrote, “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” (Col. 1:1212Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: (Colossians 1:12).) This does not ask that we may be so, but declares positively that we are meet. And this is not written to one or two highly-favored Christians, who may be supposed to be in any way different from others: it is addressed to the whole of the saints who were at Colosse; and if it applied to them all, which surely it did, would it not equally apply to all saints?
Notice, too, that the passage is very full: it does not say fit to be a candidate for the inheritance, but a partaker, fit to take our place in that inheritance, to take our share of it, which has been purchased for us, but which we do not yet possess.
It is “the inheritance of the saints in light” where the least speck or spot would be at once discovered; for it is the light that makes all things manifest. And as we know that no stain would be allowed in the realms of light, so it is evident that saints are fit for the inheritance of the saints in light, and are a part of the church which the blessed Lord will present to Himself, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
The reader will perhaps ask, How can this be, seeing that we have the flesh attached to us still; and though it is a condemned thing, if is ever ready to break out into action?
True, but this same epistle distinguishes between the walk of the Christian and that which God has done for him. The apostle prays for the saints at Colosse that they might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, and that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, with many other exhortations to a godly walk, which all believers agree should characterize the Christian.
But the above prayer being in the same epistle, and in close proximity to the declaration of the meetness of the Christian, shows clearly that the two things are distinct; and that the one cannot nullify the other. A consistent walk should surely be enforced, but it must be based upon the place into which God has brought us. What do we mean by a consistent walk but a walk agreeing with the place into which God has already brought us by His grace?
Let us now look at a few points as to our meetness for heaven. If we think of our being guilty before God, He declares that we are justified (1 Cor. 6:1111And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)); we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:2424Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (Romans 3:24)); “Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (chap. 5:9); “Being justified by faith we have [or, let us have] peace with God” (ver. 1); “It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth?” (Chap. 8:33, 34.) What can be more reassuring than this? It is based upon the precious blood of Christ, which cannot leave a charge unmet; and being all brought about by God Himself, who shall call it in question? Surely with such complete justification we should have perfect peace with God, who in His grace has accomplished it for us, and surely such a justification will fit us for heaven.
We were also defiled, but God declares that the believer is washed and sanctified (1 Cor. 6:1111And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)), and what God has cleansed, we must not call common or defiled; but we can say, “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.... to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev. 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5).) Surely what God has done He has done perfectly, so as to fit us for the glory.
We have committed many sins; but God has forgiven us all trespasses. (Col. 2:13; 3:1313And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; (Colossians 2:13)
13Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. (Colossians 3:13).) The apostle wrote, “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.” (1 John 2:1212I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. (1 John 2:12).) Our sins, therefore, can be no hindrance to our being made partakers of the inheritance in the glory, for their penalty has been borne by Christ, and we have been forgiven.
We were enemies; but we read, “All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 5:1818And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; (2 Corinthians 5:18).) “And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight.” (Col. 1:21, 2221And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: (Colossians 1:21‑22).) What can possibly be more complete? God hath reconciled us through the death of Christ, and, we repeat, what He has done He has done perfectly.
We were also in bondage to Satan; but this is one of the things that we have to thank the Father about, namely, that He “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” (Col. 1:1313Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13).) The transference has been complete, out of the one into the other; and we no longer are under the bondage of the god of this world.
We thus see what marvels have been wrought for us by the Lord Jesus Christ; indeed, “By one offering lie hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” Ponder these words: “perfected.” Can anything be added to that which is perfected, and perfected by the Lord Himself? Impossible. And it is a lasting thing: it is perfected forever, “in perpetuity;” not a changing or a fluctuating thing; it is a perfection that will never change. Is not that which the Lord Jesus has perfected fit for heaven? and what can we ever be as to fitness beyond that which He has already perfected for us by His one offering?
But there are statements that go beyond all these marvelous things. God has “predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved” (Eph. 1:5, 65Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:5‑6).) God, “when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Chap. ii. 5, 6.)
If we are accepted in Christ, and if we are sitting in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus—and these passages show that these things are true of the believer—our inquiry is complete: we must be fit for heaven because we are accepted in the Beloved, in all the worthiness of His holy Person and His boundless work, and are already seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus; not with Him yet, but already in Him, never to be in any other standing, and never to be more fit than His perfect grace has already made us.
Many feel a difficulty as to these glorious things being true of them now, because they are still in the body compassed with infirmities, and still have the flesh within them, and may often fail; but the same epistle that states that God has made us fit for the inheritance of the saints in light, also speaks of our increasing in or growing into the knowledge of God, and the apostle prays that they might be fruitful in every good work, and indeed, that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.
The two lines of truth do not clash. God has done all these marvelous things for us, tells. us what they are, and then upon the standing which He has given us He bases the exhortations to walk in all things so as to please the blessed Lord.
He would surely have us not only know what great things He has done for us, but would have us give full credit to them, and enjoy them; while our hearts go out in the deepest gratitude to the blessed One who, at such a cost, has obtained them for us. This would beget in us an earnest desire to live in entire separation from the world from which He has delivered us, and to walk worthy of God, who hath called us unto His kingdom and glory. (1 Thess. 2:1212That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. (1 Thessalonians 2:12).)