Throughout all of time, how many hours have been spent by men and women debating who will be and who will not be in the kingdom of heaven?
This ‘amount of time’ cannot be calculated, but it would be astronomical!!
Here are my thoughts on the matter…

Why would mankind think they get to decide such things?
We see this in Matthew 28:18
¹⁸ And Yeshua came up to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”
If we believe this [and I do] then no authority is left over for men and women. We can debate who is saved and who is not saved until the cows come home, but we have no say in the matter.
Here are several examples in scripture telling us who will judge.
2Corinthians 5:10
¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Messiah, so that each one may receive what is due for the things he did while in the body—whether good or bad.
Acts 17:31
³¹ For He has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness, through a Man whom He has appointed. He has brought forth evidence of this to all men, by raising Him from the dead.”
John 5:22
²² The Father does not judge anyone, but has handed over all judgment to the Son ²³ so that all should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.

So the matter is pretty much settled. Men and women do not get to decide who is in the kingdom and who is not in the kingdom. Messiah, and only Messiah, will take on this task.
But what can we do? Just sit back and wait?

We can study the scriptures, and share what is said with others, in the hopes of showing truth about who will be in the kingdom.
There is no need for us to inject our own opinions. We can simply listen to what Yeshua Messiah has said, and that will be our doctrine.

The task at hand is to determine if Messiah [the One who will decide who is in and who is not] ever stated who will be in the kingdom, or worse, who will not be in the kingdom.
Let’s take a look…
Matthew 7:21-23
²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?’ ²³ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’”

Four sentences.
Untold millions or billions of hours have collectively been spent by mankind debating this topic throughout the ages, and Yeshua Messiah settles it with four short sentences.

Not everyone who calls Him Lord will be in the kingdom.
Who will be in the kingdom?
The answer is very simple.
“…he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
But then we see that people who claim to have served Him will argue their case.
Obviously, being a Messiah full of grace, He changes His mind and lets everyone be in the kingdom, right?
Ummm, no, not exactly.
Actually, no, not at all.
Messiah, the judge of all, says this to people who claim to have served Him and called Him Lord:
“I never knew you.”
Uh-oh.
Not good, right?
This must be some sort of mistake.
And there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Does Messiah know who are His sheep?
John 10:14-15
¹⁴ “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.”
If Messiah does not know you, then you are not His sheep.
And who did He die for?
Everybody?
Nope, He died for His sheep.
If you are not His sheep, then He did not die for you.

Does Yeshua give us any other clues about who is in and who is out?
We are told who are the remnant of the church in Revelation 12:17
¹⁷ So the dragon became enraged at the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring—those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Yeshua.
We are told who the saints are in Revelation 14:12
¹² Here is the perseverance of the saints [kedoshim]—those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua.

We are given the same two criteria both times.
–keep the commands of God (the Torah instructions)
–have the faith/testimony of Yeshua Messiah
This is quite simple, but most in the world of religion do not understand this, or worse, reject it and teach against it.

In case those two references are not clear enough, let’s look at more information from Messiah saying who is in the kingdom and who is not.
Revelation 22:14-15
¹⁴ Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

One of the final statements in all of scripture tells us who is in and who is not in.
–those who keep the commandments are in
–those who do not keep the commands are not in.
And then we see this peculiar statement about who is not in the kingdom: “and whoever loves and practices a lie.”
This is quite puzzling. Or at least, it used to be until I found this in Jeremiah, describing our religious system in end times:
Jeremiah 16:19-20
¹⁹ O Lord, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
²⁰ Will a man make gods for himself,
Which are not gods?
“Oh, those lies… I was wondering which lies Messiah was talking about…”
Loving and practicing the lies of false teaching will keep us out of the kingdom.
Am I twisting this?
Am I getting this wrong?
No, and I can back it up with two direct quotes of Yeshua Messiah:
Matthew 15:14
¹⁴ Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
Matthew 23:13
¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

Not once, but twice, Yeshua Messiah tells us that both false teachers and their followers will not be included in the kingdom.

Many will argue against these ideas, using quotes like John 3:16 or Matthew 5:19 as their evidence. let’s take a look at those ideas.
Matthew 5 says this:
¹⁷ “Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸ Amen, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or serif^{b]”>[b]”>bb]”>]} shall ever pass away from the Torah until all things come to pass. ¹⁹ Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
I have written other articles on this passage, including the breakdown of Greek words used and why.
For right now, let’s just look at verse 19.
Many people claim that obedience to the commandments is not required because of this verse. Command breakers will still be in the kingdom, but they will be considered the least ones there.
I’ve heard many people stake this claim.
First of all, is that what God wants from us? Does He want our least effort possible, just as long as we barely make it in?
Nope. Check out Numbers 32:11, Numbers 14:20-24, and Joshua 14:14 to see what His expectations are with regard to “being included.”
If we take a quick look at the grammar in verse 19, we actually see the command breakers are not “least in the kingdom”, but the “the least” is how they are referred to by those who are in the kingdom.
Verse 19 does not define who is in the kingdom, it merely states how command breakers are referred to. Big difference.

What about John 3:16?
This is pretty famous. Most people are familiar with this verse.
John 3:16
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
This is a great promise, but does it really mean that all we have to do is believe in Jesus and we’ll be saved?
Well, if we don’t read any of the rest of the bible, then yes.
But there is much more scripture to study and believe, and all of it together makes one whole truth.
Individual statements do not make a whole truth.
For example, if we continue reading in John 3, we see this:
¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Believing and condemnation are tied together here.
One who is condemned is one who does not believe.
And how is one condemned?
If men love darkness (evil) instead of the light (righteousness) then they are condemned, and it is proof that they do not truly believe in His name.
This is supported in 1John 3:7-9
⁷ Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. ⁸ He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
One can claim to believe in Jesus.
One can claim to be a Christian.
One can claim to be saved.
But if they show evidence of continued sin in their life, then their claims are useless.
One who continues in sin is of the devil, and is not of Christ.
Finishing up with John 3, we see this in the final verse of the chapter:
John 3:36
³⁶ He who trusts in the Son has eternal life. He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
We see at the end of John 3 (in which we are introduced to John 3:16) that belief and trust in Messiah is tied to obedience.
The disobedient will not see [eternal] life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.
“But wait…
Messiah died for my sins. His sacrifice covers my sins.
I know this is true.”
Have you checked out Hebrews 10, where we are told Messiah’s sacrifice does not cover us if we continue to sin?
Hebrews 10:26-31
²⁶ For if we keep on sinning willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but only a terrifying expectation of judgment and a fury of fire about to devour the enemies of God. ²⁸ Anyone who rejected the Torah of Moses dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severe do you think the punishment will be for the one who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, and has regarded as unholy the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know the One who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “Adonai will judge His people.” ³¹ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.²⁷ but only a terrifying expectation of judgment and a fury of fire about to devour the enemies of God. ²⁸ Anyone who rejected the Torah of Moses dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severe do you think the punishment will be for the one who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, and has regarded as unholy the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know the One who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “Adonai will judge His people.” ³¹ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

We are told straight up in scripture that if we continue to sin willfully, that Messiah’s sacrifice does not cover us.
If His sacrifice does not cover us, that means there is no forgiveness, and if there is no forgiveness, then there is no salvation.
This sounds a bit like this to me:
²³ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’”
“Why have I never been taught this in church?
Is this new?”
No, this is not new.
This is old.
This is original.
This is truth.
Hebrews 10 is not creating some kind of new doctrine. It is not creating new rules to play by.
It is just reiterating the same rules set forth by the Father in His instructions to us.
Numbers 15:30-31
³⁰ “But the person who sins defiantly, whether native or outsider, reviles Adonai and that person is to be cut off from his people. ³¹ Because he has despised the word of Adonai and has broken His commandment, that person will certainly be cut off—his guilt will remain on him.”³¹ Because he has despised the word of Adonai and has broken His commandment, that person will certainly be cut off—his guilt will remain on him.”

The Torah, the Law, the instructions of God are the original truth, and this truth is forever.
Psalm 119:142
Your justice is righteousness forever,
and Your Torah is truth.
Psalm 119:160
Truth is the essence of Your word,
and all Your righteous rulings are eternal.

There are countless scriptures that tell us how to be in the kingdom, and this article is only scratching the surface.
Before I end this, let’s take one quick look and clarify Yeshua Messiah’s judgment of mankind:
John 12:47-50
⁴⁷ “If anyone hears My words but doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I came to save the world, not to judge the world. ⁴⁸ The one who rejects Me and doesn’t receive My words has a judge; the word I spoke will judge him on the last day. ⁴⁹ For I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His commandment is life everlasting. Therefore what I say, I say just as the Father has told Me.”

“Wait, how can this be?
How can the scriptures say Messiah will judge the world, but John 12 says He did not come to judge the world.”
If we study this, we see the context of it.
Messiah is in charge of deciding who is in the kingdom and who is not in the kingdom.
Make no mistake about this.
John 12 is referring to the standard by which He will judge.
The Torah, the Law, the instructions of the Father are the standard.
Messiah is stating that He will not create His own standard. He will not judge differently from one person to the next.
The Torah will be the standard by which all will be judged.
The criteria is set, just as we saw in Rev 12:17 and Rev 14:12.

Messiah lived a sinless life, and therefore, death could not hold Him.
He overcame the wages of sin, which are death.
This is why He has the authority to ransom us from the wages of sin, through His forgiveness and grace when we repent.
This is what He means when He says He came to save the world.
He can save us from the judgment that comes by the standard of Torah.
If we have sinned (and we all have) our violation of the Torah requires our death. The Torah judges us.
Messiah intercedes on our behalf, and He has the power and authority to save us from the Torah judgment.

But only if we are His sheep.
Only if we belong to Him.
John 10:27-28
^{27 “}My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life! They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”

Back to Matthew 7:21-23.
Those who claim Messiah as Lord, and claim to have followed Him are rejected by Him, and will not be in the kingdom.
What an awful mistake to make, to live our lives thinking we are His when we are not.
Messiah speaks of these people in Luke 6:46
⁴⁶ “Why do you call Me ‘Master, Master’ and do not do what I say? “

Is there any way for us to be sure we belong to Messiah?
Is there a way to know we are His?
1John 2:3-6
³ Now we know that we have come to know Him by this—if we keep His commandments. ⁴ The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God is truly made perfect. We know that we are in Him by this— ⁶ whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked.

Do you know Him?
Or are you a liar?