Dear Mayor Bloomberg,
As a Bible teacher, your recent comments about heaven caught my attention. On April 15th of this year, the New York Times ended their article about you by saying:
His mortality has started dawning on him, at 72. And he admitted he was a bit taken aback by how many of his former classmates had been appearing in the “in memoriam” pages of his school newsletter.
But if he senses that he may not have as much time left as he would like, he has little doubt about what would await him at a Judgment Day. Pointing to his work on gun safety, obesity and smoking cessation, he said with a grin: “I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It’s not even close.”
You are obviously excited about what you see as your main accomplishments while mayor of New York City. You proudly pushed for gun control, a limit on the size of soft drinks, and you worked to restrict the sale of cigarettes. Your latest plan is to spend $50 million of your own fortune (estimated at $31 billion) to combat the efforts of the National Rifle Association.
Actually, people differ about whether or not your policies should even be in the “Good Works” column, but that is not my biggest concern. Eternity is a long time, and it would be tragic if you were wrong about how to get into heaven.
Jesus Christ, the One who raised Himself from the dead, warned us that many will be shocked to learn that they are not going to heaven—after they die, when it’s too late to do anything about it. Evidently a lot of people will approach the throne of God with complete confidence that heaven is their destination, and then not be allowed in.
This is how Jesus explained it: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ What did Jesus mean by doing “the will of My Father”? If performing good works, including miracles, are not enough to get you into heaven, then how can you get in? The answer is both simple and amazing at the same time, but first we must understand that God will only allow perfect holiness in His heaven. God doesn’t grade on the curve, but on His own standard of perfection. “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10). Jesus said very plainly that, “You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). How can that be humanly possible? God’s standard of perfect holiness would be discouraging, if Jesus hadn’t provided a solution. You see, Mr. Mayor, Jesus volunteered to pay the penalty for your sin in your place. That is what the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is all about. “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Isn’t that amazing? Jesus has already made it possible for us to be forgiven and covered in Christ’s perfect righteousness. That is our ticket into heaven. All we need to do is turn our lives over to Jesus. “[Jesus] is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name” (Acts 10:43). Mr. Bloomberg, please don’t rely on your works to please a holy God. None of us can be good enough for heaven because our own achievements will never measure up to God’s requirements. While you still have the opportunity in this life, stop trusting your own idea of good works and ask Jesus to forgive your sin. Jesus is willing to forgive you. For your own eternal safety, follow Him! Respectfully, Pastor David Scudder
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