On Page 158 they relate...
"Mary Hales, who was being escorted (around the City of Light) by her brother, was permitted to look at the residential areas of the city. She reported seeing
"Many beautiful homes. I was surprised to see while many of the homes were spacious, others were very small. Some were barely larger than a small kitchen or a large bathroom. I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to live in a house so small. I asked my brother about this.
"That was all the material they sent up," was his strange reply.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "That was all the good works they sent up," he replied; meaning the size of a house one gets in paradise is determined [on earth] by the quantity and quality of the good deeds performed."
> Hmmmm. My Bible tells me something different. Good works and good deeds will not earn us a place in heaven. God's Word says,
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having he hope of eternal life..." Titus 3:4-7
Not by human effort at all. And we can see again in Ephesians 2:8, 9 that it is God and Jesus who did the good works and deeds for us.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast."
Check out 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (NIV) which has similar thoughts of no-one being able to earn their salvation so that "no-one can boast". If anyone wishes to boast, "let him...boast in the Lord." Praise God for the salvation he effected and perfected through his son Jesus Christ.
None of these verses, nor elsewhere in God's Word do we learn that the size of our respective homes in Heaven depend upon the good works/deeds we can manage to credit up for ourselves while on earth. It's a puzzle as to the information described in the NDE account above. As I've said before, whatever we hear we must measure it up to God's Word; the 'Plumb-line' of our life.
So, to set the record straight, none of us can earn our salvation and admittance into heaven and God's Presence by our own efforts no matter how good a person may be; nor can they earn housing materials. God rescues us on an "as is, where is" basis and imputes to us His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:20-21) through our acceptance of salvation through Jesus Christ.It is only then, AFTER that acceptance, out of gratitude and thanksgiving to God that we do good works. As a matter of fact, God saves us to do good works which He "prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10). How do you like that? This is part of Christian living and we are all responsible to do our part within the body of Christ. There should be no slackers.
Furthermore, we are enjoined to "lay up treasure in Heaven" (Matthew 6:19-21).
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
What "treasure" is this? Serving God or money or self? When we bring others to Christ, that is lasting treasure. When we conduct ourselves with Christ-like character and actions, doing our good deeds to glorify God, others will see and know we have been with Jesus. Let us behave in such a way to bring others to Christ and so send up much "treasure" to God our Heavenly Father and bring Him lasting joy; whether we ourselves benefit or not. We have no need to boast of what we have or do, rather, by God's grace, we give any results and treasures to Him. May God be praised as we build for Him.
~ERC 2016~
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