Why Does God Require Faith For Heaven?

John 3:16
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

Some challenge the love of God by asking why He does not give Heaven to everyone but requires faith.  They would say a loving God would never allow anyone to go to Hell. What the world misses is the superlative nature of God’s love.

The love of God never ceases to work for the highest good of the other. God will never settle to do less in our life than the highest good. And this is the determining factor of His love and why He requires the condition of faith, as small as this condition is.

The effect of sin on the human soul has been a perversion of love. It moved love from being focused on others to prioritizing self. It also perverted love from seeking the highest good to seeking the greatest pleasure. Sin has convinced the human heart that immediate pleasure outweighs the cumulative value of a good life. The human heart tends to cease its pursuit of the higher good to obtain intense, but fleeting pleasure. When pleasure is prioritized, suffering is maximized.

When God conditions salvation on faith, it is faith to follow His way which is working to give us a great life, not temporary pleasures that will ruin our life. If there were no condition of faith, it is true that every soul would live forever in the bliss of Heaven, but the pursuit of pleasure would mutilate the soul, lacerate the mind, and deeply bruise the spirit. What kind of father would sit back and watch their child endure 50, 60, or 70 years of affliction?

Even though I know the faith of my children secures them for their eternity in Heaven, I am broken when they hurt and I would not be able to sit and watch them continue a life of increased suffering. And if, in my impaired ability to love, I still love my children too much to sit back and watch them suffer for even a minute, how much more is God unable to do nothing as we suffer? He cannot. And to save us from greater suffering, He uses Heaven as a future reward to motivate us to choose a faith that will reduce our suffering and increase our joy today.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for loving me too much to sit idly by as I destroy my life. Thank you for always working for my highest good. Amen.