Does the church of Christ teach that they are the only ones going to heaven?

      I was not raised up attending the church of Christ, but I obeyed the Gospel according to what the Bible teaches, and I now serve as a minister for the church of Christ. The question, which is the heading for this article, has been posed to me on many occasions since becoming a member of the church, usually by members of denominational churches.

      I must say that I have never heard a statement to this effect made by anyone in the church. I have heard jokes like the one that describes St. Peter escorting a person who was a member of a well known denomination through Heaven. They reached a certain section and St. Peter told the man to be very quiet. When the man asked why, St Peter explained that the people in this section were members of the church of Christ, and they think they are the only ones here.

      The Bible clearly teaches that some will go to Heaven and some will go to Hell. In Matthew 25:46 Jesus said, “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” No one should be fond of the idea of eternal punishment.

      It would be nice to believe that everyone is going to Heaven, and that no one is going Hell. However, the verse above, and many others like it, tells us this line of thinking is not the way it will be. Perhaps the question being asked should be, "who will go to Heaven, and who will go to Hell"?

      The Bible describes many elements that involve whether a person is going to Heaven or Hell. In order to be granted entry into Heaven a person will have to be judged righteous by the things set forth in God’s Word. Through the inspiration of almighty God, Paul said,

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written. The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;" (Rom. 1:16-18).

      From that passage alone one can see the importance Paul placed upon the Gospel, because as he says, in it "the righteousness of God is revealed." Paul also states that God’s wrath will be revealed against those who “hold the truth in unrighteousness.” This implies that some will think and teach that they have the truth, but actually they do not have it. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven" (Matt. 7:21).

      The pattern that produced Christians in the New Testament is the only means still authorized for conversion in this age. It was the will of God then, and it is the will of God now. Ultimately the decision of who will and will not go to Heaven belongs to God. Since no man can stand justified before God, without the grace of God, it will be entirely up to God as to who this grace is applied. God’s Word teaches that His grace will be applied to those who “obey the gospel.”

      This is implied by the fact that Jesus will return “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; (2Thess. 1:8-9).” The church of Christ does not teach that they are the only ones going to Heaven. God’s Word teaches that those who are saved will go to Heaven!

      Those who obey the Gospel, and remain faithful to God, are the saved. God’s Word shows us the pattern by which New Testament converts became Christians, and that same pattern is what the church of Christ teaches as necessity to salvation. It is not for man to say who will and will not go to Heaven. It is up to man to seek the will of God, obey it, and teach it. We do not apologize for saying, “We must follow God and not man.”

B. D. Phillips