"When I come before the gates of Heaven they have no choice but to let me in!"
What a confidence statement and seemingly arrogant, right? Not exactly. Similarly the Apostle John referred to himself three times in his gospel as "the disciple in whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23, 19:26, 21:7). I used to read this confused as it seemed arrogant for him to be so presumptuous of his own worthiness... but I lacked enlightenment.
Before I continue, let me ask you, when you close your eyes and picture yourself before God, what does that scene look like? By my observation, many like myself picture themselves before God, just the two of you. God is usually in a place of authority such as on the throne, and they picture themselves beneath Him. Sometimes they refer to Him as Christ, sometimes as the Father. But almost always they picture themselves before God alone.
For Christians this is an errant view and one that we most desperately need to change our understanding of. Scripture in several places says that Jesus is at the "right hand of God" (Heb. 1:3, 12:2; 1 Pet. 3:22; Acts 7:55-56). This is of utmost importance because if you picture yourself before God without seeing Christ at His right hand, you've instantly deleted your Mediator, your High Priest, your Justifier, your Power of Attorney. And now, in your mind it's just you and God, and you're without defense.
The truth is, for all who have come to God through Christ, Christ now stands as our representative. He is our Power of Attorney who "always lives to make intercession" for us (Heb. 7:25).
So what is a Power of Attorney. A Power of Attorney (POA) is one who is legally authorized to represent and speak with authority on behalf of another in regards to their life, medical care, property, finances, place of living, etc. When you assign a POA here on earth, that person represents you with full authority to do so on your behalf. This also puts a burden of responsibility for your well-being onto them should you be unable to help yourself or manage your own affairs.
When you received Christ, you received Him as your POA, often this is done out of recognition that we are indeed in a place where we are unable to help ourselves (Rom. 6:23). Such a burden Christ has offered to take (John 10:18) and does so joyfully (Heb. 12:2). So what does this mean for us?
Well first, now when the debate comes up whether or not to let you into heaven, they no longer address you, recognizing you've assigned Jesus as your POA, they address Him. Your heart may still condemn you, but Christ has more authority and is greater than your heart (1 John 3:20), and therefore His judgment out ranks the self-imposed judgment of your heart and renders your own self-judgment, condemning as it often is, irrelevant and null.
Furthermore Satan, who's known as the the accuser of the brothers and sisters (Rev. 12:10), addresses the court and in one hand he has the law God put forth, and in the other, a list of your transgressions. There's no denying you have no defense, but your POA does. Christ actually agrees with Satan and validates those accusations he brought against you when He died on the cross. But now, because of that accomplishment, He now points to you clothed in the robes of His righteousness (Isa. 61:10, Zech. 3:4) and asks the court if any can find fault in that robe. For because of what Christ has done, if anyone wishes to disqualify you from Heaven, they need to find fault with His walk. Your walk is no longer relevant the moment Jesus cried "it is finished" (John 19:30) on the cross and met the full demands of justice when He wore your robes of unrighteousness.
You see for those that have accepted Christ's atonement, if anyone ever wants to disqualify you from heaven, they actually have to find a problem with Jesus walk on earth for your POA has imputed His flawless record to you. And if they examine His life, and find it without blemish, without sin, then to keep you out of Heaven would be unjust.
Hard to fathom isn't it; especially for our hearts, but it's true.
Why can we be confident they have to let us in? Not because of anything we've done. The cross should humble us for that was our record and when you view the severity He endured, you can rightfully say that you earned that. But lift your eyes up and fix them on Jesus now, for what that did for Him is great joy for Him (Luke 15:7, Isa. 30:18, 53:10, Heb. 12:2) and great news for us. Christ has now justly justified you before the great and mighty God of justice and anytime the accuser or anyone should bring a charge against you they now have to contend with the record of Jesus Christ and are tasked with finding fault with Him and His life, not you and yours.
Who will bring charges against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, but rather, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. - Romans 8:33-34Therefore lift your head overburdened one. Your acceptance before God and entry into heaven is no longer contingent on your performance but it rests entirely on His performance. You can be sure they have to let you in not because you earned it, but in full confidence that He did and He, being rich in Grace, has imputed to You His record and therefore has made a way to guarantee your entry into heaven (Rom. 4:16).
Christ doesn't want you to wallow in your guilt, He wants you to rejoice in His righteousness!
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. - 2 Corinthians 5:21
Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need. - Hebrews 4:16
John wasn't arrogant when He referred to himself as the disciple in whom Jesus loved, that wasn't arrogance, it was confidence. John wasn't looking at himself when he called himself loved, His eyes were fixed on Jesus. I have often looked at myself and wondered "how could God possibly save me". Yet when I look at the cross and learn about the heart of God, my question is no longer how could God possibly save me, but rather how could God do anything but save me! Love is the very nature of God! (1 John 4:8,16).
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