Not Every Key Opens Every Door
Why do we need many keys? It’s because not every key opens every door! There is a specific key for every lock. This is exactly why key holders were invented. As the name denotes, their purpose is to hold several different keys.
But what do keys and key holders have to do with Christianity and the believers in Jesus? We’re all about to find out in this short Bible verse reflection and challenge.
Bible Verse: John 4:24
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
God is Spirit
This verse represents the classical statement on the nature of God as Spirit. This phrase means that God is invisible (Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:27) as opposed to the physical or material nature of man.
The word order of this phrase puts an emphasis on “spirit” and the statement is essentially emphatic. Man could never comprehend the invisible God unless He revealed Himself as He did in Scripture and the Incarnation.
Worship God in Spirit and Truth
When Jesus said, “those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth,” He is not speaking of a desirable element in worship. Rather, Jesus is referring to that which is absolutely necessary.
The word “spirit” does not refer to the Holy Spirit but the human spirit. Jesus’ point here is that a person must worship not simply by external conformity to religious rituals and places. We worship not outwardly but inwardly (“in spirit”) with the proper heart attitude.
The reference to “truth” refers to the worship of God consistent with the revealed Scripture. It must also be centered on the “Word made flesh” who ultimately revealed His Father (John 17:25-26).
The Key to Heaven’s Door
A few years ago the phrase, “Not every key opens every door” was logical. Now, the prevailing philosophy says that every belief opens the door to heaven. How did we go from knowing that only one key would fit a lock to every key fits one lock?
This philosophy is wrong according to Jesus. Heaven is filled with the worship of God. God deserves our worship. He created this complicated world and provided a way to have a relationship with Him.
There are many reasons to worship God but according to John 4:24, God wants to be worshiped a certain way. We can only come into His presence a certain way. This implies there is only one way into heaven (John 14:6).
To use the title of this article, there is only one key to heaven’s door and it is a relationship with Jesus. You can try to be the best version of yourself but that does not qualify you for heaven. Going to church every Sunday and doing charitable works does not earn you the key to God’s paradise.
There is one and only one key to getting to where God is – a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. Do you possess that key?
Whose Child Are You?
Just because people say or believe something does not make it true. Every person is a child of the devil until salvation according to John 8:44. This verse implies the devil is a murderer and the father of lies and liars.
Sonship is predicated on conduct. A son will manifest his father’s characteristics (Ephesians 5:1-2). Anyone who exhibits the patterns of Satan in their hostility toward Jesus belongs to Satan.
Are you of God or Satan? You will know to whom you belong by evaluating what you believe. Do you believe the lies propagated by Satan or the Truth? Why not compare it to the words of Jesus, who proved to be the Truth by having His claims of divinity validated at the resurrection? Every person is either a child of God or the devil. Sometimes it is hard to differentiate the truth from the lies.
Why not compare it to God’s word?
Final Words
In the same way that not all roads lead to heaven, not every key opens every door. Whether we acknowledge it or not, there is a specific key that is designed to open a specific door.
Jesus declared that He is the way to God because He is the truth of God and the life of God. The exclusiveness of Jesus as the only approach to the Father is emphatic.
Jesus is the truth and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. There is no other way, no other key!
Are you worshiping God in spirit and truth? Do you hold the key to God’s Kingdom?
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Recommended Resource:
50 Days of Heaven: Reflections That Bring Eternity to Light (A Devotional Based on the Award-Winning Full-Length Book Heaven) by Randy Alcorn
If you’ve always thought of Heaven as a realm of clouds, disembodied spirits, and eternal harp-strumming, you’re in for a wonderful surprise.
From the author of the bestselling book Heaven, here are 50 daily devotional meditations that will touch your heart, capture your imagination, and fill you with hope and anticipation.
- 50 daily devotional meditations
- Great for personal reflection and small group study
- A perfect gift for someone who has recently lost a loved one
Randy Alcorn brings eternity to light in 50 inspiring and thought-provoking meditations that will forever change the way you think about the spectacular new universe that awaits us.
New heavens and a New Earth, where Jesus will be the cosmic center and joy will be the air we breathe―a universe free from pain and suffering, filled with unending beauty and adventure.
Get ready to embark on a wonderful journey!
After reading and reflecting on these soul-stirring meditations, the next time you hear someone say, “We can’t begin to imagine what Heaven will be like,” you’ll be able to tell them, “I can.”
It’s time to bring eternity to light!
2 Replies to “Not Every Key Opens Every Door”
My personal understanding differs from this.
All religions lead to the same God. All “truths” delivered from God to us in human form has the potential to be incomplete. As humans we are soul, the fraction of the Divine residing within a biological vehicle.
That biological vehicle contains our brain, which creates an ego, a false identity of our true self. The ego says things that are seclusive whereas the fraction of the Divine that is in us says things that are inclusive. Jesus was not seclusive.
The ego will also label to separate itself, it does this to assume a higher presumed identity. This in turn, reinforces its false identity. The brain creates the ego out of fear. We possess fear due to the lack of understanding of our true selves and the world around us.
This is God’s intention, it is the way in which we receive soul growth in this realm.
Pay attention to when you are seclusive and inclusive. Think about the words you use and if they come from the ego or your Divine self. Jesus was a human free of ego as where all beings who have given us the word of God.
The Word itself only differs due to the person receiving it and their attachment to their false self. Put that way, it would seem that the only one who could fully understand God’s will would be someone who is free from the human ego, and that is correct.
However, the teaching of all religions are not to get you there instantly, how valuable would a true understanding be if that were the case?
Due to the fact that all the world religions teach different things, they can’t all be right.
Jesus said He was God many different times. He said He was the only way to become right with YHWH as John 14:6 says.
Our sin separates us from God, which means God had to become man and make a way for us to get to God.
God is extremely exclusive because He cannot look at sin.
You can believe what you want but that is what YHWH and Yeshua say.