Why Should God Let Us Into Heaven?

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes . . . " (Romans 1:16).

I have often heard that the best question about God to ask anyone, Christian or non-Christian, is the following:
“If you stood at the door of God's heaven and knocked, and Peter, opening the door, asked, ‘Why should I let you in?’ what would you say?”

Essentially, that was the very issue which troubled a conscientious young priest nearly 500 years ago. His father was a copper miner who lived and worked near Mansfeld, Germany. But Hans Luther had greater goals for his son Martin. After completing his bachelor's degree at the University of Erfurt, Martin entered the Augustinian monastery, a decision which appalled his father.

In the monastery Luther sought to find God's favor through self-denial. There he prayed, he flagellated his body, he denied himself sleep and food and the amenities of life, yet there was no peace. He struggled with the issue of what is necessary to really please God. Recognizing his potential, the Augustinians sent Luther to Wittenberg to study for his doctorate, which he earned in 1511. Then he was appointed as a professor of biblical theology, a position which he retained for the rest of his somewhat troubled life.

Luther's study of the book of Romans first caused him to question the dogmas of his day - keeping the ordinances of the church and being faithful in good works. But the issue of how we find favor in the sight of God came to a boil in 1510 when Luther was sent to Rome on official church business. There Luther was repulsed by the practice of selling indulgences in the streets to pay for the opulence of St. Peter's, which was then under construction. An indulgence was simply a piece of paper which you bought, which allegedly brought forgiveness for sins that you would commit in the future.

Convinced that indulgences were wrong, biblically and practically, Luther was deeply distressed. Going to the Church of the Scala Sancta or the Sacred Steps, Martin Luther began his pilgrimage as did thousands of others crawling up the steps, one at a time, kissing them and praying the rosary.

But what you may not know is that these steps were no ordinary walkway. Thought to have been the very steps that Jesus ascended as He made His way into Pilate's judgment hall, faithful devotees had brought them to Rome, where they had become a token of veneration and worship.

As Luther worked his way up the steps, the text of Romans 1:17, like rolling thunder in a summer storm, kept going over and over in his mind: "The righteous will live by faith." It was the phrase, "by faith," that spoke so loudly. In the midst of this act of devotion, Luther rose from his knees, never to be the same. The question confronting Luther is absolutely valid today. How do you find salvation before a holy, righteous God? Is it through what you do, or what Christ did? Through keeping the law? Through going to church or giving to the poor? Or what?

Luther found satisfaction through the message of the New Testament- specifically, what Paul wrote. As Paul wrote to the young man, Titus, "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). Luther's struggle is every person's struggle, for sooner or later every man, every woman, every child stands before a righteous Holy God. As the New Testament clearly asserts, Luther believed that salvation is God's free gift, not the reward a person gets for being good.

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