You say that if we don’t enjoy Christ now, what makes us think that we will enjoy him in heaven? But surely when we go to heaven, we shall lose our old, sinful nature and be perfectly like the Lord?

This text is from a transcript of a talk by David Gooding, entitled ‘What it Means to be a Believer’ (1989).

I think that question arises from things I said during my talk. I asked: if you don't enjoy the Lord now, what does that mean? Do you really want to go to heaven? If you don't enjoy talking to the Saviour now, what makes you think you'd enjoy talking to him then? And the question we have here is: 'But what are you saying? Surely when we go to heaven, we shall lose our old, sinful nature and we shall be perfectly like the Lord?'

So let's get this clear from Scripture. Yes, every true believer saved by God's grace enjoys salvation as a gift. When the Lord comes, what will happen? First John 3:2 says, 'Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is.' What a lovely thing. It's true of every believer right down to the weakest; when the Lord comes and is manifested and takes us home to be with him, then we shall see him as he is, and in seeing him, we shall be transformed. We shall be perfectly like him eternally. And just like an emerging butterfly leaves the chrysalis behind, so when we go home to glory we shall leave behind forever the old fallen nature that so bothers us still, and we shall be perfectly conformed to the blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, let me affirm that. I do believe it, because Scripture teaches it. Every believer will be like the Saviour, perfectly, when he comes and they see him; so every believer will enjoy heaven of course, to the maximum of their ability.

'Well,' you say, 'you are a funny preacher. Now you're contradicting what you said this morning.' Well, no I'm not really. Listen to what John goes on to say: 'And everyone who has this hope in them purifies himself, purifies herself, even as he or she is pure' (1 John 3:3). Notice, please, that is not an exhortation; that is a statement of fact. Show me a woman who has trusted the Saviour and has hope, real certain hope that the Lord is coming, and when he comes, he's going to take her home. That's marvellous, and she knows that when she sees the Lord, she's going to be like him. Well, I'll tell you something else about that woman; God says that if that woman really has that hope, then she will day-by-day purify herself.

All those who have the hope purify themselves. You find me somebody who says, 'Yes, I'm going home to be with the Lord, and when I see the Lord I'm going to be like him,' but then adds, 'Well, I don't want to be like him now. That would spoil my fun.' Well that person just isn't telling the truth. If he doesn't want to be like Christ now, he doesn't have the hope. That doesn't mean every believer is perfect, of course not, but you can't say with one and the same breath, 'I want to be like Christ, but I don't want to be like Christ.' If you want to be like Christ and you have the hope that when he comes you're going to be like him, you will want to be like him now. Oh, yes, so many of us get wayward and wander away, don't we? We lose sight of the goal, and we live carelessly. Scripture reminds us that dear old Peter actually denied the Lord with oaths and curses and used all the swear words he knew to prove he wasn't a believer. Underneath, he was a believer, and the Lord Jesus brought him back and restored him, but a man or woman who goes on for years and years and has no intention of trying to be like the Saviour whatsoever, well John says, 'If such a person claims to be a believer and claims that they want to be like him when the Lord comes, that person just is not telling the truth. They are not children of God. They are the very opposite.' That's important.

There's the other thing too. Every believer will be like Christ when he comes—what there is of him.

You say, 'We shall all be dead alike, of course we shall.'

No we shan't.

You say, 'Well you just said that we're all going to be like Christ; we're going to be absolutely equal.'

Shall we really? We shall be like Christ, what there is of us. I must ask the forgiveness of many of you because I've used this illustration so many times it's like a broken down old record that scratches horribly, but I can't think of a better one. So I picture myself at a Christmas party. There's a little child of one and a half years old, a boy of seven, a sweet young thing of seventeen, and there's mum and dad. They're all at the Christmas party having a whale of a time, every one of them. The lad of a year and a half is sitting in his high chair and he's managed to get hold of a soup spoon. He's dipped it into the cream and he's pouring the cream all round his hair and down on the carpet. He's having a magnificent time! Now and again he peers over the edge of his high chair and sees his brother on the floor playing trains. Hasn't got a ghost of a notion what's going on, of course, so he doesn't miss it. And when six o'clock comes, he goes to bed delighted and absolutely content. His heart is as full as his little heart could be with joy at being at the Christmas party.

The nipper on the floor, seven years old, isn't getting cream all round his head. He's playing trains on the carpet with his father. What's made the difference? Well the seven-year-old has grown up a bit. Of course, if you looked at the babe in the chair, he's like his dad. The boy of seven is also like his dad, but he's grown up a bit more; he's able to enjoy more. The sweet girl of seventeen is not putting cream on her hair, nor is she sitting on the floor playing trains. What, with that dress on? In half an hour's time some very special company is coming to the Christmas party and she's been down to a dress shop and purchased a magnificent outfit. For the rest of the evening she is sitting on the settee talking with a young gentleman, and the child of seven can't figure it out. 'Why on earth doesn't he come down on the floor and play trains? Just sitting there talking! Can you imagine anything as boring as sitting, just looking at somebody and talking? It's nonsense.' Of course the girl of seventeen is like her dad too. She enjoys the party more than the boy of seven, who hasn't got a ghost of a notion what's going on anyway, and he goes to bed content. The difference is growth.

All believers will be in glory, every single one of them. 'Of all he has given me, I shall not lose one' (John 6:39). You can be like the dying thief if you like, come in at the last minute before twelve o'clock and, as a broken sinner, confess your sin and put your trust solely in the Saviour, and you can be guaranteed an eternal heaven; there need be no doubt. Every believer will be in heaven solely on the grounds that he has washed his robes in the blood of the Lamb. Every believer will be in glory, but it's one thing to enter and another thing to have 'an abundant entrance' (2 Peter 1:11).

You say, 'What is an abundant entrance? What do you think heaven's going to be? A big castle or something, with some sitting on comfortable seats in the middle and some having to sit by the draughts at the door? What does it mean to get a rich entry into glory?'

It means how much you're going to enjoy it. Everybody will enjoy it to their full. The difference will be that some will have grown a lot, says Peter, and they will by God's grace have added to their character. In the power of their faith they will have added virtue and knowledge and self-control and endurance and brotherly love and, by the Saviour's grace, they will have built up and developed their Christian character (2 Peter 1:3–11). They will get an abundant entrance and they'll have the bigger capacity to enjoy heaven. But those who have not done it, if they're true believers, will get in of course, but they won't get an abundant entrance. This life matters, doesn't it?