Won't My Parent's Faithfulness Get Me Into Heaven?

Now that I've dealt with the thorny issue of infant baptism, I need to deal with the notion that one's family church registration is a guarantor of citizenship in heaven. Evangelist and author Corrie Tenboom wisely said that God has no grandchildren and here's why he doesn't.

I mentioned in my previous post about what Romans 10:9-10 says regarding how a person is saved. Unlike the notion of salvation through one's parents' church affiliation, God demands that all people obey his son through repenting and making him Lord of their lives.

Peter, speaking to the religious experts of his day, said in Acts 4:12 (KJV), "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Therefore, no amount of piety by one's parents will do.

Neither will the wickedness of any one's parents be charged to their offspring. Look at what it says in Deuteronomy 24:16 (KJV,) "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin."

It's abundantly obvious therefore that our supposed righteousness doesn't depend on our family's piety. Neither will we have to pay for the sins of our parents, as some folks believe. Each one of us must face the ultimate judge and give an account for what we've done in our threescore-and-ten existence.

Because one's eternal destination is the most important matter in life, I'm working on a book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Each one of us must be responsible for where we end up after we die. We can't ride into heaven on the coat tails of our ancestors.