There are people that teach that we’ll stand before the throne of God on judgment day and declare that we’ve been washed in the blood of Jesus. They expect to declare their atonement and justification to God and that their correct theological position will get them into heaven.

But, there is no doctrinal test for entrance to heaven. We are told how we will be judged. It’s not by our doctrine, understanding of truth, or claiming the blood. We will be judged by our works.

Jesus says that if you don’t forgive your brother from your heart, you will be thrown in jail. In the parable, it says that you are thrown in jail until your debt is paid, but we couldn’t pay our debt. If we could pay our own debt to get out of jail, we wouldn’t need Jesus and the cross.

How could unforgiveness keep you out of heaven and keep you in hell?

Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer. Jesus tells us that in the Sermon on the Mount and John tells us that in his first epistle. John reminds us as well that no murderer has eternal life.

We must keep the commandments. Jesus is the fulfillment of the commandments, so we need to keep Jesus. We need to remain in Christ, which is what we call abiding. We stay with Him.

He fulfilled the law and He fulfills the law in and through us.

He gives us His love. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have the capacity for love.

That love loves others. We are told we can’t love God if we don’t love our brother. We’re fooling ourselves if we think we are loving God while hating a brother. That’s also in 1 John.

If you are refusing to forgive, then you aren’t in Christ. His Spirit is not in you, and He’s the only way to heaven.

It is natural to struggle to forgive. Salvation is impossible for man, so it’s okay for it to feel impossible. But, salvation is possible for God! Make the choice to forgive and work on your thoughts to keep choosing forgiveness and ask God to do the work of releasing your heart.