It is said, “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”
I suppose the premise to this “proverb” is that intentions are worthless unless they are followed through with action—to the fulfillment of those intentions. And apparently it is worthy of death (judgement, Hell) to not bring to fruition an intention of the heart. As a result, to those who fail in their integrity to fulfil those intentions they will suffer eternal torment in separation from God. I suppose it could also mean that a person may have had good motives in performing a certain action, but in the end, it was proven disastrous. In both interpretations I have to say that nothing could be further from the truth as presented in the Bible—the eternal residence of any given person is not determined by ephemeral motives, “good” intentions, or, for that matter, any actions.
If I were to assert anything about civic engineering, pavement, and judgement, I would have to say that the road to Hell is paved with sin. Every person is born sinful, being laden with original sin. “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 36:23). Of course, we add to that with sins of commission, and omission—things we should not have done, but did. And things not done which we should have… done. Thus, sin leads to Hell. That road to Hell is well-travelled, and many will eventually find that it did indeed lead to a fiery end. Honestly, we were all headed there without a change in direction.
The greater concern is regarding the road to Heaven… With what is the road to Heaven paved? In other words, “How is it that we enter in through the Gates of Glory?” That, the Bible tells us, is provided only by the blood of Christ. Only as we are granted the righteousness of Christ (through faith in Christ) are we assured the ability to step into Heaven—the holy presence of God.
The reality is, the road you’re on, is the road that will take you to your eventual end (would that be called “Path-ology”?). That is… unless you change roads. That pavement of sin needs to be removed, and replaced with a road of righteousness. Only one solution will do, and God in His sovereign wisdom provided it. That sin needed to be paid for—and it was!
“He [God] made Him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
God provided His only Son to be the sacrifice for our sin; He became sin in our place, that He would bear our punishment, that the righteousness of a Holy Son may be given to us.
Pithy sayings regarding eternal destinies do nothing to inform us of future realities. Scripture, on the other hand, God’s Word illuminates the road we should walk.
Choose well, and walk on!
