When it comes down to it, what lands one person in heaven and another in hell? Aside from the issues of God's election and His Sovereign work to bring us to Himself, how can a person who knows the Bible and appears to be a good person, end up in hell for all eternity? Jesus teaches here that our eternal destiny is determined by what we do with the the revelation of His Word. But it's not enough to simply regard the Scripture as important or even sacred, it must transform our life by bringing us to a place of true repentance and a genuinely changed life. This change will be evident by the way we treat others, and use the riches God has blessed us with to show compassion to those in need. Of course, helping the poor, by itself is not a sign of repentance, since this can be a means of justifying ourselves rather than bringing us to true repentance. Much like the Pharisees, who thought they were serious about Scripture, but they used the law to “justify” themselves. Instead, we are to view our life honestly under the scrutiny of God’s revelation to show us how far we fall short of His character and perfect moral standard. Only then can we come to a place of true repentance, where we turn from sin and seek His mercy to forgive our sins and transform our life.
