1. Common Church deception = Obeying God’s commandments is too hard
The simple truth to escape hell and go to heaven is obey God. But is this too hard a requirement? Satan’s mission is to stop souls from entering the kingdom of God, so, he convinces people that it is okay to disobey God. In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve that He would punish them if they disobeyed His commandments, but Satan as the Serpent deceived Eve by telling her that she would not be punished if she disobeyed. Jesus preached the truth—he preached the commandments we must obey to gain eternal life. Most churches and pastors preach deception— they teach that obeying God is not required to escape hell. So, Satan has infiltrated the church to deceive people that they can disobey God and escape hell. Satan and his servants use vocabulary and quotes from the Bible, yet their teaching is empty of truth. Rather than teaching the wholesome Word of God and commandments of Jesus, most church leaders use storytelling, logic and bits of Scripture pulled out of context to preach the false teaching that obeying God’s commandments is too hard and impossible. Will you believe these religious deceivers, or will you believe Jesus? The truth is that it is easier to obey God and go to heaven, than disobey God and go to hell.

2. Seek God’s righteousness; Love God with all your being, Love neighbor as yourself
What is required in a life of obeying God to escape hell? Jesus gives the key in Matthew 6:33: "...seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness..." To enter the kingdom of God we must seek His righteousness– not your righteousness, or righteousness according to others—His righteousness is God’s righteousness. Righteousness has to do with how we deal with others, how fair or just we are in treating others. God has given every soul a conscience to know what is good and righteous and what is evil and unrighteous. Within our inner person or heart, we know the will of God is for us to do good. Those who disobey this truth in their heart are unrighteous. In Matthew 7:12 Jesus says, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." This is the "law and the prophets" because it is the guiding truth of God’s basic commandments. Those with a good conscience, fear God and treat others as they want to be treated. By obeying this guiding truth, they do righteous work and are doers of God’s commandments. In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." These two commandments are "all the law and the prophets" because they capture the substance of God’s truth required to enter the kingdom of God. If we obey these two commandments from the heart at the most basic level, we will do the works of righteousness required to escape hell. If we obey these two commandments at the most advanced level, we will do the works of righteousness that take us to the highest levels of reward and glory in heaven.

3. Be righteous from inner heart; God rejects religious hypocrites with outward show
Those who seek God’s righteousness must do so from their heart—that is, from their very inner person. This is a key point. God does not want hypocrites who pretend to be godly and righteous on the outside but have evil intentions on the inside. In Matthew 5:20 Jesus says, "…That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." The scribes and Pharisees were civilized, law-abiding, religious people, yet Jesus says that unless our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of such people, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. In our current time, most pastors, church leaders and Bible scholars are equivalent to Pharisees and Scribes. They may follow the letter of the law, but do not obey in spirit and heart God’s truth. They are people who put on an outward show of godliness—they regularly attend services, make long prayers in public, dress in a specific manner for others to see, they make sure others know that they tithe, fast, and give to the poor, and do many religious activities. They pretend to give glory to God, but their true intention is putting on a show to bring glory to themselves. Their deceitful, evil hearts do not intend to do or teach the will of God. In Mark 7:6-8 Jesus says, "...you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men..." Jesus called them hypocrites repeatedly because they were pretending to be godly, but they rejected God’s commandments and held onto men’s commandments.

4. Hypocrites pretend to be godly, but desires men’s praise instead of God’s praise
Please notice, hypocrites pretend to seek God’s righteousness but actually seek righteousness in the eyes of others. Because they desire the praise of men rather than the praise of God, they are blind to truth and are unrighteous. In Matthew 23:24-28, Jesus says "Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." They appeared to serve, worship, and give glory to God on the outside with lip service of polite, pleasant-sounding words and eyeservice of following religious ceremonies. Yet, on the inside, their deceitful desire was to gain praise of men, power, money, and glory for themselves. In our present time also, blind, religious hypocrites lay aside the truth, they lay aside the commandments of Jesus Christ and follow the commandments of men. These people are spiritually dead souls; they make the outside appear righteous, but their inner heart is unrighteous.

5. Religious hypocrites & their deceived followers are spiritually dead; they go to hell
Those who follow and unite with religious hypocrites are blind following the blind, and both fall in the ditch. In Matthew 23:13-15 Jesus says, "...But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in…for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." These religious leaders will not enter heaven and, further, they stop others from entering the kingdom of heaven. They pretend to do the work of God with outreach ministries, but they take new converts and turn them into children of the devil who will go to hell. They deceive believers with false teaching that it is not possible nor required to obey God and be righteous. Scripture warns of this deception. 1 John 3:7,10 says, "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he [God] is righteous...In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God..." There are two key points here. First, do not be deceived by anyone; righteous people are doers of righteousness to the standard of God’s righteousness. Second, the evidence that separates children of God from children of the devil, is that children of God do righteous works, and children of the devil do unrighteous works. Children of the devil may follow a church leader, do religious activities, do unrighteous deeds, and still declare themselves to be a child of God. Children of God are righteous from the heart and obey God’s commandments with fruits of righteousness. Do not be deceived and blindly follow religious deceivers to hell.

6. Love God with all your being = Help godly poor people with basic needs
So, what is the righteousness required to escape hell? First, love God the Creator with all your being and, second, love your neighbor as yourself. To "love God," at the most basic level, is helping godly poor people. In Matthew 25:34-40 Jesus says, "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. … Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Here, the righteous are helping people God calls as the "least of these my brethren." Helping poor servants of God with basic needs such as food and clothing, is considered as acts of care done to God himself. So, this is obeying "love God" at the simplest level. Please notice, it does not say to give your time and large money offerings to big church organizations, celebrity preachers or charities. Those who do not help poor disciples of God, it is counted as they did not love God and they will be sent to eternal damnation. In Matthew 25:41-46 Jesus says "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. …Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." In this parable Jesus says the righteous people who had concern for God’s poorest servants and took care of their basic needs are those who love God, and they will escape hell and gain eternal life. This is easy and doable.

7. Love your neighbor as yourself = Do not do harm to others
The second commandment of "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" means do no harm or evil to others. Romans 13:8-10 explains this in depth: "Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Love works no ill to his neighbor means do not do evil to others. Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet – these are the last 5 of the 10 commandments—and they spell out the ways in which we should not harm others. Jesus summarizes these commandments as love your neighbor as yourself. If you want a wife, get married and have your own wife; don’t desire, and go after someone else’s wife. If you want a car or house, get an honest job, work to earn money and buy your own car and house; don’t desire, or steal someone else’s belongings. Please notice that loving your neighbor as yourself does not mean if you pay your son’s college tuition that you must also pay your neighbor’s son’s college tuition. A righteous person’s heart does not desire to do evil things towards others, and, so, they do not do harm to others. This is easy and doable.

8. Righteous people do their duties at work & home sincerely as if to God
Let’s look at how righteous people live in the world. Colossians 3:22-25 says, "Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God; And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons." Righteous people sincerely take care of their duties in the world with integrity as if serving God. We should fulfill our responsibilities at home and work with sincerity and "singleness of heart": the key is a righteous heart with true intentions. The goal should not be as "eyeservice," meaning as a show for others to see, or as "menpleasers," meaning with the purpose of gaining praise of people. Righteous people will be the worker that they would want to have if they were the boss. That is following the guiding truth of do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Even if no one is watching or supervising, a righteous person will do their duties wholeheartedly, enthusiastically, and diligently. God is present and will judge accordingly. Although we may serve a boss in the office, the scripture does not instruct us to fear our boss, rather it instructs us to Fear God. Why is that? Worldly wisdom teaches us to do our work so that our boss sees and approves, after all, he has the power to promote us or to fire us. But in Luke 12:4-5 Jesus says, "Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him." At eternal judgement there will be no favoritism and every soul will be rewarded or punished according to the right or wrong they have done. A church-going Christian who is insincere at work, cheats their boss and wastes time while at the office, may be cast in hell. And a non-religious, sincere worker may escape hell for doing honest, righteous work. We should follow the rules and orders of our leaders in this world, but we should fear God and do our duties as if serving God because that has eternal consequences.

9. It is easier to obey God and go to Heaven, than disobey God and go to Hell
God knows everything we do, and why we do what we do. He is a righteous judge with no bias or partiality at eternal judgement time. If we have done good, righteous works He will bless us with inheritance in His kingdom, if we have done evil, unrighteous works He will curse us with punishment. It is easier to obey God and go to heaven than disobey God and go to hell. 1 John 5:3 says, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." Not grievous means not hard. It is not hard to obey God’s commandments at the most basic level. Do not harm others, help poor godly people, do your duties at home and work with sincerity as if to God. All doable. The minimum to escape hell is not hard – it is easier to be a good, righteous person than to be an evil, unrighteous person. God will judge each soul according to what they have been given and what they did with what they were given. If you desire more glory, more reward, more joy, more of God’s presence in His kingdom, that will require more intense, hard work. But start by meeting the basic requirement of escaping hell.

10. Do not be deceived; Be righteous from heart and obey Jesus’s commandments
Religious deceivers preach commandments of men and appear righteous to others but disobey God’s commandments and are unrighteous in God’s sight. They deceive others to believe that obeying God’s commandments is too hard and not possible. The truth is that it is easier to obey God and go to heaven, than disobey God and go to hell. Be righteous from your heart and obey the truth that came by Jesus.

Grace and peace to those in Christ.

SUMMARY Points

Jesus’s TRUTH = Obey God and Escape Hell
Satan’s DECEPTION = Disobey God and Escape Hell
Church DECEPTION = Obeying God is Too Hard & NOT required to Escape Hell

Seek GOD’s righteousness
-NOT Your righteousness
-NOT Church Religion righteousness

Guiding TRUTH of good conscience:
-Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

COMMANDMENTS of Jesus:
-Love God with all your being
-Love your neighbor as yourself

Be RIGHTEOUS from INNER heart
God REJECTS religious hypocrites with OUTWARD show

Hypocrites PRETEND to be godly
BUT desire MEN’s praise instead of GOD’s praise

RELIGIOUS hypocrites & deceived followers are spiritually DEAD
BOTH go to hell

-Love God with all your being = Help GODLY poor people with BASIC needs
-Love your neighbor as yourself = Do NOT do HARM to others
-Righteous people DO their DUTIES at work and home SINCERELY as if TO GOD

It is EASIER to OBEY God and go to Heaven, than disobey God and go to Hell

Do NOT be deceived.
Be RIGHTEOUS from your heart.
OBEY Jesus’s commandments.'