How do you qualify to get to heaven? "Not everyone . . . will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father" (Mt 7:21). God will give "to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life" (Ro 2:7). "The judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things" (2:2). There is "the truth of God" (1:25). Therefore following the truth is essential. What do you think the destiny of those who "suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (1:18), "exchanged the truth of God for a lie" (:25), and "do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness" (2:8) will be? There will be "wrath and indignation . . . tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil" (:8-9).
"Thy word is truth" (Ps 119:160). Why would you want to suppress, exchange, or disobey the truth? "They did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved" (2Th 2:10). It is due to the "deception of wickedness for those who perish" (:10). Deception comes by "the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders" (:9). They opened themselves up to be deceived because they "did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness" (:12). Therefore because they reject the truth "God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false" (:11). Be careful because "many deceivers have gone out into the world" (2Jn 1:7). "Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished" (:8).
You take the wrong direction when you don't "honor Him as God or give thanks" (1:21). When you claim "to be wise" (:22) yourself and do "not see fit to acknowledge God any longer" (:28) you become "selfishly ambitious" (2:8). "It flatters him in his own eyes . . . [and] he has ceased to be wise and to do good" (Ps 36:2-3). You serve instead "the creature rather than the Creator" (1:25) and your "heart was darkened" (:21). "You are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of . . . the righteous judgment of God" (2:5). Their "end will be according to their deeds" (2Co 11:15). But if you go the right direction there will be "glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good" (Ro 2:10).
"Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin" (Ro 3:20). God provided the Law so people could know right from wrong. "Sin is lawlessness" (1Jn 3:4). Man's sinful nature can entice people to be that way. In fact, "the mystery of lawlessness is already at work" (2Th 2:7). The Antichrist is called "the man of lawlessness" (:3). An antichrist is one who does "not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh" (2Jn 1:7) and is a "deceiver" (:7). Daniel prophesied that he would "'do as he pleases, and he would exalt and magnify himself above every god'" (Da 11:36). This is like the self-centeredness of relative humanism. There is no absolute truth and whatever pleases a person and works for the moment is the answer. He is "the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God" (2Th 2:3-4).
The Jew has the Law, so you might say God judges them that way since "the doers of the Law will be justified" (Ro 2:13). Also, "all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law" (:12). Then, Gentiles who do not have the law but "have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law" (:12). In addition, "if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?" (:26). What about a person who does NOT "suppress the truth (Ro 1:18)", has NOT "exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image" (:23), and has NOT "exchanged the truth of God for a lie" (:25)? They would be Gentiles who "do instinctively the things of the Law . . . [which are] a law to themselves" (Ro 2:14). It would "show the work of the Law written in their hearts" (:15). When "God made it evident to them" (Ro 1:19) it was to their heart. "God has allotted to each a measure of faith" (Ro 12:3). Even Paul recognized that he "received [his revelation] from the Lord (1Co 11:23) and he "received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal 1:12).
Therefore "choose for yourselves today whom you will serve" (Jos 24:15). You don't receive salvation by osmosis. Be careful because "the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ" (2Co 4:4). God's judgment is about "dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel" (2Th 1:8) and "to destroy those who destroy the earth'" (Rev 11:18). "These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power" (2Th 1:9).