Are You Going To Heaven?

Do you know for sure you are going to Heaven?

Check below what you think you MUST do to get to Heaven:

1. Turn from all my sins.
2. Keep the commandments in the Bible.
3. Be willing to forsake sin.
4. Do my best in life.
5. Love others and treat them with respect.
6. Be water baptized and attend church.
7. Contribute to church or charity.
8. Trust Jesus Christ as my Savior.
9. Trust Jesus Christ and serve Him.
10. I don’t believe in Heaven or Hell.

#1 Sorry. Though you may turn from some sins, you cannot turn from all of them. You were born with a sin nature.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

#2 Wrong. Trying to keep the commandments cannot make you perfect; it only points us to Christ.

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ” (Galatians 3:24).

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).

#3 Incorrect. Being willing to forsake sin cannot take away your sins. God says the penalty for sin is spiritual death.

“For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). The word “death” implies eternal separation from God in hell.

#4 and #5 No! Doing your best in life, loving and respecting others are good deeds, but they aren’t good enough. To stop sinning completely is impossible because we are sinners by nature. Yet, Heaven is perfect.

“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27).

#6 and #7 – Sorry! Water baptism, church attendance, charity, contributions to church and other good deeds cannot make you perfect or save you from hell.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).

So far it sounds quite bad: you are a sinner, you deserve Hell, Heaven is perfect, and you are not. Yet, God wants you to go to Heaven! How then is it possible?

“When His disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:25,26).

#8 Exactly! Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again from the grave to pay for the sins of the world. To be specific: He died for you! He shed His blood to save you.

“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 4:5).

As Jesus told Nicodemus, a wealthy religious man who visited Him at night: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). When Nicodemus did not understand, Jesus told him plainly, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18). The name Jesus means “Savior.” By trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will receive eternal life. You will be declared righteous, which allows you to enter Heaven. “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:4-5).

#9 Sorry! Nothing you can do, even if it is serving God, can add to the finished work of Christ on the cross. Though serving God is important, it does not save you. Your faith for salvation should not be in Christ plus yourself; it must be in Christ alone. Grace means getting something you don’t deserve; it is not earned by works.

“And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work” (Romans 11:6).

Serving Christ should follow salvation, but they are not part of salvation. To be saved you must repent (“change your mind”) and trust in the Savior Jesus Christ.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).

This is a one-time life decision. When you do, you will be born into God’s family, and He will be your Father.

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).

As a child of God, you may be disciplined, but God will never kick you out of His family. Once you have eternal life, you are secure. You cannot lose or forfeit it. It is God’s unconditional promise.

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28).

#10 Friend, I cannot make you believe that God, Heaven and Hell exist. Perhaps you don’t believe because you cannot see. Neither can you see the air you breathe; yet, without it you would die. Your lack of faith will not change the reality of Heaven or Hell, but it will condemn you. Why not investigate God’s Word and see that God loves you and wants to save you.

If you are ready to be saved, trust in Christ as your personal Savior. Acknowledge that you are a sinner and deserve hell; then believe in Jesus Christ as the One Who died and rose again to pay for your sins. If you do, you can KNOW that you are going to Heaven!

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13).