How can we know for sure that we'll go to heaven?
A Barna poll shows that for every American who believes he or she is going to Hell, there are 120 who believe they're going to Heaven. Yet Christ said otherwise: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).
Heaven, then, is not our default destination. No one goes there automatically. Unless our sin problem is dealt with, the only place we can go is Hell, our true default destination when we die.
In the Bible, Jesus talks more about Hell than anyone else (Matthew 10:28; 13:40-42; Mark 9:43-44).
He refers to it as a real place and describes it in graphic terms-including raging fires and the worm that doesn't die. Christ says the unsaved "will be thrown out-side, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:12).
Is it possible to know for sure we're going to Heaven? The apostle John said, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). So we can know for sure we'll go to Heaven or Hell.
Do you? If not, Keep on reading.
To sin means to fall short of God's holy standards. Sins is what ended Eden's paradise. And all of us, like Adam and Eve, are sinners. You too are a sinner. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Sin separates us from a relationship with God (Isaiah 59:2). There's a a huge gulf between us and God and there's nothing we can do cross it. Sin deceives us and make us think that wrong is right and right is wrong (Proverbs 14:12). It makes us imagine that we're okay when we're really not.
Sin has terrible consequences but God has provided a solution: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, loved us so much that he became a man to deliver us from our sins (John 3:16). He came to identify with us in our humanity and our weakness, but he did so without being tainted by our sin (Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:15-16).
Jesus died on the cross as the only one worthy to pay the penalty for our sins demanded by the holiness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). On the cross, he took upon himself the Hell we deserve, in order to purchase for us the Heaven we don't deserve. Being God and therefore all-powerful, Jesus Christ rose from the grave, defeating sin and conquering death (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 54-57).
When Christ died on the cross for us, he said, "It is finished" (John 19:30). The Greek word translated "it is finished" was commonly written across certificates of debt when they were canceled. It meant "paid in full." Christ died so that the certificate of debt, consisting of all our sins, could once and for all be marked "paid in full."
Only when our sins are dealt with in Christ can we enter Heaven. We cannot pay our own way. Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which men we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Christ's death on the cross and his resurrection, is the bridge that crosses the chasm which separates us from God. Because of Jesus Christ's atonement for our sins, God freely offers us forgiveness: "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgression from us" (Psalm 103:10-12).
To be forgiven, we must recognized and repent of our sins: "Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy" (Proverbs 28:13.
Forgiveness is not automatic. It's conditioned upon confession: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).
Christ offers to everyone the gift of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life: "The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life." (Revelation 22:17).
We need to understand Titus 3:5, "he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit."
We come to Christ empty-handed. We can take no credit for salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast." This gift cannot be worked for, earned or achieved. It's not dependent on our merit but only on Christ's generous sacrifice on our behalf.
Now is the time to make things right with God. Confess your sins and accept Jesus. We need Jesus to go to Heaven. He is the key to Heaven and we must believe He is the only way.
Isaiah 55:6 says, "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near."
Heaven, then, is not our default destination. No one goes there automatically. Unless our sin problem is dealt with, the only place we can go is Hell, our true default destination when we die.
In the Bible, Jesus talks more about Hell than anyone else (Matthew 10:28; 13:40-42; Mark 9:43-44).
He refers to it as a real place and describes it in graphic terms-including raging fires and the worm that doesn't die. Christ says the unsaved "will be thrown out-side, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:12).
Is it possible to know for sure we're going to Heaven? The apostle John said, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). So we can know for sure we'll go to Heaven or Hell.
Do you? If not, Keep on reading.
To sin means to fall short of God's holy standards. Sins is what ended Eden's paradise. And all of us, like Adam and Eve, are sinners. You too are a sinner. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Sin separates us from a relationship with God (Isaiah 59:2). There's a a huge gulf between us and God and there's nothing we can do cross it. Sin deceives us and make us think that wrong is right and right is wrong (Proverbs 14:12). It makes us imagine that we're okay when we're really not.
Sin has terrible consequences but God has provided a solution: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, loved us so much that he became a man to deliver us from our sins (John 3:16). He came to identify with us in our humanity and our weakness, but he did so without being tainted by our sin (Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:15-16).
Jesus died on the cross as the only one worthy to pay the penalty for our sins demanded by the holiness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). On the cross, he took upon himself the Hell we deserve, in order to purchase for us the Heaven we don't deserve. Being God and therefore all-powerful, Jesus Christ rose from the grave, defeating sin and conquering death (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 54-57).
When Christ died on the cross for us, he said, "It is finished" (John 19:30). The Greek word translated "it is finished" was commonly written across certificates of debt when they were canceled. It meant "paid in full." Christ died so that the certificate of debt, consisting of all our sins, could once and for all be marked "paid in full."
Only when our sins are dealt with in Christ can we enter Heaven. We cannot pay our own way. Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which men we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Christ's death on the cross and his resurrection, is the bridge that crosses the chasm which separates us from God. Because of Jesus Christ's atonement for our sins, God freely offers us forgiveness: "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgression from us" (Psalm 103:10-12).
To be forgiven, we must recognized and repent of our sins: "Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy" (Proverbs 28:13.
Forgiveness is not automatic. It's conditioned upon confession: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).
Christ offers to everyone the gift of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life: "The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life." (Revelation 22:17).
We need to understand Titus 3:5, "he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit."
We come to Christ empty-handed. We can take no credit for salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast." This gift cannot be worked for, earned or achieved. It's not dependent on our merit but only on Christ's generous sacrifice on our behalf.
Now is the time to make things right with God. Confess your sins and accept Jesus. We need Jesus to go to Heaven. He is the key to Heaven and we must believe He is the only way.
Isaiah 55:6 says, "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near."
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