how can i know for sure i am going to heaven?
The greatest news in the Bible is that you can know for sure that you are going to heaven. You see, God loves you and His desire is for you to spend all of eternity with him.
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
The God who spoke the world into existence wants to spend eternity with you! This is something we can know is certain to happen. That’s the promise of the Bible.
These things I have written 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)
However, this amazing news has a dark side to it. Yes, God loves you and wants you to spend eternity with Him in heaven. Yet, the harsh reality is that you cannot go to heaven as you are. The reason for this is found in one small word – SIN. Sin is anything that displeases God and the Bible teaches on multiple occasions that we are all sinners – we have all disobeyed God.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)
Why is our sin such a problem? The answer is due to the character of God. He is holy and must be separate from sin. There is no sin in God and He cannot have a relationship with sin. As a result, your sin separates you from God and it is the fact that you are a sinner that keeps you out of heaven. Not only does your sin separate you from God because He is holy, but your sin must also be punished because God is just.
For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)
What we deserve because of our sin is death. Sin not only brought physical death into the world but it also brought about spiritual death. We may be physically alive but because we are sinners we live each day spiritually separated from God. And what’s worse, when we die our destiny is to be separated from God for all of eternity due to our sin. There is one more fact about sin and that is that there is nothing that we can do to fix our own sin problem. Our world today is filled with different religions which all teach a variety of ways that man can try to fix his own sin problem and attain a right standing with God. The problem is that none of these ways work.
There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12)
Many people think that doing good works will somehow get them to heaven. In their mind it is as if God has a gigantic scale in which He puts our sin on one side and our good deeds on the other and if our good outweighs our bad then we get to go to heaven. The problem is that good works does not take our sin away. You can do all the good works there are to do but all that really makes you is a “good sinner” who is still separated from God and deserving of eternal punishment.
Some people think if they go to church then they will get to heaven. Going to church is a really good thing to do, but it does not take your sin away, it simply makes you a “church-going sinner.” Others think if they are baptized they will get to heaven. Like going to church, being baptized is a very good thing to do but if that is what you are relying on to get you into heaven then you must realize that being baptized simply makes you a “wet sinner.”
In spite of our sin, there is good news. God wants you to spend eternity with Him in His heaven and loves you so much that He sent his own, Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to make a way for you to go to heaven. Because Jesus was God in the flesh, He was able to live a perfect life – never sinning once. Then, at the age of 33, He willingly laid His life down and was crucified on the cross, not because He was guilty of anything, but because He was dying in your place as a perfect substitute to pay the penalty for your sin.
He (God the Father) made Him (Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
As Jesus hung on the cross, in a way that human eyes could never see, God took your sin and placed it on Jesus. As a result, when God looked down from heaven at Jesus on the cross, He saw the guilt of our sin and He punished Jesus. Everything that had to be done to pay the penalty for our sin happened when Jesus died on the cross. And if that is not good enough news, there is more! Not only did Christ die for our sins but He rose again and He is alive today! This provides for us the only way to heaven. Jesus, through His death and resurrection, is that only way. A few paragraphs back that we saw from Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death. This verse, however, goes on with the alternative - eternal life in heaven can be attained through Jesus Christ.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
The Bible makes it very clear that it is only through Jesus that we can know for sure that we are going to heaven. This does not happen through any work of our own because Jesus already did everything that was needed to be done when He paid the penalty for our sin on the cross. This assurance of our eternal salvation is something that we receive completely by faith.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
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What does it mean to be saved?
IT MEANS YOUR SIN PROBLEM HAS BEEN TAKEN CARE OF
You are forgiven and your sin no longer keeps you out of heaven. How does this happen? It happens “by grace.” Grace is God giving to you what you don’t deserve. You don’t deserve heaven because, as we saw earlier, your sin deserves eternal punishment. Yet, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God desires to give you what you don’t deserve – eternal life in heaven. And how does this happen? It happens “through faith.” Faith is believing that what God said is true.
- It is believing that you are a sinner.
- It is believing that your sin separates you from God.
- It is believing that your sin deserves to be punished.
- It is believing that there is nothing you can do to fix your own sin problem.
- It is believing that God loved you so much that He sent His own son, Jesus Christ, to make a way for you to go to heaven.
- It is believing that Jesus completely satisfied the wrath of God against your sin when He died in your place on the cross.
- It is believing that Jesus rose from the dead and that faith in Him is the only way for you to know for sure that you are going to heaven.
Salvation is a gift of God. It is not a result of works. You don’t earn it. You can’t buy it and you surely don’t deserve it. It is a gift. If I told you that I had a gift for you that you were really going to like and then I told you that if you would wash and detail my car that I would give you that gift – would that really be a gift? Absolutely not! If you have to do anything or pay anything to get it then it is not a gift. So when does a gift become yours? A gift becomes yours when you believe that the gift is for you and you receive it. The same is true with the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. It becomes yours when you receive it.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)
If you have never crossed that line of faith and put your trust solely in Jesus for your forgiveness of sin and your eternity in heaven, you can do so right now.
Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13)
Admit to Jesus that you are a sinner and that your sin deserves to be punished.
Admit to Jesus that there is nothing you can do in and of yourself to fix your sin problem.
Tell Jesus that you believe that He died to pay the penalty for your sins and that He rose from the dead.
Tell Jesus that you believe that He is the only way to heaven.
Ask Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of all of your sin.
Tell Jesus that you receive His free gift of eternal life.
DID YOU MAKE THAT DECISION TO FOLLOW CHRIST?
If you just made the decision to put your faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin, We just want to be the first to say WELCOME TO THE FAMILY! You may be asking yourself what's next? If you have further questions about a relationship with Jesus, please drop us line!