What must a person do to get to heaven? Must they be good enough, smart enough, rich enough, believe enough, look hard enough, pray enough, give enough or even love enough? Getting to heaven is a very serious matter, it is an eternal decision! I would like to take a moment and share with you what the Bible says about getting to heaven.
Romans 3:10 – “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”
We must understand that there are no righteous people, we all are unrighteous!
Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
We must also understand that all people are sinners! From the moment we are conceived we are sinners! Sin separates us from God and from getting to heaven. Sin causes us to fall short of God’s glory, which is perfection. We would have to be perfect to get into heaven, but we are all imperfect!
Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Since we are sinners we have earned death, not just a physical death but also a spiritual death. A spiritual death is to be separated from God for all eternity in a place of torments, hell. Our sin has earned us separation from God, but there is Good News! The last part of the verse says a gift is available. The gift available is eternal life with God, not being separated from God but actually living with Him in heaven one day. What an awesome gift! But, this gift can come only through Jesus Christ. We must have a personal relationship with Jesus. There is a gift of eternal life waiting for you but you must open it and accept for yourself.
John 14:6 – “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
The only way any person can go to heaven is by going through Jesus. We must go to Jesus if we want to live in heaven one day.
John 3:16 & 17 – “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.”
What an awesome God! God loved us so much that He was willing to give us Jesus to rescue us from eternal punishment! God wants you to be saved from eternal wrath and punishment! God wants you to go to heaven. But how does Jesus save us? Jesus came from heaven and was born of a virgin, He lived a perfect life without any sin, He went to the cross and was crucified for our sin, He shed His perfect blood to pay the price of sin for all people, and 3 days after He died He rose again conquering death and hell. Right now Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father, Jesus is a LIVING SAVIOR! Jesus bridges the gap between man and God.
Romans 10: 9 & 10 – “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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
These two verses give us 3 simple steps that we can take to get to heaven.
1. Confess that you are a sinner! (It takes just one sin to be a sinner.)
2. Believe in your heart that Jesus paid your sin debt!
3. Ask Him personally to come into life and be your Savior!
If you want you can do these 3 steps right now! Please don’t put off the chance of going to heaven. If you are serious about getting to heaven then right where you are ask Jesus to come into your life. Here is a sample prayer that you can say. Remember the words won’t save you, but your belief in your heart that these words are true does!
Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I do not deserve to go to heaven. I confess to you that I am a sinner and that I need you. I believe that you died on the cross and rose from the grave to pay my sin debt. I ask that today you come into my heart and be my personal Savior. Amen.
If you said that prayer and meant it, then my friend you are now a child of God. I look forward to seeing you one day in heaven. The next step is to grow in your faith, start by reading God’s Word and find a Bible believing church to attend. If you have any questions, please let me know, I would love to help you on your spiritual journey.
Because of the Cross,
Pastor Chris