Has anyone ever taken a Bible and shown you how you can know for sure that you're going to Heaven?
Provided by Evantell.
The Bible contains both bad news and good news. The bad news is something about you. The good news is something about God. Let's look at the bad news first.
Bad News #1: You are a sinner."for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" - Romans 3:23 ESV "Sinned" means that we have missed the mark. When we lie, hate, lust, or gossip, we have missed the standard God has set. Suppose you and I were each to throw a rock and try to hit the North Pole. You might throw farther than I, but neither of us would hit it. When the Bible says, "all have sinned and fall short," it means that we have all come short of God's standard of perfection. In thoughts, words, and deeds, we have not been perfect. But the bad news gets worse.
Bad News #2: The penalty for sin is death."For the wages of sin is death..." - Romans 6:23 ESV Suppose you worked for me and I paid you $50. That $50 was your wages. That's what you earned. The Bible says that by sinning we have earned death. That means we deserve to die and be separated from God forever. But there's good news.
Good News #1: Christ died for you."but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8 ESV Suppose you are in a hospital dying of cancer. I come to you and say "Let's take the cancer cells from your body and put them into my body." If that were possible, what would happen to me? I would die. What would happen to you? You would live. The Bible says Christ took the penalty that we deserved for sin, placed it upon Himself, and died in our place. Three days later Christ came back to life to prove that sin and death have been conquered and that His claims to be God were true. But there's more good news.
Good News #2: You can be saved through faith in Christ."For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
Faith means trust. Q: What must you trust Christ for? A: You must depend on Him alone to forgive you and to give you eternal life. Just as you trust a chair to hold you through no effort of your own, so you must trust Jesus Christ to get you to heaven through no effort of your own. But you may say: - "I'm religious."
- "I go to church."
- "I don't steal."
- "I'm a good person."
- "I help the poor."
These are all good, but good living, going to church, helping the poor or any other good thing you might do cannot get you to heaven. You must trust in Jesus Christ alone, and God will give you eternal life as a gift!
Is there anything keeping you from trusting Christ right now?Think carefully. There is nothing more important than your need to trust Christ. Would you like to tell God you are trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior? If you would, why not pray right now and tell God you are trusting His Son? Remember! It is not a prayer that saves you. It is trusting Jesus Christ that saves you. Prayer is simply how you tell God what you are doing. You can talk to God and asked to be saved Today!
Have you trusted Christ to save you?What does all this mean? "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who
sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has
passed from death to life." - John 5:24 ESV
- Did you "hear" God's word?
- Did you "believe" what God said and trust Christ as your Savior?
- Does "has everlasting life" mean later or right now?
- Does it say "does not come into judement" or might not?
- Does it say "has passed from death" or will pass?
Eternal life is based on fact, not feeling. Memorize John 5:24 today.
What now?After you trust Christ as your only way to heaven, here's how to grow in your relationship with him. If you have found this helpful, please share it with someone.
Still have questions?
Do you wonder what this is all about? Have questions about why you need Jesus? Just need to talk to someone? We'd love to take some time with you show you how you can be sure to know where you are going when you die.
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