By David J.
Stewart
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"Nobody
can know for sure that they are going to Heaven, right?" WRONG! "I
guess we'll have to wait till we get there to find out, right?" WRONG!
"If my good outweighs my bad, I'll probably go to Heaven, right?"
WRONG!
To make a presumption that what you've been taught your whole life must be true, especially concerning the destination of your eternal soul, is the epitome of foolishness. Your soul is the only possession you have that is eternal! Your wife, husband, children, career, house, car, boat, money, possessions, beauty, health, et cetera ... are all temporal. Nobody ever has, can, or will, be able to possess these forever in the flesh. Your soul; however, lives on forever in Heaven, or Hell (see Luke 16:19-31). Do not take chances! Do not trust in what mankind tells you. What does God have to say about salvation and going to Heaven? That is what is important! Psalm 118:8, "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."
1. God's Clear Promises
"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..." (1st John 5:13). God wants you to know that you have eternal life! John 5:39 says, "Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me."
Do not trust in Clergymen to do your searching and interpreting of the Scriptures! In Matthew 23:13 Jesus said, "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." What if your priest or minister is wrong? IT IS YOUR SOUL! In John 5:39 Jesus said Search the scriptures for yourself!
Proper Biblical interpretation is not just for ministers! The Apostle Paul, while in Rome, reminded a young man named Timothy... "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). Timothy knew the Holy Scriptures from his childhood. He was taught them, not by Clergymen, but by his grandmother and mother (2nd Timothy 1:5).
God wrote the Bible so every person on earth could read it and find out what
He requires for us to have eternal life. We can know for sure that we are
going to Heaven! It is mental torment to have to go through life wondering
if we are going to make it to Heaven, or if we will end up in Hell. God
does not want us to be mentally tormented and live in fear and uncertainty all
of our days. We are not hostages to some unknown demands of God. HIS DEMANDS ARE KNOWN.
If you will do what God says you must do to go to Heaven, you will be saved and KNOW
IT! John 6:40 states, "And this is the will of him that sent me,
that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life: and I will raise him up at the last day." Salvation is found
only in Jesus Christ.
2. We are Under the Condemnation of God's Law, and are in Trouble!
God is Holy, i.e., moral perfection. God's holiness and righteousness demand justice. On the other hand, this is what the Bible says about humanity:
- "There is NONE righteous, no not one," (Romans 3:10).
- "There is NONE that doeth good, no not one," (Romans 3:12).
- "For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23).
- "For we are ALL as an unclean thing and all of our righteousness (good works) are as filthy rags," (Isaiah 64:6).
3. The Penalty of Sin
Sin is a big joke today to most people. Just watch TV and you'll see sin glorified. God has never laughed at sin and never will. God sent His only begotten Son to pay for our sins with His shed blood (John 3:16; 1st Peter 1:18-19). That is serious. The Bible says, "the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23). All of us are sinners and will pay the wages. Beyond physical death, the Scriptures teach, "The SOUL that sins, it shall die," (Ezekiel 18:4,20).
God's Word teaches that death has two parts:
physical death and eternal separation from God in a lake of fire... "And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation
20:14-15).
4. Jesus Paid Our Penalty
Knowing that we were sinners, lost, hopeless and totally incapable of saving ourselves, JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS! He paid our death penalty in full. He was your substitute! You should have hung on the cross! "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit" (1st Peter 3:18). Christ's suffering was ONCE for all! Why? That He might bring us to God the Father.
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). God loves you! (1st John
3:16). If God never
does another thing for you as long as you live, He has already proved that He
loves you by sending His son to die in your place (for your sins on the cross). "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" (John
3:16). When was the last time someone died for you??? That is love!
5. You Must Accept Christ As Your Savior
IF you could earn your way to Heaven, then why did Christ have to die for you? No, you cannot earn your way into Heaven by your good works! Consider Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, least any man should boast."
The question, "What must I do to be saved?" was asked in Acts 16:30. Acts 16:31 gives the answer... "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Romans 4:5 says, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." What a wonderful Savior!
Quit working and start trusting! It is not what you can do that will save you, but what Christ has already done at Calvary. Are you believing on Jesus ALONE, or are you trusting in your self-righteousness or religion? Romans 10:3-4 WARNS, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."
Have you received Christ as your Savior? John 1:12 says, "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." Therefore, being born-again is a one time event, not a lifelong process. Growing in the grace of God as a believer is a lifelong process (1st Peter 2:2), but not being born-again. You Didn't "Used to Be a Christian"!
"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (John 10:9). Jesus said it! "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). It's Jesus or Hell.
If you want to go to Heaven, then it can only be through the blood of Jesus Christ. "Ye must be born-again" (John 3:3). You need only realize that you are under the condemnation of God's Law, deserving of Hellfire, and then turn in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Matthew 7:13-14 teaches us that there are many ways to Hell, but only one way to Heaven, and Jesus is the only door (John 10:9).
Jesus Christ has expressed His love in what He has already done for you at Calvary. Now it is up to you. Will you accept Jesus as your Savior or reject Him? When you stand before God's Judgment Seat, He is not going to ask you, "How good have you been?" He is going to ask you, "What did you do with my son, Jesus Christ, who died for you: did you receive Him as your Savior or reject Him?" 2nd Thessalonians 1:8 ought to scare you if you've not obeyed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Oh! Listen my friend, don't risk spending eternity in the flames of torment. This life is so short, not even 100 years for 99% of the population. What if you're wrong? What if you die IN YOUR SINS and find out, to your horror, that the Word of God is 100% accurate? The what???
Don't you realize that even after 1,000,000,000,000 years that eternity won't even have begun yet? There is no time in eternity. Could you imagine burning in the Lake of Fire, knowing that there is NO END in site, no time, no years to count. I beg you, please, don't take the Word of God lightly. This is a serious matter, so serious that I've dedicated my life to warning people of the judgment to come. I don't make a penny from my website. I'm presently receiving, by the grace of God, 8000 visitors per DAY! I could make lots of money; but that's not why I do what I do. Hell burns with fire, and all those people who die without Christ will be lost forever in torment. I didn't write the Bible, God did. If I were God I would have done things differently, and messed everything up no doubt. Though I don't understand why God does certain things, I trust Him, and believe upon His Son Jesus Christ as my Savior. It's the blood of Jesus that took my sins away... 1st Peter 1:18,19. Won't you join me?
Do not gamble with your soul! Come to Jesus now as a condemned sinner, guilty under God's Law, deserving of the penalty of Hellfire. Ask Jesus to be your Savior, ask Him to forgive all your wicked sins. God is omnipresent (i.e., He is everywhere). Wherever you may be as you read this, God is there. He keeps you breathing (Acts 17:25). God says to you, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). Do it now; do not wait, for tomorrow is uncertain... Proverb 27:1, "Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Tomorrow may be too late! Would you like to be saved now?
God's Simple Plan |
How to go to Heaven
6. Assurance
You can never lose your salvation --"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). "WHOSOEVER shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). John 6:37, "...him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."
