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Lots of very heavy questions confront us all the
time. 
“Should I get married? If so, how do I find ‘the one’?”
“Should I take that job offer, even if they move me out of state?”
“Should I get that surgery or just treat it with medications?”
The list of big questions is endless.
But there’s one question that trumps them all. There’s one massive question that must be
confronted by every living person. And
the answer to that question literally has eternal implications. It’s life and death. What’s the question?
“How can I know I’ll go
to heaven when I die?”
At some point every person must personally ask that
question and not rest until it’s answered.
No one knows when he or she will die, and after we die it’s too late to
seek the answer.
But in asking the question, we need to know that
there’s only one answer that’s correct.
I know that sounds politically incorrect, but the Bible is crystal clear!
There’s only one answer. There’s
one way to heaven because God made only one way. Please take a few minutes to read on.
We’re going to look at several verses from the New
Testament Book of Romans. First let’s
look at Romans 3:23. It says, “for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God.”
There are two really important points in
this verse.
First, we have to know something about
God.
The Bible says that God is glorious. He
is perfectly holy and pure. There is no
spot or blemish in God at all.
The apostle John said in 1 John 1:5, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
God is perfectly holy and He
commands us to be holy.
He said in both the Old and New Testaments, “You shall be holy, for I am
holy” (Leviticus 19:2, 1 Peter 1:16).
The problem is, we’re not holy. We’re sinners. “For all have sinned.” Each one of us. You included.
We’ve all violated God’s commands and we’re sinful. That’s the heart of the problem.
And there’s a massive, terrible
consequence. Romans 6:23a says,
“For the wages of sin is death…”
What’s a wage? A wage is something we earn because of what
we do. We go to work, we put in the
time, and we receive a paycheck, a wage.
The Bible says we earn death
because of our sin. That’s our paycheck
because of our sin. Unless something or
someone intervenes, that paycheck is guaranteed.
And the Bible talks about death in a
couple ways.
One way we die is physically. Our spirit
is separated from our body. We die.
Second, we die spiritually. We’re relationally separated from God in this
life because of our sin, and if we die in that state, we’re separated from God for
the rest of eternity in hell. That’s terrible news!
But here’s where the good news comes in…
Romans 5:8 says,
“but God shows his love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
That’s incredible love! God sent his Son, Jesus, to take on flesh and
live among us. He was born on this earth
as a human being. He was still God, but
also a man. And He lived in perfect
obedience to God, His Father.
And in His amazing love for us, He took all
our sin on Himself. He was  crucified on a Roman cross, He absorbed the judgment and wrath of God for all that sin in your
place - on your behalf. He died and was buried.
And then three days later, He rose from
the dead in victory over sin and death.
And He now sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
Jesus made the way for you, personally,
to be forgiven of our sin.
Jesus made a way that you wouldn’t have to experience God’s holy wrath for your
sin.
Romans 6:23b says,
“the free gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God offers you eternal life, life with
God in heaven for all eternity – forgiveness for all your sins, past, present
and future. And He offers you the
righteousness of Christ credited to you – to your account.
But there’s only one way to get it.
You can’t earn it. There are no good works you can do to earn
it. The Bible says it’s a
gift, not a wage. You can’t earn
a gift. A gift is free! It’s given and received, not earned.
How do you receive that gift? By faith alone.
Romans 10:9-10 says,
“if you confess with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with
the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
All you must do is believe or trust
fully in what Christ has already done for you.
He did the work, you receive the gift.
But it’s not just believing that certain facts are
true. The devil believes the
facts are true and he’ll be condemned for all eternity. By believing, the Bible means that you must bank
your entire life and eternity on it by faith!
Greg Gilbert put it like this in his
book What is the Gospel? (pg. 79):
“Putting your faith in Christ means that you utterly renounce any other hope of
being counted righteous before God…To put it another way, it means jumping off
the edge of the pool and saying, ‘Jesus, if you don’t catch me, I’m done. I’ve no other hope, no other savior. Save me, Jesus, or I die.’ That is faith.”
That’s the kind of faith that saves! Trusting completely in Jesus alone and what
He’s done for you and staking your life on it.
Romans 10:13 says,
“For
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Does all that make sense to you?
If it’s not clear or if you have any questions about this, please call us! It’s so important that you understand this.
If it is clear to you, I would ask you,
before you do anything else, to pray a simple prayer of faith and commitment to
God. Just bow your head where you are
and pray something like this:
“Dear
God, I know that I’m a sinner and I know my sins keep me from a relationship
with you. I now believe that Jesus
Christ took my sins on himself, died on a cross, absorbed my judgment, and rose
from the grave on the third day. Forgive
me of my sins, Lord. I turn from my sin
and place my faith and trust fully in you alone for my salvation. Help me to live for you from this day
forward. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”
If you sincerely prayed this prayer and
trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation, would you please let us know? We’d love to rejoice with you, pray for you
and offer you any assistance you might need in your new walk with Christ! We’d like to send you a free book on how to
begin the Christian life. Send us a note
on our Contact Us page.
God bless you, and thank you for reading
this important message.
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