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How to Go to Heaven© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1971)
The Great Concern
It is only natural to wonder what really happens to a person after he
dies. When you close your eyes in death, is that the end of
consciousness and existence for you? If not, what kind of realm does
one enter, and who is out there? Is there a living, personal, holy God
to face? Is there a Heaven of exhilarating happiness and a hell of
excruciating suffering forever? If so, what determines which place one
enters? How can we know the true answers to such enormously important
questions? This is a reasonable concern and requires a reliable source
of information to give the answer. No one can afford to be wrong about
conditions beyond the grave and the eternity that follows.
A Shortsighted Assumption
People who are intelligent and logical in most areas of life strangely
assume that whatever religious system they were born into has the truth
about God and about life after death. Amazingly, people seldom bother
to discover for themselves the basis for the religious beliefs they
hold. If there is life after death in Heaven or hell, how can we know
what God demands from us in order to secure eternal life in Heaven? Of
all the conflicting and competing religious systems in the world, which
one really speaks for God? To be wrong on this matter is to doom
yourself to an eternity in the pain and suffering of the Lake of Fire.
So, how do we decide on what is true in spiritual matters?
What People Think - What God Thinks
All the religious ideas in the world can be classified as either human
viewpoint or divine viewpoint. Human viewpoint is what people assume
by their natural reasoning. People share these opinions with each other
as if they were unquestionably the truth. Entire religious
denominations often base their teachings on nothing more than human
viewpoint ideas inherited from their predecessors. Divine viewpoint, on
the other hand, is based on an authority beyond man's natural reasoning
capacity and consensus. Divine viewpoint is revealed in God's Word, the
Bible. The Bible is the only source of divine viewpoint in the world.
Human viewpoint radically contradicts the divine viewpoint of the Bible
on the matter of securing eternal life in Heaven. One's eternal destiny
is determined by what God says, not by what people decide about how one
should gain entrance into Heaven.
The Biblical Way to Go to Heaven
The Bible contains some bad news from God for every person born into
the human race. First, the Bible declares that everyone is a sinner.
God says,
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
This means that everyone has broken God's moral laws which prohibit
things such as lying, stealing, adultery, coveting, murder, and so
forth. Some people have broken the moral code less than others, but all
who have violated it are guilty and are doomed to hell. No one matches
up to what the Bible calls the 'glory of God', which is His moral
perfection. This quality is necessary for entrance into Heaven. No
matter how good one acts or how hard one tries, he can never rise to
God's standard of absolute righteousness. Therefore, he is excluded
from Heaven.
The second piece of bad news from God, revealed in the Bible, is that
the penalty for sin is death. God says,
"For the wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23).
Because everyone has sinned, all have earned death, which is conscious
suffering of eternal separation from God in hell. There is absolutely
nothing a person can do to remove this divine penalty of death.
The Bible, however, contains some very good news from God to morally
guilty sinners. First, the Bible says that Jesus Christ died in the
sinner's place.
"But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Since we, as guilty sinners, could do nothing to pay for our moral guilt,
God Himself paid the penalty of death for us through the sacrifice of
His Son, the sinless God-Man Jesus Christ. This sacrifice completely
satisfied God's justice, which demands the punishment of death for our
sins. It is as if a healthy person took into his body the terminal
disease of another so that the sick person would live, while the
healthy person died in his place. In the same way, the sinless Jesus
Christ took on Himself our cancer of sin and suffered death on the
cross as our substitute. He died in our place. After paying the penalty
of death for our sins, Jesus Christ arose from the dead, because He had
no moral guilt of His own. Since God's justice against us was
satisfied, death could no longer hold Jesus in the tomb. Now, that's
good news!
The second piece of good news from God in the Bible is that everyone
can now receive eternal life in Heaven as a gift from God by trusting
in Jesus Christ as one's personal Savior. The Bible says,
"For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves;
it is a gift of God; not as a result of works, that no man should boast"
(Ephesians 2:8-9).
Salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life"
(John 3:16).
All human sin has been paid for by God's Son, Jesus Christ, on the
cross. Because of this, God the Father can give eternal life in Heaven
as a no-strings-attached, free gift to anyone who will receive it by
faith in His Son. Faith means to trust in Jesus Christ alone to save
one from hell. Faith means to believe what God has said about being
received into Heaven through His Son, Jesus Christ, who has paid for
all our sins.
A Fatal Mixture
Placing your faith in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation also
implies not adding any human works in payment for your sin. Works like
water baptism, church membership, prayers, good works, moral conduct,
kind deeds, penance, observing sacraments, or religious rituals are not
part of God's plan of salvation. If any such human works are added to
the payment for sin made by Jesus Christ, God cannot give salvation
purely as a grace gift. Since grace is the only way God will save a
person, adding any human work means the sinner remains lost and doomed
to hell, no matter how sincere he may be. We cannot pay God for our
salvation with human works.
If we are to receive salvation as an unearned gift from God, our human
good deeds cannot be added to God's grace. The Bible therefore says:
Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as
what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who
justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness" (Romans
4:4-5).
Also, we read:
"But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise
grace is no longer grace" (Romans 11:6).
Many people today who think or hope they are going to Heaven after
death will never make it. They have added some human work to the death
of Jesus Christ to secure favor with God for salvation. The payment of
Jesus Christ for the sins of the world is a finished work, never to be
repeated, and to which nothing can be added. The Bible is very clear
about this point.
"For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in
order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the
flesh, but made alive in the spirit" (1 Peter 3:18).
Any attempt to sacrifice Jesus Christ again for sin in a bloodless
ceremony is blasphemy. Any attempt to add human good works to the
sacrifice of Christ is an insult to the grace of God. He will give
salvation only as a grace gift or He will not give it at all. You
cannot mix God's grace and your own works and still go to Heaven. If
this is what you are now doing in your religion, then you should know
that you are headed for hell. These are tough words, but it should be
made clear that God's justice will not let you into Heaven on any basis
other than faith in the saving work of Christ on the cross, and that
alone.
Small Door and Narrow Path
One of the most common and dangerous human viewpoint misconceptions is
that there are several ways to enter Heaven. The idea is widely held
that different religions, churches, and denominations are all traveling
up the mountain to Heaven by different paths, but all will arrive at
the top. The objection is made that there cannot be just one way to get
into Heaven, otherwise, most of the human race, with its differing and
conflicting plans of salvation, will not make it. Human viewpoint finds
it inconceivable that most of humanity would end up in hell. Certainly,
most people in the world do not depend on the Biblical view of
salvation through Jesus Christ alone. The concept of multiple ways to
enter Heaven is absolutely condemned in the Bible. God has provided
only one way into Heaven.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself made this clear when He said,
"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way
that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the
gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are
those who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).
Jesus identifies the small door into eternal life as Himself.
"I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and
shall go in and out, and find pasture" (John 10:9).
Jesus also identifies the narrow pathway into Heaven to be Himself.
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life; no
one comes to the Father, but through me'" (John 14:6).
Most people, Jesus says, will miss this small gate and narrow path into
Heaven. They choose, instead, to enter the wide door and follow the
broad way invented by arrogant human reason.
This human viewpoint plan of salvation, in effect, says that any
sincerely followed path will be accepted by God. Jesus, however, says
that a salvation plan based on a wide gate of entrance and a broad path
of travel will lead one into eternal destruction in hell. Most of the
human race is on the broad road, leading into the Lake of Fire. Only
the Bible's plan of salvation by grace through Jesus Christ is the
correct way into Heaven.
"For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the
man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony
borne at the proper time" (1 Timothy 2:5-6).
Only a few will follow God's path into Heaven. By reading this
document, you have been given an opportunity to be one of them!
Is the Bible Totally True?
If a person is going to trust his eternal future after death entirely
to what the Bible teaches about the matter, it is essential to verify
that the Bible is indeed a reliable book of information from God. The
Bible was written by about forty human authors over a period of 1500
years. It claims that these men were supervised by God the Holy Spirit
as they wrote to preserve them from recording anything which was not
true. The Bible is a book produced by the supernatural power of God and
is unique in that it is inerrant: totally free of any error or
falsehood whatsoever. This, of course, is essential if the Bible is to
be the final authority about how to go to Heaven. A book which is
partly true and partly false would be dependent on human reason to
separate the two. This would be unreliable at best, and the subjective
conclusions reached would differ from person to person. If God is
omnipotent and intends to communicate His divine viewpoint to mankind,
He would have no problem producing a perfect book which does not
require editing by sinful, finite human beings. The Bible is indeed the
Word of God and not the word of man, and therefore is completely trustworthy.
Source of Information
The Bible declares that the contents of each of its sixty-six books
came to the human authors from God by divine inspiration. This fact is
pointed out in 2 Timothy 3:6 in the statement: "All Scripture
is inspired by God." The word "inspired" in the Greek language
(in which the New Testament Scriptures were written) means
"God-breathed." This indicates that the Bible
authors recorded what was breathed into their minds by God Himself. They did
not invent the subject matter of the Bible on their own. What the bible
teaches was revealed to them by God, and thus it is divine viewpoint
truth. The Bible, therefore, is not merely a record of the religious
experiences and ideals of fallible human authors. It is truly the Word
of God because God Himself is the author. The plan of salvation it
presents is the only plan acceptable to God.
The Means of Transmission
The Bible explains that, after God gave human authors the information to
be recorded in the books of the Bible, God the Holy Spirit guided the
writers as they wrote their books. In 2 Peter 1:21, we are told that
"men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." In
the Greek language, the word "moved" means to be carried along as a sailboat is
moved by the wind. The human authors of Scripture not only received
their information from God, but also were guided in the actual writing
down of this information to prevent the recording of any falsehood.
These writers were not functioning merely under their own human
ability, which was prone to record error as well as truth. While each
Bible author wrote in his own vocabulary and literary style, when his
book was completed, it was a perfect record of the mind of God. The
Bible, therefore, quite properly claims to be inspired by God in every
word recorded and in all that it says. It is the only reliable source
of information available to mankind about how to go to Heaven.
Proof the Bible is Inspired by God
The Bible claims it is inspired by God and so is without error in all
that it teaches. Someone might ask, "Why believe the Bible's
claim that it possesses absolute truth?" One would answer,
"Because, the Bible is inspired, and so is absolutely true
about what it claims." Some people view this as reasoning in a
circle. Can we really be certain of the biblical claim of inspiration so that
we may confidently trust the Bible to guide us to eternal life in
Heaven? Has the Bible ever been proved false or in error?
The integrity of the Bible is certainly shown by the fact that it has a
unity and consistency in its message even though it was produced over a
time span of many centuries by many different authors. These men
sometimes never even read the books of the other writers. Yet, in spite
of those conditions, there are no contradictions in the Bible. This is
not true of any of the sacred writings of the religions of the world,
even when written by one person. It is true of the Bible alone because
it is the only official, sacred book from God. He alone was the author,
and as God, He cannot contradict Himself.
Another clear evidence confirming the Bible's claim to divine
inspiration is the fulfillment of the prophecies recorded in the Bible.
About twenty-five percent of the Bible is prophecy. Most of these
predictions have already been fulfilled; furthermore, they have always
been fulfilled literally in precise detail. Many of these fulfilled
biblical predictions were about things destined to happen centuries in
the future so they could not have been fortunate short-term guesses nor
humanly executed by the prophet himself.
God Alone Knows the Future
God, in His Bible, clearly declares His exclusive power to foretell
future events because He alone can cause them to happen. God, speaking
through Isaiah the prophet, says:
"Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no
other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from
the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not yet been done,
saying, "My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure" (Isaiah 46:9-10).
God furthermore points out that the ability to predict future events
with detailed accuracy is the supreme evidence that deity is the One
speaking and not merely some finite human author. The living, Creator
God therefore challenges those claiming to have divine powers when He says,
"Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place; as
for the former events, declare what they were, that we may consider
them and know their outcome; or announce to us what is coming. Declare
the things that are going to come afterward, that we may know that you are gods" (Isaiah 41:22-23a).
Prophecy in the Bible is designed by God to prove that the Bible is a
communication of true information from God to man. Only the omniscient
God can tell what is going to happen in the future with total accuracy
every time. Men cannot even make short-term predictions with total
accuracy, let alone those dealing with events hundreds of years in the
future as the Bible does. The prophecies of the Bible prove that it is
a supernatural book in origin and not the product of man alone. The
Bible is, in truth, the very Word of God.
God's Prediction about Tyre
One example of Bible prophecy which proves the supernatural origin of
the Bible is the judgment of God pronounced 2,500 years ago against the
ancient city of Tyre on the Mediterranean Sea. The prophet Ezekiel was
told by God that the sinful city would be destroyed by a series of
invading nations, and the very site of the city would be scraped bare.
"'And they will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her
towers; and I will scrape her debris from her and make her a bare rock.
She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea,
for I have spoken,' declares the Lord God, 'and she will become a spoil for the nations'" (Ezekiel 26:4-5).
God also told Ezekiel that the city would never be rebuilt.
"'You will be built no more, for I the Lord have spoken,' declared the Lord" (Ezekiel 26:14b).
Sixteen years after Ezekiel's prophecy, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
plundered and destroyed Tyre, leaving it a pile of rubble. Then, 250
years later, the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great scraped the
debris of Tyre into the sea to build a causeway to an offshore island.
The site of the ancient Tyre was left a bare rock, and is used to this
day by fishermen to dry their nets just as the Bible had predicted.
Tyre has never been rebuilt on its ancient site.
Twenty-five hundred years ago, God recorded in the Bible the future
history of Tyre. It has all been fulfilled in detail. The odds of these
prophesied details all happening by chance has been estimated at one in
75,000,000! The Bible is indeed the Word of God, not the word of a man
making fortunate guesses and recording the opinions of mere human
reason.
The Course of World History
Another example of Bible prophecy comes from the author of the Old
Testament book of Daniel, who lived in the sixth century before Christ.
God revealed to the prophet Daniel the future progress of world empires
from his day onward. Daniel lived at the time when Babylon dominated
the world. Under divine inspiration, Daniel described three world
empires that were to follow the Babylonian empire. As the centuries
passed, these proved to be the empires of Medo-Persia, Greece, and
Rome. Daniel was right on target in all details, even to the fact that
the Roman Empire would divide into western and eastern portions.
There are many other predictions in the book of Daniel which also have
been precisely fulfilled, and some still to be fulfilled in the future.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, confirmed the reliability of the
book of Daniel by quoting from it and calling Daniel a
"prophet" (Matthew 24:15).
Bible Prophecies about Jesus Christ
One of the most convincing evidences of the supernatural origin of the
Bible are the predictions it contains about Jesus Christ, the Savior of
mankind. These were made hundreds of years before their fulfillment, so
no human being on his own could possibly have made such accurate,
detailed predictions. The author's information had to come from God who
knows it all, and has recorded it without error in the Bible.
His Birthplace
Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the prophet Micah,
under divine guidance, revealed the future birthplace of Jesus. Micah wrote:
"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephratah, too little to be among the class of
Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler of Israel. His
goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity (Micah 5:2).
The New Testament indicates that this prophecy concerning the
birthplace of the divine Savior Jesus Christ was fulfilled precisely
700 years later. Although his mother Mary and her husband Joseph lived
in Nazareth in the north of Palestine, an edict of the Roman government
necessitated a trip south to Bethlehem where Jesus was born in a stable.
"Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king . . ." (Matthew 2:1a).
King Herod asked the Jewish priests where the Bible had predicted the
promised Messiah Savior would be born. They answered by quoting the prophet Micah.
"And they said to him, 'In Bethlehem of Judea: for so it has been written by the prophet'" (Matthew 2:5).
His Virgin Birth
The fact that the Messiah Savior was to be born to a virgin woman was
predicted by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before it happened.
"Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will
be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel!" (Isaiah 7:14).
The New Testament, 700 years later, records the fulfillment of this prophecy.
The angel Gabriel tells the virgin Mary that she is to bear a son who
would be the true God in human form. Mary's response was that since she
was not married, and a virgin, she could not conceive a child.
"And Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be since I am a virgin?'" (Luke 1:34).
Mary was told that her conception would be a supernatural act of God, and
that she would bear the God-Man Jesus, and indeed she did.
"And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped him in cloths . . ." (Luke 2:7a).
Thus, what the prophet Isaiah recorded 700 years before by divine
inspiration was fulfilled precisely. The New Testament records:
"'And she will bear a son; and you shall call His name Jesus,
for it is He who will save His people from their sins.' Now all
of this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,
'Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they
shall call His name Immanuel,' which translated means 'God be
with us'" (Matthew 1:21-23).
His Suffering
The nature of the suffering to be endured by God's future Savior as He
was put to death on the cross in payment for the sins of the world is
described by Isaiah 700 years beforehand.
"I gave My back to those who strike Me, and My cheeks to those who pluck
out the beard; I did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6).
The fulfillment of this prediction is found in the New Testament
written 700 years later.
"Then they spat in His face and beat him with their fists, and others
slapped Him" (Matthew 26:67).
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is described in detail in Psalm 22 one
thousand years before the event took place. Crucifixion was not a
method of execution used by the Jews, but would be used by the Romans
on Jesus. The Psalm accurately describes the physical stress and pain
produced by crucifixion even though the Jewish author was not
acquainted with such a method of execution. It also describes the
mental abuse to be suffered by Jesus as He bore the penalty for the
sins of the world on the cross.
Psalm 22 predicted the very words the sinless God-man Jesus would
utter in His agony on the cross.
"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me? (Psalm 22:1).
The fulfillment 1,000 years later is recorded in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew.
"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice saying,
'Eli, Eli lama sabachthani?' that is, 'My
God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?'" (Matthew 27:46).
Psalm 22 predicted that nails would pierce the hands and feet of Jesus,
and that the Roman guards would cast lots for His clothing.
"They pierced my hands and my feet" (Psalm 22:16c).
"They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots" (Psalm 22:18).
The fulfillment of this prophecy 1,000 years later is recorded in the New Testament.
"The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer
garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the
tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven into one piece. They said
therefore to one another, 'Let us not tear it, but cast lots
for it, to decide whose it shall be,' that the Scripture might be
fulfilled, 'They divided my garments among them, and for my
clothing they cast lots'" (John 19:23-24).
The Final Authority
The Bible has repeatedly proven its supernatural origin through its
predictions of the future. These have never failed to be fulfilled in
precise detail. Nor has the Bible ever recorded any historical,
geographic, or scientific error. Any specific challenges to the total
accuracy of the Bible have always in time proved to be unfounded.
Archaeology has repeatedly made discoveries that have confirmed the
absolute truth of the Bible. It has never uncovered anything that
clearly contradicts the Bible. None of the other sacred books of
mankind claiming to speak for God can claim inerrancy. They all contain
some human errors that have been corrected in later printings. Only the
Bible can claim to be God's message to mankind. It is the final word in
matters pertaining to man's relationship with God and to eternal life
in Heaven after death. No religion, church organization, or
ecclesiastical leader can determine how a guilty sinner can be forgiven
by a holy God in order to be accepted into Heaven. God alone is able to
answer this question, and He has clearly done so in His inerrant Bible.
What anyone believes about how to go to Heaven must come from the Bible
alone if one is to be absolutely certain that he has the right plan.
This is stressed in the report of Jesus about the rich man and Lazarus
in Luke 16:19-31. Both men died, and their living souls went to their
appropriate eternal destiny. Since the rich man was an unbeliever, he
went into Hades. There, he immediately experienced torment in flames of
fire. Lazarus was a spiritually born again man so he immediately
entered Paradise, enjoying total happiness. The rich man begged the
patriarch Abraham to have Lazarus bring him just a drop of water to
cool his burning, parched tongue. He was told, however, that this was
not possible since a gulf forever separated him from God and His
people. The rich man then asked that Lazarus be sent back to earth to
warn the rich man's five brothers of the reality of hell and their need
to be born again through faith in God's Savior. He did not want his
brothers to join him in the eternal agony of hell.
Abraham responded by reminding the rich man that his brothers had the
Bible to warn them about hell and direct them to salvation.
"But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them
hear them!' But he said, 'No, Father Abraham, but
if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!' But he
said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the
Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the
dead'" (Luke 16:29-31).
Millions of skeptical people over the centuries have repeated the
experience of the rich man in discovering after death how right the
Bible is about punishment in hell and salvation by grace alone. Only
the Bible can tell us the one true way to go to Heaven. There is no
other authority on earth who speaks for God on the matter.
Now You Must Decide
This document has sought to explain what the inerrant Bible reveals
about how to go to Heaven. The key to eternal life in Heaven is saving
faith in Jesus Christ, Who was slain on the cross in payment for your
sins. The faith that saves a person and results in eternal life in
Heaven involves three items.
• Knowledge
• Mental Acceptance
• Faith in Christ Alone
One must first have knowledge about the gospel of the grace of God. The
gospel tells us that Jesus Christ died to pay for our sins and was
raised again from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). You now have that
knowledge. The second thing involved in exercising saving faith is a
mental acceptance of the truth of the gospel. This is a personal
decision that the Bible gives a true message about how to go to Heaven.
Do you believe that the gospel message you have read in this document
is true? The third key required in salvation is to receive Christ as
one's personal Savior. You must be willing to commit yourself to Him
alone for salvation with no contaminating human works added.
The three keys of saving faith may be illustrated by a story of four
people facing death on a sinking ship at sea. Their only hope of
salvation from death is the lifeboat on board. The first person does
not even know there is a lifeboat available, so he goes to a watery
grave. He lacked knowledge, like the person that does not know the
gospel of the grace of God. The second person knows about the lifeboat,
but does not believe it will float. Because of his belief, he does not
use the boat and is lost at sea. This person had no mental acceptance
of the reliability of the lifeboat, like the person who does not
believe that the Bible's grace plan of salvation will work. The third
person knows about the lifeboat and believes that it is seaworthy; but
for some reason, he does not choose to climb aboard. He too is lost at
sea. He took no action, like the person who will not commit himself to
Jesus Christ alone to get him into Heaven. The fourth person knows
about the lifeboat, believes that it is seaworthy, and enters the boat
as his vehicle for salvation from death at sea. He is like the person
who knows the gospel, accepts it as true, and then trusts Jesus Christ
as the only way to salvation. All his sins (past, present, and future)
are forgiven and the absolute righteousness of God is credited to him.
This person is irreversibly destined to spend eternity in Heaven with God.
When a person trusts Jesus Christ to save him and take him into Heaven,
he has the perfect, absolute righteousness of God credited to him. God
the Father sees the believing sinner to be as perfect and holy as his
son, Jesus Christ. Our moral guilt is exchanged for Christ's righteousness. The Bible says:
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Eternal Security
Once accepted, salvation can never be lost. The Lord Jesus Christ said,
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give
eternal life to them; and they shall never perish, and no one shall
snatch them out of My hand. My Father, Who has given them to Me, is
greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand" (John 10:27-29).
Since salvation is entirely the work of God, with no human contribution
from the sinner, the work can never be spoiled or neutralized by man.
Anyone who is not certain he is going to Heaven and can only say, "I
hope so," is in all likelihood lost and headed for hell. That attitude
of uncertainty reveals that the person is depending on something he
must do in order to be saved and is not sure he has done enough. What a
relief to know that God does it all for us through His son, Jesus
Christ! We simply receive salvation as a free gift from God who will never take it back.
The Great Deception
Satan has conned millions upon millions of people over the centuries,
in sincerity, to trust their eternal destiny to a false plan of
salvation. These people viewed themselves as right with God and thought
they would go to Heaven. The Bible warns that this will happen to those trusting in a human viewpoint plan.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the
kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of My Father, who is in
Heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we
not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your
name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them,
'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness'" (Matthew 7:21-23).
These people obviously had religion, which they associated with the
Lord Jesus Christ. They really were calling Him "Lord" and praising
Him. They really were casting demons out of people and performing
miracles in His name. However, they were not trusting in Christ alone
for salvation, by faith alone. They added their own good works and
religious rituals to earn merit with God. They had religion, but no
relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. The impressive things they
accomplished in their religion were by means of the power of Satan, not
God. What horrible, chilling words of rejection to hear when standing
before Jesus Christ after death, where there is no second chance to be
saved. What agony will be felt and what tears will be shed as the
sincere, but deluded person is sent forever into the Lake of Fire. This
fate is the result of seeking the answer of how to go to Heaven from
some source other than God's word, the Bible.
The human viewpoint guidance of priest, preacher, church, and
denomination to a false plan of salvation will cost a person dearly,
forever. Match these beliefs up with what we have shown you the Bible teaches about salvation.
"And they said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, you and your household'" (Acts 16:31).
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36).
"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son
of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13).
Taking the Step of Faith
Trusting in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior
is a very private matter between you and God. It does not require some
public act such as walking down an aisle in response to an invitation,
or raising a hand for prayer to be saved. It does not require calling a
1-800 number and asking some television personality to pray
for you. Such actions have caused untold numbers of sincere people to
become confused, and to view the public move or related action to be an
actual requisite step for salvation. They are often led to believe that
such an act is required to "confirm" one's salvation. Instead of trusting in Christ
as Savior, they became church members, and were still lost and going to hell. We showed earlier
that faith in Christ's sacrifice on the cross alone without any human
work or effort is what the Bible clearly indicates is the basis for
salvation. No special work or act of "confirmation" is necessary.
If you are ready to trust Jesus Christ to get you into heaven, and to receive Him as
your Savior, you might want to tell that to God the Father in these words, or in your own way:
"Dear God, I
know that I am a sinner and spiritually dead. I
believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died to pay for my sins, and then arose
from the dead to give me spiritual life. I now trust in Him as my
personal Savior. Thank you for the forgiveness of my sins; for giving
me Your perfect righteousness; and, for everlasting life. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Taking the Next Step
We hope you have reacted positively to the above message. Berean Church
sermons in MP3 format are a great way to learn the Bible doctrine
necessary to live the Christian life to its fullest:
Christian Data Resources - Basic Bible Doctrine
or
Berean Memorial Church.
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Proverbs 14:12).
DEDICATED TO
All the People of the world for whose sins the Lord Jesus Christ died
to give them eternal life in Heaven, and who need to know how to receive it.
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge . . ." Hosea 4:6.
Copyright 1988 Dr. John E. Danish
Dr. John E. Danish, 1971
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