How can I get saved and know that I will go to heaven when I die? There are a lot of different voices out there and they will tell you many different things. Let’s go to the best and most reliable source for the answer to this very important question – The Bible.
Let’s begin with YOU. By all indications you’re a pretty good person. You try to keep the Ten Commandments. You might even go to church every so often. Certainly, a loving God would NOT send you to a place like Hell, would He? That’s a fair question. Let’s see what the Bible has to say.
Romans 3:10 says, “None is righteous, no, not one.” That’s the first thing we need to understand. Romans 3:23 puts it like this: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The Bible says that all of us are sinners, yes, even you! The problem is that God is holy and His standard is perfection. We fall short of that standard. James tells us “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (James 2:10). Nothing less than God’s perfect standard will allow us to enter into a holy place like Heaven. So, therein lies the problem… SIN!
Where did sin come from? Romans 5:12 gives us the answer. “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” The “one man” spoken of here is, of course, Adam. He gets the blame. He was the spiritual leader of his home. He was there when Eve was being tempted and he didn’t step in and stop her. He then ate of the forbidden fruit knowing it was wrong. And God’s penalty for sin – for Adam and Eve and every person who has ever lived – is both a physical as well as a spiritual death. Romans 6:23 begins with these words: “For the wages of sin is death…” All of us will die physically someday. But we are spiritually dead also. Ephesians 2:1 says, “We were dead in the trespasses and sins.”
Well, all of that is BAD news. But thankfully, there is GOOD news!
The last part of Romans 6:23 says, “…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” A holy God requires payment for sin. Remember that the wages of sin, the penalty for sin, is death. How are we going to pay that debt? The good news is that Jesus already paid it! Romans 5:8 says, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” You were not even born yet. You were centuries away from even being a thought. And yet, Jesus Christ died on a Roman cross for you! He paid the penalty that God required for your sin!
You don’t have to go and clean up our act in order to be saved. Jesus will save you right where you are. So, what must you do to be saved? Well, here it is…
“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” (Romans 10:9).
“For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord [Jesus] will be saved” (Romans 10:10 and 13).
“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
So, there you have it – the Gospel message of salvation in a nutshell. As plain and simple as that truth is, it’s amazing how many people stumble over it. The Apostle Peter (quoting from Isaiah) refers to Jesus as “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:8). Here is the reason… Some people rationalize that they really aren’t that bad. But as I pointed out at the beginning, the Bible says otherwise. Some people claim there is more than one way to heaven. They’ll tell you that while Jesus may be one way to heaven there are other ways to heaven. But Jesus said this: “I am THE way and THE truth and THE life; no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Still others say it can’t be that simple. “You’re just oversimplifying things.” But the Bible says, “confess with your mouth” and “believe in your heart.”
What about the assurance that if you do all of this that you WILL go to heaven, that your sins will NOT be held against you by a holy God? Romans 8:1 says this: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Jesus said that “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned.”
How will you know for sure you are saved? If you have truly believed in Jesus Christ and put your faith in Him, God WILL transform you. The old ways of sin that you used to embrace will fade, and the new life you live in Christ will dominate your thoughts and passions. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he [or she] is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
In closing, why not give your life to Jesus today? Just call out to Him wherever you are and ask Him simply to save you. By your faith in Jesus Christ, God’s power will change you. You don’t have to live a life of brokenness and bondage. Jesus can set you free. Jesus can give you hope – hope for real meaning and purpose in this life, and the hope of an eternal home in heaven when you die.
There are no magic words, just a simple prayer from your heart: “JESUS, I confess that I am a sinner. Please forgive me! Thank You for dying for me and for rising again! I ask You, Jesus to come into my life and be my Lord. Thank You for forgiving me and for saving me. Amen.”
