When
you look back at your life, have you been good more than
you have been bad?
What if I were to tell you that no matter how
good you have been, it wouldn't get you to Heaven?
Would that surprise you or do you think I am
wrong?
Think about it for a moment, what makes either
one of us right about this issue?
Doesn't
it seem to make sense that there should be somewhere
that you can look up the answer?
There is, it is called the Bible.
After all, where better to learn the answers
about Heaven and Hell than the Bible?
Let's look at what the Bible says about all of
this.
The
Bible says in Isaiah 64:6 that all our good works are
like filthy rags to God. "But
we are all as an unclean thing and all our
rightousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as
a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us
away."
Also in Romans 3:23, the Bible says "for
all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God."
And again in Romans 6:23 "For
the wages of sin is death."
You see, all it takes is one sin to be deserving
of death. The
Bible says in James 2:10 "For
whosoever shall keepeth the whole law, yet offend in one
point, he is guilty of all."
Finally, the Bible tells us that whatever we do
that is not done by our faith is God is sin in Romans
14:23 "For whatsoever is
not of faith is sin." Sin
is the breaking of God's law as seen in 1 John 3:4 "Whosoever
committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is
the transgression of the law."
In
a nutshell, one sin makes us deserving of death by God's
standards and nothing we can do will change it!
Sounds incredible, but that is what the Bible
says and going by that standard, nobody meets God's
standard! The
Bible even states this very fact in Romans 3:10 "As
it is written, there is none righteous, no, not
one." And again in Romans 3:12 "there
is none that doeth good, no, not one."
If this is true, this is terrifying!
This is horrible!
How can this be?
Does this mean nobody will go to Heaven?
What about people who have dedicated their lives
to doing good things?
They too, according to the Bible! There is
nothing we can do to earn it as the Bible points out in
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,
lest any man should boast."
How
does anyone get to Heaven if what they have done does
not get them there? Despite
what you may have heard or believe, God has provided us
one way to get to Heaven.
John 3:16 says "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."
This means that God loves everyone so much
that He sent His Son Jesus to be born as a baby and live
a perfect life without ever sinning.
Jesus was not deserving of death because He lived
a perfect life. Despite
this, He willingly gave His life as a payment for our
sins by allowing Himself to be wrongfully crucified on a
cross. If
we only believe that Jesus paid for our sins by His
sacrifice, then we will "not perish, but have
everlasting life."
This means that when we believe and then we die,
we go to heaven and live forever!
That's all it takes . . . belief!
There
is another thing that happens to us when we believe.
The moment we believe, God sends His Holy Spirit
to live inside of us for the rest of our earthly life.
The Holy Spirit seals us so that we can never
lose our salvation and helps us to make positive changes
in our life. This
does not mean we will stop sinning, but we now have the
power to make choices in our life that are pleasing to
God. I know
this sounds too simple, but it is true!
The
Bible warns us that many will try to deceive us into
thinking it is not this simple, in 2 Corinthians 11:3 "But
I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ."
With this verse in mind, we must make
sure that no matter what anyone tells us, we should take
what the Bible says as the final authority in these
matters according to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God
may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good
works."
In other words, everything we need is in the
Bible. Also,
we are told in Proverbs 30:5-6 "Every
Word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put
their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His Words, lest He
reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."
So, we see that in order to get to
Heaven when we die, we must believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ to save us, thus allowing His sacrifice to pay
for our sins.
If
you would like to be saved from death and spend eternity
in Heaven, all you have to do is believe!
