The Big Question

The BIG question on the mind of many today is: How can I know for certain that when I die I will go to Heaven? People want assurances—not more questions—concerning their eternal future. “Aren’t all religions leading to God?” you might say. “I am not a bad person,” you reason. “Just what does a person have to do to go to Heaven anyway?” First of all, let me assure you that you most definitely can have an assurance of knowing that when you die you will go to Heaven. In order for you to have the assurance I speak of you first need to understand that this assurance is not dependent on whether or not you measure up to God’s standards. With that in mind, let’s look at what God’s Word (the Bible) says on the subject. God says that we are all sinners; we have all broken at least one of the ten commandments (i.e. lying, stealing, etc.). Proverbs 20:9 - Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”? Romans 3:10 - As it is written: “There is no one righteous [acting in perfect accord with divine moral law], not even one. Ok, so we can see from God’s Word that we are not in a position to measure up to God’s Holy standards because we are all sinners. We are all guilty before Him. What we must now understand is that sin has consequences, or wages, as it were. Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So according to Scripture, sin earns for us God’s death penalty [eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire]. If this is our condition before a Holy God, what remedy do we have? How do we obtain this assurance we have been speaking of? Go back to the verse above: although the wages of sin is death, it says that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. God freely offers to each one of us the gift of eternal life and this life is in His Son, Jesus Christ. Remember the question above, “Aren’t all religions leading to God?” Jesus said “NO!” John 14:6 - Jesus said:“I Am the Way the Truth and the Life and no man comes to the Father but by me.” That, my friend, means there are no other avenues to God. No one else was willing or is qualified to pay the price that God demands—not Buddha, not Confucius, not Mohammed, not Abraham—only Jesus Christ. The simple message of the Bible is that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. Why did He do that? John 3:16 - For God so loved the world [that’s you & me] that He gave His only begotten Son [to shed His blood; cleansing your sins away] that whoever believes in Him [Jesus Christ] should not perish [be thrown into the Lake of Fire after Judgment Day] but have everlasting life. Of those other religious leaders we listed, only Jesus Christ rose from the dead, proving that His words can be trusted, and that He is who He said He is­—God. John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Listen, if God is satisfied with Jesus’ payment for your sins, shouldn’t you be also? What more could He do? What more could you do? God loves you and it’s His desire that you spend all eternity with Him. Trust in what Christ did for you on the cross as the only sufficient payment that God will ever require for your cleansing and forgiveness. Ask Him to come into your life and make you a new person, cleansing you from all your sins and all your guilt. John 1:12 - As many as received Him to them He gave the right to become the children of God. There, my friend, is your assurance!