Thursday, September 30, 2010

How to Go to Heaven

How to Go to Heaven...

1. We are sinners. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" In order to be saved, you must first understand that you are a sinner, and thus, the reason why you sin. You may think nothing of your sins that you commit every day, but it is those sins that nailed Jesus Christ to the cross. You may say, "I'm no sinner." Yet, you are. It doesn't matter how much good you have and even if you tried to stop sinning, you would still be a sinner and lost without hope until you get born again.

2. We have a penalty for our sins. Romans 6:23 reads, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The wages of sin is death, which is speaking of a second death. One day, we will all die but after our death, there is judgment for each person, believer or unbeliever. If you die without knowing the Lord, you will go to hell and this is the second death. God is a God of just and will not allow sin to go unpunished. We deserve this punishment because it is a right thing to do.

3. Works will not pay off this penalty we owe. God is not impressed with our good works because they are nothing but filthy rags in the sight of Him. In Isaiah 64:6 we read, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Would you use a dirty rag to wash a dirty car or some dirty dishes? No, you would not. Well, it's the same way with salvation. You cannot clean yourself up with your good deeds acting like God will accept those. No, our goodness is a part of our flesh and all self-righteousness to God is sin. Good works will not save so you must realize these good works, though you may have some, will not provide escape from Hell.

4. Jesus Christ is the only one who can and did take care of that debt. We read again in Romans 6:23, "...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." In Romans 5:8 it says, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus Christ paid that payment, and we must trust Him alone for salvation.

How to Call Upon the Name of the Lord

Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Calling upon the name of the Lord is as simple as me calling a landscaper to landscape my lawn. I do this because I trust that he will do a good job on it. This is the same way with calling upon Jesus' name. You are calling upon Him in a sense that you trust Him and nothing else to save your soul from the penalty of sin, death in Hell. If you want to be saved, you can call upon Him in prayer and ask Him to save you right now. You may pray something like this or pray something else... it's not the words that matter, it's the heart...

"Dear God, I know and understand that I am a sinner and am on my way to Hell. I have nothing good in me that can erase that fact. Today, I accept the payment Jesus paid for my sin debt. Please take me to Heaven when I die. Amen."

If you have read this and received Christ as Saviour, please email me at earnestlycontending1611@gmail.com so that we can rejoice together.