Do you believe you are a good person and will go to heaven? Are you a Christian but don’t know without a doubt that you are going to heaven? These are both misconceptions that can be laid to rest with hope and truth through Christ alone.
“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
You are deceived if you think there is no heaven or that you are going because you are “good”. Have you ever lied, stolen, cheated, gossiped, envied, misused the Lord’s name, disrespected your parents, or worshipped anything other than the Lord? By this standard, you can see you aren’t good. No one is perfect or “good” enough without Jesus in their life. Being saved is not about following rules or laws but accepting God’s free gift of grace and salvation.
We have all sinned and fallen short from the glory of God (Romans 3:23). God so loved all of us, no matter what we have done, that He sent His only Son, Jesus to die on a cross for our sins (John 3:16). He offers grace and forgiveness to those who confess He is Lord, ask for forgiveness, and sin no more.
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” John 3:17-18
I know many people who believe in God and have accepted Jesus as the Lord of their life. But if you ask them if they will go to heaven when they die, some answer, “I hope so.” Friends this is not walking in victory.
Jesus has paid the ultimate price and if you accept Him and submit your life to Him fully and sin no more (John 8:11), you can be sure where you are going after you die. This doesn’t mean that you are perfect but that you are daily striving after God. Jesus says in Luke 9:23: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
We can rest assured that we will enter heaven when we die if we accept Christ and lay aside our will and do the Father’s will. I Corinthians 6:11 says, “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” From this verse we can see the following three important ways that we have been redeemed when we accept Christ as Lord and Savior:
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Washed:
Our sins were washed away by the innocent blood of Jesus. Romans 3:25 says, “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.” God no longer remembers our sin (Hebrews 10:17).
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Sanctified:
This means we have been set apart as holy through Christ. Hebrews 10:10-12 says, “We have been set apart as holy because Jesus Christ did what God wanted Him to do by sacrificing His body once and for all.” Galatians 5:16 says “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
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Justified:
We are justified when we accept Christ. Romans 3:24 says, “and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” On the other hand, if we continue sinning after we have received the truth, we are no longer justified (Hebrews 10:26-27).
Friends, keep up the good fight of faith and don’t misuse your salvation as a license to sin. The Word and the Holy Spirit are tools we have that will guide us in the truth. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10:22-24
A Prayer for You
Lord thank You for sending Your Son to die for our sins. We accept you as Lord of our of life and submit ourselves to You. Thank you for Your forgiveness and grace. Remind us to take up our cross daily to serve You and persevere in faith. Thank You for giving us assurance of spending eternity in heaven with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.