What the Bible Teaches About How a Person Gets to Heaven

 

 

All of us are created by God, and he loves each of us. In return he requires that we love Him and obey him perfectly.

 

Tragically, no one has loved Him and no one has obeyed Him perfectly.  We all choose to

disobey God, to break his laws, which is called sin.  Because God is perfectly holy and just, He will punish us for our sin. The punishment for sinners is hell forever.

 

We usually think we can make ourselves acceptable to God by living a decent life, or by

having more good deeds than sins.  But even if we could live a decent life, and even if our good deeds were more than our sins, God will still punish us for any sins we have.  He will not ignore any sin, and He will not let sinners enter his Kingdom.

 

There is absolutely nothing we can do to enter heaven. There is absolutely nothing we can do to escape hell.

 

But the good news of the Bible is that God himself has completely provided the way to escape hell and to enter his heaven.  He offers heaven to us as a free gift. We don’t need to do anything for it.  We can’t earn it, and we don’t deserve it.  We just receive his gift, turn away from a life of sin, and then live in thankful obedience to him.

 

Here’s how God saves his people:

 

Because we don’t have the perfect life that’s required, God the Father sent the Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth to become a man and to live the perfect life for us. His life was perfectly righteous. God then offers to us the gift of Christ’s righteous life to be ours, so that we will be acceptable to God.

 

And because there is a punishment for our sins, God took the sins of the sinner and put them on Jesus.  God then punished Jesus instead of the sinner.  The punishment for sin is now finished, and it is offered to us as a free gift.

 

On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead.  His resurrection guarantees to all His people that they will also conquer death, escape hell, and live forever with Him.

 

Christ’s life, death, and resurrection are offered to you as a free gift.  It is the only way to be saved from hell and enter heaven.  If you refuse this gift, or if you try to combine it with your own righteous life, then you remain destined for hell forever.  There is absolutely nothing you can do to change that.

 

But if you receive God’s free gift, and if you put your trust only in what Jesus Christ has done for you, then the punishment for your sin is paid, you become acceptable to God, and you will live with Him in heaven forever.  This truly is a great gift!

 

If you receive God’s gift, then you need to live your life in thankful obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.  You should begin reading the Bible.  Only from the Bible can we know the Lord personallyand know how He wants us to live.  Also, join a church (perhaps our church), because the Church is where Christians gather to worship God and to serve and encourage each other in their faith.

 

 

Jesus Christ is the greatest gift of all.

 

 

The Bible has many things to say about the important message above. These are just a few of the passages:

 

Genesis 1:27, 2:15-17,  Romans 1:17, 3:23, 6:23,  Luke 12:5,  Ephesians 2:8-9,  Genesis 15:6,

Galatians 3:11, Titus 2:5,  Nahum 1:3,  Hebrews 4:15, 11:6,  Galatians 3:13,  2 Corinthians 5:21, 

1 Corinthians 1:30,  Colossians 2:14,  1 Peter 2:24,  Isaiah 53:4-6, Ephesians 2:6, 

1 Corinthians 15:3-4,  John 3:16, 1:12, 14:15,  1 John 2:3-4,  2 Timothy 3:15-17,  Hebrews 10:23-25