How To Know for Sure You Are Going
To Heaven When You Die
Feb 17, 2023 – Blog
If someone were to knock on your door from your local church and ask the question of “If you died today, are you 100% sure you are going to Heaven”, how would you respond? The church I attend knocks on doors asking this question on a regular basis. We get a range of answers but the most common are people saying something like “I’m pretty good, or not that bad”. Unfortunately, that is the wrong way to tell according to the bible. This article will make it very clear on how you can actually know this.
1 John 5:13 – These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.
Yes, you can know this. God wants you to know. The short answer is you can know when your trust is on Jesus and his work because he is perfect and what he did is already done. If you believe you must do anything at all to earn your way into Heaven, you can never know. One day you will feel saved, another day you are wondering if you lost your salvation. We will discuss all of that in detail in this blog post.
This is a different setting than if I were to talk to someone in person, so here I plan to go in more detail. Realize you do NOT need to understand every detail of the bible to be saved. You just need to understand your own state of condition, what Jesus did, and put your trust completely on him. I am providing extra information here because my goal is to paint a more complete picture which means a more complete understanding. If you are looking for something more to the point, here is a great video on the subject.
How To Get To Heaven
By Pastor Obinna Ofoegbu
Love Assembly Baptist Church
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwMbaRaukDU&t=101s
Step 1 – Understand You Are a Sinner “as we all are”
Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Sin is the transgression of Gods law. In other words, it is a breaking of Gods commandments. The bible teaches even a lie, or even the thought of foolishness is sin. No matter how good we may think we are, everyone has lied and had foolish thoughts. Even if you live perfectly from this moment forward realize you are still guilty of whatever sin was committed.
If you think to yourself, you will go to Heaven because you are pretty good or not that bad think about being in a courtroom. What if you acknowledge to the judge that you stole but then start listing off the good things you do and how you are not that bad? Maybe you’ll get a lighter punishment, but again, you stole. Justice is required.
Step 2 – Understand the Punishment of Sin
Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death
Wages is something you work for. It’s just like receiving wages from your job. We have earned and “as harsh as this sounds” deserve death. The punishment for our sin is death. But wait. There is a second death.
Revelation 21:8 – But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Notice this isn’t just the worst of people, like murderers for example. It includes liars which are all of us. The smallest sin is enough to send us to Hell. The bible describes Hell as an eternal place where there is no rest day or night. The scariest part about Hell must be that it goes on forever.
Let’s get to the good news now. God loves us and made a way, so we do not have to end up in Hell.
Step 3 – Understand What God Did for You
Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
God the Father sent his Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. You might wonder “why, and what do you mean Son exactly?” There is only one God, but he is made up of three separate persons we call the trinity. There is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus was born of virgin Mary who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, making Jesus The Son of God.
Spiritually Jesus has always existed and will always exist. The bible says he created all things. The mystery of God is mind boggling but really cool to think about. You probably heard of all the miracles Jesus did like raising the dead, giving sight to the blind, healing the sick, and walking on water. Even if we put Gods word aside for a moment, the miracles must be true because think of the impact this man had in the world. I’d be willing to say everybody has heard of Jesus. We even have our timeline named after him.
Things got to a place in Jesus’s life where he was sentenced to death largely because of his preaching. We even see today how people get angry when Gods word is preached. This was God’s plan the whole time of course. Jesus was beaten and spit on, then nailed to a cross. When he was on that cross he took upon himself the sins of the world, “as if he had done it”. It’s important to understand he was perfect and without sin. This was a way to balance the scale in the Fathers eye. If Jesus had sinned, he would have had to go to Hell for his own sin.
After he died on the cross, the body was taken down and put in a tomb with a stone rolled over. He was dead for three days and three nights before rising from the grave in a bodily form meaning it wasn’t just his spirit returning. He showed his disciples the holes in his hands and at one point revealed himself to over 500 people at once.
Many people do not realize this, but he even went to Hell and suffered during those three days. “Acts 2:25-27 KJV”. This makes perfect sense because remember, he is taking our place. Think about it. If Hell is the punishment for sin, and Jesus is paying the price, how would he get a pass? This may sound blasphemous when some hear but it is what the bible teaches and makes sense when you think logically. For those who know the bible well, think of the burnt sacrifices in the Old Testament. What did that represent? Nobody argues Jesus was the lamb of God. See Genesis 22:7 KJV.
Jesus suffering in Hell is not one of the things we normally talk about at someone’s door. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection. That’s what the bible defines as the gospel and commands to believe to be saved. Jesus did all of this for us, but this does NOT mean we all automatically go to Heaven. There is one thing we must do to be saved from the awful punishment of Hell. Believe!
Step 4 – Understand the One Thing We Must Do – Believe
Acts 16:30-31 – Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Here in the bible, we get someone asking very clearly what we must do to be saved. You need to believe on Jesus but believe what exactly? Do we have to believe the stories of Jesus?
We must understand and believe the gospel. That is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, given by God as complete payment for our sins. A good way to understand believe is by the word trust. You are believing on, “or putting your trust on” what Jesus did as your way into Heaven.
NOTICE WHAT IT DOESN’T SAY THOUGH. Although church is important, it doesn’t say join a church and you will be saved, turn from sin and you will be saved, or be baptized and you will be saved. IT’S BELIEVE ONLY. That would be adding to the gospel and is the very reason many will fall short because that becomes trusting in personal works. Partially believing is not an option. The proper way to believe is Jesus plus nothing, and minus nothing.
John 3:16 – 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 is one of the most famous verses in the bible. There are so many we can talk about but again, we see here that only believe is mentioned.
Ephesians 2:8-9 – 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Often when talking to someone they will acknowledge Jesus died for their sins, but many times will try to add something like you still have to live right or turn from sin. As previously mentioned, at that point you would be adding works and we see in the previous verse we are not saved by works. You might ask is turning from sin really works?
Jonah 3:10 – And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way;
Evil and sin in the bible are not exactly the same thing but we see the turning action here defined as works. We should always let the bible define itself. Think about how hard it is to turn from sin. First, it is impossible to completely stop sinning but just trying would take a lot of effort “or work”.
Step 4 “Part B” – Further Understand Believe
Earlier we talked about Romans 3:23 – For the wages of sin is death;
There is a second part of the verse we haven’t discussed yet.
Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Question. If I said I would give you a car as a gift but said I just need you to give me $5.00, is that a gift? How about even one penny? Of course not. A gift is free. There are no strings attached. What if I said you must obey certain commandments? For example, I need you to do work in my yard. Again, this wouldn’t be a gift because we are attaching conditions. This is what people try to do with God. Instead of just taking the gift of salvation by believing they will say you must still obey Gods commandments. That means they are not understanding the gospel or pride (of I’ll earn it) is getting in the way.
People often make the mistake of thinking we are teaching we can just live how ever we want then. A good way to understand this is through a parent-child relationship. If you have kids, you will discipline when needed but is there anything that child can do to no longer be your child? Of course not.
When we are born again “spiritually speaking”, we are born into Gods family, and nothing can ever take that away. He may have to discipline us. For example, maybe we will get sick, or end up in jail. God may even kill us, but do you know what he will never do? He will never send a saved person to Hell because that is his child. All punishment of the believer must happen on earth. Not in the afterlife. The bible talks extensively about God punishing his people when needed.
Step 4 – “Part C” – Further Understand Believe
We just read in Romans 6:23 “The gift of God is Eternal Life”. Eternal Life is life that is never ending. Yes, we go to the grave but what this means is those who are saved will continue living on with Christ in Heaven. The bible refers to people in Hell as “The Dead”. When do we receive this Eternal Life? Is it after we die?
John 11:26 – 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
Jesus says here that eternal life is received the moment we believe, and the verse makes it very clear we will never die. This is a continuation of life, the moment we believe and this life lasts forever. If we could lose our salvation that would make God a liar because he promised this gift will last forever.
Even if you commit the worst of sins like murder or suicide for example, you would still be saved. In the example of murder, remember God would still punish you severely on this earth but wouldn’t send his child to Hell. If you believe on Christ and still end up dying “going to Hell”, then it was never eternal. Eternal Life means “Once Saved Always Saved”. This is not temporal or conditional life, but eternal!
Titus 1:2 – In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Step 5 – Pray “Ask” for God to save you
Romans 10:13-14 – 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
As you can see from this verse to be saved you want to call on the Lord “Jesus” believing. If you desire to be saved, let’s do a quick review to double check you are believing correctly. You may ask if you already believe, isn’t that enough? Fully answering would take another blog post but we see asking goes along with believing. In 2 Corinth 4:13 it says “I believed, and therefore have I spoken”
Ask Yourself
1. Do you believe Jesus “God in the flesh” Died for your sins, was buried, and rose again?
Answer must be yes
2. Do you think you have to do anything outside of Jesus to earn you way into Heaven? For example: turn from sin, be baptized, go to church. or live a good life?
Answer must be no. Jesus paid it all.
3. Do you believe you can do anything at all, including the most serious of sins like murder or suicide, to lose your salvation?
Answer must be no. Otherwise you would be trusting in self. We are saved by trusting in Christ. It’s Eternal Life “once saved always saved”
If you answered these questions correctly and want to be saved pray a simple prayer asking Jesus to save you. Understand it isn’t the words that matter. Just ask. Here is an example.
Dear Jesus. Thank you for dying for my sins. I do not want to go to Hell when I die, so I am putting my trust in your sacrifice on the cross as my way into Heaven. Please save me right now and give me Eternal Life. Amen