How good do you really have to be to get Eternal Life and go to Heaven? I mean we all really screw up pretty bad sometimes. I know I do! How does God provide a fix for us and what can we do to get it? The following is a more detailed explanation of what the Bible teaches about forgiveness, Heaven, and how to know for certain that we have Eternal Life.
Blessings
Bill Stevens
Just what is Eternal Life?
The Bible describes Eternal Life as a future hope of being with Christ Jesus in Heaven when we die, but also as a quality of life to be possessed here and now. Eternal Life is Heaven in the future, but also knowing now that you are forgiven by God, in His family, He is working on your behalf, having peace with God, and possessing real joy and real love in your life on this side of Heaven.
Jesus said here is how we can possess Eternal Life on our own…
“But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48
Ouch!!! Our favorite excuse when we all make mistakes, sin, and do very regretful things is, “No one’s perfect.” Yes that is the truth and it is the problem as well. Only Christ Jesus is worthy of entering Heaven on His own merit. He is the only one worthy.
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23, NLT)
Look at this scale:
Christ Jesus is 10 – the Perfect One, God’s standard. So where would you put Mother Teresa? She served the extreme poor in the worst situations imaginable for her entire life. She did things before breakfast that would make us sick all day. This was a good woman. So where would you place her? She is still not Jesus, but she is an extremely good person. Maybe a 9? Now where would you place yourself? I shared this with one friend and he said… -2! I said, no, that’s my spot! If Mother Teresa isn’t good enough to get to Heaven on her own, then where are we?
So obviously God has a plan for us to be able to receive Eternal Life, otherwise the Bible would only be a couple pages long, ending with “Sucks to be you.” So here is what the Bible says about Eternal Life.
God is not evil, He is Love!
““For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16–17, NLT)
We all are sinners.
Sinners is the Bible word for those who are human beings, who have chosen to be the boss of their life instead of Christ. It describes all of our behavior from generally misspeaking to blatant evil.
So what is the big deal about Sin?
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, NLT)
What we ALL earn for our sin is death. The Bible describes death as eternal separation from God. Eternal death in a place called Hell. It is not God’s will or desire for anyone to go to Hell!
No one could keep God’s laws and rules perfectly except Jesus, but God’s grace toward us is Amazing!
Everyone has broken God’s laws, the Ten Commandments. Imagine finding a person who has never told a lie.
“God saves (rescues) you by his grace when you believe. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Ephesians 2:8–9)
Notice these two things in these verses
- Following Rules cannot get you Eternal Life.
- Being a good person, or even being the best person cannot get you Eternal Life.
God’s salvation is by Grace – not works by keeping laws/rules.
Grace is this amazing, unearned, unmerited love toward each of us. It is not based on our performance, it is not conditional upon how we behave or fail, but is based solely upon the goodness and character of God Himself. God loves you no matter what!
So why did God give us a list of rules (Ten Commandments) that no one could keep?
God wants us to understand that He is holy, totally different than we are, and we desperately need Him to make us worthy of receiving Eternal Life.
God’s laws could not fix the human condition – our problem. The law of God condemned us and told us how bad we are. God’s laws could not deliver us from our selfish desires, forgive us, make us spiritually strong, or fill us with love, joy, personal peace, bring us peace with God, and give us assurance of having Eternal Life. Justice would be eternal death, but….
But God sent us a Savior, Christ Jesus, to do what the law could not do.
God Himself stepped out of Heaven in His Son, Christ Jesus to personally rescue the human race from itself.
- He revealed how a true human should be and life, in Christ Jesus.
- He revealed how God the Father really thinks about people, which was amazing love for all people.
- He did something for all humanity that no other human could do, He negotiated peace with humans and God the Father. The price of this peace with God was steep, the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross for the sins of humanity.
- Christ Jesus took the punishment for my sins, your sins, and the entire world’s sins upon Himself to demonstrate His unfailing and amazing love. God the Father treated Jesus the way you and I should be treated, so He could treat us as a son/daugther of His.
“But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5–6, NLT)
All people have turned their back on God, but God never turned His back on His creation.
Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, you can have forgiveness, Heaven, Eternal Life, be filled with love, joy, and peace, and have this amazing relationship with God.
“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8, NLT)
This is how God can make us worthy of Heaven.
This worthiness is a Gift from God. The Bible uses the terms “made right” or “justified” in God’s eyes.
We are not made right by works or being a good person, but by faith in Christ’s perfect work for each of us on His cross.
Our personal salvation is not based on our performance, but upon Christ’s performance on His cross.
Christ’s blood sacrifice purchased our peace with God, reconciliation with Him.
Christ was condemned for our sins, so we could be forgiven.
“And since we have been made right (justified) in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.” (Romans 5:9, NLT)
What is the difference between Biblical Christianity and Religion? Look at this picture.
Religion gives you a list of things to do. Religion says obey these rules, do this, don’t do that. Religion says you are a terrible person if you don’t do these things and should be guilty, ashamed, and you are clearly not worthy.
But Bible reveals clearly that true Christianity is based only upon Christ’s work on the cross. He took your punishment, your condemnation, your guilt, your shame, and your unworthiness. He did this because of His Love for you personally and wants you to know His forgiveness, and amazing gracious love for you.
The difference between Religion and being a Christ Follower is that a religious person is trusting in themselves and all the things they do to be counted worthy, but a Christ Follower is trusting only in Christ’s perfect work on the cross as their way to the Father. The Bible says, Christ did all you need for Eternal Life. If we could do this ourselves by following a list of rules and being a good person, Christ didn’t need to come and especially did not need to die. He did everything necessary for you to have Eternal Life!
You can be made right with God by faith in Christ’s sacrifice for you.
- Look to Christ’s sacrifice as your only hope of forgiveness, Heaven, and Eternal Life.
- Place your faith only in what He did there as your hope of approval with God the Father, and not in yourself and the things you have done.
- God’s promise is then that you will absolutely have Eternal Life, forgiveness, Heaven, and this amazing life here and now.
“For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,” (Romans 3:25, NLT)
“Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.” (Romans 3:27–28, NLT)
Is this something you want to do now?
When I chose to make this decision, I prayed a simple prayer saying these few things to God. All you do is…
- Tell Jesus you want Him to be your ruler, leader, boss, your Lord.
- Tell Jesus you are turning from your sinful ways.
- Tell Him you believe in His death as the payment for your sins.
- Ask Him to forgive you from going against His design and to give you His eternal life, so you can become new and experience His design for your life.
- Thank Him for His forgiveness, giving you Eternal Life, and the promise of Heaven!
Is that something you’d like to do?
- Then just say those things to Jesus in your own words.
Here are God’s promises when you come to Him through Faith in Christ.
- “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”” (Romans 10:9–11, NLT)
- “For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” (Romans 10:13, NLT)
You are forgiven and not condemned!
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1–4, NLT)
You are now a friend of God!
“For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.” (Romans 5:10, NLT)