Where will you spend Eternity?
What is the Issue?
The most important issue you will ever face in life
pertains to where you will spend eternity.
You may wonder how to get to heaven and receive eternal
life. Many people have been raised in church, believe in God, and even
try to be a good person. However, you may still lack the assurance of
knowing just how to get to heaven.
Part of the problem may be that you are not sure
just what it takes to get into heaven or have your sins forgiven. Many
people assume that acceptance by God is largely based on their own works
and effort. In other words, you believe that if you are good enough, then
God will let you into heaven. But there is a nagging concern that maybe
you aren’t quite good enough. After all, you really don’t
know exactly what "good enough" is as far as God is concerned.
Here are some wonderful truths in God’s Word
(the Bible) that will answer your questions and enable you to receive
God’s gift of eternal life!
What does the Bible say?
1. God loves us and does not want us to perish.
John 3:16,17
— For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but
that the world through Him might be saved.
1 Timothy
2:4 — [God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge
of the truth.
2. All people have sinned. Sin causes
separation from God.
Isaiah 59:2
— But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you….
Romans 3:23
— For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
James 2:10 — For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble
in one point, he is guilty of all.
3. Heaven is a free gift. You cannot earn or deserve
heaven.
Romans 6:23 —
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 2:8,9 —
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.
4. God wanted us to be brought back into relationship
with Him. For this reason, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin when He
died upon the cross.
Romans 5:8,9
— But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
1 Corinthians
15:3 — For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
5. We receive God’s forgiveness through faith,
by trusting in Christ.
John 1:12
— But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become
the children of God, to those who believe in His name.
Romans 10:9,10
— …if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe
in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.
You can receive this gift right now!
You can place your faith in Jesus and receive God’s
gift of eternal life right now. I encourage you to agree with God’s
Word and express your faith toward God by praying the following prayer:
Dear God,
I come to You and acknowledge that I have sinned.
I need Your mercy and Your forgiveness. I turn to You now, and I repent
of my sins.
I believe that Your Son Jesus came to this earth
and died on the cross for my sins. I believe that He rose from the dead
so that I could receive forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. I accept
Jesus as my Savior, and I confess Him now as my Lord.
Thank You for taking away my sins, for making me
Your child, and for placing me in right standing with You.
In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.
Now that you’ve received
the gift of eternal life…
1. Realize that in receiving the gift of eternal
life, you have taken a wonderful first step. God not only wants you to
have this gift, but He also wants you to get to know Him, to follow Him,
and to serve Him with your whole life.
2. Get a Bible and begin reading! I recommend you
begin with the Gospel of John. This book of the Bible will give you a
tremendous introduction to who Jesus is. I also recommend you read a Bible
that is translated into modern language. You might consider the New King
James Version or the New International Version.
3. Find a good church and attend regularly. It is
important to become a part of a good church that believes in the Lordship
of Jesus, the authority of the Bible, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Your spiritual walk and your spiritual growth can be greatly helped by
your involvement in a good church.
4. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit! God’s
plan is that you walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
already lives in you if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, but there
is an additional experience by which He fills you with power. In the Bible,
you can read all about the outstanding works of the Holy Spirit in the
Book of Acts. Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin also has a wonderful book on this
subject titled The Bible Way To Receive the Holy Spirit.
5. Be baptized in water. This is an outward demonstration
of the fact that you have become identified with the death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Book of Acts records numerous instances
of early Christians being baptized in water in obedience to the instructions
of Jesus.
If you are tempted to doubt...
If you are ever tempted to doubt the fact that you
are now a child of God and will spend eternity with Him, know that the
Bible has many tremendous promises to further assure you. Here are three
scriptures that are especially comforting:
John 5:24 —
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him
who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but
has passed from death into life.
John 6:37 —
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to
Me I will by no means cast out.
1 John 5:13 —
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son
of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may
continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Let us hear from you!
If you have just received the gift of eternal life
by accepting Jesus as your Savior and Lord, or if you’ve recommitted
your life to Christ, please contact us and let us know. We would love
to hear from you!
us now!
(All Scripture quotations in this article are from
the New King James Version of the Bible.)
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