If you ask most people this question, they might say something like, "If you do more good things than bad things, God will probably let you into heaven." There is no amount of "good" that you can do that will pay for the sins that you have already committed. Sins are the bad things that we do. Sin is when we disobey God's holy righteous laws. Criminals have to go to jail. They don't commit murder, promise to be good, and then avoid punishment. They have to pay for what they did. The same thing applies to us as individuals.

 

We have sinned against God's law and we are the criminals, lying, stealing, killing, etc. We have sinned and payment must be made for our crimes--whether we go to hell and the lake of fire forever or whether we repent of our sins and call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ who paid the penalty of our sins with his own blood on the cross about 2,000 years ago. He did not remain dead--he rose from the dead on the third day, was seen of over 500 brethren at once, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God interceding for us.

 

You need FAITH in the blood of Jesus to get into heaven. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, God manifested in the flesh, WAS CRUCIFIED [nailed to the cross through his hands and his feet] FOR OUR SINS AS OUR SUBSTITUTE. In order to be saved and get into heaven, you must…

 

• REPENT of your sins [have a change of mind to go in another direction]

 

• BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus Christ--his death, his burial, and his resurrection from the dead.

 

• OBEY the word of God, the Bible. This is different than just trying to be good enough, which we cannot do. To be saved, WE REPENT OF OUR OLD WAYS, BELIEVE IN JESUS, AND TRY TO OBEY HIS WORD. Then, as we strive to obey him, he helps us to obey him.

 

We are sinners. We sin when we do things that God's word, the Bible, says that we are not do. Every person has sinned. People lie, disobey their parents, steal, kill, are prideful, jealous, envious, covetous, boasters, drunkards, traitors, and more. There are no good deeds that you can do on your own that will erase the sins that you have committed. The Lord Jesus Christ SHED HIS BLOOD for your sins. He is perfect. He specifically came to this earth as a man to die in your place. He is God manifested in the flesh. He came down here to save you from the GUILT of past sins and from the POWER of sin over your life.

 

In the Bible, God tells us what we need to do to have eternal life. He tells us how we can to get to heaven, how we can go there--and he wants us to make it. He wants to know us and he wants us to make it into heaven. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). You are about to read the most important information that you will ever read. It is called the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

The gospel is God's message to mankind. If you will yield to the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will be reconciled to God and you will escape eternal damnation in hell and the lake of fire. Besides all of this, you will have abundant life right now as you walk with the Creator of the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ. All of this in spite of all the woes that the world will throw at you.

 

The Bible teaches that the ONLY way to have eternal life is through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

 

John 3:36, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

 

Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

I John 5:11, God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

 

I John 5:12, He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

 

To get into heaven, you have to REPENT of your sins and BELIEVE the gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15). You have to REPENT of your sins--that means turn from them and BELIEVE that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day. Having done these things, you will be born again and the Lord Jesus Christ will help you to walk uprightly. You will read the word and follow the teachings of Jesus. The word of God will wash your mind and your desires will actually change as you obey what you read.

 

The Bible says that for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Let God be true, but every man a liar...( Romans 3:4)

 

The Bible teaches that when we are unsaved even our righteous acts are like filthy rags to God. It does not matter how many good deeds that you do, you still cannot go to heaven based on your deeds. The Bible teaches that your good deeds do not commend you to God in any way. Your good deeds do not remove the sins that you have committed. You have ignored God choosing to live life the way that YOU see fit.

 

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

 

According to the above verse, we still come up short even when we try to do good deeds. This is because we are not doing them under God's authority. We do them because we think they are good. We ignore what God says.

 

"But I never killed anybody and I'm not a drug addict!" That may be so but you are still a spiritual criminal because you have been breaking God's righteous laws. In fact, you have broken the greatest commandment in the Bible thereby making you as guilty as a killer, a thief, a drunkard, and a liar. What is the greatest commandment?

 

Matthew 22:36-38, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with ALL thy heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy mind. THIS is the first and great commandment.

 

And what is love? Keeping God's commandments--2 John 1:6, And this is love, that we walk after his commandments.

 

John 14:21, He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

 

John 14:23-24, Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

 

1 John 2:5, But whoso KEEPETH HIS WORD, in him verily is the love of God perfected: HEREBY know we that we are in him.

 

I John 5:2-3, By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

 

1 John 2:3-4, And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. HE THAT SAITH, I KNOW HIM, AND KEEPETH NOT HIS COMMANDMENTS, IS A LIAR, and the truth is not in him.

 

The unsaved, unregenerate man does not keep God's commandments. God's commandments are in the Bible. The unsaved man does whatever he feels like doing every day giving no heed to God's word. He is not obedient to God's word. He lives according to the ways he chooses to live. Maybe the person reading this is what people call "religious" and they think that they love God. If you are not worshipping God according to his word, the Bible, he is not receiving your worship. This includes those that go to a church that teaches false doctrines--teachings that are not in the Bible. They that worship God must worship him in spirit and IN TRUTH (John 4:24). And what is truth? Jesus said to the Father-John 17, Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

 

We have to worship God according to his word, not according to our own ideas or the ideas of others. There is no amount of good deeds that you can do to get into heaven. The Bible teaches that if we could earn our way into heaven, then the Lord Jesus Christ died for nothing.

 

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (Galatians 2:21)

 

But the Lord Jesus Christ did not die for nothing. Repenting of our sins and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way that we can make it into heaven. Righteousness does NOT come by the law and good works and rituals. We need Jesus to pay the price for our sins. We cannot do it. Righteousness comes by repenting of our sins and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and his blood that was shed to pay for our sins. God will not accept our made up religions and attempts to please him.

 

THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO PLEASE GOD AND GET TO HEAVEN AND THAT IS THROUGH HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO SHED HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD TO PAY FOR OUR SINS. JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD (John 14:6).

There is no other Saviour but Jesus. No one else can get us into heaven--only Jesus. He is the prophesied Jewish Messiah, the lion of the tribe of Judah, and the Son of David.

 

God is holy. We are sinful. There is no amount of "good" that we can do to make up for our crimes against God. They must be punished. And the wages of sin is DEATH. Somebody has to DIE to pay for sins against God. Oh, you'll die physically--sin requires that. But you've got a choice about that SECOND DEATH where a man goes to the lake of fire that burneth with fire and brimstone....

 

We deserve the death penalty. This includes both physical death (the casket) and spiritual death (when the soul is cast into hellfire). The wages of sin is death...(Romans 6:23)

 

God does not want to remain your enemy and he does not want you to go to hell. As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die... (Ezekiel 33:11)

 

The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

 

In spite of man's wickedness and rebellion, God so loved us that he sent his only begotten Son, Jesus, to die for our sins.

 

John 3:16-17, 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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

 

Jesus came to save us from our sins--"... and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people FROM their sins." (Matthew 1:21).

 

Jesus did not die so that you could keep on sinning and then go to heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ came to save you from both the GUILT and POWER of sin. The Lord Jesus Christ was manifested TO DESTROY the works of the devil (1 John 3:8)--THE LORD JESUS CHRIST CAME TO SAVE YOU AND CHANGE YOU AND TO MAKE YOU HOLY. When you are unsaved, sin has dominion over you. Sin is your boss and you cannot do anything BUT sin. You are justly under the wrath of a holy and just God. This is not to put anybody down, before we got saved. We have to be born again into the kingdom of God. When we REPENT and BELIEVE in Jesus, we are born again and all things become new. A new life emerges and things change. We start reading the Bible and obeying it and the Lord Jesus helps us obey it more and more. Our life changes. Our desires literally change as we go forward in obeying the word of God.

 

The blood of Jesus is the propitiation and payment for our sins. The blood of Jesus took away the guilt of the sins which we have committed AND it has ushered us into a Father child relationship with the Lord God. Through the blood of Jesus, we are to serve sin no more, rather we serve righteousness. If you get saved and sin, you confess your sin and the Lord will forgive you, but you no longer walk in the sin lifestyle—Meditate on these scriptures…

 

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, THAT YE SIN NOT. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

 

1 John 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

 

1 John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

 

1 John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

 

1 John 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

 

1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

 

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

Again, the Father sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, who is God, to die in our place so that we can have eternal life. Remember that the wages of sin is death--that is why Jesus died in your place so that you can live. The Lord Jesus Christ was your substitutionary sacrifice--

 

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. (John 3:16)

 

Jesus said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) How can you show more love than giving your very life for someone else's life? You cannot. And what is more, the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifested in the flesh, died for us WHEN WE WERE HIS ENEMIES! I mean we were vile, wicked, wretched, unclean, unholy, ungodly, prideful, sinful and spiritually leperous--Meditate on these scriptures…

 

Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

 

Romans 5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

 

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 

Romans 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

 

Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

 

The love of God for you was demonstrated on that cross 2,000 years ago when the Lord Jesus was crucified for you. God is not hateful, he is loving and he is good to us. It is only blasphemers, hereticks, evil men, seducers, and sinners that speak wrongly of our great and loving LORD God. God gave us his only begotten Son even though we were dead in trespasses and sins. God quickens (makes alive) the dead. He is still quickening men, women, boys, and girls across the face of this whole earth who put their trust in Jesus--Meditate on these scriptures…

 

Ephesians 2:1, And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

 

2:3 Among whom also we ALL had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

 

2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

 

2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

 

2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

 

2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

 

2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

 

2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 

2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

 

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, came to this earth to (1) save you from the GUILT and POWER of your sins and (2) RECONCILE you unto God. Through faith in the blood of Jesus you will escape the wrath to come, have abundant life now, and heaven as your home. God will be your Father instead of your enemy--but ONLY through the blood of Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ is the ONLY means appointed by God by which we can know God and be saved...the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (I John 1:7)

 

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD...(Romans 6:23)

 

JESUS CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD. After His death, our precious Lord's body laid in the grave three days, but praise be to God, it did not remain there. Death could not hold him back--it was not possible that he should be holden of it (Acts 2:24). Jesus Christ is the life (John 14:6) and God manifested in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). Death could not hold him. On the third day Jesus arose from the dead and was seen by over 500 people (1 Corinthians 15:6) before He went back to heaven.

 

Jesus Christ came to earth to give his own blood for your sins. That is what he came to do and he was and is the only one qualified to do it. His death was a one time sacrifice, never to be repeated. After he accomplished this tremendous feat, he rose from the dead just like he said he would:

 

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again... (John 10:17-18)...Christ died for our sins...and he was buried, and...he rose again the third day... (I Corinthians 15:3-4)

 

Are you ready to repent of your sins? To repent means to forsake your evil ways and live God's way according to his word. Are you ready to listen finally? All your life you've been your own authority concerning what is right and what is wrong. You've made your own decisions while ignoring what the Lord says in His holy word, the Bible. You've served yourself and not God. To repent means that you turn to GOD AND THE BIBLE AS YOUR AUTHORITY. It means you can say, "Lord, everything you say in the Bible is right. If my feelings contradict the Bible, I AM WRONG. Lord, I want to live under YOUR AUTHORITY, not my own. Help me, Jesus, to do right."

 

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to REPENT. (Acts 17:30)...TURN TO GOD, AND DO WORKS MEET FOR REPENTANCE. (Acts 26:20)

 

Repentance is not lip service. Are you prepared to live for the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus said this--"And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:27)

 

Realize that you have lived under your own authority. You've lived the way that YOU have wanted to. You have lived without regard for God's precepts. Understand in your mind that you've lived in sin against God's word. Think it through and count the cost. Jesus made no promises that you will have an easy life. In fact, the Bible teaches that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Are you willing to live as one of the despised, saved, holy, overcoming, victorious ones? If so, come on to Jesus. Be determined that you want God to be your Father and not your enemy. Decide that you WANT the Lord and His ways. Satan will leave you destroyed and with your part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone. God will lift you up if you submit yourself to him for his superintending care. And his holy child, Jesus, will be your all-powerful Lord, Saviour, protector, guide, and best friend you could ever have. Friend, you have a choice to make…

 

• keep on pursuing Satan and the fleeting pleasures of sin; or humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and let him lift you up into an upright life. God furnish you with at least one spiritual gift wherewith you can help further the kingdom of God. In due time, He will lift you up to places you never even knew existed. Your life will be changed at its root if you heed to the word of God.

 

In the Bible, God testifies that Jesus Christ died for your sins and was buried; and that He rose from the dead on the third day. You must believe and confess this in order to be saved.

 

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, THOU SHALT BE SAVED. (Romans 10:9)

 

If you are ready to save yourself from this untoward generation, if you are ready to reject what this wicked and perverse world has to offer, if you are ready to be safe and stay safe in God Almighty, if you want Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, if you want to be reconciled to your Creator, if you want to go to heaven, if you want to escape hell -- then put your faith in the only one who can do something about it! Do you believe that Jesus Christ died for you? Do you believe that He rose from the dead? Do you repent of your sins? Do you want to follow Jesus?

 

If so, REPENT of your sins and talk to the Lord in prayer in your own words right now. Ask God to forgive you of your sins and to help you to do what is right. BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus. CONFESS the Lord Jesus with your mouth. This is not a long, drawn out, hard process. Do you believe in the blood of Jesus? Do you want God to pass over you in the day of his wrath so that you are not cast into hell and the lake of fire with the wicked? Do you want to be saved?

 

You don't need a preacher in your presence in order to be saved, you have heard the gospel here. Do you BELIEVE it and want it? Are you ready to be under God's commands or do you want to keep on doing what you want to do? This decision is yours and your future depends on what choice you make. If you know that this is the truth, I counsel you to make your decision today because tomorrow is not promised to you. Not only that, people's hearts get hard when they keep on rejecting the truth. You don't want your heart to turn to stone to the gospel because if it does, you will go to hell. That I can guarantee you because the Bible says Hell is real.

 

"But what if I have been really bad? Will God forgive me?" Some may feel like their sins are so bad or so many that they cannot be forgiven. But God is merciful.

 

Some people don't know how to pray. Praying is just talking to the Lord. If you want to be saved, talk to Jesus about it. Please repeat these words…

 

"Dear Lord, I know that I am a sinner and I want to be saved. I repent of my sins, every one. I don't want to do evil anymore, I want to do righteousness through the blood of Jesus. I'm asking you to please forgive me of my sins against you. I want a new life in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be everything that You created me to be. I believe that Jesus shed His blood and died for me so that I could be saved from my sins. I believe that He rose from the dead on the third day. I want to be your child and follow the holy scriptures. Thank you for being merciful to me, a sinner. Thank you Lord Jesus for saving my soul from sin. Please fill me with your precious, Holy Spirit so that I can live a righteous, self-denying life for you. I'm giving you myself. Please show me what you want me to do. Please help me to understand your word and to walk in your word. Please guide me for Jesus' sake. It is in Jesus' Name I pray, Amen."

 

If you have placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a Christian. If you continue in his word, then are you his disciple indeed (John 8:31). Now begins your new life of freedom and obedience to the Lord and serving him… Meditate on these scriptures…

 

• You need to be baptized. You need to be baptized in the water like Christians in the Bible. In baptism, we are identifying with the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ-- Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

 

• 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

 

• 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

 

• 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

 

• 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

 

• 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

 

• 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

 

• 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

• 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

• 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

 

• 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. When we go under the water, we show that we are dying to the old life, being under the water shows we have died to the old life, and when we come up we show we are purposed to walk in newness of life. In baptism, we are also shewing the washing away of our sins (Acts 22:16).

 

• In Acts 8:26-39, you can read about the Ethiopian eunuch who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and was baptized by Philip in a certain water. We are only baptized one time and that is after we have truly repented and have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you were baptized as a baby, and then got saved later on, you sould get baptized after salvation.

 

• You can pray and ask the Lord to lead you to a truly Christian fellowship (Family Life Church) so that you can get baptized. You can call the office M-F, 10am-5pm.

 

• Read the Bible. You need to start reading the Bible daily. You can read it online --begin with the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the New Testament.

 

• Obey the Bible. Obey what you read. If you commit a sin, then call on I John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," and determine to live right. Don't make excuses for sin. No more stealing, no more fornicating, no more lying, no more adultery. When you repent, you let go of those filthy, unclean things.

 

• Seek personal consecration. This is serving the Lord, living the clean new life.

 

• Teach your children God's word. As you read the Bible, you can teach your children God's word, too. You can learn together.

 

• Pray. Pray and talk to God about whatever is on your heart. The Bible says to "pray without ceasing." I like to get up early in the morning while it is still dark and go to my prayer place so that I can present myself before the Lord. I pray for other people. I ask him to forgive me of my sins. When we pray to God, we need to be real. Pray about whatever is real for you at that time.

 

• The Lord's Supper. At various seasons, Christians partake of the Lord's supper in which we remember the Lord (Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthians 11:24, 25) and shew his death until he come (1 Corinthians 11:26). One need not be in a church service to partake of the Lord Supper.

 

• Sing. Learn Christian praise & worship to encourage you. Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

 

God be with you as you run this race. You must read the word of God. I strongly suggest that you study the Word, rightly divide where you will find your safety, your strength, your power, your love, your comfort, your knowledge, your life and everything you need to know and please and walk with God and his holy child, Jesus. Desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby. Never give up and always hearken to God's word.

 

YOU HAVE A NEW LIFE NOW, LIVE IT, GOD WILL HELP YOU TO OBTAIN HEAVEN. WHEN YOU READ THE WORD AND OBEY IT YOUR DESIRES START CHANGING.