There is only one TRUTH. It is in God’s Word. The Bible says in

Psalms 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

It says in verse 7 that God will preserve His Word. Do you believe that the Bible is God’s Word and that if He chooses to (and He did) that He is powerful enough to keep His promise and preserve His Word? I think you would agree; YES!.

If you were to die today are you 100% sure that you would go to Heaven?

Did you know that the Bible actually says that you can know that you are on your way to Heaven?

It says in I 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, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. See how it says that you MAY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. It says that you can actually know that you have eternal life today. That you can know that you are on your way to Heaven today.

There are some things you have to know first though. There is some good news and some bad news.

Forgive me for how I write this, I am just going to cover all of the bases. I know you know most of these things already.

I am going to go over the bad news first then get to the Good News.

Romans 3:23 says For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. So by that verse, I am a sinner, you are a sinner and everyone that is now breathing on this Earth is included as well.

Romans 3:10 says, As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. So not only is everyone a sinner, neither is anyone righteous. Righteous is defined; Applied to persons, it denotes one who is holy in heart, and observant of the divine commands in practice.

The first part of Romans 6:23 says For the wages of sin is death; Now let’s look at this. What is a “wage”? I assume dear reader that you know someone that has worked a job before and at some point you may have been told they were paid “Minimum Wage”. A wage is a payment for something that was done. To understand the verse, now read it as; For the payment of sin is death. Wait a minute, hold the phone. Who were the sinners again? ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. This verse says that the payment for everyone is death because of sin.

Now let us look at that word death. The Bible talks about two kinds of death. The first is in reference to your body, another word would be flesh. The first death is when your body dies. The second instance I refer to, is where the Bible talks about death as something different than your flesh.

Revelation 20: 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 

So the second death is speaking of Hell or the Lake of Fire.

Back to our verse; For the payment to everyone for sin is Hell.

But what are the sins that get us there? You may be thinking, I have never done anything that bad.

The Bible does speak of inherited sin from Adam. I acknowledge that but let us, for now, focus on what it says in 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.

Let’s stop here a second. If you and I were to look from our perspectives that we could very well say that a Liar is not the same as a Murderer. Would you agree?

But our point of view is not the perspective of the verse. Let us look at it from God’s perspective. What is SIN?

Sin is disobedience to God’s Word, His Law, His Command. The Bible says in James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. It says that even if you Obey all of the traffic laws, if you didn’t get “caught” for speeding or if you did, either way, you are still are a lawbreaker. However you split it, it doesn’t matter what the Sin is, it’s all disobedience from God’s perspective. If you have ever told a lie you are a liar and the same as a murderer, which is a sinner, in God’s eyes.

To sum it up “We” are all sinners that deserve to go to Hell for all of eternity because of our disobedience to God and His Word. Hell is not a place where the wicked will reign. The Bible says Hell was made for the devil and his angels. Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: However, it will be used as a place where God will punish those who were disobedient, for eternity. 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.

That’s all of the bad news. Whew, on to the Good News.

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

God’s love is perfect. He already loves you with all of His being. He cannot love you any more than He already does. God sent His Son (Jesus) to this earth to die for the sins of the whole world. Jesus was God in the flesh. He lived a sinless life for thirty-three years while He was here on the Earth in the flesh. He did many miracles while He was here. At the end of His ministry, He was falsely accused, persecuted and was beaten so badly that it says His rib bones were exposed. I think that is just the beginning of the punishment we deserve. He was then put on the cross and died. He received the punishment we deserve to receive. He was buried and on the third day “UP FROM THE GRAVE HE AROSE”. We see in Acts 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas,(Peter) then of the twelve(the disciples): 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 

He was not just seen by one person, He was seen by more than six hundred people for 40 days before ascending to Heaven.

Acts 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

We know from His Word that God loves us so much He sent Christ His Son to die and take our punishment for us.

But does that mean that everyone is going to Heaven?

I think that you would agree with me in saying NO it doesn’t.

Now we are left with another question. How do you, the reader, get to Heaven?

Let’s look at Acts for the answer. Remember the account of Paul and Silas in the prison at night singing hymns.

Acts 16:24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, [If he would have allowed any prisoner to escape the law for that time is that he would have been killed for it. So instead of being killed, he was going to take his own life] supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 

30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? [Why did the prison guard ask this? He already knew he was not going to be put to death (in the flesh) because no one had escaped. What was he really asking? What must I do to go to Heaven?]

So there it is, that’s the question. What must, you the reader, do to be saved? Here’s the answer. 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, [“shalt” is a legal term still used today, it’s one of the strongest words in the English language to mean it will come to pass] and thy house. 32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

Some say the following verse is the most famous verse in the whole Bible. You see it on billboards, t-shirts, and signs at ball games.

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.

They say this verse is, the whole of the salvation Gospel of Christ, that is wrapped up into that one verse.

But just down from that verse in John 3. Let’s look at verse 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

As we look at this verse it says that there are only two kinds of people in the world! Out of all the kinds of people we say there are in the world, God says there are two. Those who believe and those who don’t believe.

Imagine I am in front of you. I hold up my Left Hand. Now if this man (represented by my left hand) Believes in Jesus as his Saviour, where is he going to go when he dies?

Right answer, Heaven!

Now I hold up my right hand up, This man, he doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ as his Saviour, Where is he going to go when he dies?

Correct again, Hell. I tell you, you are pretty good at this imagining thing.

God says there are only two kinds of people, those who believe, and those who don’t.

Now, let’s go to Ephesians 2:8 For by grace[That’s God’s grace] are ye saved through [God’s] faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works[NOT OF WORKS], lest any man should boast.

What is a work? A work is something you do. Help old lady’s across the road, Give Money to the Poor, Go to Church, Get Baptized, Give money to the orphans, etc. Works are doing things.

Now let’s go back to Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; [we covered the first part of the verse already, let’s focus now on the second part] but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We see that eternal life is a gift from God. How long is eternal? How long is everlasting? They go on forever, without end.

Now, enter my imagination again….. “Scary in here, ain’t it?”  

I am holding my Bible, “I want to give it to you.” I tell you “It will last forever. All you have to do is ask me for it.”

Well, go on then ask me………

I’m waiting……..

“Okay, Yes, thank you for asking, you may have my Bible.”

Now I hold out my hand, and say “Give me a dollar”.

If you were to give me a dollar for the Bible is it still a gift?

What if I said, “You can have my Bible but I need you to wash my truck.”

If you were to wash my truck, would it still be a gift?

The answer to both is NO if you give me a dollar you are paying for it with money you earned. If you wash my truck you are working for it.

Who pays for a gift? The Giver or the Receiver?

The Giver pays for the Gift. The Giver just gives and the receiver just receives. If the receiver does anything for it, it is no longer a gift.

Now, let’s say I come back two weeks or twenty years from now and say, “I don’t like how you are using my Bible, I want my Bible back.” What would that make me as the giver of a gift? If originally, I said it would be yours forever, “What would that make me?”

If your answer is “LIAR!” you would be correct.

What is the gift we are referring to? it is Eternal Life, Correct.

The Bible says in Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

[God came up with this plan before he created time so that He would be able to fellowship with Man again after the original disobedience (Sin).]

The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is by God’s grace that He will give us the gift of eternal life that He paid for by His Son, Jesus Christ. If we work for it by doing anything for it, it would no longer be a gift. It would be at that point something we are paying for ourselves. It is only by God’s grace and faith in Jesus Christ’s sinless payment of our sins, that we can freely receive the gift of eternal life.

Romans 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

There is an account in John 3 of a Pharisee that came to Jesus by night. John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: [Notice he wasn’t just a regular churchgoer, he was a Ruler of the Jewish people, he would have known the Scriptures forward and backwards] 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

[Jesus ignores his statement and gets right to the point of the Gospel of Salvation]

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, [verily just means truely] I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

[Nicodemus said “Jesus say what, you’re talking crazy dude. I can’t go back into my mother again and have another birthday.]

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

[Verses 5 & 6 say the same thing about your physical body but in a different way. Vs 5 born of water [When a momma delivers a baby what has to break first?   Right the “Water”, think bag of waters or amniotic fluid]. Vs 6 flesh [your physical body].  Both your Body and your Spirit have to be born only once.]

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. [Don’t worry about how it happens you won’t see it anyway]

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

[Vs 8 Jesus is comparing the wind to someone that has been saved. By looking at someone you will not know that they are saved. You will not know where they are on their walk with Christ. God is the only one who knows the heart of a person and whether they are being truthful or not.]

What happens when a person receives the gift of “eternal life” referred to in Romans 6:23? It means they are saved forever, on their way to Heaven! Would you need to ever receive another gift of eternal life at any time? Or would you still have the first one?

Why did God give us the whole Bible if these are the only things we need to know to be saved?

It can be broken down into two words SALVATION (Believing, Knowing you are on your way to Heaven) and SANCTIFICATION (Being Holy, Separated, Set Apart unto God)

Does this mean that we can now do whatever we want and we will still go to Heaven?

John 1:12 But as many as received him[who are born again/saved], to them [the saved] gave he power to become the sons[or daughters] of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

When the Bible says that when we receive Him, even those who believe on His name, we then become God’s child now, we’re then His son or daughter, members of the family.

Now for a moment. Think of the rules your parents have and/or had for you or that you have for your children now.

I have rules for my children. If my children break my rules, what do you think happens to them. They get disciplined or chastisement. But I am not going to kick them out of the family because of their disobedience. I couldn’t say “You’re not my son anymore.” and it ever be true. They are my blood, flesh of my flesh. Just so, God’s going to punish you or I on this earth when we commit a sin, but he’s not going to kick us out of the family. All of our sins would be under the blood of Jesus. If you accept that His blood was shed for you.

II Samuel 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: 8 but my mercy shall not depart away from him…

Hebrews 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [disciplines], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Think back to the Man on my Left Hand. He believed and is on his way to Heaven, Right. Well, imagine let’s say, a man then broke into this man’s house and you can play out the scenario in your mind but the end result would be that the believer ended up murdering that person that broke in to his house.

Where would the man on my Left Hand go when he died?

The Bible’s answer is he would still go to Heaven. God gave him a gift at salvation that would last forever. If he took it away God would be a Liar.

Now think on the Man on my Right Hand. He goes to church three times a week. He helps old ladies across the street. He gives to the Salvation Army every year. He Tithes on all his increase. He prays Daily. He was baptized. Where is this man going when he dies?

The Man on my Right Hand will be in Hell. Why?

Because he never BELIEVED! He never received the gift of salvation.

Do you think if a saved person went out and committed adultery that they just going to get away with it as a believer in Christ? No, they won’t, because God could cause them to get a disease, lose their family, to lose their job, to be broke, pay child support. But if God were to take their salvation away, remember he would be a Liar.

Jesus died for ALL of your sins, all of the sins you committed in the past, all the ones you committed today, and all the ones that you will commit in the future.

Until He perfects us when we get to Heaven, we will be a sinners.

Now we have made it to the How? How do you become saved/born again?

Just like was said to Jailer from Acts “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ”. Notice how it doesn’t say believe IN it says ON.

What do you have to believe then? Let’s look at I John 5:10 He that believeth on{ON} the Son of God hath the witness[Holy Spirit] in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son [What was the Record?]. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 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, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 

So we have to believe the “Record” to believe on Jesus. “And this is the record, that God hath given[<–notice it’s a gift from God] to us[<– it’s to everyone] eternal life[<– it’s everlasting cannot be lost], and this life[<-– Heaven] is in his Son.[<– paid for by Jesus and only received through Jesus]”

It says in Romans 10:9 That 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. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

There’s that “Shalt” word again. It says that you have to have a belief in your heart and then confess it with your mouth.

I have heard a man say that there are going to be a lot of people that miss out on Heaven by 18 inches.

What that means is they have a lot of head knowledge (Who he was? What he did? Why he did it?) about Jesus but they don’t have him in their hearts.

There were a people in the Bible that have done just that in Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Notice how he said “I never knew you”. Not that I use to know you, or I knew you at one point in time, it was I never knew you.

There has to be a Day in the time of your life that you put your trust in Jesus for what He did on the cross for your Salvation. A day that you are born again. Just like you had one birthday of your Mother. Your spirit must have a Day to be “be born again”. Because it is dead in sin without Jesus. Your spirit (without Jesus) is dead and doomed to Hell to suffer the wrath of God for all eternity.

What about this repent and be saved business? You might ask, as I did. What does the word repent actually mean?

If you were to ask a number of people walking down the street what repentance is or what it means to repent, you may here a multitude of answers. What I have heard the most is that it means “to ask for forgiveness”. In the Bible though GOD repented many different times in the Scriptures. One of theses times is in book of Jonah. After the people of Nineveh heard the preaching and got there actions lined up with what God wanted them to do it says in Jonah 3:10b and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.  God didn’t ask for forgiveness, He changed from the destruction He had planned because of how the people of Nineveh listened to the preaching. According to the Bible then repent can not mean to ask for forgiveness because God would not be asking for forgiveness of Himself, He is perfect.

What does it mean then? It means to change the mind in consequence of the inconvenience or injury done by past conduct. In other words, To “repent” is changing your mind which changes heart which changes your direction.

Think of it this way in your mind. Repentance is on one side of the coin. It means to “turn” from sin so as not to think on it, or plan to not do it anymore. On the other side of the coin is faith. If I have faith I am turning to God. So whether the Bible says repentance or to have faith it is saying the same thing. Turn from your sin of unbelief and turn to God.

Do you remember what the second sin in the above mention Revelation 21:8 was?

“unbelieving“

Turn from your ways of unbelief and believe.