HOW DO I GET INTO HEAVEN?
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans
Translator: Robin Barker
Someone wrote to me:
“There is a question which has been bothering me for years – “How do I qualify to go to heaven?”
Do you know that some people make this very, very difficult to attain this wonderful certainty, that I am a child of God and on my way to heaven and then they come with a long list of things.
My great hero Paul says:
COL 2:20-22
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:
21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?
22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.
How wonderful –
Jesus has already done everything so that we, as you put it, “qualify” for eternal life with Him.
All that you and I have to do, is to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
Now satan is cunning (sly), and with thousands of years experience with people, he knows exactly who he can influence.
Then you have those people who have accepted Jesus as Redeemer and Saviour, who wonder:
“Have I really accepted Jesus, or do I only think I did?”
Before I tell you what I want to say, again I tell you and this is truly how it is:
If you have accepted Jesus as your Redeemer and Saviour, to use your words, you qualify to go to Heaven:
JHN 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
What is the simplest way, to state it, in your humanity within your heart, that you, to use your words, qualify to go to heaven?
ROM 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (NTIV)
If that is truly your point of view, you are on your way to Heaven and you will then really try to live like that, people will see the familiarity (similar behaviour) between you and Christ.
MAT 5:14-16
14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Live your life the way you have just read and remember Jesus tells us:
MAT 24:13 but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved.
Also just remember that in MAT 24:13 which you have just read, thinking about it, that being saved once does not mean always saved.
You and I have a will of our own. We are not our Lord’s marionette (puppets).
Satan is going to make certain that he will make it as difficult as possible for us to walk through the gates of Heaven. But we also have the following assurance:
1 COR 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to us all. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
How wonderful it is to know this and then also to remember:
HEB 4:14-16
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
It does not matter what happens to us here on earth, if we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will eventually become Winners through our Lord’s loving redeeming grace.
So, let us persist (continue) in doing what our Lord has told us:
REV 3:11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
My answer on “How do I know that I am a child of God?” corresponds to this writing and also speaks about our baptism which I would like to send to you on your request.
Greetings
Sakkie