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There are many different views within the Christian community on what it takes to get to Heaven. God, not man, promised to preserve his words since the Old Testament, "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." – Psalms 12:6-7
Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." –Matthew 24:35.
If God promised to keep his words forever, then we have to go by what God’s words say it takes to get to Heaven. I just want to go over what the Bible says it takes to get to Heaven. I know we’ve all been taught different things; we’ve had preachers, priests, bible commentaries, etc. all tell us what they think it takes to get to Heaven. Let’s see what the word of God itself says.
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" – Romans 3:23
"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" – Romans 3:10
The above verses establish that we have all sinned and don’t live up to God’s expectations; God is perfect.
"For the wages of sin is death;–Romans 6:23a
The bible says because we have sinned we’re all going to die a physical death some day. A wage is something that you earn; by sinning we earn death. Death isn’t the end, though. There is a heaven and there is a hell.
"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." – Revelation 20:14
This second death is a spiritual death in an eternal hell. So what would cause someone to be sent to hell?
"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." –Revelation 21:8
There are some pretty bad offenses named here and then it says "all liars". I have told a lie before. Everyone has told a lie.
"And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." –Revelation 21:27
The above verse is talking about heaven and it says nothing shall enter into it that "maketh A lie". Basically this is saying that everyone deserves to go to hell. Once again, everyone has told a lie. That’s just the bad news though.
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." –Romans 5:8
Jesus Christ was God "manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16) and "in him is no sin" (1 John 3:5). He took on a human body and lived that perfect life no one could live. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities." (Isaiah 53:5). They set up a trial and mocked him and spit on him. Then they hung him up on a cross and he was "the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). If any of us died in our sins we would go to hell. For three days and three nights Jesus spent an eternity in hell paying for our sins (because that would be our punishment) which is something we can’t even fathom (Acts 2:27,31, Jonah 2, Matthew 12:40). Now just because he did all this, that doesn’t mean everyone’s going to Heaven. There has to be SOMETHING we have to do. The Philippian jailer asks the apostle Paul this exact question in the book of Acts.
"Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" –Acts 16:29-30
There is the big question that we all want to know…what must I do to be saved?
"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." –Acts 16:31
What did that say one has to do to be saved? He said believe. He didn’t say get baptized, he didn’t say be willing to change your life around, he didn’t say repent OF YOUR SINS, he didn’t say go to church, he didn’t say keep the 10 commandments, he didn’t say stop living with your girlfriend, he didn’t say give up alcohol or cigarettes, he didn’t say roll around on the floor and slobber and mumble…he said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!
There are so many verses concerning this throughout the bible, it says it believe alone 90 times in the book of John.
"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
"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." –John 3:18
"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." –John 3:36
We have verse after verse here saying it’s believe. The last verse says you "hath everlasting life". Whenever you "hath" something, you have it right now. It’s present tense. God says when you believe on Him, you "hath everlasting life."
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." –John 5:24
This is Jesus speaking here and once again he says when you believe on him, you "hath everlasting life". He says when you do that you have passed "from death unto life."
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." –Romans 6:23
I already went over the first part of this verse and as I said earlier by sinning we all earn death. But now it’s saying the gift of God is eternal life. The giver always pays for the gift. A gift is free to the receiver. This is a gift of God, so God paid for it on the cross. This gift is eternal life. Eternal means forever. There’s nothing you can do to lose a gift that lasts forever or else it wasn’t everlasting.
"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." –John 10:28
God says once he gives you eternal life, you shall NEVER perish. No man can pluck you out of his hand and that includes yourself.
The point I am trying to make with this is that one cannot lose their salvation. They weren’t the ones that earned it in the first place.
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us…" –Titus 3:5
HE saved us. We didn’t save ourselves.
"I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." –Galatians 2:21
This verse is saying if you had to work your way to Heaven, there’s no reason for Jesus to have died on the cross for your sins. That is what sets true Christianity apart from all other religions…it’s what God did for you and not what you do to earn your way to Heaven.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." –Ephesians 2:8-9
This verse once again states that this is the GIFT of God. It is NOT of works and NOT of yourselves.
As we have seen the bible keeps referring to this as a gift.
"For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." –Romans 11:29
When God gives you a gift, he’s not taking it back. He gave you the gift of everlasting life. That verse also shows a good definition of biblical repentance. The phrase "repent of your sins" isn’t even found in the King James Bible. Yes, the bible will say "Repent ye, and believe the gospel" –Mark 1:15. It’s not repent OF YOUR SINS though.
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God," –Hebrews 6:1
By letting the Bible define itself here, "comparing spiritual with spiritual" (1 Corinthians 2:12-13), we see that it is repent from dead works, not repent of your sins. Repent simply means to change your mind. You change your mind from believing your works get you to Heaven to believing Jesus Christ paid your way there. God does more repenting than anyone in the Bible. God has never sinned, he has no sins to be sorry about.
Now back to what I was saying about eternal security
"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." –Romans 4:5
This guy "worketh not". He doesn’t do anything for God. He gets saved at the doorstep and then goes back inside and pops open another beer, but he’s going to Heaven because he accepted Jesus Christ’s payment for his sins. Before someone is born they haven’t committed any sins, but Jesus already paid for them 2,000 years ago on the cross, so when you accept his payment he’s already paid for your sins of the past and the future.
"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." –Ephesians 4:30
When you believe on Jesus, you are sealed unto the day of redemption.
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. – John 3:5
How do we get born into God’s family?
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" –John 1:12
Once someone believes on Jesus, they are born into God’s family. I have a real dad and even if I went out and did something really bad like murdered a bunch of people and did all this horrible stuff, he would still be my dad. He wouldn’t be happy with me, but he’s still my dad. That’s how it’s like with God when you’re born into his family. If you go out and are disobedient to him all the time, you kill a bunch of people, you kill yourself, let’s say you even stop believing he’s your dad, he’s not going to take your part out of Heaven, he already paid for that. You will reap what you sow ON THIS EARTH (Galatians 6:7). He chastises his children just like a good parent would.
Once you’re saved, you are always saved. You only need to be saved one time. You can’t lose your salvation for murdering a thousand people, committing suicide (Saul and Sampson both committed suicide and the Bible says they are in Heaven, 1 Samuel 28:19, Hebrews 11:32), not repenting of your sins, not getting baptized, not keeping the 10 commandments. But what if you stop believing?
"If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." -2 Timothy 2:13
You can not lose your salvation even if you stop believing.
So what if someone thinks they can lose their salvation? Are they saved? Well they believe, right?
"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:10-12
This verse tells us what exactly we have to believe. We have to believe the record that God gave us ETERNAL life. If someone thinks they can lose their salvation, that’s conditional life. The only way you could lose your salvation would be if you thought you were the one earning it. These people have called God a "liar" and "hath not life".
"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;" –Titus 1:2
God promises you eternal life if all you will do is realize he paid for everything. It’s not part you and part him…you aren’t meeting him half way.
"And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work." –Romans 11:6
This verse clarifies that you’re either saved by grace or by works. It’s one or the other.
"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? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." –Matthew 7:22-23
There are going to be a lot of people, who when they die, are going to claim to have done all these amazing works for God and he’s going to say he NEVER knew them. They were trusting on those works to get them to Heaven. You have to get saved before you can do anything for God and earn rewards.
"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." –Matthew 7:14
It’s really easy to get to Heaven, just few people find it because they’re trusting on their works to get them there and not relying completely on Jesus. When someone believes this, they are saying Jesus' sacrifice wasn't enough.
"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." -1 John 5:13
-Richie Symes May 21, 2009