HOW TO KNOW YOU ARE HEAVEN BOUND… The following is an outline from a class that I took years ago that should help you to know the truth about who goes to Heaven and who misses it because of some misconceptions. A. Grace 1. Heaven is a free gift. Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) Ephesians 2:8-9 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. Romans 6:23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 2. It is not earned or deserved. Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost B. Man 1. Is a sinner - Youre not a sinner because youve sinned - you sin because you are a sinner. Titus 3:5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Suppose that we sinned only 10 times a day, or even 5 times or even just 3 times. Why, we would practically be walking angels! Imagine if no more often than 3 times a day we think unkind thoughts, or lose our temper, or fail to do what we ought towards God and man - we would be pretty fine people, would we not? Even if we were this good, we would still have over 1,000 transgressions a year! Multiply that by our own age and we find 20, 30, 40, 50 thousand violations of the Laws of God on our records. Think what would happen to an habitual offender in a criminal court with that many crimes on his record! 2. Cannot save himself Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Man cannot save himself jumping across the Grand Canyon... Imagine that all of mankind are lined up on the edge of the Grand Canyon (or use the couch and coffee table, assuming a 100 foot wide canyon, 500 feet deep). Due to a forest fire, we would all have to jump across the canyon to save ourselves. The Olympic record holder might jump 29 feet and others, 15 or 20 feet. I might jump seven or eight feet and cripples will jump and tumble over the edge, but all of us will end up at the bottom of the canyon in the same death. Theres a similar gap between man and God. I was trying to jump across that gap by living a good life: being good to my fellow man - and kind of looking down on some people that werent living as good a life as I was in trying to cross over to God. Then I realized that they werent any worse off than I for the Bible says (Romans 3:23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. So you see no one can cross the gap to God by their good deeds or their own good life. C. God 1. Is a loving and merciful - therefore doesnt want to punish us. Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 2. Is Just - God loves the sinner but He hates the sin. 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. The gospel is a message about sin. It tells us how we have fallen short of Gods standard; how we have become guilty, filthy, and helpless in sin, and now stand under the wrath of God. Everybodys life includes things which cause dissatisfaction and shame. Everyone has a bad conscience about things in his past, matter in which he has fallen short of the standard which he sees himself, or which was expected of him by others. The danger is that in our evangelism we should content ourselves with evoking thoughts of these things and making people feel uncomfortable about them, and then depicting Christ as the One who saves us from these elements of ourselves without even raising the question of our relationship with God. For the very idea of sin in the Bible is of an offense against God, which disrupts a mans relationship with God. Unless we see our shortcomings in the light of the law and holiness of God, we do not see them as sin at all. For sin is not a social concept; it is a theological concept. Though sin is committed by man and many sins are against society, sin cannot be defined in terms of either man or society...for the bad conscience of the natural man is not at all the same thing as a conviction of sin. D. Jesus Christ 1. Who is He - the Infinite God-Man Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. John 10:30 I and my Father are one. 2. What He did - by His death and physical resurrection, He paid for our sins and purchased a place in Heaven for us which He offers as a gift, which may be received by faith. I Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. Theres a throne room in your heart that youve been sitting on. Jesus says that throne rightfully belongs to Him. The union of the Two Natures of Jesus Christ - Christ is God. He was God before He came to earth and took a human nature upon Himself. He has two natures: Divine and Human. E. Faith 1. Is not - temporary, nor is it a mere intellectual belief. Many will miss Heaven by 18 inches, they have head knowledge, but not heart knowledge of Jesus. 2. Is - trusting in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. John 3:3 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. God will switch price tags on you. Some of the things you thought were really great, you will lose interest in, other things you did not think too much of, will become tremendously important to you. The key to Heaven - Faith is the key that opens the door to Heaven. You know, you could have a key ring with a lot of keys on it, they all look somewhat alike. But Ill tell you this...if you go to the front door of my home, you could try all of these keys except the right one, and they would not open the door. The right key to Heaven is called FAITH...SAVING FAITH. That is what will open the door to Heaven. There is nothing else in the world that will open that door, just Saving Faith in Jesus. F. Eternal Life - a free gift If I were to give you my watch (or any valuable object that is handy) as a gift and you paid me for it, would it still be a gift? No, it wouldnt. Thats the nature of a gift - you cant pay for it or it is not a gift anymore. It is the same way with Gods offer of the free gift of Heaven or eternal life - you cant pay God for it, His Son, Jesus Christ has already paid your sin debt in full at the cross. After reading what it means to receive the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, would you like to receive this gift of eternal life now? Remember (insert your name), this is the most important decision you will ever make in your life, so I’m going to repeat myself to make sure you understand your decision to receive Christ as your personal Savior. “Do you want to receive Christ as your personal Savior today?” Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” If you answered yes, then please read this prayer thoughtfully and from your heart: “Lord Jesus, I want you to come into my life right now. I am a sinner, I have been trusting (name the works that you were trusting in to get to heaven), but now I put my whole trust in You. I accept You as my personal Savior. I believe You died for me. I receive You as Lord and Master over my life. Help me to turn from my sins daily and follow You. I accept Your gift of eternal life. In Your Name I pray, Amen.” 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. I hope this helps you to know what you need to know so that you can confess whatever sins you can remember, then ask Jesus to bring to mind later the sins that you have forgotten or overlooked. Ask Him to forgive you from your heart and then all you have to do to receive this free gift is to just believe that Jesus has forgiven you and that your name has been written down in the Lambs Book of Life (all people that will be in Heaven for eternity). Jesus loves all people that belong to Him already and those that are in need of salvation now. Remember: The one and only sin that will keep you from going to heaven, is to reject Jesus as your Lord and Savior. All other sins can be forgiven when one prays for Jesus to give them a new outlook on life. Money can’t buy you a place in heaven, neither being famous, smart, gifted, or ant other accomplishment YOU have done. There is only one way and it’s through Jesus shed blood on the cross where He paid the penalty of sin for all that will ask Him to be their Lord and Savior. John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” God bless your decision today if you have not already received Jesus as your Personal Lord and Savior. If you have already made this most important decision, please share this so that others may know about salvation. America needs a good revival and now is the time to get it going. God Bless America!!!
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 21:21:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015