How to Get to Heaven from Ahoskie:
Romans 3:10 There is none righteous, no not one.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
This journey must begin at the crossroads of my perception and God's reality. I must come to the understanding that by very definition I was born into a world that is at odds with its Creator. On my own I can never do enough to merit God's grace to allow me to enter His perfect Heaven. I must realize that this is not a slam on me personally, because all have sinned and fall short.
The question then becomes, 'well, if I have fallen short, then what?'
The Bible teaches in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
My wages, or earnings, for falling short is death. Since 10 out of 10 people surveyed will actually die at some point, this cannot be referring to physical death. What it means is a spiritual death: eternal separation from God. The Bible teaches that this place of eternal separation is called Hell. What this is saying is very simply that on my own I deserve nothing from God except to be separated from Him forever. Fortunately, the verse does not end there! It goes on to say that God has a gift that He is offering to each of us. That gift is wrapped up in the Person of His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. It is as if God has in Heaven a storehouse of presents with our name tags written on them. He is offering me the gift with my name on it and is hoping that I will be willing to accept it! The gift is none other than eternal life through Jesus Christ.
When Jesus came in the fulness of time to this earth, He lived a sinless life and fulfilled all the Law of the Old Testament. Of the hundreds of prophesies in Scripture of the coming Messiah, Jesus fulfilled every one! Although Jesus lived a sinless life, He suffered a cruel death on a Roman cross in order to pay the wages of sin (death) on our behalf.
Now, I am often told, "that is great news! As soon as I can get my life turned around and straightened out, I will come to Jesus and get involved in church." On the surface, that sounds great. The problem is, since we have a nature that is separate from God, on our own we can never "get our lives turned around and straightened out." We have tried enough diets and other methods to change our behavior to know that we just don't have the strength within us to stick it out. Don't despair! There is more good news!
Romans 5:8 says God demonstrated His own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Did you hear that? God is not waiting for me to work this out myself. Instead, Jesus is prepared to take me as I am, warts and all. He desires to change my essential nature, not just my actions and attitudes. When I give my life to Him, He will add the strength, desire, and willpower to "clean up my act."
II Corinthians 5:17 says that if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation: behold, all things are made new.
You say, 'okay. I am with you to this point. But, my question is, how do I receive this free gift? What do I do to have my life changed by God? Bottom line: what must I do to be saved??
It seems that we try to make this question so difficult, when the Bible makes it so simple. God's answer to this question is found in Romans 10:13 Whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
All I need to do is communicate with God (the fancy name for this is prayer). Just tell God what's going on. That is: Lord, I realize that I can never be good enough on my own to spend eternity in Heaven with You. But, I want to. I realize that You have made a way for this to be possible when You sent Jesus to die on a cross on my behalf. Right now I am asking, God, to hold true to Your promise that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. I am asking you to save my soul. I want to become Your child. I want to live for You. I want to live forever with You in Heaven. Please save me. Thank you!
If you prayed this prayer, or one similar, I would love to rejoice with you. Please send me an email and let me know how God brought this all about. Also, you need to get yourself involved in a local church so that you can grow in your faith. Go to church this Sunday and greet the Pastor with the news of your decision. Let him know that you need to be baptized to tell the world what Jesus has done for you!
Just like a natural baby needs certain things to grow in a healthy way, a baby Christian needs nourishment as well. Reading the Bible is like food to a child. Prayer is like breathing is to a baby. The church is like a family that will support, encourage, and watch out for you.
Is there someone you know who has been praying for you? I'm sure that they would love to hear of your decision to follow Christ! Also, list out the names of some friends, family, co-workers and neighbors who need to make the same decision you did. Tell them about it and invite them to do the same!
God bless you on your new journey!
