How to Be Saved
Of all the things we can share on this website, we want you to know the most important message in the whole world, that is, the Gospel. It is a great thing to be interested in missions work, but missions work centers around getting the Gospel to the lost. Do you know the Lord as your Saviour? Are you 100% sure that if you were to die today that you would go to Heaven?
Today is as good a time as any to make sure for yourself that you will go to Heaven when you die. Why is that? It is because tomorrow is never guaranteed. “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:14).
Do you believe that the Bible is God’s word? “…thy word is truth” (John 17:17). God loves us and wants us to know we’re going to Heaven when we die and He actually wrote the Bible so we can know that for sure! “These things have I written unto you…that ye may know that ye have eternal life…” (1 John 5:13).
To know you are going to Heaven when you die you must know the bad news first. You must see that you have a problem that keeps you from going to Heaven. That problem is sin. Sins are things that God says are wrong to do and He points out a lot of those in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). Have you ever stolen anything? The Bible says,“Thou shalt not steal.” Have you ever lied before? The Bible says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness (lie).” Have you ever disobeyed your parents? The Bible says, “Honour (obey/respect) thy father and thy mother.”
The Bible says,“For all have sinned and come short of the glory (perfection and presence) of God” (Romans 3:23). Everyone has done something that God says is wrong whether in action, word or even in our thoughts. Even not doing what we are supposed to is also a sin. Obviously, no one is perfect; however, that’s our problem. God cannot allow sin into Heaven since He is perfect—it would mess up the perfection of Heaven and His holy nature if He did.
So, if sin keeps us from going to Heaven, then where are we headed when we die? The tragic news is that we must then go to Hell. God must punish sin because He is a just God and will not let sin go unpunished. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). Hell is His punishment for sin. “For the wages (result) of sin is death(not just your body but your soul)…” (Romans 6:23a). That death is the destination of Hell, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” (Revelation 20:14). Hell is a real place and a terrible place where people that die unsaved are burning FOREVER for their sins. “The wicked shall be turned into hell…” (Psalms 9:17a). However, God hates to have to send anyone there and it hurts Him to have to do so. “The Lord…is…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9). He loves the sinner but hates the sin. He didn’t even make Hell for us in the first place (Matthew 25:41) but because He couldn’t allow us into Heaven because of His holiness and justice He must therefore send us to Hell.
You may say, “Where is the hope in all this? I thought you were telling me how to go to Heaven!!” Now that you know the bad news you are ready for the good news: “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”(Romans 6:23b). God tells us we don’t have to go to Hell because He gives going to Heaven to us like a gift: freely! He doesn’t force us to accept it but gives us the option to choose to receive it or reject it as we may do with any gift. Since it is a gift, we cannot do any amount of good to try to earn our way to Heaven since that would be like trying to earn or pay for a gift. “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).
God solved our problem of sin through Jesus Christ
He loved us and wants us to come to Heaven when we die and so He solved our problem of justice for sins through Jesus. Since death is needed for sin God gave His Son Jesus to die in our place on the cross. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). What amazing love! His one death paid for all sin forever and the cancelled punishment can be ours if we but accept it! After being buried for three days He came back alive and is in Heaven waiting for us to accept the gift of eternal life.
So, how can I be saved from going to Hell? It takes just two things:
1) You must repent of your sins
“…except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish (die and go to Hell)” (Luke 13:3). You must turn from your sins by asking God to forgive you of them and being sorry for your sins in your heart. It’s not real repentance if you ask for forgiveness just with your mouth; there must be a change of heart about it.
2) You must trust Jesus
You must trust Him that He died for your sins and trust Him to take you to Heaven when you die. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). You must trust Him and Him alone so that you can go to Heaven. God had no other way and needed no other way for us to go to Heaven. Referring to Jesus the Bible says in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
To receive salvation this then is all done in prayer: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). With your heart you are to put your trust on Jesus that He died for you and with your mouth pray and ask God to forgive you and save you.
“He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1 John 5:12). Accept Jesus now into your heart and life by prayer. Pray something like this wholeheartedly to God:
“Dear Lord, I see now that I am a sinner and that I have to go to Hell because of my sins. I don’t want to go to Hell. I want to go to Heaven. I’m sorry for my sins; please forgive me of my sins. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I trust Him now to take me to Heaven when I die. I ask you to come into my heart and save me. In Jesus name, Amen.”
You must know that if you have done this and accepted the gift of eternal life in the way that the Bible says that you will go to Heaven when you die. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life…” (John 3:36). Jesus says about those that do so, “And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish (never die and go to Hell!)” (John 10:28a). It is a guarantee from God that you WILL go to Heaven! What a wonderful thing to know now that you are going to Heaven! No more worrying about it!
Now, if you received that, you’re going to Heaven, you are part of 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). Now that you’re a Christian, you need to go regularly to God’s house (a good church) where the Bible is taught and preached so you may grow as God’s child and learn what you need to do as a Christian. Most preferably you ought to go to an independent, fundamental Baptist church. If you need help finding one, please let us know. Also, get an old King James Bible and read the Bible daily and pray to God daily. In addition, tell others what you have learned here about how to go to Heaven for there are a lot of people that don’t know yet how to go to Heaven and they need to know!
If you asked Jesus to come into your life and save you from the punishment of sin, the next step is to find a church so you can learn more about God's love for you and how you can live your life for Him. You can find a good church near you HERE.
Please let us know if you have been saved through reading this! We would love to rejoice with you over your newfound gift of eternal life, and would love to be of help to you if we can to start growing in the Lord.