If you don't mind I would like to ask you a question. If you were to die tonight and stand before God and he were to ask you, "Why should I let you into my heaven", what would you say? When I was first asked this question, I thought that I was a pretty good person, I've done some good things. Frankly, I was hoping that my good would out-weigh my bad. Do you feel this way? The Bible tells us, how we can know for certain that we will go to heaven when we die. Would you like to know?

First, going to heaven is a free gift, it is not something that you can ever earn. No one will ever get to heaven because they deserve to (Eph 2:8,9). Does this surprise you? Second, we are all sinners. I had no problem with this point. I know that I do things that displease God. The Bible says, "There is none righteous, no not one." and "all have sinned..."(Rom 3:23) Third, God is loving and doesn't want to punish us for our sin. However, God is also perfectly just and cannot allow our sin to go unpunished.

So God sent Jesus Christ his Son to this world. He was born as a little baby. He was a real person that walked on this earth for about 33 years. Jesus Christ never sinned. He was the only one that led a sinless life in all history. Jesus was crucified on a cross and died. When he died he did not have to die for his sin because he had no sin.

Therefore, he was qualified to die in my place for my sin, your sin, and in fact for the sins of the whole world. He literally took my place! Thus, God was able to be perfectly just, by judging my sin through Jesus' death. And needless to say, God was able to show how much he loves you and I, by allowing Jesus to die in our place (Rom 5:8).

There is one more thing that God requires. You must accept his free gift of eternal life through faith. This is not a belief like, I believe there was an Alamo. No, it is transferring your trust from what you're doing to earn heaven to what God has already done through Jesus' death on the cross. Do you believe what the Bible says about knowing for certain that you have eternal life?

If so, the bible is very clear, "He that has the Son has life, he that has not the Son has not life and the wrath of God abidith on him (1 John 5:9-13). If you understand so far, your next question should be how do I receive the Son? You receive the Son of God the moment you believe, however, most people ask Jesus to come into their heart to confirm this decision. Would you like to pray to receive eternal life right now? If so, then pray this prayer:

If you just trusted Jesus as your Savior, welcome to the family of God. Also, write me at jablank@hotpop.com so that I can rejoice seeing God at work in your life. Tell others about the gospel so that they too can know for certain that they will be going to heaven (you might want to use excerpts from this in your email).

Here are a few suggestions for spiritual growth: Pray to God daily, Read your Bible daily (start with the book of John, it's a little easier to read), Worship God at a Church that teaches the Bible, and have fellowship with other Christians. Do you want to praise God for giving you eternal life? Because God saves us (Rom 10:9), we have confidence that someday we will see each other in heaven.

May God Bless You,