Having been in church my whole life I hear a lot of opinions about how to get into heaven. There is often talk about pearly gates and hellfire and brimstone but you will not hear any of that from me. To me, a relationship with God may be about our ultimate fate to some, but for me it is about a relationship with God NOW, on earth, where I need it most.
I believe God created all of mankind and because He created us, He loves us and wants us to be happy and free from the dangers of the world. God isnt trying to deceive people by making it tricky to have eternal life or creating a difficult maze to find your way through to get to heaven.
Heres the simple plan of salvation:
- Believe in God the Creator and God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Basically, all three are God in different forms…think of it sort of like water in liquid form, gas form (vapors) and ice form (solids). They are all H2O but displayed and available in different forms based on what we need.
- Accept the gift God already gave you when He died on the cross. God offered to take your place. God agreed to settle the score for every wrong in your life even before you did it. Simply agree in your heart that there are things in your life that went against “right and wrong” and let what happened on the cross be enough. Just as if you stole something from the store and the police are about to arrest you for the wrong doing and a friend offers to take your place. Thats what Jesus did, he took your place for all the wrong of this life.
- Like small children caught with their hand in the cookie jar, say you are sorry. Really mean it. Thats all, just be repentant for the wrongs in your life and really mean it.
- Pray, ask Jesus to be the leader in your life; seek His wisdom in the bible and follow the examples God set for us in the bible.
Thats it. Believe, Repent, Accept & Follow.
You can pray something like this:
Heavenly Father,
I know that I’ve made some mistakes in life. Thank you for sending Your Son, Jesus, to die, shedding His own blood on the cross in my place so that I could receive eternal life. I now confess my sins to You and ask for Your forgiveness. I believe that your Son, Jesus, died and rose again so that I can be forgiven and live forever with Him. Here and now, I surrender my life, my plans, my goals to Jesus Christ and the way You want me to live. By God’s strength, I will seek to share about what God has done in my life with each opportunity God brings my way.
In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
Both John the Baptist and Jesus himself began their preaching with the word, ‘Repent’. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” –Matthew 4:17 NKJV To repent means ‘change one’s mind’ or to turn—to go in another direction. How can we be led to repentance? The first step toward repentance is true sorrow for what we’ve done wrong. “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” – 2 Corinthians 7:10 NKJV. Worldly sorrow is more like the regret of a criminal who’s just been caught whereas godly sorrow is the deep remorse or conviction that produces a change in direction. Have you ever felt convicted after doing something wrong? The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the one that convicts us of our sin. John 16:7-8.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not die but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. – John 3:16-17 NKJV
…The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel. – Mark 1:15 NKJV
Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” – Acts 19:4 NKJV
So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household. – Acts 16:31 NKJV
And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the Name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. -1 John 3:23 NKJV
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV
Salvation is not complicated. Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” – Mark 10:15 NKJV A child simply puts their trust (faith) in the father’s strong arms. Likewise, we entrust our life to Jesus Christ—believing on Him and His finished work on the cross. The Apostle Paul defined the message of the Gospel (good news) like this—“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,” – 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NKJV Jesus Christ, the perfect, sinless lamb of God, laid down His life and took the penalty meant for us, dying in our place Isaiah 53:6. He paid the debt we could not pay and redeemed us (bought us back) from the power of sin and death. John 1:29 / Galatians 3:13 / Romans 3:25
…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
– Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
– Romans 1:16 NKJV
Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
– 2 Corinthians 6:2b NKJV
None of us knows how long we have on this earth. Waiting on such an important decision may prove to be an eternal mistake. The only opportunity we are guaranteed to have is right now!
Remember, the Bible says we are saved by grace through faith. God sees our heart. We are not saved by simply saying some special words in a formal prayer. We are saved when we reach out by faith, admit our sin, believe on Christ and confess Him as our Lord and Savior. Saving faith produces a forever changed life. If you have prayed this prayer, Heaven itself is even rejoicing with you!
Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. – Luke 15:10 NKJV
I prayed to receive Christ! Is that it?
Nope. Your journey as a follower of Jesus Christ has just begun. A newbie needs nourishment and care to grow, so you will need God’s Word, the Bible, to learn and grow in your faith. Ask God in prayer to lead you to a church (a group of other believers in Jesus Christ) that believes and teaches the unchangeable Word of God. There you find support and encouragement as your faith grows. There will be battles ahead, but you will not have to fight alone. If you don’t find a church right away just start reading the bible and PRAY often. Start in the New Testament. Reach out to a friend who is a Christian if you have questions.