Would you like to have the knowledge, the assurance and the joy of sins forgiven? Would you like to be sure of heaven?
Well, the first step to heaven is to realize that you cannot get there by trying. You can’t walk there. You can’t climb there. You can’t fly there. Only God can take you there. Many try to earn heaven. They try to climb there on a ladder of good works. They talk about "adding another rung." But look out for that good works ladder! It’s not anchored at the top and the higher you climb the farther you will fall.
God’s Word says that salvation is "the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8,9). He is not going to have boasters in heaven—there are enough of them on earth and nobody likes them.
All of us should realize that even the best of us are not good enough for heaven, for "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23), but in this same statement the Apostle Paul declares that believers in Christ, who died for our sins, are "justified freely by His [God’s] grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24).
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1).
So, friend, it is not by trying, or crying, or praying, or paying, or doing anything that you will reach heaven: it is only by believing. God says He loves sinners, and that Christ died for our sins and rose again. Will you believe this and trust Christ as your Savior? The terms are stated very plainly in John 3:35,36:
"The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how 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 Cor. 15:1-4).
By Cornelius R. Stam
Well, the first step to heaven is to realize that you cannot get there by trying. You can’t walk there. You can’t climb there. You can’t fly there. Only God can take you there. Many try to earn heaven. They try to climb there on a ladder of good works. They talk about "adding another rung." But look out for that good works ladder! It’s not anchored at the top and the higher you climb the farther you will fall.
God’s Word says that salvation is "the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8,9). He is not going to have boasters in heaven—there are enough of them on earth and nobody likes them.
All of us should realize that even the best of us are not good enough for heaven, for "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23), but in this same statement the Apostle Paul declares that believers in Christ, who died for our sins, are "justified freely by His [God’s] grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24).
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1).
So, friend, it is not by trying, or crying, or praying, or paying, or doing anything that you will reach heaven: it is only by believing. God says He loves sinners, and that Christ died for our sins and rose again. Will you believe this and trust Christ as your Savior? The terms are stated very plainly in John 3:35,36:
"The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how 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 Cor. 15:1-4).
By Cornelius R. Stam
