Not knowing where you’re going to go after you die is scary, but that’s not how it has to be.
Jesus Christ offers you the gift of eternal life with Him in heaven, and you don’t have to earn it, pay for it, or win it in some luck-based holy lottery.
No, you can only get to heaven through the grace of God – let’s check out what that actually means, and how you can become saved today.
Heaven is only accessible through Jesus, not by works
First of all, you have to understand that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way of going to heaven:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16, NIV
Jesus came to earth to die on the cross for your sins, taking away the punishment that you deserve.
Instead, He died for you and then rose from the dead three days later, defeating death and sin.
That means there are no works that you can do – Jesus has already paved the way for you – to earn eternal life. You only need to repent and believe in Him (more on that in a bit).
We all fall short and can’t get to heaven on our own, but Jesus freely gives us the gift of heaven by faith in Him:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus
Romans 3:23-24, NIV
The thief on the cross was saved after a life of crime
Jesus was crucified with two criminals, one on either side of Him.
While people were watching and mocking Jesus up on the cross, Him and the criminals had an interesting conversation:
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23:39-43, NIV
The thief who asked Jesus to “remember” him had nothing to offer in terms of the good works he’s done in his life – he was a criminal, being crucified for his sinful deeds.
He wasn’t the type of person you’d call “good” or “holy,” but Jesus didn’t care – He only cared that the man accepted Him as his saviour, recognizing Him as the only one that can give access to heaven.
As it is said:
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8, NIV
Salvation is a gift from God. Period.
Does God really forgive my sins?
Yes, God freely forgives your sins if you ask Him to.
He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to be the ultimate sacrifice for us humans.
He took our punishment for us, saving us from eternal separation from God – I can’t think of any greater grace than that!
You don’t have to be a slave to your sins, or be afraid of them.
God forgives those that have accepted Jesus fully, and prepares a place for us in heaven:
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.
2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
John 14:1-3, NIV
Believers of Jesus are assured entrance to heaven
Just like the thief on the cross, you may not have any good works to offer, and that makes you wonder “Will I really go to heaven just by repenting and believing in Jesus?”
Yes, that’s amazing grace.
Think of it this way: you don’t get clean before you hop into the shower, but you hop into the shower to get clean.
In the same way, we come to Jesus as sinners, and become cleansed from our sins by Him.
Take this from the Bible about assurance of salvation:
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
1 John 5:11-14, NIV
And:
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
John 10:28-29, NIV
You “have the Son” if you believe in Jesus Christ, giving you full confidence that you have eternal life.
How to get to heaven: step-by-step
Now that you know you can only get to heaven by believing in Jesus Christ and not by works, here’s how to do it:
- Step 1: Acknowledge Your Need for Salvation
Recognizing that you’re a sinner in need of God’s grace is the important first step. Sin separates us from God, and salvation is the cure of this separation: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23.
- Step 2: Believe in Jesus Christ:
Confess and believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God – God himself! – and that he died for your sins and rose from the dead. Pray that to him, and accept His love for you.
Here is an example prayer: Dear God, I come to You in the Name of Jesus, I admit that I am not right with You, and I want to be right with You. I ask You to forgive me of all my sins. The Bible says if I confess with my mouth that “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in my heart that He died on the cross for me and that He rose from the dead 3 days later, I will be saved (Romans 10:9). I believe with my heart and I confess with my mouth that Jesus is the Lord and Savior of my life. Thank You for saving me! In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.
And that’s it.
That’s what it takes to be saved and go to heaven: repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
Bible verses about going to heaven
Here are 10 Bible verses talking about heaven:
My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
The faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you.
However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Final thoughts
You have to work hard to get that big promotion at work, grind at the gym to build some serious muscle, practice constantly to play that instrument perfectly…but there’s nothing you can do yourself to get to heaven.
Only Jesus can get you there.
Believing that we need saving, that He died on the cross for your sins, rose from the dead, and is the Son of God is all you need in gaining eternal life – confess and be saved, and enjoy eternity in heaven.
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FAQs
No, going to church or paying the church does not mean anything – you can do those things religiously and still not go to heaven if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.
You’ll go to heaven after you die (the exact timeline after your death is unclear) or if Jesus comes back to earth before that in the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18)
No works will earn you your ticket to heaven; only believing in Jesus Christ will get you eternal life with Him.