Heaven is a FREE GIFT. It can’t be earned or deserved.

The reason the church is here is to show the reality of eternal life in and through it’s caring people and to communicate to people how they might have life abundantly and eternally. But, I feel that we, as the church throughout history, have done an incredibly poor job of conveying that basic message. The result is that there are millions of people in the world today who go to church regularly – good people – but they do not have eternal life.

I must confess, and this may be true of you also, that I had lived a good many years as a member of a Church but somehow I had never come to the place of knowing for sure that I could have eternal life.

MAY I ASK YOU A QUESTION? Have you come to the place in your spiritual life where you know for certain that if you were to die today you would go to Heaven, or, is that something you’re still working on?
The Bible tells us that, “These things have I written…that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (I John 5:13).

MAY I SHARE with you how I came to know for certain I have eternal life, and how you can know it too?

BEFORE I DO, may I ask you a second question? Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and He were to say to you, “Why should I let you into My Heaven?’ What would you say?

• The Ten Commandments
• The Golden Rule
• Baptism
• Communion
• Just doing the best you can do and hope the scales tip in your favor

HEAVEN IS A FREE GIFT. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). HEAVEN IS NOT EARNED OR DESERVED. The Bible says, “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).

I must confess, and this may be true of you also, that I had lived a good many years as a member of a Church but somehow I had never come to the place of knowing for sure that I could have eternal life.

Sinner or Saint? Can we rescue ourselves?

MAN IS A SINNER The Bible says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

SIN DEFINED When we think of sin, many times we think only of robbery, murder, adultery or something of this nature. But the Bible tells us that sin is anything that doesn’t please God or is a transgression of His law. anything we do that we shouldn’t, like losing our temper or stealing – these are sins of commission. anything we should do but don’t, like failing to pray or read the Bible, or to truly love our neighbor – these are sins of omission. There are not only sins in deed but also sins in word and thought like lying, cursing, lust, pride, and hatred. The Bible says these are all sins.

WOW!  ONLY THREE SINS A DAY? I don’t know how many times a day that I sin, but lets suppose I sin just three times a day.
Imagine if no more often than three times a day did I think unkind thoughts, or lose my temper, or fail to do what I ought towards God and man – I would be a pretty fine person wouldn’t I? Even if I were this good, I would still have over 1,000 transgressions a year! If I lived to be the average age of 70, I would have 70,000 violations of the law of God on my record. Think what would happen to a habitual offender in a criminal court with 70,000 transgressions on his record!

The Bible says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

MAN CANNOT SAVE HIMSELF because God’s standard of acceptance is perfection.

AN OMELET WITH A BAD EGG If you were to prepare an omelet with five good eggs and one rotten egg, you couldn’t serve it to company and expect it to be acceptable. Even less can we serve up our lives to God, which may have many things in them that men would call good, and yet are filled with deeds and thoughts that are rotten, and expect them to be acceptable to God.

Scripture says, “For whosoever shall keep tho whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Also scripture says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death,” (Proverbs 14:12). Do you see now why it is impossible for man to make himself good enough to save himself?

He loves us! He judges righteously.

GOD IS MERCIFUL Therefore He doesn’t want to punish us. The Bible says, “God is love,” (I John 4:8b).

GOD IS ALSO JUST Therefore He must punish sin. The Bible says, “and that (He) will by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 34:7b).

WHO HE IS Who would you say that Christ is? He is the infinite God-Man. The Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14).When Jesus Christ, after his death, rose from the grave, one of His followers named Thomas was so amazed at His victory over death that he cried out, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Thomas recognized Jesus as God.

RECORD BOOK OF SIN Let’s imagine this book in my right hand is a minutely detailed account of my life. Each page details the sin of a particular day every word I have spoken, every thought that ever crossed my mind, every deed I’ve ever done.
Here then is the problem – my sin. God loves me but He hates my sin and must punish it.

WHAT HE DID To solve this problem, He sent His beloved Son into the world. The Scripture says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). All of my sin which God hates has been placed on His beloved Son. The Bible says, “Christ bare our sin in His own body on the tree” (I Peter 2:24). When He died He was buried in a grave for three days; but He rose from the dead and went to Heaven to prepare a place for you and me. Now He offers Heaven – eternal life to you and me as a gift. This gift is received by faith.

What it’s not. What it is.

FAITH: THE KEY TO HEAVEN Faith is the key that opens the door to Heaven. You could have a key ring with many keys on it like this…They may even look somewhat alike. But, you go to the front door on my house and try all of these keys except the right one and they would not open that door. It does not matter how sincere you are in exercising belief that a different key will open the door. The fact is that only the right key will open the door.

The right key to Heaven is called faith, saving faith. That is what will open the door to Heaven. There is nothing else in the world that will open that door no matter how sincere you are in exercising the practice or belief of something other than saving faith to open the door to Heaven. What is saving faith?

WHAT IT’S NOT First, understand what saving faith is not. Saving faith is not mere intellectual assent to certain historical facts.
Some people believe in Jesus Christ the same way they believe in Napoleon or George Washington. They believe that he actually lived, and He was a real person in history, but they are not trusting Him to do anything for them now. 

THE DEVIL The Bible says the devil believes in God. Did you know that? The Bible says, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well, the devils also believe and tremble” (James 2:19). So believing in God is not what the Bible means by saving faith. The demons in the Gadarene demoniac said, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of god? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29) Even the demons believe in the deity of Christ! But they evidently weren’t saved!

TEMPORAL FAITH Now understand one other thing that people mistake for saving faith. That is mere temporal faith. When you have trusted in the Lord for your finances, you could call that financial-faith. You may have prayed and trusted the Lord to take care of your family – you could call that family-faith. You may have prayed and trusted the Lord to give you a safe trip – you could call this traveling-faith. There is one thing all these have in common. They are of a temporary nature. They are temporal. Once your financial need is met, you no longer need to trust the Lord for your finances. Once you have safely reached your destination, you don’t need to trust the Lord for traveling faith.

All the things of this world shall pass away. They are temporary. Now many people trust the Lord for all these temporary matters. But saving faith is trusting Christ to save you – eternally.

WHAT IT IS Again let us ask, what is saving faith? Saving faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life. The Bible says, “and they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” (Acts 16:31).

THE CHAIR You do believe this chair exists don’t you? Do you believe this chair would support me if I were to sit on it? But it is not supporting me now for a very simple reason. I am not sitting on it. for the sake of making my point, let the chair where I am sitting represent me, and this empty chair represent Jesus Christ. For a long time I believed He existed and could help me. But I did not have eternal life because I was trusting my own good works to support me into Heaven.

Remember what you said you would say to God if He asked why He should let you into Heaven? You said, “(repeat to them their answer to Question 2)”. Who was the only person referred to in your answer? Who were you trusting to get you to Heaven when you said that?

To receive eternal life I must transfer my trust from myself to Jesus Christ alone.

Does this make sense to you? Commitment to Christ for Eternal Life

COMMITMENT: QUALIFYING QUESTION
Does this make sense to you? If yes, continue on…if no, read over what you feel you did not understand.

You have just heard the greatest story ever told, about the greatest offer ever made (eternal life) by the greatest person who ever lived. (Jesus Christ)

Now ask yourself the most important question that you have ever been asked:
Would you like to receive Jesus Christ for the gift of eternal life?

CLARIFICATION OF COMMITMENT: TRANSFER TRUST
Lets clarify just what this involves. It means, first of all, that you are going to transfer your trust, that is, your hope of eternal life from what you have been doing to what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross. He takes our sin and we receive his righteousness. This means that though we have failed to keep God’s commandments and to live consistently by the Golden Rule, Christ perfectly obeyed all the laws of God. He has lived the perfect life.

That perfect life of Christ is imputed (imparted) to us the moment we believe. It is reckoned to our account – placed to our account – so that in the sight of God we are then accounted as perfect. It is as though the spotless white robe of Christ’s perfect character and obedience were placed upon us, and in that robe we stand faultless before God. Only in this way can we ever acquire that perfect standing that God requires of us. Do you want to stop trusting in yourself and start trusting in Christ?

WE RECEIVE THE RESURRECTED AND LIVING CHRIST
You receive eternal life by receiving the person of Jesus Christ. “He came unto his own and his own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God” (John 1:11,12). We can receive and know the most exciting person in the history of the world because he is alive!

WE RECEIVE CHRIST AS SAVIOR
Christ is alive! The Bible says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20). This means that he will have intimate communion daily in your life. He will come in to forgive you and to cleanse you and to give you eternal life. He will come into your life and make you his child and an heir of an eternal fortune if you receive Him.

WE RECEIVE CHRIST AS LORD
When Christ comes into a life as Savior he comes to do something for you: to forgive you and give you eternal life. But also he comes as Lord. He comes as Master and King. He comes to demand something of you. He says there is a throne room in your heart and that throne is rightly his. He made you. He redeemed you. He bought you. He says that he wants to take his rightful place on the throne of your life. Are you willing to yield your life, to surrender your life to Him, out of gratitude for the gift of eternal life?

REPENT
He also commands us to repent of our sins. Are you willing to repent of your sins and follow him? That means a willingness to turn from what you have been doing that is not pleasing to him and follow him as he reveals his will to you in his word. Repentance is a complete change of mind about life and death and about God and this world. It is wrought by his Spirit working with in us and it leads to a transformed life.

Are you willing to repent of your sins and become a responsible member of God’s forever family and follow him and serve him as a member of his body, the Church?

PRAYER OF COMMITMENT
If this is what you really want, this can guide you in prayer and you can tell God you believe the gospel truth from your heart.

PRAY (to understand, repent, believe)
“Heavenly Father, I pray that you will open my mind and heart today to understand the Gospel of the free grace of Jesus Christ, and that I will repent of all sin. I ask you to open my heart completely that I might believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.”

PRAY (from the heart, in your own words)
The Lord Jesus is right here with you now. If this is really what you want, say this prayer aloud (it is not a formula; rather, it should be said in one’s own words):

“Lord Jesus I want you to come into my heart….I receive you as Savior and Lord….I have been trusting in myself….I now place all my trust in you….I know that I am a sinner and I’m sorry for my sin….I believe that you died for them all….I repent of my sins…forgive me all my sins, especially for _____________ (naming some specific sins) …and I thank you for the free gift of eternal life…help me to show my gratitude by my life… In Jesus’ name I pray…..Amen.”

PRAY (for assurance)
“Father, you have heard the prayer just prayed. I ask that your Holy Spirit will confirm that Jesus Christ has come into the heart. Give the assurance that all sin has been forgiven and truly has eternal life. In Jesus’ name I pray…Amen.”

ASSURANCE OF SALVATION
Now read something that Jesus says about what you have just done! John 6:47 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

The right key to Heaven is called faith, saving faith. That is what will open the door to Heaven. There is nothing else in the world that will open that door no matter how sincere you are in exercising the practice or belief of something other than saving faith to open the door to Heaven. What is saving faith?

WHAT IT’S NOT First, understand what saving faith is not. Saving faith is not mere intellectual assent to certain historical facts.
Some people believe in Jesus Christ the same way they believe in Napoleon or George Washington. They believe that he actually lived, and He was a real person in history, but they are not trusting Him to do anything for them now. 

THE DEVIL The Bible says the devil believes in God. Did you know that? The Bible says, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well, the devils also believe and tremble” (James 2:19). So believing in God is not what the Bible means by saving faith. The demons in the Gadarene demoniac said, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of god? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29) Even the demons believe in the deity of Christ! But they evidently weren’t saved!

TEMPORAL FAITH Now understand one other thing that people mistake for saving faith. That is mere temporal faith. When you have trusted in the Lord for your finances, you could call that financial-faith. You may have prayed and trusted the Lord to take care of your family – you could call that family-faith. You may have prayed and trusted the Lord to give you a safe trip – you could call this traveling-faith. There is one thing all these have in common. They are of a temporary nature. They are temporal. Once your financial need is met, you no longer need to trust the Lord for your finances. Once you have safely reached your destination, you don’t need to trust the Lord for traveling faith.

All the things of this world shall pass away. They are temporary. Now many people trust the Lord for all these temporary matters. But saving faith is trusting Christ to save you – eternally.

WHAT IT IS Again let us ask, what is saving faith? Saving faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life. The Bible says, “and they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” (Acts 16:31).

THE CHAIR You do believe this chair exists don’t you? Do you believe this chair would support me if I were to sit on it? But it is not supporting me now for a very simple reason. I am not sitting on it. for the sake of making my point, let the chair where I am sitting represent me, and this empty chair represent Jesus Christ. For a long time I believed He existed and could help me. But I did not have eternal life because I was trusting my own good works to support me into Heaven.

Remember what you said you would say to God if He asked why He should let you into Heaven? You said, “(repeat to them their answer to Question 2)”. Who was the only person referred to in your answer? Who were you trusting to get you to Heaven when you said that?

To receive eternal life I must transfer my trust from myself to Jesus Christ alone.