Heaven is one of those subjects that most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about. Hell would undoubtedly fall into the same category. It’s not that thinking about heaven is a bad thing, it’s that you have to die to get there that tends to put people off.

Nevertheless, seeing as we are all going to die someday, and seeing also that nobody knows if that day is today, tomorrow, next week, or many years from now; we would do well to consider how to get from here to heaven and how not to get to hell.

Many people have opinions about how to get to heaven. The problem with opinions is that they’re just that, opinions, what somebody thinks, and what people think is often subjective. Seeing as your eternal destiny is at stake this is not a matter for subjective opinion, but for objective Biblical truth.

Heaven is a real place intended to be inhabited by real people. In heaven, everything that makes our lives on earth difficult or unpleasant will not exist. People in heaven will never experience sadness, sorrow, sickness, pain, or death. Sin, evil, fatigue, or suffering of any kind will not exist (Revelation 21:1-6). Instead, heaven will be a place of indescribable beauty, peace, joy, happiness, rest, fellowship, and love. People in heaven will experience eternal union and fellowship with God (Revelation 22:3-5).

Hell is also a real place (Matthew 5:29, 7:13, 10:28, and many other Scriptures too numerous to mention). Sinning against infinite God requires an infinite punishment, which, for finite men and women, can only be experienced as eternal punishment. If the unrighteous are not permanently separated from those whom God has made righteous, then we are left with an instant (and eternal) replay of what life is now like on earth. That, in no way, fits the Biblical description of heaven. Apart from hell, eternal justice has no meaning.

Indeed, hell then, is also a subject that we would do well to consider; if for no other reason than it is in our own best interest to avoid going there.

To get from here to heaven there is an overarching issue that you need to consider. And while it is, to be sure, an unpleasant issue, you need to consider it because your eternal destiny is at stake. The issue is sin. "…Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you…" (Isaiah 59:2).

Sin, by definition, is failing to measure up to the perfect standard of righteousness found in God’s law—the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17). "...for sin is the transgression of the law." (1 John 3:4 KJV). Because you have not perfectly kept God’s law, you are a sinner. Now this, by no means, makes you unique because we are all sinners—none of us has perfectly kept God’s law (Romans 3:10 & 23). The standard is perfection, so close or almost is not good enough. The Scripture says in James 2:10, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all."

To make matters worse, God has said, "Behold, all souls are Mine…the soul that sins will die." (Ezekiel 18:4). And again in Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death…"

So, big deal, everybody’s going to die someday. Tell me something I don’t already know.

The death that the Bible is speaking of here is spiritual death. All death is separation. Physical death is separation from the physical world; spiritual death is separation from God.

People know intuitively that they are eternal beings and the Bible confirms this (Ecclesiastes 3:11, Matthew 25:46). So the question is, where will you spend eternity? Spiritual death separates you from God and consigns you to the place the Bible calls, "the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:11-15) popularly called, hell.

To say the least, this is very bad news. But it is also very important news, because most people, perhaps even you, believe (if they let themselves think about it at all) that their entrance into heaven will be based upon the good works they have done somehow outweighing the bad.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

As we’ve seen above, one sin is enough to send a person to hell. And even if it were possible to live a perfect, sinless life from here on out, it wouldn’t make up for the sins you’ve already committed. Again, the standard is perfection.

The fact is, that before you ever even gave it any serious thought, your sins had already condemned you to hell. And there is nothing that you are able to do on your own to make the outcome different. There couldn’t be any worse news than that.

But there is good news: "…what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin…" (Romans 8:3).

Who is this Son of God? You probably already know that He is Jesus Christ. What you may not have known, however, is that He, beyond being the Son of God, is God the Son; the second person of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). He didn’t just appear in the world one day as a baby but has existed, uncreated, as God throughout all of time and eternity (John 1:1-4). That first Christmas day, when he was born to the virgin Mary, was the result of Him humbling Himself and taking on the form of a man (Philippians 2:6-11). Why did He do it? For one explicit reason: so that He could live a perfect, sinless life as a man on earth and then lay down his life for you as a sacrifice, an offering to God (the Father) for your sins—His life for yours that you might not taste (spiritual) death but be passed from death unto life (John 5:24).

Here is what the Bible says: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures…" (1 Corinthians 15:3 & 4). Why did He do that? Because He loves you. "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [the atoning sacrifice] for our sins." (1 John 4:10). "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8).

Your sins are sending you to hell; God’s perfect justice demands that. But God’s perfect love has provided a way of escape for you (if you’re willing to take it) in the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for your sins.

Here is what Jesus said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me." (John 14:6). In the Scripture verse above the definite article "the" has been emphasized to illustrate that there is no other way to heaven, to the Father, to a relationship with God but by Jesus Christ. The Bible further says: "…there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven, that has been given among men, by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) and, "…there is one God and one Mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who Gave Himself as a random for all, the testimony borne at the proper time." (1 Timothy 2:5 & 6).

There is one and only one way to heaven and to a relationship with God and that is through Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for you. It is not on the basis of the good works you have done—even religious good works—somehow outweighing the bad (merit) but on the basis of grace. The dictionary defines grace as, "Unmerited divine assistance given man for his regeneration or sanctification." Grace is the unmerited favor of God. Someone once described it in an acrostic:

God’s riches, made over to you, because of what Jesus did for you on the cross when He took the judgment/punishment that was rightly due to you because of your sins. "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy…" (Titus 3:5) and, "…by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works…" (Ephesians 2:8 & 9 KJV).

Grace is a gift; God’s gift to you for the forgiveness of your sins and a true relationship with Him that can start today (2 Corinthians 6:2) and will last throughout all of eternity.

At this point you may be wondering how you can get this gift. All you have to do is receive it, i.e., receive Christ. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God…" (John 1:12). How do you receive Christ? By repentance and faith. "The Lord is…not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9 emphasis added) and, "…by grace are ye saved through faith…" (Ephesians 2:8 KJV emphasis added).

Repentance, as the word is used in the Bible, means a change of mind and heart that results in a change of direction. Essentially, it is changing your mind about God; who He is, what He has done for you in Christ Jesus, and what it really takes to get to heaven. It is recognizing and agreeing with God that you are indeed a sinner, just as He has said, confessing that to Him, and being truly sorry for your sins. It is also desiring to have Jesus Christ in your life as your Savior and Lord. (That’s right, Lord. This means that from this point forward, He is in charge of your life).

Faith, as it is used here, is placing (as a continuous act) your full trust and confidence in Jesus Christ alone and His finished work on the cross to save you from your sins, grant you forgiveness, a relationship with God (through Him), eternal life, and a home in heaven with Him. "Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you." (1 Peter 1:3 & 4).

You are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Consider these things. Look them up in a Bible if you wish. If God is speaking to your heart, you will know that they’re true. Then, in repentance and faith, receive Christ Jesus the Lord.

This is simply done through prayer. The following is suggested:  

If you prayed that prayer and meant it with all of your heart, your sins are forgiven. Jesus has taken you in and made you His own, you are a member of God’s forever family, and your home is in heaven.

If that weren’t enough, this salvation you have just received is something that you cannot lose. "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29). Here is what Jesus said: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:27-30).

You did nothing to earn your salvation, and keeping it does not depend on your ability to continue to live a righteous life, but on His omnipotent power to keep you in His hand.

Please don’t misunderstand, God expects you to live a righteous life (2 Corinthians 5:15) and will help you to do so through your submission to the Holy Spirit who now lives in you, if you have believed. However, it is not to be or remain saved but out of love and gratitude for having been saved. He keeps you saved by His mighty power.

Now what?

• Begin to study your Bible. Start with the book of John in the New Testament. This will give you good grounding in your new-found faith (2 Timothy 2:15).
• Start attending Church. There are lots of Churches out there, some good, some not so good. In general, you are looking for a Church where the Bible is held to be God’s inerrant (without error) word. A Church where God’s word is preached, believed, and obeyed; where God is worshipped and Christ is honored as Lord. This will put you in fellowship with other, like minded, believers and will be an invaluable support to your new faith (Hebrews 10:24 & 25).
• Pray. Keep the lines of communication open between you and God. Not only does He love you but He has time for you and you can go to Him with anything (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). If you commit a sin, go to Him immediately in prayer and confess it. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).
• Tell others. Perhaps your friends and relatives would desire this gift of eternal life and the grace that you have found in Jesus.

"And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life." (1 John 5:11 & 12).

May God bless you and help you to find this life.

Contents copyright © 2008-2010 by Andrew E. Van Loenen III