The short answer is, "YES YOU CAN"… but it's conditional. And it’s that condition, and why, that’s going to take much more explaining.
You’re not alone in feeling unsure if you’re heaven bound or not. It’s not unusual for people to anxiously ask something like… I worry about not going to heaven when I die. Can I know for sure I’ll go there when I die? For those who can resonate with that concern, we’re happy you’re wanting to know. For too many, even among those who consider themselves to be a Christian, are confused or been deceived about how to be sure we’re heaven bound.
Each of us would then be wise to step back and take a close look at what we know GOD himself says about it. For He’s the ultimate authority on the subject. And thankfully He does tell us in His Word what we need to know for us to be able to enter His Kingdom, and what can prevent us from entering.
So are you ready to dig in and discover what we all need to know?
It’s first important to know the "road" that takes us there can be a difficult and lonely one to travel at times, so it's easy to get lured onto the wrong path if we're not careful. While Jesus walked this earth, He straight-forwardly warned us...
“…the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
There’s also a verse that lets us know…. “The heart of man is deceitfully wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9) We then need to fully understand this means that each of us, no matter who or what we are, were born with that spiritually dark, deceitful heart, or nature, that can cause us to even deceive ourselves!
We can manage to suppress it… we can squelch it… we can hide it… we can deny it… we can think we’ve conquered it, but no matter what we do or believe, it’s still a part of us no matter how many religious customs we faithfully follow, how good we seem, or how many wonderful things we do for others.
The reason I stress that is many mistakenly believe if we’re simply a good person we’ll make it into Heaven, for they have convinced themselves, “There’s no way a loving, merciful God can turn a good person away from heaven and condemn them to Hell!” But the hard truth is there is no scripture that supports that belief. So it’s a deceiving one that can cause us to miss heaven.
Here's why...
The "why" is surprising to many. For it’s not God who keeps us from being in Heaven with Him! It's our own spiritually dark human nature and deceitful heart we’re born with that makes it impossible for us to be able to survive in God’s presence!
We get a glimpse of this in Exodus 33:20, where it’s recorded that God himself told Moses…
“You cannot see my face for no one can see me and live.” I don’t think God can be any more clearer than that, can He.
We find another piece of the puzzle about God in 1 John 1:5…
“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
It is that dark, impure nature we have that keeps us from being able to survive in the presence of a pure and righteous God and perfect heaven.
Darkness cannot exist in the presence of light! The light ALWAYS cancels out darkness. Think about it my Friends.
It’s the same spiritually. A "dark" impure nature cannot exist in the presence of perfect "Light", a pure nature; a nature that is pure righteousness.
This means without God's help we have no hope!
BUT HERE'S THE GOOD PART… GOD IN HIS MERCY PREPARED A WAY TO GIVE US HOPE!
in God’s loving mercy, He made a way for us to safely be in His presence, and that is through His son, Jesus Christ. Jesus himself told Nicodemus…
“I’m telling you the truth. No one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
That term, “born again”, confused Nicodemus just like it can do to those of us today. So Jesus went on to explain he was talking about a different kind of birth.
What it means to be born again...
Just like a physical man made it possible for us to be born into this physical world, God’s Spirit makes it possible for us to be born into His spiritual world.
We are “born again” a second time, making it possible for us to become one of His Children, born again... but this time with a NEW NATURE and heart. Take a look at these verses in I John 3:1-5. It’s full of what we’ve talked about above. I emphasized some of the key truths for you…
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. …. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him (Jesus) purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin (AKA,“no darkness). According to these verses, when we’re born again (become spiritually alive) that starts the process of readying us so we can eventually safely enter Heaven and be in God’s presence!
Jesus made it possible for us to have this marvelous hope
Someone once said, “Jesus’ died so we might live.” And it’s true! He had to die so he could be resurrected, proving he was who he had told us he was; the Son of God, part of the Trinity, God in the flesh, who came to show us who THE FATHER is, and to prepare a way for us to live for eternity with Him in His Kingdom.
Jesus, the Son of God, once spoke these words to all who would listen and take them to heart...
“I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the father but by me.” (John 14:6)
That’s why it’s so important to follow the way of Christ, like he taught us while among us. He shows us THE Way (the only way) to our Heavenly Father.
Do you now see? It truly is possible to know you’re heaven bound. It just depends on what you think and do about Jesus!
If you would like more information about HOW to be born again and to follow Christ…
Click here for a one-page New Life Guide sheet that shows you what you need to know … along with scripture references you can check out for yourself that can help you on your spiritual quest and journey.