How To Enter Heaven
But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
(Revelation 21:27)
Years ago there was a boy in Texas born with a deficient immune system. As a result, he spent the rest of his life in a completely sterile environment. His room was hermetically sealed against bacteria and virus, his food was specially prepared, and his only human contact came in the form of gloved hands. The environment that this boy lived in had to be totally free from germs and virus. Any strain of germ or bacteria would be the ruin of that environment. Tragically, this child died in his teens after he contracted a virus from his sister during a bone marrow transplant.
When I think of the environment this boy in Texas lived in, I think about Heaven. If Heaven is to be a perfect place, it must be free from evil and corruption, pride and selfishness; namely, sin. Otherwise, Heaven will be no different from earth. Thank God it is!! The Bible tells us that Heaven is a place of perfection, a place filled with God's glory, a place where people live in harmony, and a place where there is no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying (Revelation 21:4, 21:23, 22:3, 22:5). For Heaven to be perfect, we can only conclude, people entering into Heaven must also be perfect. Any imperfection of man in Heaven will be like germs ruining a sterile environment. Therefore, Jesus tells us that we must be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect (Matthews 5:48). But we all know, no one is perfect!
Is Jesus telling us to be what we cannot be? No, on the contrary, Jesus is letting people know what God's standard is, and at the same time showing people that they cannot achieve it on their own. Romans 3:23 tells us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". The definition of sin in the original Greek is "missing the mark", like an archer missing the dead center of a target. James 2:10 tells us "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all". Additionally, Romans 6:23 tells us that "the wages of sin is death". So not only can man never achieve God's standard of perfection, man is under judgment of sin. This is the state of every person here on earth.
God is righteous and just and holy, He has to punish and eliminate all sin. Sin in heaven will be the ruin of a perfect environment. The punishment for sin is eternal death which means eternal separation from Him and be in a place called hell. Since God is also merciful and loves mankind with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3), He does not want to punish man. This dilemma was solved in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God's only begotten Son sent to be man's substitute. Jesus lived a perfect life and achieved God's standard of perfection (Hebrews 4:15). He then went to the cross and died in man's place. The judgment and punishment that should be on mankind was placed upon Jesus. Jesus became a living sacrifice for all mankind.
Jesus not only died to pay for man sins, He turned around and gave man His perfection as a free gift. This gift is received by faith (Ephesians 2:8). When a person receives Jesus into his heart by faith, he becomes born again in his spirit. God gives him a perfect and righteous spirit just like Jesus' (II Corinthians 5:17, 5:21). Jesus in John 3:3 tells us "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God". This born again experience occurs in a man's spirit the moment he receives Jesus by faith. One day, every person who is born again will be given a glorified body and be forever in Heaven in his/her glorified state (I Corinthians 15:51-54, Philippians 3:21-22, I Thessalonians 4:15-17). Heaven will be populated with glorified people and forever be in perfect harmony!
All men are under sin and judgment, but thank God we are saved through Jesus (Romans 6:23). Salvation is a free gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). No man is good enough to earn it. Man can only freely receive it. The choice is in man's hands. Man can either receive Jesus as his substitute for sin punishment, and in doing so, receive Jesus' righteous nature and a place in Heaven, or man can reject Jesus and one day be at God's Judgment Seat to be accountable for his sin and suffer the eternal consequence. Friend, the price of sin is already paid, why not receive Jesus today? It will be a decision you will never regret!
To receive Jesus and His sacrificial work on the cross, pray the following prayer from your heart to God:
Heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I believe Jesus is the Son of God. I believe from my heart that Jesus died for my sin and was raised from the dead for my salvation. I now open my heart to receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. By faith in Jesus, I am now saved. I thank you Father, in Jesus' name. Amen!
If you received Jesus today or need more information, please write us!