HOW CAN WE BE SURE WE WILL GO TO HEAVEN WHEN WE DIE?
Perhaps the greatest aspect of following Jesus Christ should be the realization that we are recipients of God's Promise of Eternal Life. But many Christians still sometimes doubt the validity of their eternal salvation. After making a decision to follow Jesus Christ, being baptized, and after beginning to serve in their local church, even Christians may sometime question, "Will I really go to heaven if I die right now? Have I met all of those things required by God to be accepted by Him as being qualified to enter into His holy presence in heaven? Have I done things since deciding to follow Jesus that have disqualified me from entry into heaven when I die?"
They know the Bible says, "believe and you will be saved" or, "you must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God", or "whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord will be saved". But then they read in the same Bible, "You believe in one God, you do well, but even the devils believe and tremble" or "Not everyone who calls upon the Lord will be saved". They remember when Jesus taught that in the Last Days there will be those who approach Him as Judge and claim, "But Lord, we prophesized and cast out demons, and healed in YOUR NAME!" to which Jesus said He will respond saying, "I never knew you. Depart from Me you who practice unlawlessness."
So the doubts in the minds of some Christians return and they ask again, "How can I KNOW I will go to heaven when I leave this world? Is there ANY example of Jesus actually telling an individual "You have made it! You are going to heaven!"
Having doubts does not mean that a follower of Jesus has not been "saved" or is not a genuine, re-born, Child of God. Our enemy, Satan, loves to plant doubts in our hearts to undermine our confidence and the boldness of our testimony. Satan knows that if we are not confident that we are genuine children of God we will be less bold in our proclaiming the Truth of The Gospel message. Satan knows that if Followers of Jesus "doubt" their own salvation and validity as apostles sent by God they will become complacent, withdrawn from Kingdom service, and continue to live in fear of God's ultimate judgment.
Satan wants us to live every day asking the questions that should have been answered when we accepted Jesus Christ as Lord: "Have I actually done what God requires for me to be saved? Have I done things since accepting Christ that have invalidated me from entering God's heaven? How can I know? How can I be sure?" It leads us to desperately want one definitive example of someone we KNOW met God's qualifications to be accepted as a redeemed follower of Jesus Christ.
I can think of one instance that portrays EXACTLY what is required for us to enter into God's eternal heaven. It is the ONE instance where Jesus Christ Himself tells a person that they are going to God's Heaven when they leave the world. It is the occasion when Jesus validates the criminal that was dying on a cross alongside the cross of Jesus as being qualified to meet and be accepted by God.
You all know that story. Just moments before both Jesus and this criminal die, the criminal pleads to Jesus who is Himself bleeding and struggling for His own final breaths on the cross next to him saying: "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” To which Jesus immediately responds, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."
What did The Thief DO in order to qualify to enter into Heaven?
to enter into Almighty God's presence:
A. He did not earn his entry by "good works"
For crying out loud! This guy was being executed for being a bad person! He made no claim to be qualified because he had been a great philanthropist or having made great contributions to mankind. He was a "L-O-S-E-R"! Up to this moment in his life, this man was no doubt wicked without any redemptive or moral value to claim in this life. Who knows the extent and degree of sin in which this man had been involved? Perhaps he had murdered many people, stolen from hundreds, had been a pedophile, homosexual, adulterer, idol worshipper, and utterly wicked.
The Bible explains that God is 100% holy and righteous. There is NO person who can live a life righteous enough to be accepted by God as being "holy" based upon their own merits. EVERYONE has defied God's will and control in their life at one time or another. We ALL are sinners, condemned "unclean" and in need of someone to remedy our uncleanliness. Surely, this crucified criminal had no claim for being qualified based upon his own righteousness.
B. The thief dying alongside Jesus on the cross did not earn his entry into the presence of
God in heaven by being a "religious" man.
B. The thief dying alongside Jesus on the cross did not earn his entry into the presence of
God in heaven by being a "religious" man.
It is unlikely that this criminal was knowledgeable of The Law and teaching of the prophets or was an avid practitioner of the Jewish customs and rituals.
If he had been a "religious" man, he would have mentioned this to Jesus and those religious leaders standing below his cross would have known him. He would not likely be autonomous in The Biblical account we have today and at least his name would have been mentioned.
The criminal did not earn his entry into heaven by knowing a great deal about God's Law. He did not make the claim, "I have followed all the Laws!" as had previous men mentioned who had approached Jesus prior to His crucifixion. All of the men in those accounts who were seeking to gain entry into heaven were said by Jesus to have fallen short and denied acceptance. This criminal did not even have the audacity to suggest he might be qualified based upon his being a "religious" man.
Given the apparent sinful life of this man, it is doubtful he had ever practiced the Jewish religious rituals, made offerings or sacrifices at the Temple, or adhered to the Jewish Laws prior to his crucifixion. His "religiosity" was not a factor in his being qualified to enter into God's presence in heaven.
C. This criminal did not earn his acceptance into The Kingdom of God by being a faithful follower of Jesus prior to his crucifixion.
There is no reason to think that the criminal had ever met Jesus or had even listened to His teachings although, due to the celebrity and reputation of Jesus which had grown during His ministry, the criminal may well have "heard" of Jesus. However, there is the likelihood of his learning at least some limited understanding of the identity of Jesus if by no other means overhearing comments made while they were hanging on the cross. The "other criminal" being crucified along with this repentant criminal and Jesus said to Jesus in a mocking insulting manner while the three were dying on their perspective crosses, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" So both criminals being crucified must have known that the crucifixion of Jesus had something to do with His claiming to be the promised "Messiah" prophesized in Holy Scriptures of the time.
The two criminals being crucified alongside Jesus no doubt learned a great deal through the accusations made against Him by those present and standing at the foot of the cross."If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." and "You were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself!" The two criminals also witnessed the sign being placed by the Roman soldiers above the head of Jesus which read "King of the Jews" as they nailed his hands and feet to the cross.
Indeed, there was ample opportunity for those present at the cross to learn much about Jesus simply by witnessing and hearing the insults and insincere, facetious, labels hurled from those religious leaders and accusers standing below His cross who were responsible for His being crucified. These criminals dying alongside Jesus must have gathered an understanding of the disdain for Jesus by the "religious inner circle" and Jewish power players and witnessed their hatred for Him resulting from His reputation as being the Promised Messiah of God.
But this repentant criminal certainly was not qualified to enter into heaven because he had believed in Jesus as God's Messiah in prior days nor had he been following and serving Jesus Christ as his Lord in the days before this, his final day on earth.
II. What the criminal dying on the cross alongside Jesus DID do to qualify him for entry into God's eternal Kingdom.
A. He "believed" that Jesus was God.
How do we know this? Because of the criminal's confession:
1. "Jesus, remember me when you come into YOUR Kingdom."
GOD is the only One who OWNS The Kingdom
2. He knew that Jesus had the AUTHORITY to forgive him for his sins and qualify him as a
redeemed Child of God.GOD is the only One with the authority and ability to forgive sins.
B. He "confessed" his sins AND his devotion to Jesus as LORD of his life.
This repentant criminal met another qualification from God when he professed openly that he was putting his complete trust in Jesus in front of all of those considered as being "religious" authorities who stood at the foot of the cross. This criminal professed that he was putting his trust in Jesus as having the authority and exclusive ability to give him access into God's Kingdom.
He made this profession by pleading for the acceptance of Jesus and publicly acknowledging that Jesus alone held the key to God's heaven.
This criminal dying alongside Jesus was the ONE individual that defended Jesus that day when he lashed out at the other thief who ridiculed Jesus. This repentant thief shouted to the other criminal mocking Jesus, "Aren't you afraid OF GOD. We deserve this, HE has done nothing wrong!" In doing so, he was acknowledging his sinful nature and his being disqualified for entry into God's presence based upon his own merit.
C. He acknowledged that Jesus was The One and Only Way
In the final moments of his life on earth, the criminal displayed his understanding that this Jesus dying alongside him was the ONLY way provided by God for humankind to gain entry into God's Kingdom. Jesus alone is all-sufficient for our eternal salvation. The dying criminal did not look to those Jewish religious leaders for absolution that stood mocking, hurling insults, spitting and despising Jesus at the foot of the cross. He only called out to "Jesus" for rescue and salvation.
The crucified criminal dying alongside Jesus cried out to this Jesus who Himself was bleeding and struggling for His last few breaths, "Jesus, remember me when You come into your Kingdom."
The response of Jesus to this plea for eternal salvation is the affirmation of just exactly what is, and is not, required for all people to be forgiven of their sins, receive eternal life, and to be accepted by God as His redeemed, holy, sanctified children:
"This day you will be with me in paradise."
