Q: I believe in God and prayed a prayer asking Jesus to come into my heart. Isn’t that how I get to heaven? How do I become a Christian? What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?
A: There are many ways people think they can get to heaven, but just like only one key on your key ring can get you into your house, the Bible describes only one way to get to heaven. Let’s look at a couple ways people think they can go to heaven and the problems with them, then at what the Bible says is the only way to heaven.
Way#1- “Well, I believe God is real.”
Problem#1- Even Satan and demons (Satan’s followers who work evil in the world) believe in God and fear Him. “You believe there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-and tremble!” (James 2:19) So if you’re trusting your belief in God to get you to heaven, sorry, that isn’t going to work!
Way#2- “I try to live a good life the way I’m sure Jesus did.”
Problem#2- That’s great that you try to live right, but even if you sin just one time, you are a sinner! “For whoever keeps the whole law and stumbles at just one point, he is guilty of breaking all of them.” (James 2:10) None of us is completely perfect. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned. That’s a huge problem, because the Bible says that God’s eyes are so holy, he cannot even look on sin. (Habakkuk 1:13) That means no one who sins can ever be allowed into heaven.
Way#3- “God is good! He will overlook my wrong things when he sees how many good things I’ve done. I really am a pretty good person!”
Problem#3- If a judge let a murderer go free because he was normally a pretty good person and was involved in all sorts of community service projects and loved his wife and kids and treated people with respect most of the time, would the judge really be a good judge? Absolutely not! In the same way, God cannot and will not overlook our wrong because of the good we have done. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)
Way#4- “I’m sorry for what I’ve done. I tell God so every night. Can’t he let me off the hook?”
Problem#4- Imagine if that same murderer stood before the judge and said he was sorry. Would the judge let him go? No! Justice has to be served! There must be punishment for wrongdoing. Maybe you’ve never murdered someone, but the Bible says hatred is as bad as murder. Lying, stealing, and dishonoring your parents is also just as bad. We all sin, and God’s goodness demands that justice must be done. Punishment must be given. What is the punishment that God’s law demands? “The soul that sins, it shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:4) “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)
So what now? Is there no way to heaven? Must we all die and be separated from life with God for eternity? What does the Bible say IS the only way to heaven?
The only true way- “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (John 14:6) God’s justice and goodness demand that punishment must be given. I deserve death. You deserve death. The only way to avoid that would be if someone perfect could die, taking our punishment. He’d have to be perfect, because if he wasn’t, he would only be dying to pay for his own sins. Enter Jesus. He lived the perfect life we should’ve lived, then died, taking the punishment we deserved. That would be like if the judge was about to give that murderer the death penalty, but another innocent man stepped in and offered to die in his place. That’s crazy! But Jesus did that for us.
So then, does this mean we’re all going to heaven and we don’t have to worry about any of this after all? No! When we are born, we are born sinners, on our way to hell. Imagine a long line. At one end is heaven and at the other is hell. We are born walking straight towards hell. Unless we change directions, we will die and wake up in an eternity separated from God.
Let me repeat that to make sure you got it: Unless you have turned from living for yourself in sinful rebellion against God to becoming a follower of Jesus, you will die and wake up separated from God forever.
So is Salvation something we do, then? No! Please don’t misunderstand. Salvation is all about what Jesus has already done for us. He lovingly laid down his life for us so He could offer us the FREE gift of eternal life. “For by grace [God’s kindness] you have been saved through faith [trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice for your sin], and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God [we don’t save ourselves; He has already done all the work necessary for Salvation]-not of works lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Salvation is free, but we must accept the gift, and when we do, everything changes. We are no longer our own. We have a new master: God.
Listen to how David Platt explains this: “To be a follower of Christ means to come to an awareness of your sinful rebellion against God, and to see in Jesus the only substitute for your sins, and by His grace to turn from you rebellion against God and trust in him as the Lord and sovereign king over your life. And when that happens, then what Jesus says determines how you live. If you are a follower of Christ, living indifferent to the words of Christ is not an option. Some of you were told to pray a prayer and then you could live your life however you wanted and that’s what it means to be a Christian. If you came to Christ under that illusion, then biblically, you are not a Christian. You have not come to Christ at all. This is not what it means to be a follower of Christ. It is not possible to be a follower of Christ and be indifferent to what he says, because to be a follower of Christ, what he says determines how you live.”
Acknowledging Jesus as Savior and Lord of your life is not something to be entered lightly. Following Jesus is tough! “Jesus said to the crowds following Him, ‘If anyone comes to Me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples." Luke 14:25-33
Jesus told the crowds to count the cost BEFORE coming to him, because following him includes way more than praying a prayer and showing up at church on Sundays. True Christians obey the commands in Scripture which call us to live radical lives, pouring ourselves out to serve the poor and hurting and reaching out to the entire world with the amazing news of the gospel regardless of how difficult, uncomfortable, or dangerous that may be.
This naturally leads to a couple more questions: How can I know if I’m truly a Christian? and How can I live and grow as a Christian?
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