I've got a question for you. What if you died tonight? Do you know for a fact that you would go to Heaven? Alot of people don't believe that you can know, but according to the bible you can.

I John 5:13
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

So according to this verse you can know for a fact that you have eternal life. Aren't you glad? I mean can you imagine going through life always wondering if you're going to go to heaven or hell? Maybe you can, because you've been living that life. I really can't imagine how that must be. Well if you have been, I'm going to tell you today how you can know for a fact that you will go to heaven when you die.

Romans 3:10
"As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one."

Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

These verses are very important because you must first understand your condition before you can correct it. Your problem is that you're a sinner. I don't even know who you are but I can tell you that about yourself. You probably don't know me, but one thing you can know for a fact is that I'm a sinner. We know this about each other because the Bible says "all have sinned."

The Bible also tells us why we are sinners. Did you know that you are not a sinner because you have sinned? It's true.

Romans 5:12
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."

So what is this saying? Well I guess the best way to explain it is this way. Is a dog a dog because it barks, or does it bark because it is a dog? It barks because that is what comes naturally to a dog. It's the same way with sin. You are not a sinner because you have sinned. You were born a sinner. Because of this you sin because it is what comes naturally to a sinner. You might could say that sin is a hereditary disease that was first contracted by Adam and passed all the way down to you and me. Unfortunately, that is not all the bad news.

Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death;"

We all know what wages are. We go to work each day and at the end of the week we are paid what we have earned, namely wages. Well sin also earns wages. Unfortunately it's wages are death. And this isn't death as in dying and being buried in the ground. No, this is the 2nd death that we see described in Revelation chapter 20.

Revelation 20:14,15
"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

Now if we stopped right here, we would conclude that we are in sad shape. As a matter of fact, "sad shape" would not even begin to describe our condition. But, don't you love that word when it pops up at a time like this? But. Thank goodness I've got more to tell you, and thank goodness the word "but" just happens to be in the verse telling us what our sin has earned us.

Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

In case you're wondering, yes, there is a reason I emphasised those words. First of all, again, in this case I like that word "but" being in there, because it means that there is an alternative. Basically you have to make a choice between two options. You can choose to accept your wages, or you can choose to accept a gift. I'm sure I don't have to explain a gift to you, but I'm going to anyway.

If I gave you the keys to an $84,000, brand new Dodge Viper, and all I asked you to do for it was to show up for sunday school at my church the next Sunday, it would no longer be a gift. It would be wages. It would be ridiculous wages, but still, it would be wages. We are all familiar with gifts from Christmas if nothing else. When you give someone a gift, or recieve a gift, it doesn't come with conditions. Once you recieve it, it is yours. It wasn't free, but it didn't cost you anything. All you had to do to benefit from it, was accept it.

Salvation was not free. Jesus paid for it with his life, but it doesn't cost you anything to benefit from it. Jesus already paid for it, and now he offers it to you as a gift. All you have to do to benefit from it is accept it.

Romans 5:8
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

I would like to take a second to address a misconception real quick that some people seem to have. I've met people who think that hell is something that God holds over their head, kind of like an eternal form of "my way or the highway" type deal. This isn't true. The thing you have to understand is that sin demands payment. It's almost like a credit card that you use here and there. After you get the bill, you can call them up and tell them that you are so sorry. As a matter of fact, you have learned your lesson and you are chopping that card up right now! They might figure that's a good idea, but they are still going to demand payment. Sin is the same way. The reason for the fact that accepting Jesus as your Saviour is the only way to heaven, is also the same reason that he had to die for your sins in the first place. Sin demands payment. The only way that you could hope to go to heaven was if someone else paid that debt for you. Jesus did.

Another important thing to notice here is that it says he died for us "while we were yet sinners." I wanted to call your attention to that fact because I know some people think they need to clean up their life first and then they will come to Christ. The problem is that the standard to God is perfection. The Bible tells us in Isaiah that even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags before God. There is nothing you can do to make yourself better before coming to Christ.

So we see now that we are all sinners. Our sin has actually earned us something. Namely, an eternity in hell after we die. We've also been shown a way of escape. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, and the bible tells us that he now holds out eternal life as a free gift. All you have to do is accept it. So how do you do this?

Romans 10:9,10,13
"That if thous shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

So all you have to do is pray to Jesus, tell him that you know you're a sinner and on your way to hell. Tell him though that you know he died to pay for your sins and the best you know how, you're asking him to come into your heart and save you. Jesus promised that if you would do this he would "in no wise cast out."

If you have not taken care of this before, I would encourage you very strongly to take care of it now!!!

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