Am I Going To Heaven?
Submitted by the Crusader

Pick from the list below what you think is necessary to get you to heaven.
1. Obeying God's law and commandments
2. Doing your best
3. Living a good life
4. Good works
5. Trying to obey the Golden Rule
6. Tithing, or giving money to the church
7. Church membership or attendance
8. Prayers
9. Water baptism
10.Holy communion
11.Born of Christian parents
12.Confirmation
13.Penance
Now see below how you scored on the test
Explanation

If you picked one or more of the above items, you failed the test. Don't feel badly though, most people do fail. Most are to some degree"religious",
but religions are nothing more than man-made attempts to reach God.

The real answer of how to get to Heaven is not found in some religious system or by man's self-righteousness. God has declared that "there is none righteous, no not one" (Romans 3:10). "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23).

Further, God's Word teaches that sin is a very serious matter. II Thessalonians 1:9 tells of "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord."

What can you do about your sin problem ? Can you clean up your life, do good works and hope that in the end your good works will outweigh your bad works ? NO! Salvation does not come to those who work for it, but to those who cease from their own works, placing their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 4:5 makes that point abundantly clear: "To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. "In Ephesians 2:8 & 9, it is declared, "For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast."

The issue is not what you can do for God, but what He has done for you. "But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "He hath made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (II Corinthians 5:21). You have no righteousness of your own. To have eternal life you must have the righteousness of Christ (see Romans 3:26).

What then is your responsibility? God has given you a free will to either accept or reject what He has done for you. To have God's righteousness, you must believe that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried; and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (I Corinthians 15:3, 4).
Your response to the gospel should be as we read of the Ephesians: "In Whom (the Lord Jesus Christ) ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in Whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:13). This seal is a guarantee that your salvation is eternal--you can never lose it (see Ephesians 1:14, 4:30, IICorinthians 1:22).

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)

If you trusted Christ today, or if you have any questions, please contact me. I would be eager to share more with you from God's Word.







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"Don't be deceived by religion. Religion says "DO", whereas Christianity says "DONE !" Christ paid the full price for your salvation. Believe and be saved today."

Taking God's Grace to the World!

Jesus tells us, "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another, as a sheperd separated the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. then the King will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thristy and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me'... 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'depart from me, you cursed into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food...'" MT 25:31-46

We must do actions, not to earn our way into heaven or to become worthy to enter heaven, as these are impossible to do. We must do things such as charitable works to increase our faith in Jesus and His salvation. I could say, "I love Jesus and trust in His salvation" until the day I die. But that does not mean that I do love Jesus and trust in His salvation. It means I said it. I know my faith is not what it should be, and I would be willing to bet that most people do not have the faith they should have. Sacraments and sacramentals are often used in religion. They are physical representations of nonphysical occurances. I agree that people often become more attached to the physical part than the spiritual part, but we do not need to throw the baby out with the bathwater, just because these activities can be misused.

I realize i'm jumping all over the place here, but i have lots of thoughts about this post, and don't really know where to begin. I could go on, but will stop here for now.

PRAISED BE JESUS CHRIST, NOW AND FOREVER!




[This message has been edited by hanna (edited 05-27-2001).]

there are a bunch of scripture passages which contradict what you wrote about our actions having nothing to do with getting into heaven.

Rev 22:12
"Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds."

MT 19:16-17
"And behold, one came up to him, saying, 'Teacher, what must I do to have eternal life?" And he said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter eternal life, keep the commandments.'"

The first 2 sentances Jesus speaks applies to what you wrote, we can never be "good" enough to enter heaven. But the last sentance totally contradicts your #1.

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Crusader, you basically wrote that acceptance of Jesus' crucifiction for the forgiveness of our sins is what gets us salvation, which is true. You also wrote, "Salvation does not come to those who work for it..." I don't know about you, but accepting Jesus' forgiveness of my sins requires lots of work. I have to work every day to accept that I'm forgiven of my sins.

Saying I accept Jesus' salvation, and actually doing that are two totally different things. Any charitable work I do in the name of Jesus, is an attempt to get closer to Jesus by forgetting about my own selfish problems. Every mass I attend is an attempt to give another little peice of myself to Jesus, as it is so difficult for us humans to totally give ourselves over to him all at once.

You have a good point that we could never earn our way into heaven, but Jesus tells us repeatedly of actions he wants us to do.

IN THE PEACE OF JESUS CHRIST

Hello Hanna,

I Posted The Salvation Examination,in here:
WHAT"S ON YOUR MIND, by a good friend & Brother in the Lord. Please read it over, I think you will understand how I believe.

"GRACE & PEACE"
The Crusader AKA An Ambassador
<:)))><

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"Don't be deceived by religion. Religion says "DO", whereas Christianity says "DONE !" Christ paid the full price for your salvation. Believe and be saved today."

Taking God's Grace to the World!

Hanna,

You Rock!!!! And, you used some of my favorite verses!!!



Spirit Grrrl