People have different ideas about heaven. Many have no understanding of God at all, but still like to think of heaven as the "better place" where we all go when we die. Ideas about heaven are often no more than vague hopes, on par with "maybe I’ll win the lottery some day." Most people don’t give heaven much thought until they attend a funeral or a loved one dies. It is popular to refer to heaven as the place where "the good people go." And of course, everyone they know and love is included in the category of "good people."
But the Bible has a lot to say about life after death, and it contradicts popular opinion. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Then in verse 36, Jesus goes on to say, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them." Hebrews 9:27 says, "It is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment." According to these verses, everyone dies, but not everyone goes to heaven (Matthew 25:46; Romans 6:23; Luke 12:5; Mark 9:43).
God is holy and perfect. Heaven, His dwelling place, is holy and perfect, too (Psalm 68:5; Nehemiah 1:5; Revelation 11:19). According to Romans 3:10, "there is none righteous, no not one." No human being is holy and perfect enough for heaven. The people we call "good" are not good at all compared to the sinless perfection of God. If God allowed sinful humans to enter the perfection of heaven, it would no longer be perfect. What standard should be used to determine who is "good enough?" God’s standard is the only one that counts, and He has already ruled. Romans 3:23 says that "all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory." And the payment for that sin is eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23).
Sin has to be punished, or God is not just (2 Thessalonians 1:6). The judgment we face at death is simply God bringing our accounts up to date and passing sentence on our crimes against Him. We have no way to make our wrongs right. Our good does not outweigh our bad. One sin ruins perfection, just as one drop of arsenic in a glass of water poisons the whole glass.
So God became man and took our punishment upon Himself. Jesus was God in the flesh. He lived a sinless life of obedience to His Father (Hebrews 4:15). He had no sin, yet at the cross He took our sin and made it His own. Once He paid the price for our sin, we could be declared holy and perfect (2 Corinthians 5:21). When we confess our sin to Him and ask His forgiveness, He stamps "Paid in Full" over our life of selfishness, lust, and greed (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 1 Peter 3:18).
When we stand before God one day, we cannot beg entrance to heaven based on our own merit. We have none to offer. Compared to God’s standard of holiness, not one of us is good enough. But Jesus is, and it is by His merit we can enter heaven. First Corinthians 6:9-11 says, "Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." The sacrifice of Jesus covers it all.
The people who go to heaven are all alike in one way: they are sinners who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:12; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9). They have recognized their need for a Savior and humbly accepted God’s offer of forgiveness. They have repented of their old ways of living and set their course to follow Christ (Mark 8:34; John 15:14). They have not attempted to earn God’s forgiveness but have served him gladly from grateful hearts (Psalm 100:2). The kind of faith that saves a soul is one that transforms a life (James 2:26; 1 John 3:9-10) and rests fully on the grace of God.
Do you want to know for sure that you will be among those who will go to heaven? Please read the following article: Going to Heaven - how can I guarantee my eternal destination?
Going to Heaven—how can I guarantee my eternal destination?
Face it. The day we step into eternity may come sooner than we think. In preparation for that moment, we need to know this truth—not everyone is going to heaven. How can we know for sure that we are going to heaven? Some 2,000 years ago, the apostles Peter and John were preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to a large crowd in Jerusalem. Peter made a profound statement that resonates even in our postmodern world: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Now as then, Acts 4:12 is not politically correct. Today it’s popular to say, “Everyone’s going to heaven” or “All paths lead to heaven.” There are many who think they can have heaven without having Jesus. They want the glory, but they don’t want to be bothered by the cross, much less the One who died there. Many don’t want to accept Jesus as the only way of going to heaven and are determined to find another path. But Jesus warns us that no other path exists and that the consequence for rejecting this truth is an eternity in hell. He told us that “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36). Faith in Christ is the key to going to heaven.
Some will argue that it’s extremely narrow-minded of God to provide only one way to heaven. But, frankly, in light of mankind’s rebellion against God, it’s extremely broad-minded for Him to provide us with any way to heaven. We deserve judgment, but God gives us the way of escape by sending His one-and-only Son to die for our sins. Whether someone sees this as narrow or broad, it’s the truth. The good news is that Jesus died and rose again; those who are going to heaven have received this gospel by faith.
Many people today hold to a watered-down gospel that does away with the need for repentance. They want to believe in a “loving” (nonjudgmental) God who never mentions sin and who requires no change in their lifestyle. They may say things like, “My God would never send a person to hell.” But Jesus spoke more about hell than He did about heaven, and He presented Himself as the Savior who offers the only means of going to heaven: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Who will actually enter God’s kingdom? How can I guarantee that I’m going to heaven? The Bible makes a clear distinction between those who have eternal life and those who do not: “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). It all goes back to faith. Those who believe in Christ are made the children of God (John 1:12). Those who accept Jesus’ sacrifice as the payment for their sins and who believe in His resurrection are going to heaven. Those who reject Christ are not. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18).
As awesome as heaven will be for those who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, hell will be that much more awful for those who reject Him. One cannot read the Bible seriously without seeing it over and over again—the line is drawn. The Bible says there is one and only one way to heaven—Jesus Christ. Follow Jesus’ command: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13–14). Faith in Jesus is the one means of going to heaven. Those who have faith are guaranteed to get there. Do you trust in Jesus?
John 3 -- Nicodemus asks Jesus how to get to heaven. Jesus replies he must be born again. Nicodemus asks how to get back into his mother's womb.
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born from above, or born again." Jesus then talks of what it means to be born again and the path to heaven. "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
That means a person must be baptized under water for a few seconds. Sprinkling a baby and saying it is baptized has no meaning because a baby or toddler has no sin.
One must be old enough to understand sin and what baptism means. The symbol of water is (1) washing away your sins and (2) being in your mother's womb and being born again.
Jesus who had NO sin allowed John to baptize Him to have a visual example for people what "born again" means.
