How Can I Know for Sure I'm Going to Heaven?

The short answer: You can know for sure. Jesus promised that whoever hears His word and believes on the Father who sent Him "hath everlasting life" (John 5:24). Heaven is not a hope you cross your fingers over. It is a promise, received by admitting you are a sinner and putting your faith and trust in Jesus as your Savior.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:24, KJV)

Can a person really be sure?

Yes. Notice the tense in John 5:24: the one who believes hath everlasting life and is passed from death unto life. It is already settled. Our October 25 sermon put it simply: "I want to encourage us to make sure that it is settled in our heart that my eternity is heaven."

Many people say they know what heaven is. Most of them only know the word. Being sure starts with taking Jesus at His word.

What do I have to believe?

The sermon laid out what we must believe:

1. That you are a sinner. "Every one of us has a sin problem," whether in a thought, an action, anger, or putting ourselves before somebody else. Comparing ourselves to someone worse does not change it.
2. Who Jesus is. He is God, the Creator, and one with the Father.
3. What Jesus did. He was the perfect sacrifice for sin and paid the penalty we owed.
4. That Jesus is the only way. "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

What do I do next?

Put your faith and trust in the Lord and accept Him as your Savior. The Bible says: "That if thou 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." (Romans 10:9)

Saved from what? Saved from hell, and from eternal separation from God. For the one who trusts Christ, the promise is clear: "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8)

Does anything change when you are saved?

Something real happens. The preacher was saved at 12 years old and said, "When I got saved, things changed... I knew something was different in my life." Those who have trusted Christ can say the same: something happened in their life when they got saved.

If you have questions, or would like someone to show you these verses in person, we would be glad to talk with you.