How to know you will go to Heaven when you die?
By Evangelist Ken McDonald B.D., Th.M.
©2023
Dear friend would you let me ask you one of the most important questions that you will ever be asked in this life? The question is this, “Do you know that you are going to Heaven when you die?” Perhaps you say that no one knows where they are going when they die. Well, St. Peter knew that he was going to Heaven for he said that he was born again and “kept by the power of God.” St. John knew that he was going to Heaven for he said, “Now are we the sons of God…and we know that we shall be like Him.” 1John 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. Not only did St. Peter and St. John know where they were going when they died, but St. Paul also knew for he said that he had a “desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better.” And of course Jesus Christ said, “I go unto my Father.”
All of these men, as well as the Son of God, knew where they were going when they died. If they knew, you can know also. In the Bible St. John wrote, 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. 1 Jn 5:13 Do you know that you have eternal life? Do you know that you are going to Heaven when you die?
Let me start at the very beginning. The person you are going to have to deal with is called, “the Word,” and He is the Creator of all things.
John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
He is also righteous. In heaven they worship Him.
Rev. 4:8 ¶ And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
His name is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Heb. 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
The Lord Jesus Christ is Holy. That means He has never sinned one time. There is no spot nor blemish in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is absolutely perfect. Along with that Heaven is also perfect. It is a place of joy, happiness, light, and righteousness. In Heaven Rev. 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
This is just a glimpse of Heaven but it gives a glimpse of a place where it can honestly be written as an epitaph, “…and they lived happily ever after.” Doesn’t that sound like a place you would like to spend eternity in? Heaven is beautiful because the God of Heaven is Holy, the place called Heaven is Holy, and the people of Heaven are holy. My desire in writing this is to tell you how you can know when you die you will make it to this beautiful place called Heaven. Then it can be written of you, he or she lived happily ever after.
This brings us to the subject of holiness. Are you holy? Are you righteous? Are you a good person? To answer the first two questions I would think it would be easy to answer, “No.” You are not holy, and you are not righteous. But maybe your answer to the third question is a, “Yes.” You might say that you are a good person. You’re nice to others and try to help folks when you can. That is a good thing.
When it comes to holiness though, how do we judge what is holy? How do we know what holiness is? To answer these two questions we must go back in time about 3500 years to a mountain in Arabia. It is a mountain called Mt. Sinai. On that mountain is a man called Moses. The Lord God has called him there, and camped below in the plain is a nation he has called out of Egypt named Israel.
That mountain, which can be seen today in 2015, has been burnt black as a reminder of the event that I am about to tell you of. Moses went up into the mount and God came down in fire on the top of that mount and gave Moses Ten Commandments. These Ten Commandments are a glimpse of holiness and what holiness is, or should I say, the standard by which holiness is judged. I am going to use only four of the ten and let’s see how you measure up to holiness.
1. Ex. 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
This is the third commandment. To take the Lord’s name in vain is called blasphemy and it is very serious. Have you ever taken the Lord’s name in vain? In other words have you ever said, “Oh my God,” or “Jesus Christ,” or “Lord God Almighty,” or just “Jesus?” If you have ever said any of these in vain, or other variations, how many times in your life have you taken His name in vain? In vain would mean that you just said them without using them in a sentence, thus in vain. Since this is called blasphemy, then you would be called a blasphemer.
If you have broken this commandment then you are a blasphemer.
2. Ex. 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.
This is the eighth commandment. Have you ever stolen anything in your life? Stop and think about this. Have you ever downloaded any music, or anything that was copyrighted? Have you ever taken something that was not yours. Size does not matter. From a piece of candy to millions of dollars, have you ever stolen something?
It doesn’t matter what religion you are for these laws are written on your heart. You know instinctively that it is wrong to take something that is not yours.
What does God call someone who steals? They are called a thief. So then if you have stolen anything you are a thief. You are guilty of breaking God’s law when He wrote, “Thou shalt not steal.”
If you have broken both of these commandments then you are a blasphemer and a thief. Keep in mind this is only two of the ten commandments.
3. Ex. 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
This is to have sex with someone who is not your spouse, thus it is to have sex outside of marriage. Jesus, who was God manifest in the flesh, went even farther and stated, Matt. 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Adultery is now committed in your heart by looking on someone and lusting after them sexually, as well as the physical act of fornicating with someone. Fornication is what it is called when sex is committed outside of marriage. This would include Sodomy. Have you ever done that?
If you have, even if just once, then you are an adulterer, or could also be called a fornicator.
If you have broken all three of these commandments then you are a blasphemer, thief and a fornicator.
The last commandment that I will mention here is this:
4. Matt. 19:18 “…Thou shalt not bear false witness.”
Also known as, “Thou shalt not lie.” Have you ever told a lie? To speak a false witness is to tell a lie. A witness tells what he or she knows. To be a false witness is to not speak or tell the truth about what you know. Have you ever done that? How many times have you done that in your life? 1 time? 10? 100? 1000? Etc.?
A person who tells lies, is called a liar. Then you are a liar. If you have transgressed all four of these commandments then you are a blasphemer, thief, fornicator and a liar. Do you think God will allow you into Heaven? What kind of place would Heaven be if God allowed blasphemers, thieves, fornicators and liars into it. I’ll tell you, it wouldn’t be a Holy place, and it wouldn’t be Heaven.
With just four out of ten commandments we have had a glimpse of holiness. The Bible states, Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Rom. 7:12 …but I am carnal, sold under sin. Rom. 7:14
The truth of the matter is that you are not holy, nor are you even good, and neither am I. We all are sinners and have broken His commandments.
The bible says, 1Cor. 6:9 ¶ Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Rev. 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Rev. 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
If you died right now, according to the word of God, where will you go? Have you ever told a lie? Then you are a liar and according to the Bible you will go to the lake of fire. Is that where you want to go when you die? If you are in your right mind then you do not want to end up in the lake of fire for all eternity.
Is there a way to be saved from going to Hell? If you have been honest with yourself about those four commandments, then you know that you have broken at least one of them. The bible says, For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. James 2:10 Then according to the word of God you are guilty of breaking God’s law and thus unable of your own self to enter Heaven.
In your present condition you will one day stand before your Creator and Judge who will pronounce the judgement, “Guilty!” The punishment is for you to be put into Hell and then later cast into the lake of fire. That is what you deserve, and that is what I deserve as well, but this is where the good news begins.
Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh. That means Jesus Christ was fully God. He came to this earth, born of the virgin Mary, and became a man. While on this earth He never broke His law one time. Jesus Christ lived a perfect life according to His law. Jesus Christ is Holy. How do I know this? Because after He was crucified on the cross, our Lord arose from the dead after three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. If Jesus Christ had sinned one time, then He never would have been able to rise from the dead. He would have been just like you and me. But He did rise from the dead and was seen by over 500 people after He arose from the dead.
Jesus Christ saw you long before you were ever around. He saw you and He loved you. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
God gave his Son; how? He gave him when Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Jesus Christ took the punishment of our sins upon Himself, and shed His blood as the perfect payment for your sins. The sins that you committed when you transgressed those commandments have all been paid for.
Rom. 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
While you were a sinner, Jesus Christ loved you and died for you on the cross. He also shed His blood as the payment for your sins, but you must pick up the payment. Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Wages are given as payment for something that you have worked for. Those commandments that you have broken have earned you death. That is your payment, that is what you have worked for.
A gift is something that you do not work for. A gift is given free of charge after the giver worked to purchase it. The gift that I am writing about here is eternal life. Do you want to live forever? Do you want to go to Heaven when you die? It is a free gift, but there is one catch. You must receive the Lord Jesus Christ in order to obtain eternal life.
Eternal life is not obtained through baptism, or church membership, or getting rid of bad Karma. It is obtained through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One that paid the price. You must receive Jesus Christ as your very own personal Saviour.
John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
So how do you receive Jesus Christ? If you can’t see Him, feel Him or touch Him how can you receive Him? Rom. 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You must pray and ask Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins; to wash you from your sins in His own blood; and ask Him to come into your heart and save you from your sins. Rev. 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.
Summary:
1. You have broken God’s Holy Commands.
Blasphemer, Thief, Fornicator or Liar - Guilty!
Headed for the Lake of fire.
2. Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried and three days later arose from the grave proving that He was God manifest in the flesh. He paid for all of your sins. Your ticket to Heaven is all paid for, now you must receive Jesus Christ into your heart in order to claim the payment for your sins.
3. You must call upon the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins, to wash you in His blood, and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to come into your heart and save you.
Here is a simple prayer to pray. Remember though, that you are talking to Jesus Christ from your heart. Reciting this prayer will not save you. You must realize that you are talking to your Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is the One you need to forgive you and to save you. He promised to save you if you called and God cannot lie. The best way you know how pray this prayer out loud. Talk to the Lord out loud.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ. I come to you as a sinner who has broken your commandments. I am guilty. I believe you died on the cross and paid for my sins. Please forgive me of my sins. Please wash me throughly in your blood. And dear Jesus, please come into my heart and saved me, I don’t want to go to the lake of fire. Thank you for dying for me on the cross and thank you for saving me. In your name Lord Jesus I ask these things, Amen.
If you prayed a prayer like that one and meant it then according to the word of God I ask you, “Where are you now going when you die?”
Rom. 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That is a promise from God.
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.