Devoted Christian Equals Spot In Heaven?

Q. Does being a devoted Christian guarantee you will go to heaven?

To answer this question we have to define what you mean when you say “being a devoted Christian.” Do you mean someone who is devoted to going to church and claiming to be a Christian to others? Or do you man someone who reads his or her bible constantly? What does a devoted Christian look like to you?

If by devoted Christian, you mean the biblical definition of a Christian, then the short answer to your question is, “Yes, you will go to heaven.” But let’s look at how the bible, God’s word, defines being a Christian.

Repentance and Faith

In the book of Mark, Jesus tells the public to “repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). The word to repent in the Greek means to literally “change your mind”. It simply implies that all of us, no matter who we are or where we come from, have done things wrong in our lives. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

(Romans 3:23). None of us are perfect. But God actually IS perfect. So we have fallen short of his standard. To repent means to feel truly sorry for the things we’ve done wrong and that we want to change our lives and our way of thinking.

To believe in the Gospel means to believe in the “good news” literally. What is the “good news”? According to 1 Corinthians 15 it is that God himself came into human history (that’s Jesus) lived a perfect life that we couldn’t live, died the death we should have died, was buried in a tomb, and three days later raised himself from the dead. Jesus wants you and I to believe that actually did that as recorded in history and that he actually is God.

Jesus as Lord

Acts 20:21 tells us to have “repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” So we must not only repent and believe that Jesus is God (like he said he was), but we must now make him the “Lord” of our lives, the manager if you will. We do what HE says and live for HIM, not ourselves. The bible reminds us that even the demons believe that Jesus is God (Luke 4:34) but that doesn’t get them to heaven.

We Can’t Earn Our Way

This is what the bible teaches about becoming a Christian. Repent and have faith in Jesus. Then and only then can you be assured a spot in heaven. We can never “work” to get to heaven, or be “good enough”. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that “by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not of your own doing. It is a gift of God, not a result of works. So that no one may boast.”

Basically you and I can’t be “devoted” enough to get to heaven. Just going to church or believing that God exists isn’t how we are saved. God freely gives that gift to those who repent and believe. We can however, spend the rest of our lives in devotion and pursuit of the things of God and what he calls us to.

This entry was posted on February 8, 2010 at February 8, 2010 and is filed under Christian Living, The Bible. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.