Listen: 49 Question 3

There is only one way to Heaven.  The Lord Jesus said in John 14:6, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  We read in Ephesians 2:8-9, “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.”  Salvation comes through putting your faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.  There, he shed His blood and died for sinners like you and me.  We read of the Lord Jesus in Romans 4:25 where it says that Jesus, “…was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”

When someone trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior they become brand new.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  All the old sins in our past are gone.  Before the Lord, it’s like we start all over.  The Lord longs to save lost sinners.  Romans 5:8-9 tells us, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

Whatever sins we were involved in when we came to the Lord are gone.  Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”  The Lord no longer remembers our past sins.  If it was making fun of the meek; if it was adultery; even if it was murder, when we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior, the Lord forgives all our sins.  1 John 1:7 tells us that, “…the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

Maybe you’ve never made fun of anyone.  Perhaps you’ve lived a good, decent, moral life.  That doesn’t mean you will go to Heaven.  Let’s read Titus 3:5-7, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”  Our good works cannot save us.  We need the Lord Jesus Christ to be our savior.  No matter how good we’ve been or how bad we’ve been, John 3:36 makes it very clear, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”