Is it only Christians that will go to heaven?
Scripture is very clear that there is only ONE WAY TO HEAVEN and that is through FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. Let’s listen to the words of Jesus Christ Himself on this subject:
“ENTER BY THE NARROW GATE; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is THE GATE and difficult is THE WAY which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14…NKJV).
“I am THE DOOR. If anyone enters BY ME, he will be saved….I AM THE WAY, the truth, and the life, No one comes to the Father, EXCEPT THROUGH ME” (John 10:9 and 14:6).
In the first verse, Jesus teaches us that to “enter heaven” one must “enter by the narrow gate” which is the “way which leads to life.” In the next two verses He teaches us that He is “the gate” and “the way.” It is only through faith in Him that gives anyone the right to go to heaven. A repentant sinner once asked the all-important question, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30) and the answer given to him was “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (verse 31). To “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” is to believe WHO HE IS and WHAT HE HAS DONE. Who is He? The Apostle Peter was asked that question and he declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). The word “Christ” means He is the Messiah, the Anointed One that the Father sent to be “the Savior of the world.” John 4:42 says, “Then they (the men of Samaria) said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” The words “the Son of the living God” means He is God the Son, co-equal with God the Father (see John 1:1, 14; 3:16-18; 10:25-30). What has He done? He gave His life on the cross of Calvary where He took the sinner’s place in death and judgment. “I have come that they may have life…I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:10-11). After He suffered the wrath of God for sin He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The work was DONE to put away sin and the sinner who believes this is saved. “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you…by which also you are saved…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).
You ask, “Is it only Christians that will go to heaven?” We have seen that it is BELIEVERS IN CHRIST who will go to heaven and this means that even believers who lived before Christ came and died on the cross go to heaven. We read of Abraham in Romans 4:1-5, “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Believers in Christ weren’t called Christians until after the resurrection of Christ, as we see in Acts 11:26, “And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Thus we can’t call Abraham and other believers that lived in Old Testament times Christians, yet if they believed in God’s WAY TO HEAVEN (through faith in the coming of Christ, the Savior of the world), they were declared righteous before God and would enter heaven through Christ when they died. We read that Abraham “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God”…and that he and other believers “desire a better country, that is, an heavenly” (Hebrews 11:10 & 16…KJV). I will close by saying there will be believers in Christ in a coming day who will not enter heaven, but they will enter into Christ’s kingdom on earth (see Matthew 25:31-34; Psalm 72; Isaiah 11:1-13; 60:1-61:6; 65:18-25). (442.3) (DO)