How To Go To Heaven
Updated: Nov 7, 2023
Have you come to a point in your life where you realize that your life might end one day and now you want to know how to go to heaven? When we are young we sometimes feel invincible. That is until we face a life-threatening situation or maybe lost a loved one. Still, maybe you are just getting older and your mortality is sinking in. If this sounds like you, then you've come to the right place.
Scroll through to see how to get to heaven. Be sure to read to the end to make sure you understand everything and then to say the correct salvation prayer to have the assurance you need to go to heaven.
How to get to Heaven
6. Conclusion
Acknowledge you Need Help
The first step to having the assurance that when you die you go to heaven is acknowledging that you need help. You can't get to heaven through someone else or by your own works. Many people believe that you can go to heaven just by being a "good person." This is an inaccurate belief.
Ephesians 2:8-9 Says that "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." It is very clear that you cannot get to heaven by good deeds, being nice to people, or any other way except through Jesus. Jesus said that “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6 )
For this reason, we have to rely on Jesus to be able to get to heaven. There is one caveat to this though, you have to believe in Him and make Him your Lord and savior. He's not just going to pick and choose who He saves without them wanting to be saved. He wants everyone to be saved and go to heaven, but it's your job to accept and follow Him.
Forgive and be Forgiven
One thing that must happen for you to be able to enter into heaven is to get forgiveness for your sins. Without forgiveness, you can't enter through the gates of heaven. Again, many people don't believe in sin and think they can get to heaven by being a good person. This isn't true.
If you were a parent, could you make the rules? And if your children broke a rule, wouldn't you have the ability to give them a consequence for disobeying you? Picture it like God is the parent and He made some rules for us to follow if we want to live in His house. If we don't do as He says to be saved, then we can't live with Him in heaven.
Sin is basically breaking one of God's laws. He created us so He can create any laws He wants and we have to abide by them. He is the potter and we are the clay. He can make us into whatever He wants and create any law for us (Isaiah 64:8). Fortunately the laws He created are made to help and not hurt us.
It's similar to the laws we have within our governments. We personally didn't make the laws. We might not like them or want to follow them, but if we get caught breaking them we will face a consequence. If we get caught stealing a car we will probably go to jail. It is the same with God. He made them and we have to follow them.
Fortunately for us, God sent His Son Jesus to make an atonement for our sins. Before Jesus came we had to sacrifice an animal as a temporary covering of our sins. Jesus was perfect in every way and was a perfect sacrifice for all of our sins. He came to fulfill the laws of the old testament (Matthew 5:17). We no longer have to follow the civil laws that were outlined in the old testament, but still have to follow the others.
Someone asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was and He responded with this:
And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Jesus said that all of the law can be followed by following those two commandments. If you love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself, then you don't have to worry about anything. That's not always so easy though. Jesus said that if we even call our brother a "fool" we would be found guilty and would go to hell. (Matthew 5:22) This is why we can only make it into heaven through Jesus.
One last point on forgiveness is that we are not only called to get forgiveness for our sins but that we should also forgive others. This is usually a stumbling block for people because they have never heard it and because it can be hard to forgive others. Jesus gave a parable about someone that received forgiveness for a debt they couldn't pay but refused to forgive others of their debt. (Matthew 18:21-35) It ended with Jesus saying that if you don't forgive people, then His Father (God) won't forgive you. Without forgiveness, you will not be allowed to enter into heaven.
Ask, Seek, Knock
Just like some people think that you can get to heaven by being a good person, they also think that there are many ways to heaven. This also isn't true. Jesus said that “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6 ).
Now is a good time to mention that some people don't rely on the Bible as the true "how to get to heaven book" because it is just a book. It isn't just a book, it is actually made up of many scrolls and letters that have been combined into one book. The scrolls and letters are some of the oldest writings known to man and have been passed down through many generations. There are even other non-religious historical texts that confirm people and events in the bible.
The bible is the inspired word of God and is what we should go by regarding how to get to heaven. You can try other methods, but most of the methods came way after these scrolls and letters were written. If you do try the other methods, I must warn you that you are risking an awful lot.
Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it."
He says the gate is narrow because there will be many that don't believe His way is the only way. Jesus is widely known for performing miracles and giving power to His disciples to perform miracles. Are there any other historical figures that performed miracles and said their way is the only way? Even Muslims (2nd largest religion) believe that Jesus was a true prophet of God and performed miracles, but yet don't say there own prophet performed any.
The point of this article isn't to reveal why Jesus and the Christian bible is true, but to point that Jesus is the only way to heaven. As I mentioned earlier, you can try another way, but is it worth the risk? We have about a maximum of 120 years of life here on earth and eternity afterwards. Do you want to spend eternity in heaven or hell? There isn't a middle option. It's one or the other.
Jesus said that if we ask, we will receive and if we knock the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8) If you believe in Him and ask to be saved, you will be saved. He is willing for you to be saved right now. If you are willing, you can put your trust in Jesus and you will be saved and can go to heaven when you die.
Confess and Say the Prayer
Are you are ready to take the next step and choose to accept and follow Jesus? If so, read the following scripture, which explains how a person gets saved so they can go to heaven when they die.
Romans 10:9-13 says:
That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
If you are ready to pray the prayer of salvation, then read out loud the following prayer:
I believe that God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. I believe that He raised again on the third day. I confess you as my ONLY Lord and Savior right now. Please forgive me of my sins, deliver me from my afflictions, and baptize me in the Holy Spirit. I willingly choose to serve you.
In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Congratulations! You have just taken a huge step in your faith in Jesus. Let us know if you said this prayer in the comments section down below so we can pray for you!
Follow Your Creator
If you truly believe in the prayer you just said, then you can have the assurance that you will go to heaven when you die. Your next step is to start reading the bible and learning more about who God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. I recommend reading the entire new testament before reading the old testament. It may get confusing if you read the old testament first.
Now that you are a Christian you should follow your Creator and what He has said to do and how you should live your life. It is all found in the bible. One of them is to carry out the great commission and get baptized. We won't cover former topic in this article, but you can learn more on our Scripture on the Great Commission blog article.
Mark 16:16 says "The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned." I don't believe you need to be baptized to be saved, but you should do it. Baptism is a public confession of your decision to follow Christ.
While baptism isn't necessarily a prerequisite to go to heaven, confessing Jesus as your Lord and savior is. Jesus said “Therefore, everyone who confesses Me before people, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before people, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32-33)
You can be baptized by any disciple of Jesus. You can go to the lake, river, pool, bathtub, or anywhere there is water.
You may be asking, why did you include follow your creator as a step to get to heaven? I included it not as a step to get to heaven, but as an attribute to show that if you truly believe, you will want to do what Jesus said. If you don't truly believe you probably won't follow His teachings. Jesus said that people can cast out demons and do miracles in His name, but still not be able to enter into heaven.
Matthew 7:21-23 says:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
This scripture tells me that some people pick and choose what teachings of Christ they want to follow. In the above scripture, the people were able to cast out demons and do miracles, but Jesus said they were lawless. Meaning they didn't follow the commands of Jesus. I don't want to get into the "once saved always saved" debate, but it appears that either people can lose their salvation or they were never saved in the first place.
Whichever argument is right, we can be on the safe side and choose to follow Jesus and His commandments. Jesus said "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15) Our greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. (Matthew 22:37) If you love Jesus then you will automatically want to do as He says and won't have to worry about whether you will go to heaven or not.
For me, I love Jesus and choose to follow Him and His teachings. I also fail and sin sometimes. Will I go to hell because of it? No. Jesus died and willingly became the sacrifice for our sins because we can't not sin. We are created as an imperfect creature that has to rely on God to be perfect.
What do I do if I sin then? I just repent and try not to do it again. I am confident that Jesus is bigger than any sin I can ever commit. I am also not foolish enough to think that I can just do whatever I want and not expect consequences to my actions.
Don't let these things worry you though. Say the prayer of salvation and confess Jesus as Lord, then you will be saved. No one is perfect. Start reading your bible and try to follow His teachings and you will be just fine.
Conclusion
The key to getting into heaven is simply believing in Jesus and confessing that He is your Lord and Savior. God designed it to be this way after Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. Jesus is willing to accept anyone that will knock on His door and ask. Once you do, He will let you in. Believe in Him and start reading the new testament and you will be on the path to growing in your new faith in Christ.
If you take away one thing from this article, it's that Jesus is only way how to go to heaven and all that call on Him will be saved. (Romans 10:13)
Are you interested in starting a house church? Let us know at our Contact Us page!
Do you know someone that needs to read this page? Please share it with them!
If you enjoyed this article please press the heart button, share and leave a comment below. These things tell Googles algorithm to show it to more people.
Please let us know in the comments if you said the prayer of salvation or if you want to join a house church!
