Plan of Salvation

The Plan of Salvation

There are several ways to explain what the Bible says about getting into heaven, known as “the plan of salvation”, and how you can know for sure that you will go to heaven someday.  The following is one way of explaining “the plan of salvation” that we hope will be helpful to you as you seek God. We’ve included Bible reference verses you can look up in your Bible that may be of help to you.

Lets begin with two questions -

1. Have you come to a place in your spiritual life where you know for certain, if you were to die today you would go to heaven? (1 John 5:13)

2. Suppose you were to die today and stand before God, and He asked you, “Why should I let you into My heaven?” What would you say?

We would like to share with you what the Bible says about getting into heaven, and how you can know for sure you’ll go to heaven. (2nd Timothy 3:16a)

The good news is that the Bible actually says, eternal life in heaven is a free gift. It’s not earned by us. (Romans 3:27,28; Romans 6:23b; Ephesians 2:8,9; Titus 3:5a)

To better understand this concept, suppose your best friend bought you a gift for your birthday and you responded by immediately digging into your wallet for a couple of bucks to help pay for it. Your friend would probably feel a little insulted, wouldn’t you agree?

Well, it’s the same type of thing when accepting God’s free gift of eternal life. If you try to pay for part of it by claiming it was earned by you for the good things you did in your life, it’s no longer a gift is it?

So we know eternal life in heaven is a gift and it can’t be earned. It’s also important to understand that eternal life in heaven isn’t deserved either. This can be seen more clearly when we understand what the Bible has to say about mankind.

The Bible says, everyone has sinned. (Romans 3:23; 1st John 1:8+10; Romans 3:12; James 2:10; Matthew 5:21-22).  And because God is holy and perfect, He will not allow sin or sinners to stand in His presence or enter His heaven. (Matthew 5:48)

Now sin simply stated is any thought, word or deed that displeases God. So clearly, all of us have sinned at least once in our lives, wouldn’t you agree?

Even if you only sinned three times a day (e.g., you had a hateful thought towards the guy that cut you off on the freeway, you lied to someone about why you were late for an appointment, and you ignored someone in need when you could have helped), you’d still probably be considered some sort of a saint by human standards if that’s all you did.  However, most of us sin more than just three times a day.  Even so, if you only sinned three times a day, that would be 1,095 sins a year!  And, if you lived to be 75 years old, you’d be facing God with a total of 82,125 sins against you!!!

So, we have here what initially looks like a big problem, our sin. Because even one sin, is one sin too many, when it comes to entering into heaven. What’s more, the Bible states the punishment for sin is death, which is eternal separation from God in Hell. (Romans 6:23a; Revelations 20:14; John 3:18-21)

Think of it like this, suppose you made an omelet with four good eggs and one rotten egg, you couldn’t serve it to company and expect it to be acceptable could you?  Of course not.

Like the eggs, our lives are made up of things men would call good, and thoughts, words and deeds that God would consider rotten, making us completely unacceptable to God.

Now this comes into sharper focus when we understand what the Bible says about God.

The Bible says God loves us so much He sent His son Jesus (who never sinned) to pay for our sins. (John 3:16-17; 1st Peter 22+24; 1st Corinthians 15:3b-4) God would like to see all of us go to heaven and doesn’t want any of us to perish. (2 Peter 3:9b) However, the Bible clearly shows God will punish sin because He is a Holy and Just God. (Exodus 34:7b; Romans 6:23a; Revelation 20:14)

Imagine if you faced a traffic court judge with 82,125 parking tickets (remember, that’s how many sins you’d have against you if you only sinned three times a day and lived to be 75 years old).  Do you really think the human judge would let you off the hook with no punishment?  If he did, he’d be unjust by not enforcing the law. So, human judges are expected to sentence the guilty, right? …. Well then, how much more should we expect justice from a Holy God.

So, on one hand God loves us and doesn’t want to punish us, but on the other hand, He is a Just God and will punish our sin. Fortunately, God solved our problem through Jesus.

Who do you think Jesus was?

The Bible quotes Jesus as saying He is God. (John 10:30) The Bible also says Jesus existed before the world was created and that He created everything there is. (John 1:1,3,14)

But, at the same time the Bible says Jesus was born of the virgin Mary and was a man who lived a completely sinless life. So, he was 100% God and became 100% man, all at the same time.

The important thing to understand is that the Bible says Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for our sins and to purchase a place for us in heaven. God punished Jesus in our place for our guilt and our sins. (Romans 3:24-25a; 1st Corinthians 15:3b,4; Isaiah 53:6) But now Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven and offers eternal life to us as a gift. (John 14:6)

The question now becomes, how can we get this free gift of eternal life in heaven?

Recognizing you’re a sinner, you must now turn from your sins and turn to God. Stop heading away from God and start heading towards Him by reading His Word the Bible and following His teachings. (Matthew 4:17; Mark 6:12; Luke 24:47; Acts 3:19; Acts 26:20) And, accept the gift of eternal life in heaven Jesus wants to give you. 

This gift is received by a special kind of faith, called saving faith. Saving faith is the special key that opens the door to heaven. For example, you probably have several keys on you key chain. Most of the keys probably look similar, but only one opens your car door. No matter how much you sincerely trust and believe that another key will open your car door, only the right key will open it.

Like the key to your car, the only key that will open the door to heaven is saving faith. The problem is, many people miss heaven because they keep trying to use the wrong key and thus have the wrong kind of faith. 

But before we look at what saving faith is, lets quickly look at what it isn’t. Saving faith isn’t mere intellectual knowledge or agreement of certain historical facts. The Bible tells us that even Satan and the demons know Jesus is the Son of God, but they’re not going to go to heaven. (Luke 4:41; Matthew 8:28-34) Nor is saving faith temporal faith, like turning to God when your in a momentary crisis.

Saving faith is completely trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life in heaven.

Here’s one way of looking at it. Imagine you’re trying to drive your car from here to heaven. If you keep trying to steer the car yourself (i.e., if you keep trying to earn you way to heaven), you’ll never make it. The only way to get to heaven is to stop the car, move to the back seat and let Jesus drive. We say back seat because many people acknowledge Jesus, but they only move to the passenger side of the front seat and constantly try to reach over and help Jesus steer the car, believing they still have to earn their way to heaven through good works. The problem is, when they reach over to take the wheel of the car they crash and never make it to heaven because they didn’t completely trust Jesus to get them there.

Here’s another example.  In the late 1800’s there was a man named Blondin who entertained tourist at Niagara Falls by walking across the falls on a tight rope. One day after watching him effortlessly cross back and forth on the tight rope he asked the crowd if they thought he could cross the falls with a man on his back. They all agreed he could. Then he asked one of the men in the crowd that was sure he could do it, to climb on his back. The man refused Blondin’s offer. The moral of the story; The man had faith that Blondin could cross the falls on a tight rope with a man on his back, but he was unwilling to put his faith into action by actually climbing on Blondin’s back and going with him across the falls. Saving faith requires a faith that produces action in a person. If you really believe in Jesus you will climb on his back.

So, the only way to make it into heaven is to completely trust Jesus Christ 100% to get you there, by accepting him as your complete and total Savior. (John 3:16; John 11:25)  It’s all or nothing. We’re talking 100% Jesus, 0% your own efforts.  Why?  Because if you could partially earn your way into heaven, then you could boast that you partially saved yourself and that Jesus really wasn’t a “savior” because he really didn’t do it all. (Ephesians 2:9)

We should mention, good works are important, but not when it comes to getting into heaven. Good works are the fruit of our salvation, not the root of it. As Christians, Christ Jesus is both our Savior and our Lord.  We follow His commandments the best we can out of gratitude for all He has done for us, and because as the Creator we know Christ Jesus knows what’s best for us in the long run.

Does all this make sense to you? Would you like to receive the gift of eternal life in heaven by praying now to accept Christ Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior? If so, you may pray the following prayer.

Dear God, I admit that I am a sinner and that I am completely unworthy of heaven. I am very sorry for my sins and I ask for Your forgiveness. I now truly believe that your son Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all my sins and now sits at Your right hand in heaven. Lord Jesus, I invite you right now to come into my heart and be the Lord and Savior of my life. I now turn from my sins and put all my trust in you to get me into heaven. I agree to follow you as both my Savior and my Lord for the rest of my life. Thank you for hearing me and receiving me. Thank you for saving my soul. I ask this in the name of Christ Jesus my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you sincerely prayed to receive the free gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus, your salvation is secure and can never be lost. (John 6:47; 1st John 5:12)

Now it’s important to read the Bible every day. Remember, Jesus is not only your Savior, He’s your Lord too and He wants to reveal Himself more fully to you through His Word, the Bible. (2nd Timothy 3:16) Start by reading the book of John, followed by Romans and 1st Corinthians in the New Testament. Then read the rest of the New Testament before reading the Old Testament. We suggest you read the “New Living Translation” edition.  It’s one of the newer English translations that’s both very accurate and very easy to read.

Be sure to also start attending a Bible believing church that follows the Bible to the letter. Also make arrangements to make a public profession of your faith by getting scripturally baptized: which the Bible describes as complete submersion underwater, representing Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.

Welcome to the family of God and the blessings of His son Christ Jesus.  If you prayed to receive eternal life in heaven through Christ Jesus, please e-mail us so we can share in your joy.