Church Family News: Sunday 9th February 2025
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith –
and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God –
not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
Are you going to heaven?
There can be few more important questions. After all, it concerns where we will be spending eternity. The question itself raises two further questions: Can we know that we are going to heaven? How can we be sure we are going to heaven?
The Bible is clear that we can know that we are going to heaven. A couple of examples from the Gospels make that plain. There is the thief crucified on the cross next to Jesus who, when he asks Jesus to remember him when he comes into his kingdom, hears these precious words from Jesus: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Here is a promise that he will be in heaven when he dies (which will be very soon).
Then there is the parable Jesus tells about the Pharisee and the tax collector who went up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee thanks God that he is not like other people, essentially taking pride in his own goodness. Meanwhile, the tax collector “beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’” And Jesus pronounces the following verdict: “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified” (Luke 18:13-14). That is, this man went home in the right with God; he will be going to heaven when he dies.
We might add that it would be strange for God to keep us in the dark about something as important as this: whether or not we are going to heaven. This brings us to our second question: How can we be sure we are going to heaven?
One very good way of digging into this question is to ask yet another question: “Suppose you were to die tonight, and God asks you why he should let you into heaven, what would you say?” This reveals where we are putting our confidence, what we are trusting in, what we are relying on. We can trust in God and his mercy, as the tax collector did, or we can trust in our own goodness, as the Pharisee did.
If we answer by saying something like this, “Because I’ve been good, or at least not too bad… Because I’ve gone to church, read my Bible and said my prayers… Because I’ve not done anyone any harm… Because I’ve lived a good life, tried to help people and given to charity… Because I’ve kept the ten commandments… Because I’ve been baptised and confirmed and I take Holy Communion…,” then we show we are relying on our own goodness. But, left to ourselves, we can never be good enough for God’s perfect and holy presence in heaven.
If on the other hand we answer by saying something like this, “Because Jesus died for my sins, and I trust in him,” then we show that we are relying not on what we have done, but on what Jesus has done for us. In other words, we are relying on God’s grace rather than our works. In that case, we can be sure that we are going to heaven, because it has all been done for us by Jesus, and all we need to do is put our faith in him. We are saved by grace, through faith, and not by works.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for your amazing grace; it saved a wretch like me and will lead me home. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)