How To Know You're Going To Heaven In 30 Seconds

Acts 16:29-32, “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.”

Here is a wonderful excerpt from Michael P. Bowen's helpful book titled: “I NEVER KNEW YOU: The Horror Of The Great White Throne Judgement And How You Can Avoid It”:

Here is the gospel: God says that we are sinners and that no amount of good works or behavioral changes on our part could ever make us holy enough to enter heaven. God sent His Son to pay for all of our sins. Jesus paid for our crimes by dying on the cross for us all. His dead body was buried in a grave. On the third day, Jesus arose from the dead. The instant you believe this, He knows it and He saves you. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life”(John 6:47). The free gift is based solely upon your trust in what Jesus did for you and has nothing at all to do with what you do for Him. “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” (Ephesians 2:8-9). ~ Michael P. Bowen, “I Never Knew You,” p xii

Amen! There you have it friend, how to know that you're going to Heaven in just 30 seconds. 

We could stop right there and be done with this blog, but if you'd like to learn more, please give me the opportunity to elaborate a bit more on the subject of salvation. You are a guilty sinner and so am I. There is a penalty for sin, which is both physical death and the second death in Hell. But Jesus is the sinless Savior, the only begotten Son of God—Who died on the cross for our sins. He was buried. Three days later He bodily resurrected from the dead. Simply believe this GOOD NEWS (GOSPEL) dear friend and you are saved! Simply BELIEVE that Jesus did it FOR YOU!!! That's it, that's all, no more.

I was thinking this morning about how simple it is to be saved. I've been typing out Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold's helpful sermon titled: “Why Lordship Salvation Is WRONG.” It is time consuming, to make sure I get it all correct, but it is my privilege to do it for Christ! It took me eight hours just to type out half of the sermon, but I am having a wonderful time, and laying up treasures in Heaven while I'm at it. God willing, I will finish the sermon transcript today.

When I hear Pastor Yankee preach, my heart burns with joy over the simplicity of the Gospel. And I find myself compelled to do more to get people saved. So this is my way of contributing further to help preach the Gospel and get folks saved, and to help encourage other believers to share the Gospel, so that more people can be saved and go to Heaven (Proverbs 11:30).

Dear friend, you are a sinner. That is the bad news! There is a penalty for sin, which is death—both a physical death (Romans 6:23) and a second death (Revelation 21:8)—forever separated from God in Hell (Revelation 20:15). But the Good News is that Jesus loves you so much that would would rather die than live without you (John 3:16). So He came down from Heaven to earth, as the Christ—the only begotten Son of God—and He died for your sins and mine on the cross of Calvary's hill (Romans 5:6-9). Jesus died, was buried and three days later He physically resurrected from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). If you'll simply BELIEVE that Jesus did it for you friend, you will be immediately, irrevocably and permanently saved. That's it, that's all, no more! John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

That's it, that's all, no more! We are the SINNER, and Jesus is the SAVIOR! That is so simple. Acts 16:31b, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...” I suppose I could have titled this article, “How To Know That You're Going To Heaven In 2 Seconds“: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...” (Acts 16:31b).

You do need to know the FACTS of salvation to be saved. You must know that you are a sinner (Romans 3:23). You must know that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten (biological) Son of God (John 20:31). You must know that Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins, and that He was buried and three days later resurrected from the dead. This is THE GOSPEL by which we are saved who believe it (1st Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 1:16). These are the FACTS which a person must acknowledge and believe (put your trust in personally) to get to Heaven. Simply believe that Jesus did it for you!!!

Even a small child can understand that Jesus died on the cross, to pay for the things which we have done that are wrong. Even a small child can understand that Jesus didn't stay dead, but He came back to life and went back up to Heaven and is alive today. Any child can understand that they have done bad things, for which they deserve to be punished. But if we will simply trust Jesus, accepting His sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins, then we won't appear as guilty sinners anymore in God's sight. Instead, God will only see Jesus' blood that He shed to wash away our sins. The concept is so simple.

I fully agree with Pastor Yankee that the reason why most Christians today aren't telling other people how to get to Heaven, is simply because preachers today have made the Gospel so difficult and hard and complicated, that people just don't know what to say to lead others to Christ. But dear reader, it is so simple to be saved!!! God had to make it simple, otherwise dumb people and those who are mentally challenged, couldn't be saved. I say that kindly but truthfully.

Pastor John MacArthur's Hard And Complicated Gospel

As hard as it is to grasp, Pastor John MacArthur's Calvinist plan of salvation is so difficult and hard and complicated and corrupt, that he publicly said (and I quote): “There is no such thing as a childhood conversion.” Of course not, because John MacArthur's false gospel is so complicated that a child couldn't possibly understand it. That is NOT the simplicity that is in Christ, which is THE GOSPEL:

2nd Corinthians 11:3-4, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”

Sadly, John MacArthur preaches another gospel—a complicated and very difficult gospel to follow, which is comprised of partial faith in Christ plus human works. In MacArthur's hard plan of salvation, you are required to “turn away from your sin” to be saved. The Bible does not teach that requirement, which would be KEEPING THE LAW for salvation.

False Prophet: Pastor John F. MacArthur

On September 25, 1990 at the Calvary Baptist Church in Brewer, Maine (Pastor Larry Pawson), Dr. MacArthur was involved in a question and answer session which was publicly taped. During that session he said the following about child salvation:

"Now let me say this and I don’t want you to panic when I say it. Saving faith is an ADULT ISSUE. Saving faith is an ADULT EXPERIENCE. Salvation is an ADULT EXPERIENCE. Am I saying that a child cannot be saved? I’m saying that salvation is a conscious turning from sin to follow Jesus Christ with an understanding of something of the sinfulness of sin, its consequences and something of who Jesus Christ is, what He has provided and that I’m committing my life to Him. At what point can a child understand that?... I tell parents that salvation is an adult decision... There is no illustration in Scripture of childhood salvation. There is none. People want to throw the Philippian jailer and his household; well that’s talking about his servants so there is no reference there about his children. So there is no such thing as a childhood conversion." READ MORE

MacArthur is saying that if a child is to be saved he must understand as an adult, make an adult decision and have an adult experience. The Lord Jesus taught that to be saved adults must become as little children (Matthew 18:3); MacArthur teaches that to be saved children must become as adults.

I dearly love this man, and godly men like him; such as: Pastors' Curtis Hutson, Max Younce, Harry Ironside and others who preach a simple free grace Gospel. So many preachers today are preaching a difficult and complicated gospel message, which is NOT the truth. A counterfeit gospel message cannot produce the new birth. Jesus warned in John 3:3b, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again.

There are three FACTS that you must know and BELIEVE (trust, rely upon) to be saved:

• WHO Jesus is - He is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God (John 20:31)
• WHAT He did - Jesus DIED, was BURIED and three days later RESURRECTED from the dead for the justification of our faith in Him (1st Corinthians 15:1-4)
• WHY He did it - Because we are guilty sinners, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)

If you accept these FACTS as the truth—choosing to TRUST IN THE GOOD NEWS of the Lord Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day—then you are indeed saved certain. Nothing more is required. If saved, always saved!!! 1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” I love that Bible verse!

Dear reader, if I haven't made it simple enough how to be saved, let me be as plain as possible—you must simply BELIEVE that Jesus did it for you! 

“I saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, the same yesterday and today and forever.” —Evangelist John Bunyan (1628-1688)

You see friend, it is as simple as this—you and I are guilty sinners! We have all done some pretty bad things in our life. I know I sure have, things that I am not proud of and I wish I could erase from my past, but I cannot; and so have you, if you'll be honest with yourself. Did you know that Christ died for our self-righteousness too? (MP3 sermon by Pastor Jack Hyles)

The Bible teaches that nothing defiled can enter into Heaven (1st Corinthians 6:9-11; Revelation 21:27). If you've ever commit even one sin, you cannot enter into Heaven! You don't have to be good to get into Heaven, you must be totally perfect! No one is perfect except the sinless Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. That is why we need HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS (Matthew 6:33). We need God imputed righteousness credited to our record in Heaven (Romans 4:4-7). Amen! Jesus takes our sins upon Himself and He puts His righteousness upon us, at the moment of faith. This is the gift of God (Romans 6:23).

God loves you dear friend. He was willing to die for you! Romans 5:6-9 says some people would die for a godly man, some might even sacrifice their life for a good man, but who would die for a guilty criminal? Jesus, that's Who! CHRIST DIED FOR SINNERS!!! Christ died for you and for me, paying a debt that He did not owe, because we owed a debt of sin that we could not pay.

The payment has already been made by Christ through the cross of Calvary's hill. The shed blood of the Lamb of God has been sprinkled upon the heavenly Mercy Seat, on our behalf in the presence of God the Father (Hebrews 9:12, 22-24; 12:24). Therefore, you don't even have to "ask" Jesus to save you, because the payment has already been made for your sins. You must take it by faith! JUST BELIEVE!!! Forgiveness of sins and eternal life are a free gift from God, paid for by Jesus Christ, which you simply need to accept by faith. So you don't need to ASK God to save you, just BELIEVE that Jesus did it for you!!!

If you have never done so, simply take God's free gift of eternal life by faith dear friend, by taking God at His Word in the Holy Scripture. Just accept what God has already recorded in His Word concerning Christ—how that He died on the cross according to the Scriptures for our sins, and that He was buried, and according to the Scriptures He raised up from the dead physically on the third day. These THREE facts (Christ's death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection) are Biblically called: “THE GOSPEL” (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). This is the GOOD NEWS! Simply BELIEVE THE GOOD NEWS dear reader, and you will be instantly and forever saved!!! The chose is yours alone to make. Please don't delay, because today could be the last day of your life here on earth (Proverbs 27:1). Jesus is precious!!!

Acts 16:29-32, “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.”