JESUS’ EXPLANATION OF HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN

Who better to ask than Jesus?

The issue, “Am I going to Heaven?” is vital for each of us to consider. It would be horrible at the end of life to learn one had missed Heaven and had to go the other direction. We want the answer to be from a reliable source. Jesus was and is the most reliable source on the subject!

A person can be described by different names: son, husband, father, or brother. Jesus is described by many different terms. One name; among many used in the Bible for Jesus is “the Word.” Jesus is referred to as “clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God” (Revelation 19:13). Jesus is called, God’s Word. Placing the name Jesus along with Word, we read, “In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word [Jesus] was with God, and the Word [Jesus] was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him [Jesus], and without Him [Jesus] nothing was made that was made. In Him [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1-4). The Bible states that Jesus is God and that He is the creator of life, and He came from Heaven to rescue His creation.

Nicodemus was described in the Bible as being a ruler of the Jews. History gives the added information that he was a Pharisee; a member of the Sanhedrin, and his full name was Nakdimon Ben Gurion. At the time of Jesus, He was one of the three richest nobles in
Jerusalem. His distinguished family was highly respected and even today passengers flying into Israel, land at Ben Gurion International Airport! (www.jewishjewels.org, January 2010).

One night Nicodemus came to Jesus with questions. Jesus understood what he was searching for, basically how one gets to Heaven. The conversation between them was recorded in twenty-one consecutive verses in the Bible. (John 3:1-21) Looking at the answer Jesus gave we can discover what He would say to us if we were able to have a face to face discussion with Him.

So, how does one get to Heaven? Let us study what Jesus said!

Nicodemus knew that Jesus was from God, and he came to Him wanting an answer to his concern. Jesus understood his unspoken question and said that a person must be “born again,” literally born from above (John 3:3) in order to see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus was not familiar with the term and asked if Jesus meant one had to go back into the womb and come out a second time. No, once a child comes out they do not go back into the womb. A pregnant woman carries the baby in a sack of water, the amniotic fluid. Once the water breaks, the baby will soon be born. Jesus clarifies “born of water” as being “born of flesh.” He was not saying we need to be born over and over but explained that one must be born twice, needing both a physical and a spiritual birth.

Jesus repeated the fact that two births were needed. To understand the solution to a problem one must first understand what the problem is. Nicodemus was familiar with the account of how God originally created the human race and the tragic separation that followed. He had extensively studied Genesis, the Hebrew book of beginnings, which documented how God had created Adam and Eve perfect in body, soul, and spirit. The three— God, Adam and Eve had walked and talked together in the Garden of Eden. It was a place without thorns, pain and death. They experienced a beautiful relationship, but God warned them, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

The Problem

God had declared what the consequence of disobedience would be, “You shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17). While physical death is separation from the body, spiritual death is the result of separation from God. Adam and Eve’s relationship with God was broken. They became spiritually dead. Because of God’s holiness and our sinfulness we cannot go directly to God without Jesus. God is a God of love, but He is also a Holy God and cannot ignore sin. King David wrote, “Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? ” (Psalm 77:13).

Spiritual Death

A rose plucked from its root (source of life) begins to wilt and die. So too, the human race cut off from God by sin, died spiritually and became mortal. Adam and Eve had children and each child, though born physically alive, was born with a sin nature and spiritually separated from God. “In Adam all die,” (1 Corinthians 15:22a). On top of that, we have added our own disobedience to the original sin. Scriptures tell us, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23). What Adam and Eve lost we need to regain. We need to have that relationship restored, to be reunited with God. We need to be born again spiritually!

God loves us and wants us to come to Heaven but not with our sin. If we went to Heaven as we are, with unrepentant sin, we would mess up Heaven. Look at the mess we have made down here. God says yes He loves us and wants us to come to Heaven, but our sin has to be dealt with first. Heaven is God’s home and He has the right to set standards.

The Remedy

Adam and Eve repented and sought God’s forgiveness, but, their disobedience was serious and could not just be ignored. God promised that He would provide a remedy. In the mean time, they were instructed to make a yearly blood sacrifice to show their confidence in God’s promise. They accepted God’s promise and expressed their faith by performing the offering; “For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins” (Leviticus 16:30). “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).

Through the years that followed, Adam and Eve had children, and their children had children. Some chose to follow God and trust Him for His provision, others rejected the concept of blood being necessary and tried to find other ways to appease God. Many rebelled and sought to live their lives as they saw fit. Cain, the first child born to Adam and Eve, tried to offer God fruits and vegetables instead of a blood sacrifice and God rejected his sacrifice, just as He will any substitute.

God’s Payment

Because we have sinned, we cannot produce a sacrifice that would be acceptable to God. Only a perfect sacrifice could be accepted. Jesus was without sin.

When trusting Christ for our salvation, we are trading our sin and its death penalty for His righteousness and life. God has pure eyes and cannot even look at evil without having to judge it. “But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness” (Isaiah 5:16). “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Spiritual Life

How was God going to restore spiritual life to Adam and Eve and their descendants? The Bible tells us: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Why would Jesus Christ choose to become human? C. S. Lewis said it well, “The Son of God became a man that men might become sons of God.”

Our physical freedom has been purchased for us by the blood of many soldiers on the battlefield. Only Jesus Christ was qualified and able to pay the price for our spiritual freedom. Christ was the only one who could help us, the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, the Passover Lamb. “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5,6; 1 Corinthians 5:7b).

The prophecy came to pass. Jesus was condemned to the death penalty. He was whipped so severely that the flesh was torn from His body. He was beaten so horrific that His body was shredded and his beard was ripped from His face. A crown with thorns, two to three inches in length, cut deeply into His scalp. He endured the humiliation and strain of carrying His cross, estimated to be 400 pounds. The crowd spat in his face and threw stones. Nails six to eight inches long were driven into His wrists. Both of His feet were nailed together. Forced to alternate between arching His back and using his legs just to breathe, He endured it for over three hours. Finally, a Roman guard pierced His side with a spear. Only water poured out as He had no blood left. Jesus endured this so that sin could be “washed” away and free access to God made possible. JESUS CHRIST died for you and me! If it were not necessary for Jesus to pay this price, God would never have required it. If there was any other way… but there was not, JESUS IS THE ONLY SALVATION FOR THE WORLD.

The innocent Lamb of God promised in the Garden of Eden came to deliberately die in our place. His physical death was not the end of the story. The Apostle Paul gave this testimony,

Victory

The crowning point of Christ’s death and burial is the fact of His resurrection! In all of human history, only Jesus Christ was able to pronounce victory over death. (I Corinthians 15:54- 56). Such a blessed hope, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection,” (Philippians 3:10). Jesus arose and once again is in Heaven, and He is interceding for us before His Father’s Throne. God’s original design for mankind was interrupted but not destroyed. The Apostle John tells us that one day those who have been born again will enjoy an unhindered relationship with God for eternity (Revelation 21:3-7).

You Must Be Born Again

Jesus compared being born again to the wind. Although it is invisible, it can be undeniably powerful. Spiritual birth may be difficult to explain; but when individuals experience the new birth, they know it and others can see a change in their lives. A new, divine power is at work through Christ; we can be born again.

Throughout Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, the need for a second birth is emphasized.

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God” (1 John 5:1a). “This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth” (1 John 5:6).

“And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13).

Authority of Jesus

Nicodemus still had difficulty understanding. Jesus again affirmed both His authority and message as He stated to him that what he was telling was the truth.

Jesus had illustrated the power of God in the natural world by relating to the miracle of physical birth and the invisible force of the wind. He asked Nicodemus, a well-educated Jewish religious teacher, how he explained spiritual truth to others since he himself did not understand. Apparently Nicodemus had to use abstract words like: maybe, might, could be, possibly, we can speculate, assume, and think. As the Son of God, Jesus spoke with Divine authority. What a contrast this was, and is to so-called spiritual authorities who could not and cannot with clarity or conviction, explain how to get to Heaven. Since Heaven was Jesus’ eternal home, He was not just offering religious speculation or human reasoning but rather, facts.

Jesus referred Nicodemus to the account of Moses and the Israelites in the desert. An Old Testament scholar, Nicodemus knew how Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt only to see his people wander in the desert because of their unbelief. The Israelites complained:

“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food. Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people.

Each person had the choice of life or death. Those who would not look at the serpent and seek God’s forgiveness, died. Those who obeyed and looked at the serpent on the pole and called upon God to save them from their snake bite lived. The people’s hearts needed to be humble enough to trust God for help and to obey His directions. Would they follow his simple instructions, could they learn to trust God?

Jesus identified that wilderness experience as a picture of His coming role on the Cross. In a clear prophecy concerning His death on the cross, Jesus explained to Nicodemus that it was God’s will for Him to be crucified in order that those who look to Him might be given new life. Jesus would die on a Cross so that everyone bitten by the “snakebite” of sin could look to the Cross and be saved.

We cannot work our way, or slide into salvation; it takes a definite step of acknowledging sin in one’s life and calling upon Jesus Christ to apply His shed blood to pay for our sin. Jesus says that all who call upon Him for His help He will respond to with a “yes.” He’s just waiting to be asked. “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).

Believe “in” Christ

In what can be identified as the most familiar passage of Scripture, Jesus explained to Nicodemus it was because of love that He came to die.

We are to believe IN Jesus Christ, not just ABOUT Him. Jesus chose the expression “believes in” three times, including “whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus repeated the promise of eternal life to all who would believe in Him. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). What is the difference between in and about?

For years, I believed ABOUT Jesus. Knowing that Jesus Christ had died on the Cross and that His blood paid for all sin, I assumed that my sin was automatically forgiven. I did not understand that we all must individually accept Christ’s payment for our sin debt (Isaiah 53). Trying to do what I thought was good did not make me a Christian and did not grant me forgiveness or eternal life. I had not personally believed IN Him and accepted His life-giving covering for my sins. A personal commitment is needed. A simple illustration may help. Believing that Jesus is the resurrected Son of God but not accepting Him personally would be like receiving a check made out by Him for the full payment of sin with our name on it, but never cashing it. Believing about the check is fine, but to get to Heaven we need to receive the check and present it as our payment. If we were to try to write our own check, our funds would be insufficient.

All Have Sinned

Paul describes our predicament, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18, 19). Feeling sorry does not help us get rid of sin. We must see sin as God sees it and repent. Jesus gave the urgent invitation, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

The Bible teaches that God has “raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). In order to reach a destination, one must get on board an airplane, not just believe about airplanes. Only in Christ can we reach our destination of Heaven. Christ alone is worthy; those who accept Christ’s message are in Christ and Christ is in them (Colossians 1:27). The followers of Jesus Christ were called Christ-i-ans / Christ-in, the origin of the term Christian (Acts 11:26b). When we believe in or on Jesus, not just about Him, right then and there, God has promised to provide us with everlasting life.

Jesus reminded Nicodemus that God loves and desires to have fellowship with us, but since the time of Adam and Eve, our inherited sin nature has prevented that fellowship. We need to accept His offer of forgiveness and eternal life.

Christ stands interceding for us before His Father in Heaven. By the Father’s acceptance of Jesus’ finished work, He accepts those who are in His Son. Christ is “able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25; also Romans 6:9-10). Christ does intercede for us, perhaps like this:

“Father, I love Gloria, I have fulfilled the requirements to pay for her sin. I have asked her to allow me to come into her heart and life and be her Savior. She has agreed to receive me, and I received her. I am in her, and she is in me. We are now one. As you love me, Father, I ask you to love her and receive her as your daughter.”

As you read this, you can insert your name. Isn’t it beautifully simple? That is the invitation of love found in John 3:16, 17.

Jesus did not come to condemn us: we were already condemned and on “death row.” He died in our place, giving us an opportunity to be pardoned, to choose eternal life. The Apostle Paul said, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Jesus can save us from the death penalty of sin. He brings light into a dark world.

Jesus concluded his conversation with a stern warning, followed by a promise to those who choose the light:

Jesus made clear to Nicodemus that He is the “light.” Jesus repeated this truth later, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Knowing the human heart, Jesus Christ identified two types of people; some believe what they want to believe and live the way they want to live. They do not want to be confused by the facts. Others seek the truth and to the best of their ability, try to live accordingly. As with Adam and Eve, Moses and the children of Israel, we are provided a choice. We can choose the Light of the World or choose darkness. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36 KJV)

A New Relationship

In one of the saddest verses in the Bible, Jesus reveals that He “came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11). God allowed individuals and nations throughout history the liberty to choose. In Jesus’ day, as today, people choose to crucify Him. Not all rejected Christ as John affirmed, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Think of that—the right to become a child of God, born again into God’s family.

Then the preacher asked, “Gloria, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” If I had not responded to that question, or had said, “No,” we would not have been married, but I said, “I do.” When we were pronounced husband and wife, we were considered one. Our relationship changed from dating to being married. At this point in time, James’ father called me his daughter. I became a daughter of Jacob Goering by receiving his son as my husband. Likewise, we become a child of God by receiving His Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior. The way to the Father is through His Son. Jesus has already said on the Cross, “I do” to us—“I do want to be your Savior.” He simply waits for us to respond to Him. We need to choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

What qualifies us to be called God’s children? Is it riches, beauty, intelligence, athletic abilities, power, prestige, our own good works, religion, or penance? Absolutely not; natural attributes, internal qualities, or dead works cannot bring life. From Genesis to Revelation, the basis for salvation has always been simply receiving Jesus’ payment for our sins. Jesus was the Lamb of God who sacrificed His life so that we can become children of God. God’s plan of salvation is the same throughout the ages. The only difference is that before the Cross, people were looking forward in faith to the coming promise. After the Cross, they look back in faith at the accomplished promise.

When we believe in Jesus and that the blood of Christ has paid for our sins, God Himself declares that we are born into His family. We are “born from above” (John 1:12). At this time, God calls each of us His child. When He pronounces that our relationship has been changed, it truly has happened.

Our Debt Paid

As a young person, I sincerely believed that I loved God. It was not until September 20, 1959, that I personally asked Jesus Christ to apply His blood payment to my sin. I simply received His open invitation to choose Him. That day, for the first time, I trusted on Christ’s finished work on the Cross. I had not earlier realized that I needed to request that my debt of sin be paid by the blood of Christ. Many are in that same situation, trying to please God, but with their sins yet unforgiven. Is that your situation? We all have a sin debt that must be covered. The Apostle Paul, having trusted Christ shared: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin” (Romans 4:7, 8).

When we recognize our sin and invite Jesus Christ to apply His blood as payment for our personal sin account, He will. He has promised, or covenanted with us, that our sin is covered by His blood. When God sees the blood of the perfect Lamb, His own Son, applied to our sin, God declares that our sin debt—past, present, and future—is paid in full. Having entered into a covenant with Christ, Jesus promised that we will live where He lives: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3). For the individual who believes in Jesus, the lost fellowship with the Creator has been restored; God assures the Christian a place with Him forever, where the dead are alive, the blind can see, and the lame can walk. Jesus explained the necessity for God to work in our lives; the new birth through the blood of Christ gives those who choose eternal life. After the discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus concluded, Nicodemus was mentioned twice in the Bible, giving evidence that he had indeed become a believer (John 7:50-51; 19:38-42).

Have You Been Born Again?

When reflecting on Jesus’ conversation, where do you consider yourself to be in your spiritual journey? Having a consciousness of God and a desire to please Him does not provide anyone with eternal life. Over and over the Bible teaches the necessity of new birth in Christ: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).

Before a child is born, a mother can feel her baby move around until ultimately it gets into the position to be born. Our human responses to God, stimulating our spirit, helps us get into position for spiritual birth—head first, heart second, feet last. I thought that I loved God and tried to live for Him, but like Nicodemus, I was not yet born into His family. Then God moved my heart toward Him and brought me to the point of spiritual birth. God can show you what your spiritual position is with Him. Are you before spiritual birth, at the point of spiritual birth, or have you already been born again? You need to ascertain where you are in your spiritual journey.

GOD IS ALWAYS REACHING TOWARDS US

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If you know you are “born again,” that is great. If you do not know, then realize your need to be “born again.” Simply tell God that you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, apply the blood that He shed on the Cross to your sins, and really mean it with all your heart. According to Jesus’ promise to Nicodemus, you will be forgiven and be born into His family, giving you everlasting life, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). It is your choice. Do you want life, or do you want to continue in death? Only you can make the decision—the sooner, the better.

If you wish, you can become a Christian; wherever you are you can humbly receive Jesus Christ right now. Pray something like this:

God knows your heart attitude. One individual in the Bible prayed simply, “’God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified” (Luke 18:13b, 14a). Another prayed, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). It is not our choice of words, but our heart attitude that matters to God. Jesus has promised that God the Father will not turn anyone away who truly comes through Him. If this is something you know you have done in the past—great. If at this point you just sincerely asked Him to pay for your sin, did He? What just happened? Let us look again at John 1:12 where it says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12) Did you just receive Him? If you did, then God calls you a son or daughter. If God calls you a son or daughter, then what are you? You are indeed a child of God! You are “born again.” Nothing could be more marvelous! At what point in time are you “born again?” It is when you receive Jesus as your personal Savior. If you right now received Jesus, then right now would be your second birth, just as He promised. I have two birthdays, a physical one and a spiritual one. They are fifteen and a half years apart, and I celebrate both of them.

Do you think that you may have received Jesus already but are not completely certain? Why live in doubt? You can “confirm your reservation” for Heaven. Just tell the Lord you want to make sure,

“I need to confirm this with you. If I haven’t before today, Jesus I am now acknowledging that I can not in any way be acceptable for Heaven and desperately need your blood payment to be applied to my sins so that I may be redeemed! I want you to be in control of my life. Thank you for dying in my place so that I may be forgiven.”

Why not know for certain that you are God’s child? Remember His promise: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12, 13). It is important to confirm our eternal reservation before death, making certain that our reservation for Heaven is secure.

If you do not wish to ask the Lord to save you right now, that is your choice. There are no guarantees about the future, and the decision is all-important. Please do not wait! How awful to miss Heaven and spend all eternity in Hell. Jesus took the opportunity to tell Nicodemus how to get to Heaven because He knew how crucial it was. Jesus Christ died making that gift of eternal life possible. Do not dismiss His message.

If you have made a decision to accept God’s offer to become His child, I would enjoy hearing from you. If you are considering your position with God and desire further help or if you have questions, feel free to contact:

BE A GROWING CHRISTIAN

After accepting God’s rich gift of salvation, we need to grow in our Christian lives. God instructs us how. According to the Bible, God nurtures us when we are involved in the following activities:

Prayer: Prayer is simply talking to, and listening to God. Christ wants to lead us, to direct us in things we should or should not do and tells us to, “Pray without ceasing” (1Thessalonians 5:17). There are things we should do as well as things we should not do. Christ our Shepherd wants to lead us. In fact, the Bible calls believers, sheep. Jesus observes that “the sheep follow him: for they know his voice” (John 10:4). Jesus will give guidance. The Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:9-13, is a prayer that we should model.

Bible Reading: As we prayerfully read the Bible, we will grow in our understanding. A person could pray something like this: “Lord Jesus, as I read the Bible now, help me to understand what it says and apply it to my life. Thank you.”

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). We can ask Jesus to help us understand the Bible. When considering doing something that contradicts the Bible, prayerfully choose to follow the Bible. It is to be the final authority for what we believe and do. God empowers the Christian who prays and obeys God’s teaching.

Attend Church: The Apostle Paul encouraged Christians to attend church regularly, “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25). We should ask God’s direction about which church to attend. Some churches do not teach the Bible; some deny its’ truth, and some are only social clubs. However there are churches that really mean business for Christ. A good church can be recognized by the people usually bringing their Bibles and knowing more about the Bible when they leave than when they came. They often get together for study and fellowship, more than just on Sunday mornings. A good church is a place full of love for God, for His word, and for others. It is a place that emphasizes sharing with others how to get to Heaven.

Find a local Bible-believing church in your area. Attend it this Sunday, and let the pastor know that you want to publicly acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. As the Lord leads, join the church and attend regularly. The pastor and various teachers can help teach you and your family the Word of God.

Certainly no church, pastor, or denomination is perfect, but going to church is God’s design, and command. God instructs Christians to search the Scriptures and discern truth from error. God wants us individually to understand and obey the truths of Scripture and not blindly follow what others may expect of us. Paul complimented the church in Berea for just that effort: “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). We also need a place where we can actively serve God, not just a place where we are entertained.

Baptism: After salvation we’re to be baptized showing we are a follower of Jesus Christ. Scripture consistently includes the practice of believers being baptized as an outward sign of their salvation. Jesus obeyed God and was baptized (Matthew 3:13-16). Baptism is included in Jesus Christ’s last instruction to His disciples as part of the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).

A letter by the Apostle Paul to believers in Rome explains the meaning of baptism, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:4, 5). Consider the fact that it takes more than three spoonfuls of dirt to be buried. While sprinkling and pouring do not portray the same picture as immersion does, God knows the heart. We tell the world by public baptism that we have received Christ as our Savior and are not ashamed of Him.

Being baptized shows our submission to God. It has been my observation that those who are obedient and follow the Lord in baptism are strengthened in their Christian life. If one is neglectful or rebellious in obeying the Lord Jesus Christ’s instruction to be baptized it can set a pattern in their life of following Jesus. Many Christians have a public dedication of their young children declaring their intention to bring them up in the knowledge of the Lord with the goal in mind of their making their own decision later.

Share: Someone shared with us, and as God leads, we should tell others how to get to Heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He is the only way to Heaven. Everyone must come through Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Let’s not go to Heaven alone—let’s take others with us. Jesus promised His disciples, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17). We can love others as God loves us and spread the good news.

Lordship: Paul fervently encouraged believers in Rome, saying, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1, 2). We need to allow the Lord to be in control of our lives every day. After all He has done for us; the least we can do in return is to give Him our faithful service. God promises many blessings and rewards in this life, and in the life to come—for those who serve Him, as Psalm 23 teaches, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). But regardless the benefits we may or may not receive, He is worthy of our full-hearted love and service.

A suggested prayer: “Lord Jesus, I want you to be Lord of my life. Please take control. I give you your rightful place as King, Lord, Master, and God in my heart. I truly want to stop the disobedience in my life against you. Help me! Take the pieces of my existence and put them together, as only You can. Make something beautiful out of my life to bring honor and glory to Yourself.”

One more thing: if this book has helped you receive Christ as your Savior I would love it if you write and let me know. It would be a blessing to my heart. May the Lord bless you and give you peace.

This conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus will be available in pamphlet form soon.

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