Are you going to heaven or to hell?

Are you 100% sure, without a shadow of a doubt, that when you die you would to go to heaven? This was the question that was asked to me by a preacher of a Christian church at the house of my girlfriend one night. I didn’t quite know what to say back then. I didn’t question the sanity of the preacher because he is a really good mathematics teacher in a public school at that place. Definitely he was in a right mind. I just plainly said, no. And so, the preacher proceeded with a story in the bible about Rahab, a harlot in Joshua 2: 1-21. I wasn’t christian yet back then so it was only then that I attended a bible study. After the story, the preacher interpreted what that story meant. It was connected to what the Lord Jesus did for us for our salvation.

Right there I realized that I was no different from Rahab. I’m also someone who may not have the sins as Rahab has, but a sinner nonetheless. I thought I’m already ok as I am but sadly, that wasn’t the truth. I was as crooked as anyone else and I needed salvation. On the night of December 28, 2004, I obtained the salvation that I was searching for at that time. Its value cannot be compared with the riches of the world put together. This is how valuable that salvation is. This is what I want to share with you. Let me impart to you what I’ve learned throughout my christian life ever since that day as we read through the paragraphs below, Here, we would learn more about what salvation is according the word of God and how important it is for us to obtain this free gift of God that is offered to all of humanity.

What is salvation?

There are many interpretations of salvation in the present world. Some view salvation as being free to do whatever they want to. For some, salvation is merely getting all the riches and things that this world can offer such as fame and fortune. But what is salvation really? Is this hard to achieve or to have? What do we need to do in order for us go really gain true salvation? Only the bible can tell us the answers to these questions since salvation is really from God and the bible is His word. Let’s have an open mind so that we may understand what salvation really is.

In Exodus 14: 13, salvation was mentioned once by Moses as he said, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever." According the that verse in the bible which was taken from the Authorized Version, or what is commonly known as the King James Bible 1611, salvation there is freedom from the oppressing Egyptians. Salvation there refers to the physical freedom. The salvation which were mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible mostly talks about salvation of God to His people, the Israelites from their enemies. This is how salvation is shown in the Old Testament.

In 1 Peter 1: 8, salvation is also mentioned in the verse, "receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." The salvation here that is talked about in the New Testament of the Bible is salvation of God to the soul of man.

The two meaning of salvation agrees on one thing, no matter if it's salvation from the enemies or of the soul, the author of salvation is always God and no one can give it but Him.

In these two meanings of salvation which was mentioned in the Bible, we'll be talking more about the last one, the salvation of the soul because it’s the most important thing that we need to understand.

SALVATION OR DAMNATION

What do we mean by the salvation of the soul? It's simple really. Salvation of the soul means freedom from the power that separates us from an Almighty God. The end result of salvation is heaven because it’s where no other power can control us but of God. What is this power that separates us from an ever-loving, all-powerful God? It is the powers and influence of sin. The bible defines sin as anything that is not of God. So everything we do, feel, see, and think that does not follow the ways of God is sin. If God tells you not to steal and yet you steal, you’re committing a sin. But that is not the only sin. When we lie about something, no matter how small it is, we are also committing sin. We can't say that “it's just a petty sin, it's not that big.” Well, for God, a sin is a sin no matter how big or small it may seem. So it's no use trying to convince ourselves and say, “I'm not bad because I don't commit great sins.” We are just trying to cheat ourselves we say those kinds of things. 1 John 1:8 says, "If we say have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." The reason why we are convinced that we are not committing sin is because we are being influenced by the devil. All the time the devil is deceiving us to do the things his way and not God's way. That is why departing from the ways of God is already following the ways of the devil. And eventually, commit sin.

Do all people sin?

To err is human, to forgive is divine. This is a famous quotation always read and heard in books, televisions and even in the internet. This means that making mistakes is an undeniable trait of a normal human being. The book of Romans in the New Testament tells about this in verse 3:10, "as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one." The reason on why there is no one who is righteous is written in verse 3:23 of the same book which says, "for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." So, we commit sin that is why we are not right in the sight of God. But that is not the end part of it because it also says there that because of sin, we came short of the glory of God. In the bible, the glory of God is manifested as heaven or, to be exact, the 3rd heaven or the place where God sits on His throne. So, because of sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God in heaven. It's that simple. There are only two places where we could go after we die, it could either be heaven or hell. So where are we going to go if not in heaven? This will be clearly discussed to us in the next paragraph.

Where will my soul go if I die in sin?

In the present world, we see that there are a lot of crimes being committed; some to fellow humans, some to animals, and some to nature. Most of these crimes go unpunished and every crime that is being committed has its penalty. In God's perspective, sin also has its wages. It says in Romans 6:23a, "For the wages of sin is death..." Just like the world that we move into has punishments to crimes that were committed, God also has punishments when it comes to sin. Before we talk about the punishment that God gives to a person who commits a sin, let us talk about death first.

When the bible talks about death, it talks about two things, one is physical death and the other is spiritual death. Physical death is simply the death of the body. When the soul leaves the body, it's already dead. This is a natural event in the life of a living thing, eventually we die and it’s an accepted fact. Spiritual death, on the other hand, talks about the death of the soul. Revelations 21:8 talks about this death on the verse, “But the fearful, unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. There is a second death based from the book of Revelations and the death spoken of here is a lake of fire and brimstone. Second death is life in hell. Believe it or not, this is where all of us sinners are going to go. This is the punishment of God to those who doesn’t want to obey Him and His commandments. This is eternal damnation. This is not where God wants us to go, but because of the decision of man to keep on committing sin and doing things that makes us turn away from God, this is the end result. It is a life after death without God. It is an second life in hell.

What is hell and what will I experience when I’m in hell?

A clear description of what hell is and how it feels like to be in hell is the story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31. In the story, the rich man was really wealthy and Lazarus was a beggar. The rich man was dressed in goodly apparel while Lazarus wasn’t and he had lots of sores on his body. Lazarus is always waiting at the gate of the rich man’s house for crumbs of food that would fall from the rich man’s table. Eventually, Lazarus died and was carried by the angels of God into Abraham’s bosom. ( Please take note that at this time, nobody has reached heaven yet. The places where the souls of those who follow God only goes to Abraham’s bosom. The only time when the people went to heaven is when the Lord Jesus died on the cross at Calvary. (Matthew 27: 52-53)) The rich man also died and when he opened his eyes, he was in hell.

If we would analyze the story, there is no other place where the soul of the rich man went other than hell. This is because there is no other place. There is no limbo or purgatory. You wouldn’t see those places in the bible because according to the bible, they don’t exist. The only places where our souls would go now are either in heaven or in hell.

So what is there in hell? Based from the bible in Luke 16:24, hell is a place of torment in flames. So, in hell, people are tormented in flames. In Matthew 8:12 tells more about hell. This verse tells us that in hell there is darkness and also weeping and gnashing of teeth. Based from the verse, hell is a dark place and you would hear weepings that won’t stop. Also if we go there, we will be gnashing our teeth because of the pain and agony that we’ll feel there. Mark 9:44 also tells us yet more about hell. It says there, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” Hell is also a place where there is a worm that doesn’t die and also a fire that is not quenched. This is the reason why hell is not a paradise. It’s the last place that we want to go when we die. It’s a place of torment, of gnashing of teeth, of weeping, of worms that don’t die and of unquenchable fire. No one with a sane mind would want to go to a place like this.

To give us a practical example of what it’s like in hell, let’s put in remembrance the time when we got accidentally burned. It’s not a really good feeling to be burned, right? Imagine that the feeling that you felt at the part of your body that was burned at that time would be felt throughout your whole body. What do you think that would feel? That’s feeling if we’re in hell. So, hell is not an ideal place to go to but this is, in fact, the place where we will go because of the things that we do. This is the wage of our sins. Sin equals death in hell.

Is there a way out of this?

Once we die and we’re in hell, there is already no way out (Luke 16:26). But while we are still alive, there is always hope. We can still be saved from eternal damnation that is hell. There is only one way that we can be saved. Romans 5:8 says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The only way out is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God who became man (John 1:1-4,14). In his name only is there salvation (Acts 4:12). Only through Him can we be saved and our family (Acts 16:31). He is the one who died once for the salvation of everyone (Hebrews 10:12). Even the Lord Jesus Christ told this in John 14:6 saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” If we analyze what He said in that verse, He says there, “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” He was telling the disciples the way to the Father. If we think about it more, the Father is in heaven and what the Lord Jesus is pointing out is the way to heaven, which is He. But still, knowing He is the Saviour in not enough. There is still something amiss. Just like an idea is nothing when you don’t act it out, knowing the Lord Jesus is the Saviour is not enough. We still need to do something. And this something can only be done by people who have the humility to accept what needs to be done.

What do I need to do now?

Accepting the truth in us is the first step in achieving salvation. We need to accept that we are sinners and that we deserve to go to hell. This is the first step in order for us to be saved from eternal damnation. We need to be humble enough to accept this fact in order for us to see how filthy we and our works are in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6). This is not easy especially for some people who are used be superior and already thinks that they are really fulfilled with who they are. That is why most people, especially those who have achieve a high stature in life, will barely enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:23). When we put our trust on other things like wealth, we take away our trust in God. That is why, in order for us to be able to accept ourselves as worthless in the sight of God, we need to have the right and humble heart. Without this, we cannot be saved from the punishment of hell. God doesn’t like proud people (James 4:6). When we humble ourselves, we will see that we need the Lord Jesus Christ to save us from sin and its penalty.

How do we do this? We need first to humble ourselves and accept that we are sinners. Second, we need to accept the fact that our sins would take us to an eternally tormenting place, which is hell. Thirdly, we need to know that there is a Saviour, Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12) and accept that what He did in the cross of Calvary, He have done for us. And lastly, we need to ask God to forgive us of our sins and help us to turn away from it, and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of our life (Romans 10:9). How do we accept Him in our life as Lord and Saviour? We can do this through prayer (Romans 10:13). We also need ask faith this in faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Right now, there are only two decisions that we can make as we have read the things that are written here: one, turn away from sin and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and be ensured of heaven when we die, or two, reject Him and continue on living your life as you please and receive the punishment of hell when we die.

I have made my decision back in December 28, 2004 and accepted in as my Lord and Saviour, I hope you would too. Don’t be like the rich man who regret going to hell (Luke 16:24). If you’ve made a decision to turn from your ways and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, pray this prayer in a loud voice as if your talking to Him face to face (Romans 10:9): “Lord Jesus, thank you for letting me understand that I’m a sinner, and that I deserve to go to hell, thank you for dying on the cross of Calvary in order to save me from my sins that would take me to hell. At this time, I would like to ask forgiveness for all the sins I’ve done. And I want to accept you in my heart as Lord and Saviour of my life. Help me from now on to live a life that would give glory to you. In your name, I pray, Amen.”

By accepting Him as Lord and Saviour, God renewed your spirit that connects us to Him. You are now born again in spirit (John 3:3). Also, by accepting Him, you have become a son of God (John 1:12). This means that we would be able to call God our Father. Not all those who call on Him are His sons, only those who accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. This is really a privilege because when you call on God, you would be assured that He hears your prayers because you are His son. Lastly, by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, you have accepted God’s free gift to you which is eternal life or heaven (Romans 6:23b). This means that even if death knocks on our door anytime, we are prepared and we are sure that we will be together with God in heaven when we die. What a privilege!

As a newly born christian, we need to be fed just like a baby. After accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, it’s good to start reading the bible and start learning more about our Lord and Saviour (2 Peter 3:18). Start from Genesis and the gospel of John. Also, it would really be beneficial if you would find a church that teaches the same christian principles you have read today. Enjoy your newly acquired christian life and may God bless you and guide you all throughout your life. Praise God!