You Should Be 100% Sure That You're Going To Heaven

1st John 5:10-13, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

I was saved at age 13 at an old-fashioned Baptist church in Chicago. There's not a day that goes by when I don't REJOICE as the Lord commanded every believer to do in Luke 10:20, “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” Now, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to rejoice as Jesus commanded, unless we could KNOW 100% with all biblical certainty that we are presently saved. This means that every Christian believer CAN have the absolute 100% assurance that we are saved right now, this very moment and forever, without any further stipulations or additions obligations imposed upon us to have eternal life.

Therefore, it greatly grieves my soul when I hear false teachers like Dr. Steve Pettit (shameful president of Bob Jones University since 2014) preaching to 2,700 faculty and staff at BJU chapel that they cannot merely accept Christ and know that they are saved certain. Read for yourself what this foolish and incompetent theologian teaches:

“You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 11:34)

Dr. Petit is not a born-again believer. How can he be when he thinks that you must live a certain way to get to Heaven? Dear reader, eternal life is a free gift from God. Having your sins forgiven is a free gift from God. The reason why God freely offers all mankind this gift is because Jesus paid our debt of sin by shedding His own precious blood (1st Peter 1:18-19). Salvation is not cheap grace my friend. Oh no! Grace didn't come cheap at all, it cost God His only begotten Son. Salvation cost Jesus His life! And because getting saved is simply receiving a free gift, there can be no additional requirements to run a race, turn away from sinful living, or surrender your rights to follow Christ as Lord. None of these things are the Gospel. You may do all those things and yet never have been saved at all!

Judas followed Christ, becoming one of His very apostles. Yet, Jesus said Judas had a devil in him (John 6:70). Judas repented and turned from his sins (Matthew 27:3). Yet, Judas went to Hell in his sins without Christ as Savior, burning in the torments of fire forever!!! In Matthew 7:21-23 we read about an unfortunate group of religious people, who followed Jesus all their lives, even calling Him “Lord, Lord.” Yet, Jesus denied knowing them! There is a way that SEEMETH RIGHT unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). Jesus said in Matthew 7:21 that to be saved you must do the Father's will, which is to BELIEVE ON JESUS (John 6:40). 

Dear reader, you CAN in fact, according to the inspired Word of God, KNOW 100% that you are saved presently and forever. If you will simply take God at His Word, as He has recorded in His written Word, then you can know assuredly that you are going to Heaven someday. I never doubt my salvation. I did in the early years as a teenager, because I was taught wrong. When I got saved at age 13, I thought that the way you placed your trust in Jesus was to pray and ask Him to save you. I knew that prayer didn't save us, trusting Jesus did. But I was confused, which caused me to worry a lot that perhaps I left something out when I prayed. 

Since I couldn't remember exactly what I said to Christ, I was needlessly worried. Had someone simply told me that I was saved by BELIEVING the Gospel (i.e., Jesus died on the cross for my sins. He was buried. And three days later, Jesus physically resurrected from the dead for the justification of my faith), I would have had complete assurance of God's salvation.

If you don't KNOW 100% friend that you are going to Heaven, then something is wrong. More than likely you simply have never been properly presented with the Gospel. I highly encourage you to read this free .pdf book by Michael P. Bowen titled, “I NEVER KNEW YOU: THE COMING GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT AND HOW YOU CAN AVOID IT!” This is my favorite book, next to the Holy Bible of course, to which there is no comparison. Men author books, but God authored the inspired Holy Bible!

If you admit that you are a guilty sinner in God's sight, for breaking His commandments (Romans 3:19-23); and you receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins (1st Corinthians 1:21), then you are saved (John 6:47).

You must know these simple things to be saved:

1. WHO Jesus is - The Christ, God's only begotten Son (John 20:31)
2. WHAT He did for you - Jesus died on the cross for your sins, was buried and bodily raised up miraculously from the dead after three days (1st Corinthians 15:1-4)
3. WHY He did it - Because we are all guilty sinners and the penalty is death, not only physical death but a second death in the Lake of Fire forever (Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8)

Dear friend, it is that simple to get to Heaven. Christ is the Savior of all men! 1st Timothy 4:10, “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.” Since Jesus paid for everyone's sins, He is the Savior of ALL MEN. However, as you just read, Jesus is ESPECIALLY the Savior of THOSE THAT BELIEVE. In other words, if you reject Christ as your personal Savior, you will spend eternity burning in Hell, while your gift rots. Christ will have needlessly paid for your sins, and you didn't want it. I can purchase you a birthday gift, but if you refuse to accept it, then I wasted my money. Jesus paid for the sins of ALL humanity. 1st John 2:2, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Could the Bible be any clearer? I think not.

Also, the Epistle of 1st John is often misunderstood. As our test verse says in 1st John 5:13, we can KNOW that we are saved. At a casual glance, one might read the Epistle of 1st John and think that words are required to prove that someone is saved (1st John 3:8-9). However, i think the key verse is 1st John 3:24, “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” The only proof that someone is saved is the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Now, I know that I am 100% securely saved first and foremost because I have God's written PROMISE that He will “SAVE THEM THAT BELIEVE” (1st Corinthians 1:21b). John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

Remember, the same Apostle John who penned the Gospel of John also penned the Epistle of 1st John. We must be very careful not to mix and confuse the justification wrought by the man Christ without by faith that John teaches in the Gospel of John; versus the sanctification wrought by the Holy Spirit of Christ within in the Epistle of 1st John. Pilgrim's Progress author John Bunyan understood this biblical truth very well:

“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —John Bunyan (1628-1688)

So if we want to find the way to be saved, we must look only to the Gospel of John; but if we want to see the fruits of the indwelling Holy Spirit, then we should look at the Epistle of John. We must not mix and confuse the Epistle of 1st John with the Gospel of John. They were written for two different and separate purposes. If you keep that in mind you won't be led astray with false doctrine. Anyone who says that you must turn away from sinful ways to be saved is a liar, fraud and false prophet. Anyone who says that turning away from sins is necessary to “prove” that you are saved is corrupting the Word of God and casting stumbling blocks before the people. That is why Calvinism is so horrible and unbiblical, adding works (keeping the law) to grace to receive God's free gift. It is a counterfeit plan of salvation.

As believers we SHOULD live for Christ. There will be changes inside when a person gets saved. That change is the Holy Spirit Who has forever moved in! When I got saved the Holy Spirit began to convict me about the sins in my life immediately. But I didn't forsake all my sins. I held on to some of them. You did too! No one has ever forsook all their sins. If you claim otherwise you are calling God a liar (1st John 1:8-10). If you are saved, the HOLY SPIRIT will convict you about those sins. That is what John is teaching in 1st John. If you are saved, the HOLY SPIRIT will convict you if you lack love for other believers. The focus of the Epistle of 1st John is SELF-EXAMINATION (not trying to determine if others are saved). The focus of 1st John is to determine if you have the HOLY SPIRIT, which you do if you have BELIEVED ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (Acts 16:30-31).

Also, I highly encourage you to read Pastor Max D. Younce's helpful book titled: “SALVATION AND THE PUBLIC INVITATION.” This book is wonderful, showing how many preachers needlessly ADD requirements to God's simple plan of salvation that God does not require. You CAN know 100% friend that you are saved, and you should. DON'T go by your feelings, because our feelings can often deceive us, as it did Isaac in the Bible. Isaac heard the voice of Jacob, but he felt the hairy arm of Esau (which was an animal skin to trick him, and it worked). If Isaac had gone by the voice that he heard, he wouldn't have been deceived. Never go by your feelings, go by the written Word of God.

You can and should KNOW without any doubt that you are now and forever saved. The way that you choose to live has no effect on the gift which God has given to you, freely by faith in His only begotten Son. Never forget that forgiveness of sins and eternal life is a gift (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9).