What would you say?
If you were to stand before Jesus Christ right now and He were to say to you, “Why should I let you into my heaven?” What would you say? Would you have a biblical answer that would satisfy Jesus Christ and allow you to enter heaven?
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).
Two words need to be defined here. First of all the word saved. Saved means delivered. When something is delivered, it is delivered from some place to another place. This verse is telling us that we can be delivered from hell to heaven. Secondly, let’s define the word confess. Confess simply means to say the same thing again. In order to answer Jesus Christ’s question correctly and be delivered from hell to heaven, we need to agree with God and say the same things God has said about us.
What has God said?
1. God says we are all sinners.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
The word sin means to miss the mark. In other words, we have all missed God’s mark. God’s mark is established in the Ten Commandments. In order to keep all of the Ten Commandments, you would have to be perfect. We all know that we are not perfect. One of the Commandments says that we are not to “bear false witness against thy neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). This commandment tells us we are not to tell a lie. If we are honest, each of us has told a lie in our life. That would make each of us a liar. Another Commandment states: “Thou shalt not steal.” Again, if we are honest, each of us has taken something that did not belong to us. This would now make us lying thieves. This is just two out of ten. The Bible tells us, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). In other words, if we break one commandment, we are guilty of all the commandments.
2. God says there is a penalty for sin.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
The word wages means we have earned something for sin. The thing that we all have earned for our sin is death. The thing that we all have earned for our sin is death. Death in the Bible always speaks of a separation. When we go to a funeral, there is generally a casket there. There is a body in the casket, but that person is not really there. At the moment of death, their soul and spirit left their body and slipped into eternity. This is a physical death. But this verse is speaking about eternal things. If we were to die in our sins without Christ, we would be separated from God for all eternity in a place called hell, a literal place of fire and torment.
3. God says He has taken care of sin’s penalty.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Even though we are sinners and deserve to go to hell, God loves us so much that He has allowed Christ to die in our place, so that we might be free from the penalty of sin. Let’s say that you had to go to court to answer for some crime that you had committed. When you arrive at the courthouse, you see that the judge happens to be your father. As a judge, he must uphold the laws of the land. After hearing your case, the judge determines that you will be fined in the amount of $2,500. You do not have the money to pay the fine What happens to you? you go to jail until the fine is paid. When the judge’s day in court is finished, your father goes to the court clerk and pays your fine. What happens to you? You go free, right? That is exactly what God has done, as the holy, righteous Judge, God has set the penalty for sin as death. Then He turned around and paid our penalty of sin with the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. Through salvation, we are free from the charges of sin that are against us.
4. God says we must call on Him by faith in order to be saved.
“9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:9-10, 13).
If you believe that you are a sinner with no way of saving yourself, that the penalty for sin is an eternity in hell, and that Christ paid that penalty for you, then you must come to God and confess that you are a sinner, that you deserve hell, and that you believe Jesus died and rose again for your salvation. You simply do this through prayer.
Allow me to give you a sample prayer that you can pray from the heart:
Dear God,
I know that I am a sinner that deserves hell for my sin. I believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again to pay my penalty of sin. I am asking You to forgive me of my sin and asking You to save me. I trust Jesus and Him alone for my salvation and to take me to heaven. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you have prayed that prayer by faith, believing the same things God has said, then He has saved you, Remember, Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
My friend, if you have put your trust in Jesus Christ to save you, we would like to rejoice with you in that decision. Please fill out this form, we would like to place some material in your hands that will help you in your new life in Christ.