Q: How much do you have to believe about God in order to get into Heaven? I’m getting older, and I don’t want God to slam Heaven’s door on me when I die.
A: Only one thing will keep us out of Heaven—and that is our sin. And only one thing will enable us to enter Heaven—and that is to be cleansed of our sin.
Let me explain. You may not think of yourself as a bad person—and compared with some people, you probably aren’t. But God is absolutely holy and pure, and even one sin—just one—is enough to banish us from His presence. That may be hard for you to accept at first, but when we sin, we are actually rebelling against God and turning our backs on Him—and that is wrong. And we’re all guilty; as the Bible says, “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10).
How, then, can we be cleansed and made righteous in God’s eyes? We can’t cleanse ourselves; no matter how good we are, we can never erase sin’s stain on our hearts. But God can cleanse us—and that’s exactly what He made possible when He sent Jesus Christ into the world. Christ was without sin—but on the cross all our sins were transferred to Him, and He took upon Himself the judgment and Hell that we deserve. He died in our place!
What do you need to do? Turn to Christ and confess your sins to Him. Then put your faith and trust in Him alone for your salvation, and ask Him to come into your life. God’s promise is true: “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life” (1 John 5:11-12).
