INTENTIONAL FAITH · THE PROMISE
God has not left the road to heaven unmarked. Here is the map, laid out simply.
1. Recognize that you are a sinner
To sin is to fall short of God’s holy standard. Sin ended the paradise of Eden, and every one of us, like Adam and Eve, has sinned. Sin also deceives us, so that wrong looks right and right looks wrong (Proverbs 14:12). And sin carries a wage: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
2. Understand what Jesus has done
Jesus, the Son of God, loved us so much that he became a man to rescue us (John 3:16). He shared our humanity and our weakness, but without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Then he went to the cross as our substitute.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21
On the cross, the wrath our sins deserved was poured out on Christ instead of us, and his righteousness was credited to us. Only Jesus could do this. “Salvation is found in no one else” (Acts 4:12). And then, being God, he rose from the grave and defeated both sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:3–4, 54–57).
Just before he died, Jesus cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The Greek word tetelestai means that something has been completed. Jesus had finished the work he came to do. The debt of sin can be counted as paid in full.
3. Confess and turn
Forgiveness is freely offered, but it isn’t automatic. “Whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
4. Receive the gift
There is nothing we can do to earn our way in (Titus 3:5). We come to Christ empty-handed.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8–9
Think of a governor who offers a pardon to a convicted prisoner. The pardon is real, and it’s fully paid for, but if the prisoner refuses it, it does him no good. A gift has to be received. The price has been paid. Still, we must choose.
And remember: God’s greatest gift isn’t merely a place. It’s himself. We don’t just need salvation; we need the Savior. It is the Person who gives us the place.
For reflection
- Which of these four steps is hardest for people to accept? Why?
- What does “paid in full” mean to you personally?
- Have you received the gift, or have you only admired it from a distance?