If Jesus took our punishment by dying on the cross, then why do we have to be good to get into heaven?

Answer 1

God created us in His own image so we can know Him personally and have a joy-filled life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him, but gave us a will and a freedom of choice.

Since the beginning of time, we have chosen to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God and ends in misery.

The Bible says: All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's holiness (Romans 3:23).

The result of unforgiven sin is death. But God's gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

Disobeying God results in being separated from Him.

Our Attempts: They can never unite us with God.

Through the ages, people have tried many ways to bridge this gap and reach God -- without success.

The Bible says: Adam sinned, and that sin brought death into the world. Now everyone has sinned, and so everyone must die (Romans 5:12).

You may think you are on the right road and still end up dead (Proverbs 14:12).

There is only one way to reach God.

God's Remedy...The Cross

Jesus Christ is the only answer to this problem. He is the only one who can bring us back to God. He died on the Cross and rose from the grave, paying the penalty for our sin and bridging the gap between God and people.

The Bible says: There is only one God, and Christ Jesus is the only one who can bring us to God (1 Timothy 2:5).

Christ died once for our sins. An innocent person died for those who are guilty. Christ did this to bring you to God (1 Peter 3:18).

But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful (Romans 5:8).

God has provided the only way -- we must make the choice.

Our Response...Give Ourselves to Christ

We must trust Jesus Christ to forgive our sins and determine to obey Him for the rest of our lives. That way we can know God and find peace again.

The Bible says: So you will be saved, if you honestly say, Jesus is Lord, and if you believe with all your heart that God raised Him from death. God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this. (Romans 10:9-10)

Is there any good reason why you cannot turn your life over to Jesus Christ right now?

How to give your life to Christ:

1. Admit you are a sinner and need forgiveness.

2. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.

3. Through prayer, confess that Jesus Christ is the only way to God and commit to live for Him for the rest of your life.

What to Pray:

Dear Lord Jesus,

I know that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave to give me life. I know You are the only way to God so now I want to quit disobeying You and start living for You. Please forgive me, change my life and show me how to know You. In Jesus' name. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, please send us an e-mail to let us know. Or you can call our CBN Prayer Counseling Center at [phone]. We would love to talk with you and send you some resources to help you begin your walk with the Lord.

How you can know you are forgiven:

The Bible, God's Word says: You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better that we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and you have done nothing on your own (Ephesians 2:8).

For those who put their faith in Jesus: He gave them the right to be the children of God... God Himself was the one who made them His children (John 1:12-13).

What do I do Now?

As you draw close to the Lord, He will teach you His ways and give you His strength. There are some practical steps you can take to come closer to God and to allow Him to guide you.

Prayer:

It is important to spend time in prayer every day. Just as you can not grow without eating food each day, so your spirit must be fed in order for growth to occur in our walk with the Lord. The good news is that as children of God we have access to His presence any time we need it. You actually have the right to come before God and to share with Him your intimate thoughts, desires and fears. Prayer is simply talking to your heavenly Father.


Bible Reading:

The Bible is the main way God has chosen to tell us about Himself. Learning what God says in the Bible is a very important part of your new life. As you read His Word, ask God to show you how various passages apply to your life. A good place to start your study is in the Gospel of John in the New Testament. Find an easy to read or the New King James Version Bible

Fellowship:

When you gave your life to Jesus Christ, you became a vital part of God's family, the Church. As you get involved in a local church

Answer 2

You don't. Going to heaven is a free gift. All you have to do is believe that Jesus rose from the grave, confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and ask for the forgiveness. In other words - believe there is a gift and accept it.

Of course, if Jesus is Lord of your life, you are a new creation and will start to do good things.

Ephesians 2:8-10 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, that no one would boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.

For more information, check out www.godlovestheworld.com

Answer 3

There are some who believe that since they are saved, their behavior on this earth does not matter. They try to be good, but are not concerned when they fail and blame their bad behavior on being a sinner by birth!
But religion is here to be the opiate of the masses, so teaching you that God and Jesus want you to be good - or at least really, really sorry, is required.
You should be good because of "The Golden Rule" which exists in more than one religion and is submitted nowadays as a "Pay it Forward" mentality - not unique to Christianity.

Answer 4

You don't have to be good to get to Heaven you have to be righteous and you get that as a free gift along with eternal life as a result of putting your trust in Him for your salvation. You cannot earn your way into Heaven. It's by God's grace thru faith. This is the culmination of the Old Tesament Covenants.
You want to get to Heaven, believe in Jesus and the fact that He has paid for your sin for you so you don't have to and be glad.

Answer 5

Ummm, does any of that make sense to you?
No - I will agree. It just shows how silly Christian theology etc is. If it lacks reason and logic, then it must not be true.

The whole business about the resurrection is false. He did not die on the Cross, but was near death, and taken down to be 'dead'. He was revived, because this was foretold, and preparations were made to resucitate him. He slowly recovered, and then made the trip to India, settling there for the greater part of his life, and died there.
www.tombofjesus.com
www.tjresearch.info/overview.htm
www.figu.org (English Discussion Forum)

Everyone survives death - we are spirit in a human body, the spirit does not die, it is released upon death.
Religion has to 'sell' something to make them look good - unfortunately it is largely rubbish. They 'preach' all the time and seek converts - that is what they do and how they operate. They don't offer true knowledge nor spirituality, etc etc.

Answer 6

We don't have to be good to get into heaven. We have to have trust that the perfection of Jesus will get us into heaven. That means that we must be very sorry for the sins we have done. We must be horrified at those sins, and hate them. Hatred of sin, mostly our own, and love of Jesus, who forgave us, despite our sins, is what motivates us to 'be good'. That hatred and that love makes us better and better people, and people will say of us that we are good- though we won't think so ourselves.
.

Answer 7

You do not get to heaven by simply being good or by doing good deeds. There is more to it...Jesus was crucified and bore our sins, because we are not sinless,(if we were he would not have done what he did) we are to accept the Lord as our savior in our hearts and confess with our tongues...that is how you get to heaven. We need to ask for forgiveness of our sins, he is the only one that can forgive us....ie...because he died for us for that very purpose.

Answer 8

What Jesus did was "cursed every one": Galatians 3.
So we all still have to figure out how to "escape" such.
It's not by rapture, as it's too late for rapture beyond 03.

We need to let first "finished" in John 17 & 19
be the one winner take all of the human race,
for 2nd finished ends with death: James 1:15.

John 17's 1st "finished": Grace - none perish
John 19's 2nd "finished": Law - all perish: Col 2

So then we'll go with His Grace finished the "race" first.

The GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all. Amen.

Answer 9

jesus came to this earth and did a lot of things for us. he performed miracles, cured the ones with diseases, made the blind able to see, the deaf able to hear, gave us good ways to live better lives and tried to make this world more peaceful. And his father jehova was the one that gave us life and able gave us a choice to live our lives how we wanted to. if we do good we would have the honor to live in the new jerusalem with peace but if we do awful things and not follow his law we will burn in the everlasting fire where peolpe will gnash there teath, have worms eating our flesh and suffer. thats why god sent his son and we should be faithful bc with any of them we would never have existed. hope this helps Godbless. if any questions please feel free to email me at [e-mail]

Answer 10

Technically, you don't. But that'd be pretty ungrateful if you did, wouldn't it? Remember, salvation requires that you accept Jesus as savior, AND turn away from your sins. It's a two-part formula. You still have to DO as He commands if you want to be His friend.

Answer 11

You don't have to be good, you have to be forgiven. If by good, you mean doing good works. If however,,you mean, a license to sin,,,then no,,,you cannot keep on sinning just because Jesus died for your sins....repentance is a part of being saved. You should want to walk in the steps of Jesus...otherwise you are just whistling in the wind...