The Best Decision I Ever Made

Even though I am happily married to my amazing wife, the decision to marry her was the second best decision I ever made. It's OK. She understands.

May I very carefully and HUMBLY ask a question? Do you know 100% that you are going to Heaven? Let me share with you my salvation testimony… how I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior... how He changed me from the inside out. I’ll try to back it up with as much Bible as I can. Stick with me. It is thrilling for me to consider what God has done in my own life:

I grew up in a great Christian family. We have always gone to church 3 times a week. I was always a very good kid. I heard about Jesus all the time. But for some reason, I thought that if I was good enough, that if I did enough good things… that if my good outweighed my bad... I would get to Heaven. But that was definitely not the case. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” This passage means that we can’t obtain salvation through doing good things, but rather, God offers us a gift (that I don’t deserve) that I must accept. No one can do enough good things to get to Heaven.

This realization came when I was about 8 or 9. I went to Children's Church, and the teacher (I wish I could remember his name) taught a lesson from the Bible about Hell. I was scared to death! Why? Because it finally dawned on me. I realized I was heading there. I had never made a decision to accept Jesus as my Savior. Do you know what God requires for anyone to enter Heaven? PERFECTION (Psalm 15:1-2). WHAT?????

Let me explain further... 

God cannot be in the presence of sin. Sin is anything that contradicts God's character (including lying, cheating, stealing, hatred of others, deceit, etc.). Every person is a sinner, “For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) So what is every person’s default destination? Hell for eternity: “For the consequence of sin is eternal death…”(Romans 6:23). We are in quite a predicament. 

But that’s not the end of that verse. And it wasn't the end of that particular lesson either. The Children's Church message ended in HOPE! The verse goes on to say, “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” I HAVE HOPE!!! So… how do I obtain that gift that God offers?

 1) First, I needed to REPENT, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish [in Hell].”  (Luke 13:5) Repent means to not only ask forgiveness or feel sorry, but to actually turn away. I needed to turn from my sins. Therefore, I needed to admit that I am a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness. “with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10) God promises to forgive me (Psalm 103:12).

2) I needed saving FAITH. I needed to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, He died on the cross for my sins, and rose again... “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) This sacrifice was sufficient to pay the debt of all my sins.

Yes, salvation is in the heart, and I committed it to the Lord… “For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Because, how can they call on him if they have not believed?” (Romans 10:13-14)

As a child, I didn’t understand ALL of that at the time (there is some pretty deep stuff there). No need to make it complicated, or add "good things" to the mix. Salvation comes from true faith and repentance. That's it. 

I knew what Jesus did for me and trusted that what He said was true. Jesus dying on the cross solves that dilemma of God demanding I be perfect. Jesus died as MY representative. He died so I didn’t have to suffer eternal punishment. He was perfect so I didn’t have to be. All I had to do was accept that gift and respond.

SO… that’s exactly what I did. But sadly, NOT THAT DAY…

However, the Holy Spirit was working on my heart over the next several days. I was scared to death, because I had never been saved from the punishment I deserved. I had never accepted the lifejacket that God was throwing me as I was drowning in my sin. And this really bothered me. I could not get it out of my head.

I later got alone by myself and prayed a simple prayer. It was my heart responding to what I knew to be true. There was nothing "magical" about that prayer, but I know that God saved me at that point!!! It was a one-time decision!

I didn’t have to do that AND something else (communion, confession, baptism, prayers, good things) to get salvation. I didn’t have to ever ask again. It was sealed and done! God forgave my sin and now, instead of seeing sinful ol’ Blake, He sees a PERFECT Jesus Christ Who took my place! I am free! I can never lose my place in Heaven! I’m 100% sure I am on my way to Heaven according to what God and the Bible says.

Today, I am anything but perfect. I make mistakes, and sometimes bad ones. I do things that God hates. However, my eternal home is secure, according to Jesus' promises (John 10:27-29), and I strive to have a strong ongoing relationship with God. I want to tell others about what Christ has done for me, and that is why I wrote this. After all He has done for me, the least I can do is tell others.  

Some of that may sound strange or different. Even if you disagree, at least consider these things. Study them out for yourself in Scripture. Read the book of John.

There is only one way to obtain salvation. That way is not through a religion, but only through Jesus Christ, as told in the Bible. I once heard a friend say, "I hate 'born again' Christians. They always say that there is only one way to Heaven." But study the Scriptures. I am not the one who says that there is only one way. JESUS said that there is only one way... through Him (John 14:6)! Again, I tried to bring my reasons back to the Bible as much as I could. 

Are you 100% sure too? Are trusting in Christ ALONE? If you have questions, please ask. Thank you for reading this.