Do you think you're going to heaven?
I was sent this podcast by my friend today. He thought I should listen to it because we had a conversation about death the other night and he thought that I would find this to be relevant and interesting. The podcast is Bert Crabbe, a Pastor from True North Community Church, talking about getting into heaven.
What the Pastor talked about on the podcast was very interesting. He started by asking the audience if they thought they were going to heaven. He then asked why they thought that and he said the common answer is something like "because I am a good person" or "because I'm not that bad of a person". He went through a myriad of examples to explain why that is wrong. Well I thought that was interesting and that it is likely that many Christians probably think that way. You can be, what you consider, a good person your whole life and not get into heaven? I would think that this is a wakeup call for Christians everywhere because if I believed in Jesus and his teachings I would certainly want to know how to get into heaven. The point he made in the podcast is that salvation is priceless and we meticulously plan some of the most mundane things in our lives and why wouldn't we make sure that we have a one-way ticket to eternal salvation.
Well, the answer is probably more complicated then I can even explain. Nevertheless, salvation is a gift that can be earned by anyone as long as you have faith in god and that you're truly sorry for the sins you have committed in your life. If that statement is true and you ask god for forgiveness, you can go to heaven. Well that seems reasonable in my opinion.
My first question is, do you have to remember every sin or can you just agree that you have sinned and that you're sorry? My next question is, what if you were brought up in another religion and you're either on your death bed or at the gates of heaven, can you then ask god to forgive you or is it too late and/or did you have to convert to Christianity prior to that point? And finally, what if there is at least one sin that you aren't sorry for, are you going to hell then?