I believe in God and I’m a good person. God will allow me into heaven, right?
Wrong, Satan and his demons all believe in God and they are not going to heaven. You say that you are a good person; the problem with that is that you are comparing yourself to other people, sinful people. What is required of you to go to heaven is a comparison to God himself. A perfect God, a holy God. If you can say honestly that you are as holy as God, then yes, you can go to heaven when you die. Everyone is sinful, all of us have lied, hated others, been prideful. Look at what God says about our condition.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23
So, mankind has a problem, nobody is perfect, everybody has sin in his life. How does anyone get to heaven? God in His holiness judges sin and our punishment for our sin is hell. And that is where Jesus fits in; Jesus took that punishment for us when He died on the cross. Someone had to be punished and Jesus was willing to pay the penalty for our sin.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:16-17
And when Jesus rose from the grave, He conquered sin once and for all. Then everybody gets to go to heaven, right? Wrong, God does not want to force people to heaven but gives salvation to all who ask for it. Here’s what you need to pray.
- Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he took the penalty for your sins on the cross, then rose from the dead and is living in heaven with God the Father.
- Confess that you are a sinner and that you are sorry for your sins.
- Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins.
- Ask Jesus into your heart so that he can be the Lord of your life.
This is what happen; instead of you taking the punishment for your sins, Jesus did. When you die and stand before a holy God, He will not see any sin that would block your way into heaven, only a person clean from sin.