What Must We Do to Have Eternal Life?

I've shown in past posts that surrendering our wills to Jesus is the only way we can spend eternity in Heaven. But what must we do to inherit eternal life?

Jesus gave the answer in John 3:15 (KJV) when he said of himself, "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." The word "believe" means to have implicit trust in Jesus and his gift of salvation.

We must realize that we are hopeless sinners and ask the Lord for forgiveness of our rebellion against him. Then we must become Christ's disciples, following and obeying everything he commands. As the Apostle Paul pointed out in Romans 6:23 (KJV), "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

But merely believing about Jesus isn't enough. We must be a hundred percent devoted to following him and to do so every day. Look at what Paul wrote to his protege, Timothy. He said in 1 Timothy 6:12 (KJV), "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."

We can also see the guarantee of our entrance into heaven in 1 John 5:11 (KJV). "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."

And as it says in Jude 1:21 (KJV), "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

We can therefore put our full trust in Christ because he is God. Peter realized this when he said to Jesus in John 6:68 KJV), "Then Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.'"

There was a time when I thought that just believing about God would get me into heaven. Then I learned at a vacation Bible school meeting that I must repent and place my trust totally in Jesus Christ. This is what I'll emphasize in my upcoming book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Far too many people claim to be Christians but they haven't yet placed their lives in his hands. My goal is to let as many people know about true salvation in Christ alone as I can through my writing.