A one way ticket

Accepting Jesus Christ into your heart as your personal Savior is your ticket into Heaven. I do not believe that people can "earn" their way into Heaven in any other way. This has always been my understanding since the day I accepted Christ and my parents and leaders helped me stay on a path that was following after him.

Examining verses in the old and new testament help shape my idea of what will lead us to Heaven. Psalm 11:7 says, "The Lord is righteous, He loves righteous deeds; the upright will see his face". Verses like this may show how some people think that it is by works alone that lead them into Heaven. This understanding is wrong. By looking at the old testament, it can seem like the focus was on good deeds. However, in addition to good deeds, people also had to make sacrifices to please God.

The new testament stresses a different importance. When you look at the new testament, you see that God sent Jesus for the purpose of saving His people (John 3:16). From this point on, it is clear that we should not depend on doing good works alone because at the same time, we are also expected to believe and accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior.

In John, Jesus explains his deity of Him and the Father as one. Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand"(John 10:27-28).

When the bible speaks of eternity, I normally think of Heaven, our never-ending home with our Father. Since Jesus was made perfect, Hebrews 5:9 clearly states how it is the only "source for eternal salvation for all who obey him". Thus, in both the good and bad times, my faith rests in him alone.