How Does God Decide Who Goes To Heaven[+Illustrations]

The question of how does God decide who goes to heaven or hell is the question that most people including Christians ask all the time.

To answer this important question accurately, we need to look into the scriptures in the bible and what they have to say concerning this question.

One thing you must understand from the get-go is that God desires everyone to be saved and be with Him in heaven through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ who only can grant salvation and eternal life to any sinner who comes to Him in repentance.

On the other hand, God has also created us with free will which means that in as much as God wants everyone to be saved and obtain eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ, He can’t force salvation on us if we aren’t willing to receive it.

So, for us to get an accurate answer concerning the question of how does God decide who goes to heaven, we also need to discuss the free will of man.

The Role Of Free Will In Salvation.

For us to understand the role of our free will in our salvation and going to heaven, we need to understand what free will is according to the bible.

The biblical definition of free will is simply the ability to voluntarily make your own decisions without restraint or external coercion. This is what differentiates us from robots.

Our free will can be a blessing or a case. A blessing if used to make good choices and a curse when used to make bad life choices which have severe eternal consequences in the life to come.

Now you know what free will is, you will now understand how it relates to our salvation and going to heaven or hell which was prepared for the devil and his angels.

God Wants All To Be Saved.

We are told in 2 Peter 3:8-10 that the Lord is patient and long-suffering not willing anyone to perish but all to come to Him in repentance because judgment day is coming.

From the above verse, we can see that God desires everyone to be saved and to spend eternity with Him in heaven. On the other hand, since we have free will, He just can’t forcefully save us if we don’t want to.

Many people willfully mock and reject God’s love and offer of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ daily and go as far as saying that they don’t need to be saved from anything and that there are ok

This is why when you try to introduce Jesus Christ to people, most of them will mock you and go as far as saying they don’t need your Jesus.

There lies a problem and this is why God Can’t just save everyone as He will honor the choices we make while here on earth as to whether we want to serve Him or not and most importantly to spend eternity with Him in heaven.

How Will God Determine Who Goes To Heaven?

How does God decide whom to save? There are no easy answers to this question. The Bible is clear that eternal life is a free gift from God that we do not deserve.

We do not earn our way into heaven by being good people. The Bible says that our best works are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

So, this means that none of us will go to heaven based on how good we were or our good works because our good works cannot earn us salvation and eternal life which only Jesus Christ can give.

Therefore, the yardstick God will use to determine who goes to heaven or not will simply be based on whether one believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted Him as their personal Lord and savior during their time on earth.

This is because our Lord Jesus Christ is the door to heaven which is why He said in John 14:6 that no one can come to the Father except through Him.

In short, Jesus Christ was trying to say that only He is the way to heaven because it’s only Him who can grant you salvation and eternal life as Acts 4:12 wonderfully sums it up.

We Are Only Saved By Grace Through Faith.

Only through the name of Jesus Christ can salvation and everlasting life be found. So any other attempts to find salvation be it in false religions of this world other than in Christ Jesus will just lead you to a dead end.

The key passage on the subject is Ephesians 1:3-14. Paul explains how God saved us by grace through faith and sealed us with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our salvation.

This salvation was entirely God’s doing and was not based on anything we did. It was according to His pleasure and will (verse 5).

In John 6:37-40, Jesus tells us that He has chosen us and will draw us to Himself by the Father’s will. Paul goes on further in Romans 8:28-30 that those who love God are predestined for salvation, conformed to the image of Christ, and glorified in Him.

All of these passages in the new testament suggest that God predestines some people for salvation and others for condemnation.

However, we should not conclude that human beings have no choice in the matter or that life is meaningless because it has been predetermined by God.

Who Will Enter Heaven?

There are many people in our world today who will do anything to get into heaven. Some people, because of their beliefs, will become suicide bombers and kill innocent people just to go to heaven.

What makes you think that God will allow a person like this into heaven? There are those who call themselves Christians but live lives that are contrary to what they profess to be.

They believe that because they have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, they will get into heaven when they die even if they continue to live like the devil, God will welcome them into heaven when they close their eyes in death.

I want you to know that such people cannot enter the gates of heaven unless they are born again by the Spirit of God. Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).

You must be changed from your old sinful self into a new person who is righteous with the imputed righteousness of God in you (Colossian 3:10-20).

This change can only take place when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, and God will then give us His Holy Spirit as our Helper.

So, in short, people who will go to heaven are those who are truly born again with the new nature of Christ in them and have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior by trusting in Him by faith for their salvation.

How Do I Get To Heaven?

You get to heaven by first repenting of your sins and accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior. Remember, it’s not religion that will make one go to heaven.

But a personal relationship you had with our Lord Jesus Christ is what will determine whether you will spend eternity with Him in heaven or eternity in hell which was prepared for the devil and his angels.

Letting Jesus Christ into your life after true repentance is what will enable you to live a holy life in this present evil world which is a must for you to be with Him in heaven because Hebrews 12:14 says without holiness, no one will see God.

Therefore, this implies that if you don’t have the imputed holiness and rightness of Christ, forget about spending eternity with Him in heaven which itself is holy just as its inhabitants are.

So, to sum this up if you want to go to heaven you must be saved and live a holy life while here on earth and by His grace mentioned in Titus 2:11, you will do it if you are willing to.

How Do You Know You Are Going To Heaven?

You will know that you are going to heaven even when you close your eyes in death today after leaving this earth if you have obtained forgiveness and pardon for your sins after being saved.

Secondly, by the holy life, you are living, you will know that you are on your way to heaven as Matthews 5:8 says that only those with a holy and pure heart will see God in heaven.

Additionally, Romans 8:16 tells us that the Holy Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit or inner man that we are God’s children en route to heaven we are truly saved.

But if you haven’t yet had a real and definite salvation experience that changes one from the inside, you won’t have this confirmation from the Holy Spirit to confirm you are God’s child which is why you will live I doubt.

Yes, you can be sure of your salvation and know that you will be in heaven today and not hell where is eternal suffering when you close your eyes in death and leave this earth.

If you have doubts as to whether you are on your way to heaven, you need to thoroughly examine yourself as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to see whether you are in the Lord or not.

Conclusion.

I hope the above article on the question of how does God decide who goes to heaven and hell has given you the answer you have been looking for. In closing, if this post edified you in some way let me know in the comments below along with any questions you might still have on what you’ve read. Stay blessed and don’t forget to share.

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