Did you know that you need a ticket to get into Heaven? Otherwise “no admittance.”

It’s true everywhere else in life. You need a ticket to be admitted on an airplane, going to a ballgame, or picking up your dry-cleaned clothes — no ticket, no laundry.

Similarly, you don’t just “drop in” as though Paradise is some kind of default destination for everyone when they die.

In fact, the default destination is a far less pleasant place, contrary to the popular funeral feel-good refrain that the deceased is now in that mythical “better place.”

But there is a solution to this problem IF you intentionally, decisively take appropriate action in advance of your demise.

If you don’t, God will not be to blame — He’s made a standing offer for thousands of years.

It all starts here …

Passing Acquaintance vs. Intimate Relationship

Do you only know OF Christ, or do you really KNOW Christ?

For example, 35 years ago, after my wife-to-be and I had just met, if someone had asked me “Do you know Ann?” I would have answered, “Sure I know her.”

But if you asked me the same question today, my answer would be, “Boy, do I KNOW Ann!”

That’s because we’ve been married for 35 years. We’ve been committed to each other and intimately connected “for better or worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

Big difference.

It is the same with our relationship with Jesus Christ. Instead of having a mere passing acquaintance that stops at just knowing ABOUT Him, we must KNOW him personally, intimately for our relationship to do us (or God) any good at all.

Ticket to ‘Pearly Gates’

In a previous column, I wrote: “So, what are the ‘qualifications’ to get into such a select assembly? Do I have to attend the ‘right’ church, be baptized, perform religious rituals, read certain books?

“What does it take to belong, and how much do I have to pay? How will I know if I’ve joined the right organization?

“This is where things can get murky for most people. It’s easy to get mired in religious minutia and lose the ‘pearl of great price’ that lies at the center of our very reason for being.

“No, it’s not about the building we meet in, or the denomination we belong to. Nor is it about some theological test that we think we’ve passed.

“Either you have the indwelling Holy Spirit, or you do not. Either you are ‘God’s own possession,’ or you are not.”

Bottom line, the one and only bona fide evidence that a person is a Christian is the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

As written in Romans 8:9-11:

“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

Your ticket to Heaven is the indwelling Spirit of the living God. Properly “equipped,” you will be welcomed into Heaven as a full-fledged family member, known by name and your dwelling place hand-picked by Christ Himself.

From John 14:2-3: “In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be.”

Sealed for Eternity

This relationship is eternal as evidenced by God’s own seal upon our hearts outlined in Ephesians 1:13-14:

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Note the order: 

OUR PART: (1) Listen to the Gospel [1 Corinthians 15:1-11], (2) Believe the Gospel

GOD’S PART: (3) Sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit, (4) Redeemed [purchased by God]

This is no conditional “deal” based on a mutual exchange of value. All the value is on God’s side, and we get to go along for the ride, no strings attached.

How About You?

Too good to be true? Dear friend, take God up on His offer and see.

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