Assured of Heaven: Defeating Doubts and Confirming Certainty

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Introduction

A Terrifying Fear

Have you doubted that you will go to heaven? Does that thought scare you? As a pastor, my life experience of working with people leads me to believe most genuine Christians have doubts—ranging from occasional doubts to obsessive doubts, or somewhere in-between.

As a child, I thought about the length of eternity—no end to it! I didn’t want to be in the wrong place. What I read in the Bible about hell kept me awake at night. I wanted to know for sure I was going to heaven but I didn’t know how to find out. I went to church, Sunday school, Wednesday night prayer meeting, Bible school, Bible camp, and evangelistic meetings. I memorized Scripture, had daily devotions with my family, and yet couldn’t nail down if I was a genuine Christian on my way to heaven.

I was embarrassed to let anyone know about my doubts. This struggle went on for years. I was terrified I would come to the end of life and the fears and doubts would still be there. What if the Lord returned, taking my family to heaven to be with Him, leaving me alone on earth? Irrational fears of being in a fatal car accident or being terminally ill tormented me—I knew there was nothing worse than going to eternal condemnation because my salvation wasn’t real. The death rate is 100 percent and I knew someday it would be my turn—not knowing where I would spend eternity was ongoing torture. You may have deep concerns as well. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that God has placed eternity in all human hearts. Many won’t admit this and seek to mask it, but the consciousness is there.

I have had about every doubt in the world. Call me Thomas, the doubting disciple. Having worked through my doubts, I am compelled to write. I have much empathy and sympathy with doubters. I hope that my unpleasant journey of doubts helps you and those with whom you share the biblical truths in this book. This book is a manual for helping people with doubts, helping people who are helping others with doubts, and increasing your peace and joy in being assured of heaven. An additional goal is to explain how you, or someone else, can become a true child of God.

Assured of Heaven will help you deal with doubts and be certain you are going to heaven. I want you to overcome your fears and be confident of your eternal salvation. My hope and my prayer is that this book will help you and those whom you know who struggle with doubt. Don’t give up figuring it out! Or worse, don’t assume you are going to heaven without understanding what salvation through Christ means.

A recent poll reveals that less than one percent of Americans believe they are going to hell. Are there many or few who are going to heaven? Does everyone end up there? Is there a way to find out? If some are going to heaven and others are not, what makes the difference? You will find out in this book.

Beliefs about Getting to Heaven

Most people believe living a good life is what will get us into heaven even though the Bible says our good works can’t earn us salvation. It also says those who don’t take care of their sin problem (Is anyone without a sin problem?) will not get to heaven. That’s scary stuff! Furthermore, the Bible says, …wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life [this includes heaven], and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13-14).

I can’t imagine a loving God sending anyone to hell, is a common statement. Where does the confidence come from that these seemingly reasonable words are correct? Not in Scripture—somebody just made that statement up! So then, why do we think it is true? If someone says, My God won’t send anyone to hell, they are setting themselves up as the authority.

Some say that if a person has faith they will get to heaven—any kind of faith—just faith. Well, everyone has faith! Everyone lives by faith—we all trust in something or someone. Some trust in what they think. But is our faith based on truth? Faith in just having faith does not give us assurance that we are going to heaven.

Struggling with doubt is not the most frightening condition—not having prepared for eternity is! Those that haven’t prepared are oft en those who assume everything will turn out fine. After all, they know people who don’t live as good a life as they do. They may have the idea that all roads lead to the same place, but this has no basis in fact, either. Not all roads lead to heaven and sincerity alone is not enough. What good is sincerity if you are on the wrong road? There have been times traveling when I sincerely thought I was on the right road. I was wrong. People will only get to heaven if they are on the right road—meeting the conditions set by God. Wonderful people—some even calling themselves Christians; baptized, confirmed, taken communion, done good works, and members of a church—but they have not met Christ’s simple requirement and are on their way to an eternity without Him to a place the Bible calls, the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). Scripture declares, There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death (Proverbs 14:12).

Some live by faith in God and His Word, the Bible. Others trust that they have within themselves the right answers. Will your belief survive God’s test when you stand before Him who is both judge and jury? I want something or someone greater than myself as my authority on that day. If my confidence is in Jesus Christ and His Word, I can stand on the Day of Judgment with confidence.

I wrote this book to confront the widespread doubts, fears, and misconceptions about salvation amidst the infinitely high stakes of eternity. In the city of my first pastorate, a particular house was scheduled to be demolished. The crew arrived and pushed over the house with a bulldozer. They then scooped it into a truck, cleaned the lot, and left. Their task was finished. The only problem—they had the wrong house! Are you like the bulldozer—headed for the wrong place when this life is over? If you aren’t sure, don’t be embarrassed. Nearly everyone wonders, including many Christians. I was a wondering Christian during the years of my greatest doubts.

Is Christianity exclusive? Yes, but salvation is available to everyone who wants to come to Christ by faith (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). Jesus, Himself, said there is only one way and part of the good news of the Gospel is that one way is enough! The plan of salvation is marvelously simple yet it is adequate. This will be explored in Chapter 3.

The Bible Is Our Authority

You may ask: On what basis do you give this spiritual guidance? The Bible is my source and authority. The Bible is God’s inspired Word to man and it gives the answers we need. Some feel the Bible is subject to a wide variety of interpretations and is too difficult to understand. Neither is true. If you read the Bible as you would another book—say a history book—and take it for what it obviously says, you’ll understand most of it clearly. Mark Twain said, "It’s not the things I don’t understand in the Bible that bother me, it’s the things I do understand! Granted, there are a few parts of the Bible no one understands completely. The Scriptures themselves say, The secret things belong to the Lord our God" (Deuteronomy 29:29). However, the subjects of salvation and eternal life are clearly presented and easily understood in the Bible.

In Assured of Heaven I want to take you on a journey—my journey of resolving doubts. There is help for you or your friends who are plagued by doubt. After all, the next life lasts a long time—a lot longer than our present life—and no one gets out of this life alive! Resolve this issue. It will change your life. I am glad I went on this journey. I will be even happier if you go with me and allow me to share with you what I have discovered because, right now, I look forward to the next life and an eternal future there. I know how to defeat the doubts that come along and confirm the certainties recorded in Scripture. There is good news for you. You can know without a doubt you are going to heaven. Read carefully and prayerfully.

Summary of the Introduction

This life is a comparatively brief and temporary experience and after it we face eternity in one of two destinations: a place wonderful beyond description or a place terrible beyond description.

My dad, as he was growing older, often said, It is better on ahead. That is now part of his experience. As good as this life can be, the next one is infinitely better for those who know Christ in a personal way. Heaven is our greatest hope. Everyone thinks about the next life though many won’t admit it. The Bible tells us that God has placed eternity in our hearts. It is gracious of Him to do this and it is extremely serious for anyone to ignore it.

Where are you in all of this? Most people have some doubts about their eternal destiny. One of the greatest things to happen in my life was getting rid of my doubts about where I would spend eternity. Perhaps God allowed me to have these doubts and then led me out of them so I can help others. I would be delighted if many could find their way out of doubts and into assurance through this book.

In these matters God has given us His Word, the Bible, to be the authoritative guide. He created us and He has graciously given us a marvelous road map, both for this life and for getting to the next one. Faith in being sincere, or faith in a faith which is not based on truth, is without value. As you read this book you may still have unanswered questions or doubts not dealt with in any of the chapters. You can blog about this and gain further insight. Go to www.assurancebooks.com. Additional help beyond this book is available at this Command Post for Doubts.

Personal Reflection or Discussion Questions

1.   Do you think about the next life? How often?

2.   What questions do you have about the next life?

3.   Do you think more about it when you go to a funeral?

4.   What would you like to know about the next life?

5.   Do you think all roads go to heaven? Or, do you think certain roads (plural) lead to heaven? If so, which ones?

6.   Are you interested in knowing more about the next life? Why? What do you want to know?

Chapter 1

Consumed with Doubts

John 20:24-25

Doubting and Scared

I wasn’t bluffing or looking for sympathy. My heels weren’t dug in—I wanted to be certain I was going to heaven. Filled with doubts about eternity, I was scared. I had nothing against Jesus, the Bible, or the church but I didn’t know where I would spend eternity and I didn’t like it that way.

I didn’t know what to do. Though my parents were godly, well-educated, and caring, their answers—which worked for others—didn’t work for me. I could not have asked for a finer Christian home. Dad was a benchmark father and pastor, my mother an ideal parent and pastor’s wife. They were well-loved in every church in which they served, as were Phyllis, the first born, myself, and my younger sister by seventeen years, Sandy. Phyllis was a wonderful Christian role model for me as well as my friend. She taught me what she was learning in school, enabling me to skip right from kindergarten to second grade. Sandy was the very helpful grammarian for this book. I suppose I am biased but it seems as if we had a most desirable home.

Mostly good things were in my life—though one underlying issue was always present—would I go to heaven or hell? Embarrassed to admit my doubts, I kept them to myself until I was in my mid-teens. To one degree or another, they were my companion. On the worst days my doubts were a traumatizing and sad presence. Sometimes I would lie awake at night afraid of going to hell while my family went to heaven. I worried about the unforgivable sin mentioned in the Bible (Matthew 12, Mark 3, Luke 12). I read of people who had been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, and shared in the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 6 said they even, tasted the goodness of the word of God, and yet verses 4-6 say: It is impossible for those…to be brought back to repentance. Hebrews 10:26-27 made me anxious: If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. I knew I had deliberately sinned after I received the knowledge of the truth and became a