Where Do We Go When We Die?

Have you ever asked yourself these questions: Where do we go when we die? Do we just return to dust? Do we simply seize to exist in any form? Is there such a place as hell, purgatory or heaven?

The Bible is very clear on what happens to people after their physical death. There are only 2 places that a person will eventually go to when he/she dies.
A person will eventually either go to heaven or he will go to hell.
Whether you go to heaven or go to hell is totally dependent upon your freewill and the critical spiritual choices that you make in your life.

How Does A Person Go To Heaven When He Dies?
1 John 5:12 says: “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God”.
Therefore the person who has received and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord & Saviour will have eternal life because they believe that Christ paid for their sins on the cross.
In John 14:2-6 Jesus says the following: “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you… I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.
Jesus clearly tell us that on He is the pathway to Heaven and towards a relationship & fellowship with the Father. Therefore after our physical death, there is no other method or path to Heaven except through Jesus Christ.
Jesus also says that He is the One who prepares a place or home for us in Heaven so that when we die He is already prepared to receive us.
Salvation is not found through your pastor or through your religion or through your local church. Salvation and our home in Heaven is only found through Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 says: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”.

How Does A Person Go To Hell When He Dies?
God does not send people to hell – but rather people choose hell out of their own freewill choices. It’s not God’s desire for people to perish or to go to hell. 2 Peter 3:9 says: “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance”.
Therefore God will not force anybody to go to Heaven and neither will He force people into hell. Rather, it is God’s desire that ALL would be with Him in Heaven. However, God has given every person freewill – or the ability to make their own choices. People are not machines or animals which live according to programed instructions or instincts. Instead as people who have been made in God’s image, we have the ability to make our own decisions.
Hell therefore is a choice many people take. So how does a person choose hell?
The choice of rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour is the reason why people go to hell when they die. If a person rejects the finished work of Christ on the cross in payment for the sins of the world, such a person will not enter the kingdom of God.
Revelation 20:15 says: And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
A person will only find his/her name written in the Book of Life when that person genuinely believes and accepts Christ as Lord and Saviour.
If one’s name is not found in the Book of Life due to their rejection of Christ & the His finished work on the cross, that person will be thrown into the lake of fire for eternity.
John 3:18-19 says: “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil”.
Therefore hell is for people whom through rejecting Christ automatically opt for “darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil”. According to John 3:18 that person is walking in condemnation for as long as Christ is not that person’s Lord & Saviour. That person according to Romans 2:5 is storing up wrath for himself on the day of God’s judgment.

How Do You Receive Jesus Christ As Lord & Saviour?
Salvation and eternal life is a FREE gift from God. You do not have work for your salvation because Christ already paid for your sins. Instead, all we have to do in order to receive Christ is to receive Him by faith as Saviour.
Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:8,9 tells us that eternal life is a free gift and that our salvation is not as a result of our own effort but our salvation is a result of the work of Christ.
John 1:12 says: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name”.
Without Christ we cannot become children of God. It’s only through believing and accepting Jesus Christ into our lives by faith that we become part of the family of God for eternity.
Our position as God’s children through Jesus Christ gives us access to God’s kingdom when we die.

 

DO YOU WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN or A FOLLOWER OF JESUS CHRIST???

1. ACKNOWLEDGE: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13).
You must acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you therefore need Jesus in your life.

2. REPENT: “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3), “Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19)
Repenting means: to change your mind; a sincere turning away, in heart, mind and action;
Therefore God wants you to repent of sinful values and of sinful living. God wants you to decide to
follow Him and to make Jesus the Lord of your life.

3. CONFESSION: “If we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9)
God is a forgiving God. God will forgive any sin that you have done because Jesus died for ALL your sins and to set you free from the bondage of all types of sin in your life.

4. BELIEVE: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
You must believe that ONLY Jesus can save you and restore your relationship with God. You must believe that Jesus is the ONLY way by which you can have everlasting life and escape from eternal separation from God. You must believe that Jesus died on the cross for you and resurrected from the grave.
“He came to His own, and His own did not receive him, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:11-12)
By faith, You must receive Jesus as Your Lord & Savior and therefore; you become a child of God; you become born again; you become a Christian; you restore your broken relationship with God.

 

Why Not Make Your Eternal Decision NOW?

We become born again Christians by GRACE through FAITH or TOTAL TRUST in Jesus Christ as our Lord & Savior (Galatians 3:26) & (Ephesians 2:8,9). Salvation is a FREE gift received through FAITH in Christ.

This prayer is ONLY an EXPRESSION of your faith, belief & trust in Jesus.

“Lord Jesus, I thank You for Your love. I thank You that You died on the cross for me and resurrected so that I may have life through You.
I confess Lord that I have sinned against You and today I ask You to forgive me of all of my sins, past present and future.
I repent of all of my sins and I ask You to cleanse me Jesus.
Thank You for forgiving my sins.
From this moment, come into my life Lord Jesus & take full control of my life. I want to follow You Jesus and I want to follow Your ways. Save me and from today, make me the person You want me to be.
I receive You Lord Jesus right now by faith. I make You my Lord and Savior – Amen”

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