A Place Called Heaven DevotionalSample

Our Spiritual Passport to Heaven 

What is the spiritual passport we need to get into heaven? It’s not a heart stamped “Catholic.” If your heart is stamped “Catholic,” you are not going to make it into heaven. It’s not a heart stamped “Baptist.” If your heart is stamped “Baptist,” you are not getting into heaven. Nor are you going to be welcomed into heaven if your heart is stamped “Church of Christ,” or any other denomination.

Only a heart stamped “Forgiven” will be welcomed into heaven. That’s all that matters: receiving forgiveness from our sins. 

The Bible has a word for being forgiven. It’s the New Testament word "justified," which means “to be declared righteous.” Justified is a legal term that refers to what God does for us when we trust in Christ as Savior. When we put our faith in Christ alone for our salvation, God justifies us—He declares us “not guilty” based on what Christ did for us on the cross. Romans 5:1 says, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Those who “believe in the name of the Son of God” are the people who know they have eternal life (I John 5:13). That word "believe" does not mean an intellectual assent to a certain set of facts about Jesus. You can believe all the things about Jesus correctly—that He was the Son of God, that He died on the cross for the sins of the world, and that He rose again on the third day. You can believe all those things and still go to hell when you die. The Bible says even “the demons also believe” those things (James 2:19).

To believe means “to trust in, to cling to, to put your whole weight upon.” To believe in Jesus means to come to that place in your life where you realize you cannot save yourself. You trust in what Christ did for you by dying on the cross and receiving the punishment that God intended for each of us. Only by clinging to, trusting in, and putting your whole weight upon Jesus Christ is your heart stamped “Forgiven,” and you are welcomed into the presence of God.

What “stamp” is on your spiritual passport? 

Prayer: Father, I cling to, trust in, and put the whole weight of my life on You today. Thank You for making it clear in Your Word that the only way to be welcomed into heaven is through faith in Your Son, Jesus Christ.