Heaven's Citizenship Requirements


There are no illegal aliens in Heaven. You must go through the legal process to become a citizen or you cannot enter through the gates. People have often tried to find a way around that, but the security surrounding Heaven is just too strong. There is no tunneling in or climbing over the gates. You cannot bribe your way past the guards.

It may seem obvious to say that you must die to enter into Heaven, but I am not speaking about a physical death. Jesus Christ has already paid your entrance fee with His physically death on the cross. But had he remained dead, you still would not be allowed to enter into Heaven. Your sins were paid for on the cross, but your eternity was secured through the power of His resurrection.

To enter Heaven you must accept God’s citizenship process. God created Heaven, He is the King of Heaven, and He gets to make the rules. And He has decreed that you must pay for your citizenship with your life…your spiritual life. This would seem to be an easy choice, since we are already spiritually dead without Christ. We are slaves to sin and a physical death without Christ. It is only through our belief in and acceptance of Christ that we can become spiritually alive. But that spiritual life cannot belong to us if we wish to become citizens of Heaven.

Many people want to make Jesus their Savior, but they do not want to make Him their Lord. They want fire protection to prevent their peril in Hell, but they want to take the new life that God gives them and use it however they choose. That doesn’t work for God, because we can only gain that spiritual life when God buys us out of our slavery. Our new spiritual life does not belong to us because we did not pay for it. God did. The entrance process for Heaven requires that we accept Jesus, who died in our place, as our Savior and Lord. Unless we are willing to do this, we have not been adopted into the family of God, we do not have a completed passport for our journey to Heaven, and we have not become citizens of Heaven.

God is not in the insurance business. He does not sell fire insurance for your belief in His Son’s death and resurrection. Satan not only believes that but also knows it beyond any shadow of doubt. It is not belief alone that is required. He offers you the gift of citizenship when you lay down your spiritually dead life, accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, and place your new spiritual life in His hands by proclaiming your faith and trust in Him.

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