How to Go to Heaven

CatholicAnswers ^ | May 12, 2015 | Jimmy Akin

[Salvation]

How to Go to Heaven

Jimmy Akin

May 12, 2015 |

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Sometimes people make it sound like the Catholic understanding of how to get to heaven is really complex.

It’s not.

While you can go into any of Christ’s teachings in a lot of very rich detail, he made sure that this one can be understood even by a child.

I can summarize it in two sentences.

The two sentences are these: To come to God and be saved, you need to repent, have faith, and be baptized. If you commit mortal sin, you need to repent, have faith, and go to confession.

That’s it. That’s all there is to it. And we can show each of these things from the Bible.

The need to repent is shown by the fact that, right at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus began preaching the gospel, saying “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15).

The need for faith is shown when the author of the letter to the Hebrews writes that “Without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb. 11:6).

And the need for baptism is shown when St. Peter flatly tells us: “Baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21).

So that’s what you need to do if you want to come to God and be saved: Repent, have faith, and be baptized.

If you do these things, you’ll be in a state of grace, and as long as you remain in a state of grace, you’ll go to heaven.

But we still have free will, and we can still turn our backs on God and fall from grace, to use St. Paul’s phrase (Galatians 5:4).

St. Paul is very clear about the possibility of us committing mortal sin. He tells us: “Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

To turn away from God and commit mortal sin is the opposite of repenting. So when we fall into mortal sin, we need to turn back to God—to repent again.

We also need to have faith.

And then we need to go to confession. This is something Jesus indicated just after he rose from the dead. He came to his disciples, breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:22-23)

So Jesus empowered his ministers to forgive or retain sins. In order for a priest to know whether he is to forgive or retain a sin, he needs to know about the sin and whether we have repented of it. That means we need to go and tell him these things, and so we have the sacrament of confession.

So that’s what you need to do. To come to God and be saved, you need to repent, have faith, and be baptized. If you commit mortal sin, you need to repent, have faith, and go to confession.

It’s all thoroughly biblical.

[Salvation]

Video

[Salvation]

Catholic Ping!

[Mom MD]

Yes believe but belief means more than that even the demons believe and tremble To have the assurance of salvation one only needs to repent and ask Christ into their life Head knowledge will not save you. Only crying out to Christ, asking Him into your life and accepting His finished work on the cross as the payment for your sin will achieve your salvation He has done all the work, all we have to do is acknowledge our need and accept His grace freely offered

Living the Christian life does involve confession to Christ our high priest alone. We daily lay our sins and shortcomings at His feet, die to sin and Live as Christ He is all in all.

[bramps]

If you commit mortal sin, you need to repent, have faith, and go to confession.
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Exactly where in the Bible from Christ’s teachings do those words come from? Specifically mortal sin and confession.

[terycarl]

Living the Christian life does involve confession to Christ our high priest alone. We daily lay our sins and shortcomings at His feet, die to sin and Live as Christ He is all in all.

Good and touching thoughts all...but Christ established, while He was here on Earth, the way that He wanted and expected it to be done....that was through the power and authority of the Catholic church. The "do it yourself" or follow the latest fad really doesn't get it done.

[Mom MD]

Your opinion My Bible says nothing about the Catholic Church or confessing to anyone but our great high priest It does say to die daily to sin and to live is Christ

You may belittle my beliefs based on the plain teaching of scripture, but it does not change things We have been through this before and have little common ground All we can do is to agree to disagree

[SkyPilot]

The Bible does tell us to confess our sins to God and to each other, but the terms and classification of mortal vs. venial sin is not in Scripture, but made up by the Roman church. They will use certain versus to claim these two classifications are referred to by God's word, but it is a very obscure and murky argument at best.

I once asked a Catholic priest how I could be assured salvation and heaven. He stammered for a bit before saying, "Well, that is a Great Mystery."

[zek157]

Really? Where do you get that verse?

[terycarl]

Exactly where in the Bible from Christ’s teachings do those words come from? Specifically mortal sin and confession.

Mortal sin merely points out that there are serious and not so serious sins....cussing out your golf shot is not that serious an offense....committing adultery....remarriage after divorce for example, is a much more serious offense.

Confession was establishes as a Sacrament when Christ said "whose sins that you shall forgive, they are forgiven"...

[MayflowerMadam]

“Mortal sin”? Chapter and verse, please.

God does not have a hierarchy of sins. More made-up stuff.

[Falconspeed]

Jimmy Aiken is correct. I pray every morning for an increase in Charity. Aiken gives the Bible quotes.

[Mom MD]

Sin is sin Any deviation from Gods perfect will and law is enough to bring eternal death no matter how small. I don’t call the slightest sin that can do that any less serious than murder or blasphemy The penalty is the same Eternal death and separation from God and an eternity in hell

[knarf]

Thye answer is .... ASK ... Romans 10:13ff

[AppyPappy]

Very true. There are continuous sins that are more grievous.

See 1 Cor 5

[usconservative]

Christ established, while He was here on Earth, the way that He wanted and expected it to be done....that was through the power and authority of the Catholic church.

Exactly which book, chapter and verse is the above stated? Don't cite Catholic doctrine back to me, where *exactly* is it in the Bible?

[metmom]

James 2:10-11 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

Some sin may have more serious consequences to others in this life, but to God all sin is disobedience and has the same penalty, that is death.

It's the same God whose Law is broken so whether it's what we perceive as a little or big sin by human standards, doesn't matter.

Adam and Eve only ate a piece of fruit and it was enough to condemn them and the human race for ever.

It's enough that the sin is disobedience to God, not what the disobedience is.

[Salvation]

The Commissioning of Peter and the Commissioning of all the Apostles, the first Bishops.

Remember, Jesus breathed on them (Holy Spirit), saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them, whose sins you bind will be held bound.”

[ADSUM]

The early Church Fathers, of course, were unanimous in teaching the reality of mortal sin. They had to embrace the doctrine of mortal sin precisely because they recognized not only the salvific power of baptism but also the damning power of certain serious sins. The Church taught that “baptism . . . now saves you” (1 Pet. 3:21; see the Catholic Answers tracts Baptismal Grace and Born of Water and the Spirit). However, since during the persecutions some baptized people denied Christ, and since Christ taught that “whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:33), the Church Fathers recognized that it was possible to lose the grace of salvation after baptism.

In the Old Testament sin is set forth as an act of disobedience (Gen., ii, 16-17; iii, 11; Is., i, 2-4; Jer., ii, 32); as an insult to God (Num., xxvii, 14); as something detested and punished by God (Gen., iii, 14-19, Gen., iv, 9-16); as injurious to the sinner (Tob., xii, 10); to be expiated by penance (Ps. 1, 19). In the New Testament it is clearly taught in St. Paul that sin is a transgression of the law (Rom., ii, 23; v, 12-20); a servitude from which we are liberated by grace (Rom., vi, 16-18); a disobedience (Heb., ii, 2) punished by God (Heb., x, 26-31). St. John describes sin as an offense to God, a disorder of the will (John, xii, 43), an iniquity (I John, iii, 4-10). Christ in many of his utterances teaches the nature and extent of sin. He came to promulgate a new law more perfect than the old, which would extend to the ordering not only of external but also of internal acts to a degree unknown before, and, in His Sermon on the Mount, he condemns as sinful many acts which were judged honest and righteous by the doctors and teachers of the Old Law. He denounces in a special manner hypocrisy and scandal, infidelity and the sin against the Holy Ghost. In particular he teaches that sins come from the heart (Matt., xv, 19-20).

From Catholic Answers

[Salvation]

From the article — oops — did you read it?

**And then we need to go to confession. This is something Jesus indicated just after he rose from the dead. He came to his disciples, breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:22-23)**

[BipolarBob]

Where do you get that verse?

They get it from a interpretation of Matt. 16:18,19. It has to be interpreted just a certain way to get their take on it because the texts themselves lend themselves to different permutations. Protestants see it differently, of course.