What gets us into heaven religion or relationship? The path to heaven is not based on following a set of rules, but having faith in Jesus Christ, believing in His atoning death and resurrection, and repenting our sins.
There are core requirements we need to begin a relationship with God:
- Faith In Jesus: believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died for your sins and was resurrected.
- Repentance: Acknowledge your sins, and turn away from them, asking forgiveness.
- Receiving God’s gift: Accept the give of salvation through faith which includes His righteousness, rather than trying to earn it through your own works.
There are some additional practices that are rooted in the Bible.
Baptism by immersion of water is an important act of faith that represents a believer’s commitment to Jesus and the washing away of sins (John 3:23, Matthew 3:16).
Living a moral life involves striving to live according to God’s moral standards and avoiding specific sins, which are seen as evidence of your faith and a way to stay in a state of grace.
An analogy I heard years ago is this:
If you go to a stranger’s home and say, “I’m moving in with you, and you have to let me because I’m a good person” of course they would say “no.”
So, why on judgment day when we meet Jesus do we expect Him to let us move into heaven just because we think we are good? He doesn’t know you because you never had a relationship with Him.
In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord, will enter enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven. Many will tell me in that day, Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?.’ Then I will tell them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you worker of iniquity.”
This passage is a warning about false believers who perform religious deeds in Jesus’s name but lack a genuine, personal relationship with Him.
From Pity to Praise 