As America celebrates her 250th birthday, I say to her as I say to my family and many friends on their birthdays, “Celebrating 250 years of God’s faithfulness and goodness to you.” There is no doubt that the hand the God was on the founding of our nation, and his hand of blessing has been upon us since July 4, 1776 and even before.
Even Thomas Paine wrote this about our founding: “There has been such a chain of extraordinary events in the discovery of this country at first…and in the protection of it through the present war (Revolutionary War), that no man can doubt, but Providence hath some nobler end to accomplish …” (From the book Did America Have a Christian Founding by Mark David Hall.)
If you are a citizen by birth or naturalization, you know what a privilege that is to live in the greatest nation on the face of the earth. We must never take our freedoms for granted as we think of untold billions who live under communist and other evil regimes today. We must pray daily that our national leaders will seek the Lord’s guidance and follow our nation’s original documents that were greatly influenced by Christianity and the Bible.
Born in the U.S.A. and Salvation Misunderstood
In the last 250 years, many have developed wrong ideas about America’s founding and the church. The founder’s strong statement on the separation of church and state has been misunderstood and misinterpreted to the present. We will leave discussion about that matter for another writing. I do want to address another misunderstanding that affects every single American.
And what is that misunderstanding? It is simply that so many believe that if they were born in the U.S.A. that they are a Christian. What a blessing and privilege to be an American citizen by birth or naturalization. For that reason, millions have immigrated to our shores in the last 250 years. But we must explode the myth that being an American citizen makes one a Christian and guarantees entrance into heaven when life on this earth is over.
While the vast majority of our founding fathers were devout Christians and were influenced by the Bible and Christianity, a few were Unitarians, who believe among other things that all people eventually go to heaven. To be honest, I wish that was true. I would love for all people to go heaven except for those very wicked people. The fact of the matter is that God wants all people to go to heaven too. “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:3-4, NIV)
So, who will go to heaven?
The Bible Blows Away the Smoke
Since the Bible is the only source of authority for what we believe about eternal life and heaven and hell, we must turn to it to see what it says about these matters. Let’s begin with I John 5:12: “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” The life here is referring to eternal life in heaven. How does one have the Son of God in his life? We turn to John 1:12 for the answer: “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.” To have Jesus in your life, you must receive him by invitation.
Some people think they are not bad enough to not go to heaven. It’s not a matter of being bad or good, it’s a matter of whether you have received Jesus. Actually, the Bible says that all people have sinned and fall short of the glory of God in Romans 3:23. And the wages of sin is death, which means separation from God. (Romans 6:23) “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (I John 1:8)
God Made a Way
The good news is that God not only wants you to be in heaven with him, he loved you so much that he provided a way for you to get there. He provided a way for you to have your sin forgiven. When Jesus died on the cross, he took the punishment for your sin upon himself. “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God.” (I Peter 3:18a) Not only did Jesus die for you, but he was also raised back to life three days later. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25, NIV)
You can receive Jesus today as your Lord and Savior. Praying a prayer does not make you a Christian, but in order to invite Jesus into your life you have to talk to him. Here is a suggested conversation you can have with him.
Dear Jesus,
I confess to you that I have sinned and need you as my Savior. I believe that you died on the cross and were raised to life to be my Savior from sin. I now receive you into my life, turning away from the life I have lived without you. I understand that from this day forward that I am a child of God and will spend eternity in heaven when my life on earth is over. Amen.
To help you grow in your relationship with the Lord, find a church that teaches and preaches the Bible in worship as well as in small Bible study groups and tell the pastor about your decision to receive Jesus. Choose a translation of the Bible you can understand and begin reading Mark and John. Your church can help you get started in your Christian life.