How You Can Be Sure About Heaven

Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.

Luke 23:32

The day you die may be a long way off, but nothing is more certain… it will come. One day you will wake up and it will be your last day on earth. What will happen to you then?

The story of the thief on the cross tells us how we can be sure about heaven. We are not told much about this man, except that while he was hanging on the cross next to Jesus, he said to Him, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And then Jesus said to this criminal, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (23:42–43).

It is natural for us to think that people get into heaven by living a good life, but the thief had not done that. He was a criminal, and his crimes were such that he was sentenced to death.

This man clearly had not lived a good life, and he knew it. The thief did not dispute the justice of his sentence, in fact, he said, “We are receiving the due reward of our deeds” (23:41).

This man was out of time. With his hands and feet nailed to the cross, he couldn’t begin to do good works, and yet Jesus said to him: “Today you will be with me in paradise”!

This contradicts the mindset that says, “In order to get into heaven, I’ve got to live a good enough life to please God.” The thief clearly didn’t do that. So, how did he get in?

The good news is that if it was possible for this man to get into heaven, you can too. The story of the thief shows us how, and it can be summarised in three words—turn, ask, and trust.

Have you given much thought to how a person gets into heaven?