Dearest Maw,
I am writing this letter because it is the best way to communicate with you while I am so far away. I love you and am concerned about your spiritual life. Based on conversations we have had before, I pray that you read this letter and really think on things that I want to tell you.
Aunt Marsha mentioned to me that you are taking the news of your cancer very well. I am glad for that. She said that you did not fear because you knew you were going to be going to heaven when you died. I want to know how do you know that you are going to heaven when you die? There are many who think that they are going to heaven when they die, but I fear that they do not go there when the time actually comes. What makes you so sure?
There is a way to know if you will go to heaven when you die. It’s called assurance through the grace of God. If you have your Bible handy, you should look these verses up yourself, although I will put them in this letter as well.
First of all, Romans 3:10 says, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” 1 John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” This tells me that ALL people are not righteous and are sinners.
So, what does the Bible say about sin? Romans 6:23a says, “For the wages of sin is death;” James 1:15 says, “Then when lust conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished bringeth forth death.” So, sin = death.
What does death mean? It is a spiritual death, a separation from God. Mark 16:15b says, “but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Matthew 13:42, “And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Hell is a place that I believe people are yelling and trying to “die” to rid their bodies of the burning from the everlasting fire in hell. I think gnashing of teeth depicts people trying to “bite” the flames off of themselves. Revelation 9:6, “And in those days shall man seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.”
So what happens next? God created man, man sinned, sin equals death which leads to an eternity of hell. Pretty grim, huh? John 2:3 says, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:17, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
Romans 5:8-9, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
Romans 6:23b, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
It’s pretty simple, really. God loved you so much that He didn’t want you to spend eternity away from Him. He sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for you, to take away your sin and punishment that you deserved. By taking that leap of faith and believing that all these things are true, that His Word is true, you can be saved and know that you have assurance of going to heaven when you die!
Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lort.”
What a wonderful love that is! Please let me know what you think about this letter, and let Pappy read it too!
Your loving granddaughter,
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