Throughout the past two millennium, we have heard numerous accounts of the gift given to all mankind from God. This gift is the gift of eternal life – a guarantee, that we can go to heaven.

I realize there are many who believe that you cannot know this, you can only hope, and while I respect their opinion, I defer back to the Bible.

1 John 5:9-13 says, “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

The Apostle John stated (through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit), that we can KNOW that we have eternal life simply by believing that Jesus is God and accepting Him as your savior. People look at this truth and through their own intellect conclude that this simply is not possible. It is too easy and devalues the Holiness of God. I think we can see from the Bible that our intellect is wrong.

God tells us in Isaiah 55:8 and Ezekiel 18:25-29 that our ways are not his ways…that our thoughts are not his thoughts. So let’s get beyond our intellect and consider an example in the Bible.

In 2 Kings Chapter 5, we have the historical account of Naaman, who was captain of the host of the king of Syria. He was a mighty man and not to be reckoned with, but he was a leper. It has long been understood by scholars that leprosy is a “type” of sin. Leprosy shows the utter disgust God has toward sin. Naaman was a leper and there was nothing he could do about it, until God provided a gift. 

Naaman was told about a prophet of God named Elisha who could heal his leprosy. Naaman was excited and wrote the King of Israel saying he was coming to be healed. The King of Israel was terrified because leprosy was unhealable. He thought that Naaman was doing this simply to have an occasion against Israel.

When Naaman showed up, Elisha didn’t even greet him. He sent his servant to tell Naaman to wash himself in the Jordan seven times and his flesh would return whole. Naaman was wroth.  It couldn’t be that easy. He thought there would be some great ceremony with Elisha making a show of it, so he left in anger. Fortunately, one of Naaman’s servants came near and said, “if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?”

Well, Naaman listened to his servant and washed in Jordan seven times and was immediately healed.

God can heal you of your sin problem. It’s simple, just ask forgiveness from him and ask Jesus to be your saviour. At the very moment you ask him to be your saviour, He saves you and you have eternal life and can KNOW you are going to heaven. It’s a free gift, but it’s not cheap. You see, Jesus paid the price.    

Pastor Jeffrey C. Day

Bible Believers Community Church