Skip to content How to Be Certain You're Going to Heaven - pt 2 (heaven, Jesus, gift, grace,heaven) Jun 5 · 22 min ...more
How to Be Certain You're Going to Heaven - pt 2 (heaven, Jesus, gift, grace,heaven)
June 5, 2026 · 22 min
The greatest gift you’ve ever been given wasn’t bought in a store, yet it cost the Giver everything. In this message, Pastor Rick explains why Jesus had to come to earth and die so that you could be made right with God—and how you can accept his great gift of grace.
Series Eternal Realities June 5, 2026 · 22 min · Eternal Realities
The greatest gift you’ve ever been given wasn’t bought in a store, yet it cost the Giver everything. In this message, Pastor Rick explains why Jesus had to come to earth and die so that you could be made right with God—and how you can accept his great gift of grace. ...more Show the full description Show less The greatest gift you’ve ever been given wasn’t bought in a store, yet it cost the Giver everything. In this message, Pastor Rick explains why Jesus had to come to earth and die so that you could be made right with God—and how you can accept his great gift of grace.
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Pastor Rick Warren shares the hope and encouragement you need to hear everyday. Listen in as he shares biblical truths to help you live the purpose driven life
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In this video 0:00 Erased and Freed: Justification and Redemption6:19 God's Unshakable Grip on Your Eternity12:53 Little Faith, Honest Prayer, Eternal HopeComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Erased and Freed: Justification and Redemption 0:02 Are heaven and hell real places and what are they like? Today on pastor Rick's daily hope, the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren, we bring our series called eternal realities0:14 heaven and hell to a close. In these lessons, Rick shares what the Bible says about heaven and hell and how you can be absolutely certain you'll go to heaven. As we wrap up, here's the0:25 final part of a message called how to be certain you're going to heaven.0:30 Look at the next verse. This is a very important verse. Got some heavy duty theology terms in it, but I'll explain them. It says, we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption0:42 that came by Christ Jesus. Now circle the word justified and the word redemption because those are the 2 things you gotta have in order to get into heaven. So let me explain them. What does it mean to be justified?0:55 The Bible says Jesus Christ when he died for you, justified you. What does that mean? Well, justified means just as if I'd never sinned. That's what it means.1:07 Justification. Justified means just as if I'd never sinned. It's more than forgiveness. It means it's forgotten. It's wiped out. It's like it's didn't even happen. Let me give you an example. Let's say while we're in1:19 here in church, some kids go out and they take tire irons and they beat up my car. They just tear it to smithereens. And security catches them and brings them in here. And I say, now you know you guys, God's forgiven me1:30 a whole lot, and so I need to forgive other people. So I'm gonna forgive you for what you've done for me. I'm gonna forgive you for what you've done. And then I say to you guys, you guys, I want you all to forgive them
1:40 too. And you say, okay. We forgive them. Now they would be forgiven, but they'd still feel bad because then everybody knows. Everybody knows what I've done. And lot of people feel like that. They go, yeah, I know God's
1:51 forgiven me, but I still feel bad about it because everybody knows about it. What they need is to be justified. If I were to have some pixie dust or fairy dust and I sprinkled it over you, I waved the
2:03 magic wand and all of a sudden that incident was totally erased from your memory, then it would be justified just as if I'd never sinned. Remember the movie Men in Black? They'd hold up that little thing, you
2:15 know, the guys would forget everything that they they knew. Those guys were justified by Will Smith right there. Okay? Justified by Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones. Okay? That's what it means. Just
2:27 as if I'd never sinned. You don't even remember it. Then it says through the redemption of Christ Jesus, came by Christ. What does it mean to be redeemed? What does the word redemption mean?
2:39 That's an old slave trading term, and the word redemption means to buy somebody's freedom. You purchase somebody's freedom. Let's say you're a slave, this is years ago and you're
2:51 standing on a block and you're gonna be auctioned off as a slave, and I raise my hand and I say, I will pay 100000 dollars for you. And so I buy you and say, okay. Sold to mister Warren, and
3:03 you come off that auction block expecting that to be my slave, and I say, okay. You're free to go. So what? Yeah. You're free to go. But you just bought me. Yeah. But I paid to set you free. You're kidding. No.
3:15 I paid to set you free. That's called being redeemed. I am your redeemer. I have paid to set you free. The Bible says that's what Jesus Christ did for you. He said, well, I'm not
3:27 a slave to anything. Oh, yeah. You are.
3:29 You're a slave to far more things than you realize. Pastor Tommy talked about this a couple weeks ago. A lot of you are slave to the fear of death. You're scared to death to die. You don't even wanna talk about it. A lot
3:41 of you are a slave to your past. You're stuck in the past. You can't let go of that regret, that shame, that guilt. You're a slave to guilt. A lot of you are slave to people who've hurt you, and you can't let go of that
3:53 hurt, and you're bitter, and you're angry, and you hold on to it, and you're resentful, and you're a slave to somebody else who hurt you. You may be a slave to the expectations of other people, and you have to act a
4:03 certain way because that's what cool is, and and you have to do it the way they do it at work, or they do it at school, the way they do it in your neighborhood. You may be a slave to the approval of your parents, and
4:14 maybe they've even died years ago, and you're still trying to prove that they were wrong. You can be a slave to worry. You can be a slave to fear. You can be a slave to loneliness. You can be a slave to depression, to
4:26 boredom, to bitterness, to guilt. Oh, you're a slave to a lot of things that you don't realize you are. You're a slave to habits you can't change. You think, I don't like this about me. I wish I could change, but I can't
4:37 because you're a slave to it. And you've tried to change, but you can't. And and and you say, I wanna I don't like this about me. I wanna change. You're a slave. Jesus said, I came to set you free. In fact, he said this,
4:49 when you know the truth, the truth will set you free. And then he said, I am the truth. He came to set you free. Did you know that God gave us a picture
5:01 to symbolize both redemption and justification, redeem and justify? It's called baptism. I don't know if you've ever seen a baptism like they did it in the Bible times where they put people under the
5:13 water. It's the way we do it here, dunk people under water because that's the way Jesus did it. And when we baptize a person under the water, it's a picture of 2 things. First, it's a celebration of Easter. Jesus
5:25 Christ died, was buried in the ground 3 days, and then later he arose on Easter sunnies. Every baptism is a celebration of Easter. So it's a symbol. Now the waters there's nothing about the
5:37 waters. It's not holy. It's just water. So we take a person. We put them in the ground to symbolize Jesus was buried in the ground. We leave them there 3 days. Just seeing if
5:49 you're listening. And then we bring them back up. It's a symbol of that's what Jesus did to make me just as if I'd never sinned and to redeem me. The second thing it's a picture of is
6:01 what happens in you when you put your trust in Christ. The Bible says the old has passed away. I'm dying to my old way of life. Completely, it's dead. It's over. It's been washed away, forgiven.
6:13 I'm being raised, and it's just as if I'd never sinned. Now, why is that important? Because it's the only way you're gonna get into heaven. Heaven's perfect, and you're not. So you have to have
God's Unshakable Grip on Your Eternity
6:25 somebody who makes you just as if you'd never sinned. That's the only way you get in. It's a gift of grace. He is your redeemer. Now here's the steps. You wanna
6:37 go to heaven? You recognize God's love. No 1 will ever love me more than God does. I recognize God's love. I receive God's gift that he gave his only begotten son. I I
6:48 respond to his offer that whosoever believes in him. And then here's the fourth thing. I rely on God's promise. What's the promise? Shall not perish, but
7:00 have everlasting life. That's quite a promise. Did you know that you were made to last forever? 1 day your heart's gonna stop. That'll be the end of your body, but it's not gonna be the end of you. God made you in his
7:12 image, and you were made to last forever. And God says, I want you spending forever with me, not apart from me. I I want you forever with me in eternity. But here's the bottom line. If
7:24 you wanna spend eternity with God in heaven, you gotta build a relationship with him now on earth. You can't just thumb your nose to God and say, I'm gonna ignore God my entire life, and then at the end go, oh, by the
7:35 way, I'd like to come spend eternity with you. No. You develop a relationship with him now. You say, but, Rick, even if I put my trust in Jesus Christ, how do I know that I'm gonna make it in? I mean
7:47 what if what if something happens for me now and when I die that I really blow it and I don't get in? Well, you don't understand grace. It's not up to you to be sure it's God who make sure
7:59 you make it. Look at the next verse, the Bible says this, We are now members of God's own family, in other words when we put our trust in Him, and God has reserved for His children,
8:11 it's like me going out and making a reservation for us for dinner, God has reserved in advance for his children the priceless gift of eternal life. It is kept in heaven for you
8:23 and God will make sure circle that you don't have to make sure God will make sure that you get there safely to receive it because you are trusting him.
8:35 Now what does that mean? God will make sure it's like this when my kids were little we once took a trip and we went to the Grand Canyon Now what if I'd said, okay kids, we come up to the edge and I don't want them
8:46 falling off, and we're gonna take this trip and we're gonna hike down this trail down several thousand feet into the Grand Canyon. Well, they're scared, so they wanna put their hand in my hand, but more than that, I'm
8:57 gonna put my hand on their hand because I don't want them falling. I don't want them falling away, falling off, falling down. And so, I grab their hands and we're walking down in the canyon.
9:09 About halfway down, my kids go, I don't think I need dad's help anymore. I can make this on my own. I don't really need my father. And they want to pull their hand
9:21 out of my hand. They wanna wiggle and squirm and and let go. But because I love them and I wanna protect them, I'm not letting go. They may wanna let go of my hand, but I'm not letting go of theirs.
9:34 Now listen. Today, you say, I'm gonna put my trust in Jesus Christ. I know there's not a snowball's chance in hell. I'm gonna make it to heaven by doing good because I'm not good enough. I've already blown it. I'm not
9:45 perfect. So Jesus Christ, I'm gonna put my hand in your hand. I'm gonna put my my life in your hand. I'm gonna trust you and you grab on to God's hand today. I'm gonna guarantee you
9:57 this. There will be times in your life you're gonna wanna let go of God. Because right now, it's kinda inconvenient to be a follower of Christ. Right now, it's kinda crimping my style. I
10:09 don't really wanna do the right and ethical thing. I wanna do the easy thing, and there are gonna be times when you'll wanna let go of God's hand, but he's never letting go of yours because he loves you.
10:21 And he will make sure you get into heaven. It's not dependent upon you. It's not by works. It's all by his grace. And he says, I will get you there.
10:33 So what do I do now between now and when I die? Well, you get to know God a little bit better. You get to know to learn to love him. You learn to trust him with every area of your life, your money, your relationships,
10:42 your family, your future, your career. You learn to trust him, and you learn God's purpose for your life and begin to fulfill the purpose you were created for. Now we can help you out with that last 1. We know a lot
10:54 about purpose here in this church. Now focusing on yourself, looking inside will never reveal your purpose in life. You were made by God
11:06 and you were made for God. And until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin,
11:18 our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. There are 3 benefits of giving your life to Christ.
11:30 Past, present, and future. Look at this next verse out of the bible. What a God we have, because Jesus was raised from the dead that's Easter. We've all been given a brand new
11:41 life, that means just as if I'd never sinned, and we have everything to live for, that's purpose, and including a future in heaven, and the future starts now. Do you get this? God says, when you give your life to me,
11:53 I your past is forgiven. You get a purpose for living. You get a home in heaven. What a deal. Nobody else can give you that. Past forgiven, purpose for living, home in heaven.
12:06 I don't know if you saw that movie, the passion, but there's a scene where Pilate who's the Roman governor of Judea. He's standing with Jesus Christ and Jesus has just been beaten to a pulp and he's got crown of
12:17 thorns on his head, and he's standing before an angry mob trying to decide whether to kill him or not. And and Pilate asked the most important question in life, what shall I do with Jesus?
12:31 That is the most important question in life because it will determine your eternal destiny. So I'm asking you right now, what are you gonna do with Jesus?
12:43 What are you gonna do with Jesus? You're gonna either trust him or you're gonna turn away from him. It has eternal implications. Now, here's the cool part, and I wish somebody told me
Little Faith, Honest Prayer, Eternal Hope
12:55 this. I would have become a follower much much earlier, but I didn't understand this. I didn't have to have all my doubts resolved and all my questions answered before I started a relationship with Jesus. I wish
13:07 somebody told me that. I thought I had to have all my doubts figured out and all my questions resolved before I could start relationship. No. Jesus said, just come with your doubts, come with your questions, that's okay.
13:19 You don't have to have it all figured out. I've been a I've been a follower of Jesus for 40 years now, and when I read this Bible, there's there's a lot of things in here I don't understand. And I read it and I go, woah.
13:30 That doesn't make sense. I don't understand that, and I have doubts and questions, and I go, woah. Why would God do that? I wouldn't do that if I were God. You ought to be glad I'm not
13:42 God. But that hasn't stopped me from having a 40 year friendship with Jesus Christ. I don't have to understand how everything works for me to enjoy it. I
13:54 don't know how the TV works, Pulls color off the out of the air, but I still watch TV. I don't know how I can be on a cell phone and my wife can be in Rwanda, and I can talk to her. I don't understand inter
14:06 internal combustion. Doesn't stop me from driving a car. There's a lot of things I don't understand, but I still enjoy. I don't understand taste buds. That didn't stop me from enjoying a hot
14:17 buttered cinnamon roll. Let's just pause there for a moment. Oh, baby. Oh, baby. Oh, baby. I I don't have
14:29 to understand the chemistry of digestion to eat a steak. I don't have to have all my doubts figured out to come to Jesus. I wish I had known that. In fact, every time I get a doubt or question, I just write it
14:41 down. 1 day when I get to heaven, I'm gonna say, now God explain this to me. Why did this happen? Why did you do this? And all of that. Why did you do it this way? You don't have to and the other thing you don't have to
14:52 have is you don't have to have great faith. No. You just have a little faith. It's not the size of your faith that matters. It's the size of your God. You put a little faith in a big God, and you get saved. You don't
15:03 have to have a lot of faith. Just a little faith. Now everybody's got faith. You have faith to use it all the time. You had faith when you sat down on that chair that would hold you up. That was a lot of faith.
15:17 You had faith when you go out on the freeway that you're not gonna get killed. You you have faith all the time, and you just put some in God and not just other things. You know, my favorite story in the Bible is this guy
15:29 comes to Jesus, and he's got this daughter who's about to die. She's sick, and she's dying. And he comes to Jesus, and he says, Lord, I need you to heal my daughter.
15:41 And Jesus says, do you trust me? Do you believe me? Do you trust me? And I love this guy. He's very honest, very authentic. He goes, you know,
15:53 I wanna believe. Help me with my doubts. I like that. I wanna believe, help me with my doubts. Jesus says, man, that's good enough. And he heals the child right there.
16:05 You can do that. I wanna believe you can do it today. I wanna believe, help me with my doubts. A little bit of faith, not a lot, just a little bit of faith. I was talking to a guy the other day. I said, would you like to
16:17 receive God's gift of eternal life? Would you like to respond to his offer to be just as if you'd never sinned? He goes, oh, yeah. I said, do you know what to pray? He goes, nah. I go,
16:29 would you like for me to help pray? Yeah. So I said, well, just pray something like this. Dear god, I don't understand it all. Dear Jesus, I know I need you. Thank you for loving
16:40 me. Thank you for dying for me. Help me to understand it more. Help me trust you. I wanna learn to trust you in every area of my life. Make me just as if I'd never sinned. I said, you can do that?
16:52 He goes, I can do that. So we bowed our heads and prayed. You can do that right now. Don't leave here without knowing for sure you're going to heaven when you die. Let's bow our heads.
17:06 And as we close would you just pray this simple prayer in your heart in your mind you have to say it aloud God knows your thoughts he's seen every thought you've ever had. Just say this, and while I say you
17:18 say me too God, Dear Jesus just say that in your mind dear Jesus I don't understand at all but I want to thank you for loving me,
17:31 and I want to thank you for coming to earth for me, and I want to thank you for giving your life for me so I can go to heaven. I want to accept your free
17:43 gift of forgiveness your grace I know I can't earn my way to heaven and so I'm I want to learn to trust you with every area of my life.
17:55 Would you make me just as if I'd never sinned and help me to know your purpose for my life so that the rest of my life is the best of my life.
18:08 Amen. Now there's 1 last verse and you can look up here on the stage and it's talking about what it's going to be like in heaven. There will come a day when you're gonna
18:19 die and God says I will take you into heaven if you put your trust in my son and it says this, we wait for that day there will come that day when God will give
18:31 us our full rights as his children including new bodies he has promised us did you know this? Bodies that will never be sick again and will never die. Woo hoo,
18:43 I get a new body you don't have to look at this 1 anymore and I'm not gonna have to look at yours either. There will come a day when there will be no more sorrow, no more suffering, no more
18:55 tears, no more tragedy, no more death. We're gonna be with God forever in eternity and celebrate.
19:05 Hey. If you've just prayed along with Rick to accept Jesus in your life, Rick would love to hear from you. Just email rick at pastor rick dot com. We'll send you free tools to help start your
19:16 relationship with Jesus. Right now, here's pastor Rick with a letter from 1 of our listeners.
19:22 Friends, today, I wanna tell you about a guy named Chris. I found out that he shares daily hope with his family and his friends and his coworkers as often as he can, and then he has seen a ripple effect as they all
19:34 shared daily hope with other people. Let me read you a portion of what he wrote to me. Pastor Rick, I first encountered daily hope when a coworker forwarded the daily devotional to me
19:45 years ago. My friend was sending the devotionals each morning to an email list of about 15 to 20 people. By the way, that's a good idea for you to do too. And when my friend retired from our company,
19:57 he passed along the email group list and I continued the tradition of sending the devotionals each morning. That email group grew to about 35 or 40 people. Now I recently
20:09 retired, so I passed the email group to another coworker in order that they can continue the ministry. Each morning, I wake up, pastor Rick, and I come to my quiet place just to
20:21 listen and to journal, your messages for the day. Now depending on what the message is all about, I often forward it to many individuals for them to enjoy or to apply it in their own personal
20:33 life and faith journey. My entire family now listens to you and Daily Hope Ministry and it spreads all over through them as they forward it to people in their
20:45 circles of influence. I can't thank you enough, Rick, for all that you've done in my life and to strengthen and grow my faith in Christ. Daily hope, without a doubt, has changed the way that I approach
20:57 every new day. You know, Chris, all I can say is wow. I I love how you are exponentially sharing daily hope with your coworkers
21:09 and with your family. You know, you're actually an evangelist. You are partnering in God's eyes with me to help spread the good news of the gospel. And the good news is too good to keep to ourselves.
21:21 We have to share it.
21:22 Now, anybody can do this.
21:24 Anybody can do this and it's an easy way to give other people hope through deepening their faith. So if you don't know what to say, just forward on some of the things you've heard me say, and God will
21:36 use you to make a difference in people's lives. You know, if God is blessing you through Daily Hope, would you share your story with me? Write me, rick at pastor rick dot com.
21:47 Please join us next time as we look into God's word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.
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