From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Many people decide to join the church because they think that getting their names on a church roll is all that is necessary. They perform the rites, pay the money and think they have done all that is necessary to meet the standard. But worry about eternity nags with doubt; striving to be good seems unattainable.

No matter how much we strive to live according to the precepts of Jesus’ message, without Christ living within us it is impossible.

If we could reckon with our sin on our own we would say, “Look at me, I saved myself by doing the best I could!” “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

A young college student wrote to his father and said, “I don’t believe in God. When I come home I don’t want you to cram religion down my throat by taking me to church.” His father was brokenhearted. War came. This young man volunteered for the Army Air Corps. One night on his way across the Channel after having dropped bombs on Berlin, one of the motors in his plane caught fire. He ordered the crew to jump, then he followed. “By the time I hit the silk I was praying to the God who a few months ago I denied existed,” he said later. “By the time I hit the water I knew my father’s Christ.” He went from sinner to saint in a moment’s time. What a glorious reality.

(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

Are you sure you’ll go to Heaven when you die? Be sure.