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Reassurance about Heaven

Philippians 3:20 

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” 

One of the main things that pulled me away from God growing up was the fear of hell. I went to churches that embedded uncertainty about my afterlife, and through that fear, I pictured God to be a judge but not also a saviour.  When the root of our relationship with God is built on fear instead of love, it removes the intimacy God desires with us.  


For a long time, I positioned my relationship with God as if I was on thin ice. Fear made me feel like I had to earn my relationship with God. Adopting this fear mentality makes us believe that we must constantly ‘get right’ with God through our actions. The truth is, we have never ‘been right’ with God, in fact by our own works, nothing we can do can ever make us right with God. (Ephesians 2:8-9) We are not saved by our good works; we are saved by grace. Our good works are only evidence that we have been saved.  

Closely looking at the verse, heaven is not just a place, but an inheritance: an eternal intimacy with God. From the word “citizenship” it brings the idea of not having to work for it, rather something that is granted to you. On most cases, citizenship is something you are born into. Whether you are a British citizen, a Congolese citizen or a Somalian citizen, we hold our citizenship as a part of our identity. How much more for our eternal citizenship? For us, we often forget our identity and we embed them with things on this earth but let us embed our identity with things of the kingdom of God. Let us have certainty and reassurance that heaven is our destination, because someone has already granted us that citizenship: and that person is Jesus.  

Knowing this also doesn’t mean we abuse grace. We are saved by grace but let us not abuse it’s gift. If we have knowledge of the consequences of sin, and where it leads to, then why do we continually treat our lives like a game, where we respawn by grace because of our sin. Once we know, we carry the weight of choice and action, and if that choice and action doesn’t lead to repentance, then we should question the authenticity of our salvation.  

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