Ephesians 2:7-9 [7] so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; [9] not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Col. 2:6, Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
Over the years whenever I share the gospel with someone I will often asked them a simple question; “If you were to die today would you go to heaven?” If their answer to me is “I hope so,” then I know that they still think there is something they can do to impress God that would cause Him to welcome them into heaven. The reality is salvation is a free gift of grace and has nothing to do with our effort and works. No one will go to heaven and be able to look back and point at something they did that impressed God enough as the reason they are in heaven. It is simply because of the surpassing riches of God’s grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.
That verse in Colossians makes it very clear that the same way we enter into our life in Christ is the way we live moment by moment in Christ. The Christian life begins by an act of faith that simply trust in the free gift of God in Christ Jesus, and the Christian life continues step-by-step by simply trusting in the free gift of grace in Christ Jesus to live a holy life in victory over sins power to control us. Being set free from sin’s penalty was a free gift I received in Christ the moment I got saved, and being set free day by day from sin’s power is still a free gift in Christ that I receive by faith one temptation at a time. Living a Christlike life, or a holy life, can only be lived by the holy life of Christ in and through us as we simply receive Him as our victory step-by-step, just as we received Him in faith at our new birth.
If you are born again and someone asks you the question, “Are you were going to go to heaven when you die?”, you can confidently answer, “Yes, I know that I’m going to go to heaven when I die because I trust Him.” This is the same answer that you can give to someone if they were to ask you if you are able to live a holy life. You could say, “Apart from Him I can do nothing, but yes, because of Him I can live a holy life. I simply trust Him in absolute confidence one step at a time to save me from sin’s power, just as I trusted Him years ago to save me from sins penalty when I was born again.” We were born into victory because we were created in Christ Jesus.