One preacher asked the teenagers: “What should I do to go to heaven?” There was silence, then one boy stood up and spoke. “You should die to go to heaven.” He was startled. The boy was right, without death, how will a person go to heaven? Normally, people of all religions believe that when a person dies, s/he has gone to heaven.
Death: It is not the physical death that takes a person to heaven. Death is the end of physical life, but the inner person either goes to heaven or hell. Those who die without knowing, accepting, and receiving salvation will go to hell. Physical death separates the dead from the living; hence, the corpse is cremated or buried. Spiritual death or the second death separates the soul of a person from the living God and the Land of the Living, and casts it into the Lake of fire. (Revelation 21:8)
Died to sin: The teenager was in a way right, that those who die to sin are eligible to go to heaven. (Romans 6:11) Paul writes to reckon, or consider, or pretend that the old man or Adamic nature is dead. Also, a believer is called to reckon or consider, or confidently assert in faith, as alive in Christ. A dead person cannot be tempted to sin, in the same way the sinful inner person cannot be tempted to sin, if reckoned as dead.
Died to Law: Paul also writes that he is dead to the Law. He states the Law killed him, as the wages of sin is death. He was, and all believers are crucified in Christ on the cross. As Christ rose, all believers rose with Him. Hence, Paul asserts he is alive in Christ, and so are the believers. (Galatians 2:20)
Dead to the world: Paul also writes that he is dead to the world, and it loses its power over him. (Galatians 6:14) A believer could also experience being crucified in Christ and dead to the attractions of the world.
Am I alive in Christ to go to heaven?