Do Muslims believe Christians will go to heaven?

Who goes to heaven is ultimately in the hands of God, so the question might better be: does The Bible teach who goes to heaven? The answer is yes. Romans 10: 9 says "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." It is on that basis, that Christians believe any person will be saved.

As a Christian, I believe that the criteria set out in this verse apply to everyone. It isn't a matter of what label you wear, though. The Bible does not teach that if you wear the label of 'Christian' that you will automatically go to heaven either. In Matthew 7, Jesus says 21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" Clearly, Jesus is speaking to people who claim to be His followers, and even do great works on His behalf, but their hearts are anything but His.

Does that Bible teach that Muslims, believing the Muslim creed, will go to heaven? The answer has to be no. The criteria are spelt out clearly in Romans 10: 9. 1) Jesus must be the Lord of a person's life. ie the first and foremost, his/her God. Muslim teaching denies that. 2) the resurrection is a compulsory belief, because it places humans and God in the right perspective. Humans rebelled against their creator. By that act, all humans were cut off from heaven. God sent His divine and sinless Son to die on the cross, to pay the penalty humans could not, to make it possible for ANYONE to enter heaven, and He rose from the dead to prove who He was and how He had power over sin and death. The Muslim scriptures deny the crucifixion and the resurrection. Therefore, believing in Islam denies the basis of salvation as set out in the Bible.

However, does that mean that NO Muslims will go to heaven? Not at all. Every day, we are hearing of Muslims who are having dreams and visions of Jesus and coming to a saving knowledge of Him. Some of these are escaping to places where they can worship freely but there is no doubt that there are many behind the Muslim Curtain who are worshipping secretly, and even dying for their faith, and yet we hear nothing of them. The challenge is there though, in Romans 10: 9: you cannot serve the god of Islam AND Christ. You have to choose. As a Christian, I pray that God will reveal Himself in dreams and visions to my Muslim friends and enemies and set them on the path towards His Son, Jesus, who DID die on the cross for their sins (and mine) and who DID rise from the dead. I also pray for those who call themselves Christians, but do not believe, and for those who have turned away from Christian teachings, that they, too, might, one day, enjoy the presence of Jesus in heaven. Amen.