I'm glad you were willing to ask the question. It is an important one. The Bible tells us that our sins have separated us from God. That was why God, in His mercy, sent Jesus. He knew that the only way we could get to heaven was that Jesus would pay for the guilt of our sins. If Jesus hadn't done that, we would be eternally separated from God--in hell. But God loved us so much--and it is hard to even imagine that kind of love--He loved us even though, by nature, we had made ourselves His enemies. He loved us so much that He sent Jesus. And Jesus has opened the way to heaven for us. And you are right, the faith which God gives us is so important. On our own we could not believe. It is through the work of the Holy Spirit that we have faith. If we didn't have faith, we would refuse Jesus' forgiveness and then go to hell. Imagine that your Mom told you that she had $1,000 in an envelope on the refrigerator and that you could come and get it. If you said, "I don't believe there is money there. She is just joking, and you didn't go to get the money, the money would do you no good, even though it was really there. In a similar way, Jesus forgives the sins of all people. But if people don't believe that, they don't receive the benefit of His work (heaven) even though He really did die for their sins. The Holy Spirit gives us faith through Baptism and through God's Word. That is one of the reasons why it is important that we go to church to hear God's Word and that we also read God's Word in our homes. And perhaps you go to a Lutheran School where God's Word is taught. We study God's Word, not just so we can know the details about Abraham and Isaac and the Apostles, etc. But whenever we study God's Word, the Holy Spirit works to strengthen our faith so that we will remain believers and go to heaven. May God bless you with a strong faith in Jesus!