The most important thing you need to know in life is what happens when your life ends.
God’s Word teaches us that when a person dies they’ll spend eternity in one of two places: Heaven or Hell. Those who go to Heaven will spend forever in a perfect state, enjoying eternal blessings and communion with God. On the contrary, those condemned to Hell will suffer an eternity of agony in a place completely devoid of God and His blessings. This is the Bible. This is fact.
So how does a human being escape everlasting torment? Or better yet, how does a person enter into a relationship with the God of the universe? It’s actually quite simple. God has set a heavenly standard and all people who live up to that standard may enter Heaven. The standard? Perfection.
But even one wrong deed, just one bad thought, only a single unkind word will disqualify a person from eternal bliss with God. Have you ever stolen, lied, hated someone, disobeyed your parents, committed adultery? Of course you have. I have. In fact, everyone has done at least one bad thing. Everybody has sinned. “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:9-10) “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23)
Whereas the reward of perfection is heaven, ”the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Not just physical death . . . eternal death in the Lake of Fire. Though this may all sound very unfair, God is perfectly just setting the standard so high . . . He’s God. God is perfect. He cannot abide sin; He hates it with a perfect hatred. No one who has ever sinned can enter into the presence of His perfection and live.
So how then may one spend eternity with God? Some people believe they can get to Heaven by being “good” and “keeping the commanddments.” So, what if a man does his best to obey the 10 commandments? Fortunately it won’t work. Fortunately, because just one instant of disobedience automatically disqualifies a person. You only have to kill one person to be a murderer. You only have to tell one lie to be a liar. You only have to commit one sin to be a sinner, and no amount of good works will ever change that because in Ephesians 2:8-9 it says “for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast [emphasis mine].” So if a man can’t work their way to Heaven, how is he to enjoy eternal life?
There is a way . . . but there’s only one way.
God created the World and He loves His creation. John 3:16 tells us that “God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” God knows man is incapable of perfection so He ordained a way for man to be saved from his damning sin. The way? Redemption! Let me illustrate: If you owed one trillion dollars you could never pay it off in a hundred lifetimes. You would be destined to eternal indebtedness, and your debt would incur punishment if it continued unpaid. But what if someone decided to pay the debt for you? What if a man wrote a check for one trillion dollars and handed it to the collection agency; would that satisfy the debt?
We owe a debt to God; that debt is infinite perfection. But Jesus Christ, 100% God and 100% man, came to earth to pay our penalty. He needed to be 100% man so He could be a perfect substitute for us, but He also needed to be 100% God so He could pay the infinite debt for all of humanity.
And He did just that.
Jesus Christ was born into this world by a virgin. He was infinitly perfect the entire 33 years of His life, and then He was crucified on a cross for our sins. He willingly laid up His life that we might live. In that one act of dying on the cross, Jesus paid the eternal price of sin. Not only that, but on the third day He rose from the dead. Jesus Christ is alive today. He conquered death and Hell, He paved the way for sinful man to find forgiveness with God. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the turth, and the life: no man cometh unto the father, but by me” (John 14:6).
So what must we do to be saved from our sin? All you have to do is ask. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Jesus possess infinite righteousness and He’s willing to impart it to you to fulfill your debt to God. If you accept the free gift of salvation, God the Father will credit Jesus’ righteousness to your account. That’s all you have to do. “But as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).
Jesus died on the cross for you, for me, for all mankind. He’s waiting to bestow His perfection on you if you’re willing to accept Him as your Savior.
Now, you might ask “I believe in God, isn’t that enough?” Well, the Bible says that even the demons believe in God. But they don’t love Him, they don’t beg Him for forgiveness from their sins, and they don’t ask Him to enter their hearts and clean out the sin that’s keeping them from Heaven. They believe God exists but they don’t want Him to rule their life.
God wants to be your Savior. He wants to have a relationship with you. All you have to do is accept His offer. Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved! If you don’t know what to say, even if you’ve never prayed before, all you have to do is talk to God just like you’d talk to me. Tell Him, “Dear God, I know I’m a sinner. I know you hate my sin and you would never let me into Heaven the way I am. I believe that Jesus Christ came to earth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross and rose again the third day. I believe He did that for me. Please forgive my sin and cleanse my heart. Please come into my heart and save me.”
These aren’t magical words and they’re not the only things you can say, but it’s a start. If you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ into your heart please do it today. He will change you life and He will change your after-life.
If this article has helped you realize your need for salvation, or has helped you understand what it takes to become a Christian, or if you still have more questions . . . please leave a comment. We’d love to hear if you’ve become a believer! We’d love to know if God has cleansed your heart from sin! We’d also love to answer any more questions you may have.
This is the single most important decision a person can make. Please do it today, don’t wait. “Today is the day of salvation!”
