I have heard people say, "Well she is a good person. She'll go to Heaven." This statement is completely true! If you are a good person, you will go to Heaven. Even Jesus says that the righteous will enter into Heaven (Matthew 25:46) That's wonderful news, right? Well, there is one problem: There is no such thing as a good person.
I know what many of you are thinking. "What do you mean there is no such thing as a good person? I go to church five days a week, I give food to the homeless, I tithe at church, I do it all! How can you tell me that I'm not a good person?" Well, let me give you this scripture then. "Who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or ever can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen." (1 Timothy 6:16) Can you live forever? Can someone see you and not die on the spot? Unless you are God, you are imperfect, and if you are imperfect, you aren't good.
I know, I know, "But I go to church every service! I don't murder or do anything big. I'm not a bad person." Well, maybe you haven't murdered anyone or done any drugs or slept around, but let me give you this scripture. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) Sin is sin, no matter how big or small. Any and all sin equals death, even one time. Even if someone lived the perfect life, and stole a piece of bubble gum, they sinned and their sin bought them death. Sin is a decision we make when we think that our idea is better than God's. That is why sin looks fine to us, because we think that it's a good idea. It is not. It is rebellion against the almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth. Sin is rebellion against someone better than you. It is like an elementary student taking their parent's car keys and driving around town. They think it is fine because they are having fun, but they are oblivious to all of the danger that they are getting themselves in.
Look back on your life and tell me that you have never sinned. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Everyone has sinned, including you and me. Have you ever lied, even a little white lie? That is a sin. Have you ever stolen something, even something that no one would miss? That is a sin. Have you ever talked bad about someone behind their back? That is a sin. Have you ever thought someone was stupid or sinful? That was judgmental. That was a sin as well. We are all sinners! This is a fact!
I know, I know, "But my sin wasn't big. Those Bible verses are talking about big sins. It doesn't apply to me." Well, I believe Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned, and I believe that you are included when the verse says "all." Yes, you might not have murdered, but you have stilled sinned and it is worthy of death. To say that your sin isn't big enough to send you to Hell is to spit in God's face and tell Him that He isn't as holy as He thinks He is. God cannot be in the presence of sin. You and I are both sinners, and that is a fact. That is why we would go to Hell. Hell is separation from God, and He cannot have you in His presence if you have sinned. Not because He chooses to separate you and Him, but because He is too holy to be in the presence of sin.
Let me put it this way. Imagine that I bakes a delicious cake. It was triple layered and filled with your favorite flavor. Now, as I cut out a piece of the cake to give to you, I hand you the plate and say, "Oh, by the way, I sprinkled just a little bit of dog poop into the batter before I cooked it." Would you still eat my cake? It is the same way with our sin! Our sin, no matter how big or small we want to think it is, destroys us and makes us imperfect. Don't be mad because the standard is high, be mad because you didn't meet the standard. God made man perfect but we failed Him. If you're going to be mad, make sure that you're getting mad at the right person.
No matter what, there is no way out of it: we are all sinners who deserve Hell for not meeting the standard of Heaven. Being mad about this truth is like being mad about having diabetes if all you ate was sugar and candy for a year. We cannot be mad at the consequences of our own decisions.
Now, we all know that we are sinners. How do we not go to Hell? No matter what our sin is, we don't want Hell. Well, we should turn to Jesus. Why Jesus? Because the Bible says that "'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" (Romans 10:13) Jesus Christ is Lord and He is the only one that can save us. He even said, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) Jesus Christ is the only true way to Heaven. Jesus Christ is the only true way to eternal life. We cannot work off our debt. The only thing that can satisfy sin is death. It doesn't matter how often you go to church, how many homeless people you help, how much you donate, or how well people know you at church. The wages of sin is death, that means that when you sin, you owe death. No other payment will do. Trying to work off sin is like trying to pay your bills with pumpkins. It just won't work.
It is through Jesus Christ alone that we can be saved from Hell. Romans 10:13 says that "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." We must turn to Jesus who gives us grace. We must stop trying to work off our sin or ignore it. To take any other path to Heaven aside from Jesus Christ is prideful and arrogant. It is saying, "God, you don't know the rules to the system that you made. I, a sinful imperfect man, know a better way to Heaven; and you're going to let me in because this is the way that I want to live; so be quiet and work with me." This will never work! Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven! We cannot work our way in.
We must humble ourselves and accept what Jesus Christ did for us. He went to the cross and took the spiritual punishment that we deserved when God poured out the cup of wrath on Him, the cup of wrath being filled with the punishments that every human will ever deserve for their sin. Jesus took it all for us. We must be humble enough to admit that we sin and deserve Hell, but that God will give grace to those who are humble enough to accept it. It comes down to this: We are all sinners who deserve Hell and need a savior. Jesus Christ is that savior. He is the only way out of Hell. Nothing else will do. He has reached out His hand to us at the cross. Will you take His hand and accept what He did, or will you let your pride get in the way of eternal life? The choice is yours.
-D
No comments:
Post a Comment