Good News

Do you think you are good enough to go to heaven? When you stand before God on Judgment Day, will He find you innocent or guilty? Well, I have good news and bad news. In order to understand more fully the good news, let me first elaborate on the bad news.

The bad news is that no one is good enough to go to heaven. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at Scripture:

God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. – Isaiah 53:2-3

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. – Psalm 14:3

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. – Mark 10:17-18, Emphasis Mine

Three different  passages from three different authors all in agreement with this one truth. The Bible even goes on to talk about man’s good deeds…

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. – Isaiah 64:6

Even our good deeds are tainted. Tainted by wicked motivations and intentions. We do good deeds to gain success, look good before our peers, even as a means of bribing God into giving us eternal life.

What does this all mean? It means that man is naturally in rebellion to God, disobedient and full of wickedness. We lie, we steal, look with lust…all of which goes against God’s perfect standard of goodness. God is holy and just and will therefore execute justice against all lawbreakers.

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, - Hebrews 9:27

Anyone who is found guilty will face the consequences…

For the wages of sin is death, - Romans 6:23

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” – Revelation 21:8

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:8-9

If God were to give us all exactly as we deserve, then we would all go to hell for eternity. Many downplay the seriousness of hell, but here is one passage of Scripture describing what hell is like:

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” – Luke 16:19-31, Emphasis Mine

Here we see that hell is a place of torment. The rich man suffers greatly in this place, begging for the slightest relief from his suffering. It is such a bad place that he is pleading for the sake of his brothers. We also see that it is eternal and there is no redemption once man has crossed from this life into the next. We see here and in Revelation 20:15 that hell is a lake of fire. Hell is a place of punishment, a place without hope, and without joy. Hell is where we would all end up if it weren’t for God’s great mercy, which brings us to the good news…

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

While we are all deserving of hell, God provides a way of escape. He sent his son, Jesus, fully God and fully man, to the earth. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and performed many miracles. He died on a cross and three days later rose from the dead. Through his death, he paid the penalty that we owe. He bore the wrath of God for our sin on our behalf. Because of this, we can be restored to a right relationship with God the Father.

You may be thinking at this point, “Okay. Great! But what must I do to be saved?”

Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” – Mark 1:15, Emphasis Mine

If we will turn from our sin and put our trust in Jesus Christ alone to save us, we will gain eternal life. We will exchange our “sin-stained clothing” for Jesus’ “robe of righteousness”, meaning that God will see us as He sees His Son. We will be heirs of the kingdom and have direct access to God in prayer.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 1 Corinthians 5:21

If you have not done this, I urge you to flee from your sins today and run to the Savior. Jesus is the only way to the Father and the only means by which any of us can be saved. Confess your sins to God and forsake them. If you do this God says he will make you a new creature. He will change your heart, giving you new desires. I also beg you not to put off getting right with God any longer. We have no assurance that we will live another day on this earth so we need to be ready at any moment to face God with confidence that our sins have been forgiven.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. - 1 Corinthians 5:17

If you have prayed a prayer asking Jesus into your heart, but you still are living a lifestyle of sin, not desiring to lay down your iniquities and having no enthusiasm for the things of God, it is possible you have not been genuinely converted. Many churches teach this act as a means of salvation, but Scripture does NOT say that. Praying a prayer DOES NOT save a person. Baptism DOES NOT save a person. Belonging to a church DOES NOT save a person. It is ONLY through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ that one is born again. I urge you to examine yourself according to the Scriptures (1 John is a great book for this) and if you are not assured of your salvation, cry out to God begging for His forgiveness and keep crying out to Him until He saves you. Don't delay it any longer. You aren't fooling God by acting a certain way outwardly and inwardly despising His ways. Turn to Him.

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! - 2 Corinthians 13:5

If you have been genuinely converted, I encourage you to read the Bible every day. If you do not have one in your posession, there are several sites that have the Bible available for free online (one such site is www.biblegateway.com). Don't just read it to read it. Read it to know God better. Obey what you read. Repent when God convicts you in His Word. Pray to Him every day. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Praise Him for all that He's done for you. Lastly, but still important, get in a bible-believing church. Those are hard to find these days but one site that may be helpful is www.9marks.org. It is so important to find a good church to attend. Attending church helps us to stay accountable for our actions as well as an opportunity to worship God with other believers and to encourage and pray for one another as well.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. - Psalm 1:1, Emphasis Mine

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. - Hebrews 10:24-25

*All Scripture was taken out of the English Standard Version of the Holy Bible