May I Ask You a Question?

May I ask you one very important question?  If you were to die today, if something terrible were to happen, whether you got in a terrible car accident, or some kind of sickness came upon you, or whatever it may be, and you were to die, do you know for sure where you would spend eternity?

If you don’t’, I would like to be able to help you, through the Word of God, so you could know for sure.  If you were to stand before God and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” what would your answer be?  If you don’t know, then hopefully by the end of this article, you would know.

We must first of all understand that none of us are righteous.  RIGHTEOUSNESS is simply “GOD’S PERFECTION”.  And we’re not perfect. We’re not righteous.  We have imperfections and problems in our lives.  We do wrong things.  It is called SIN!  And that’s just who we are!  As it says in Romans 3:10, “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one”.  No one could ever claim that they are righteous.  Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”.  When we understand that all of us have sinned, it doesn’t mean that we became sinners the moment we first sinned, but rather that we sin because we are sinners.  We are born sinners!  Romans 5:12 says “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” By one man (Adam), we have all sinned.  By one man’s sin (Adam’s), we are all sinners.  

I ask, “Have you ever told a lie?”  If you have, then you are a liar!  Have you ever stolen any-thing?  Perhaps you took a quarter off your dad’s dresser, or maybe stole wages from your boss by not working when you were supposed to be? Have you ever wanted something that wasn’t yours, and said, “Boy, would I like to have that”, not in the sense of “being nice to have”, but being covetous?  Have you ever taken the Lord’s name in vain?  I have never found a single person yet that hasn’t lied - told some lie, whether they call it a “little white lie” or a “little fib” – whatever it is they call it – but they lie.  And when you do that, Scripture says you are a “liar”.  

We need to understand that is sin, and that we all have sinned.  I’ve sinned, you’ve sinned.  We have all sinned.  We all make mistakes.  We have all ‘messed up’.  

But the problem is that there is a WAGE for that sin.  There is a penalty for our sin.  

Romans 6:23a says “For the wages of sin is death “ A wage is something you earn.  It’s like when you work a job, and you work all week long, you expect to have a paycheck at the end of the week.  You don’t expect not to be paid for the time that you worked.  And sometimes you expect to be paid more because you think you are worth more.  In essence, you’ve earned something in life and that is death.  The wages of sin is death.  

That death is not just a physical death.  We know that everyone will die physically, We haven’t found a person yet who won’t die physically.  The death rate is still one apiece!  People die physically, BUT this is not just the issue of physical death, it’s also the issue of a “spiritual death”.  

The Scriptures call this the “second death”.  And this death is separation from God.  What you have earned, because of your sin, is to be separated from God for eternity.  II Thessalonians 1:8 says “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ;” The issue here is people who obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  They don’t believe the gospel.  Verse 9 goes on to say, “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power”.  There’s an issue of being punished with everlasting destruction. There is an issue of having a punishment that lasts for eternity.  Not for a short time, not just a few years, not for just 1000 years, but forever being punished.  And the key here is “from the presence of the Lord”.  This second death has a separation from God.  That’s what we’ve earned because of our sin.  We have earned that separation from God.  We have earned that punishment that is an everlasting punishment.  Where is that?  

Revelation 21:8 talks about “the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters”. I think through that whole list and think I’m not one of those.  Those people are really bad.  But the rest of the verse says “and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” The issue here is that liars (and I have never found a person who has never told a lie, and if you have told one lie, you are a liar).  What happens because of our lying?  Where do these people go?  They shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.  

When it says that the wages of sin of death, that death is a second death – in the lake of fire.  Folks, that is bad news.  And if someone gave you this article, you probably don’t want to read it.  

But if you will just bear with me one second, here comes the good news.

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  Isn’t that tremendous?  God thought more about you than He did Himself.  God cares more about you than He did Himself.  That’s what the word ‘love’ is.  Love is to think about someone else before you.  God cared more about you than He did Himself.  How do I know that?  Because it says He demonstrated His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  God never said that we had to clean up our life. God never said to quit lying. God never said we had to quit stealing. God never said we had to quit cussing. God never said we had to start going to church. God never said we had to start paying money. God never said we had to start praying. God said that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  You see, He didn’t wait for us to clean up our life before He said ‘I’ll die for you”.  He said, in essence, “because you can’t clean up your life on your own power, I have to send My Son to die for you”.  

The Gospel (good news) is “how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:3,4).

That’s what the gospel is.  The issue is that Christ died FOR us.  He took our place.  The Lord Jesus Christ was our substitute.  We should have died that death.  But the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, and not only did He die physically on the cross, He died that second death.  He was separated from God the Father.  He died that second death, and He paid that penalty.  Why?  So that you and I don’t have to do it.  That’s why.  What a tremendous love story!  God thought more about me, and He thought more about you, that His Son died for us.  

What must we do to be saved?  The Philippian jailer asked this question to Paul and Silas when he was getting ready to kill himself.  They told him not to (kill himself), and told him to come in (to the prison cell) and he said, “Sirs’ what must I do to be saved?”  And they said “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Romans 16:30, 31).  

What are to believe?  “How that Christ died for your sins, and that He was buried and rose again.”  That is what you are to believe.   

Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.  God has given you a gift.  There is a gift out there for every one of you.  He’ has a gift for you, He has a gift for me, and that gift is eternal life.  It’s eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  He wants you to take it and He wants me to take it.  You can’t work for it.  He has given you this gift by His grace.  Romans 4:4 says, “ Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt,” You can’t work for a gift!  It is something someone gives you out of the kindness of his or her heart.  You can’t work for a gift.  

Romans 4:5 says, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness”.  Remember how I told you that you were unrighteous – the problem that we all have?  I am unrighteous, you’re unrighteous.  But yet my faith in what God says, God has counted as righteousness to my account.  God had said “I choose Keith to be righteous because of his faith in believing what I said”.  God has chosen to do that through His grace.  

Ephesians 2:8, 9 says, “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast”.  God has given you the gift of eternal life.  How?  By His grace!  Through what?  Faith in what He did for you.  He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on a cross for your sins.  And He has this free gift of eternal life just waiting for you to take it.  

A lot of people are dying and they are going to spend eternity separated from God in the lake of fire.  Why?  It is not because their sins weren’t paid for.  Christ died for their sins.  But it is because they choose not to obey the gospel.  It is because they choose not to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.  And they will spend eternity separated from God.  

If you would like to have eternal life, if you know for sure that you are a sinner, and you know that you deserve the punishment of the wages you have earned, and separation from God in going to the lake of fire, then what do you need to do?

Remember what that Philippian jailer asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  It’s very simple. You need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  You need to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried and rose again the third day.

Ephesians 1:13 says, “In Whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,”

The moment you trust in what the Lord Jesus Christ did for you – when you rely exclusively on that and that alone, and rest in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on a cross – the moment you believe it with your heart, with all your being, you receive that gift of eternal life.

There won’t be claps of thunder, or flashes of lightning; some might cry, some might not, You are not going to feel a chill, Folks, this is just something between you and God.  

You need to make a decision.  The decision is up to you.  WILL YOU MAKE IT NOW?

If you choose not to trust Christ, then if you are to die today, if some tragedy did happen, you will spend eternity, without a second chance, in the lake of fire, 

If you choose to trust Christ today, if you choose to believe the gospel and trust how that Christ died for your sins, was buried and rose again – if you believe that and that alone for your salvation, then you have the free gift of eternal life right now.  And you will live for eternity with Christ in Heaven.  

If you chose to do that, we would love to hear from you.  You can call me or write to me.  My phone number and mailing address are listed below.  

We would love to hear from you.  If you did trust Christ, please tell the person who gave you this article, or call or write to me.  We would love to hear from you.  We would love to see you grow in grace.  

Thank you for taking time to read this article, and again, we would love to hear from you.