We care where you spend eternity!

Do you know where you will spend eternity? Are you certain what lies behind the grave? This is not an unimportant question. Think about it, you will all be dead a lot longer that you will be alive.  If there is life beyond the grave and what you do now determines what happens to you after you die, you had better make sure you know the truth about it so that you don’t make a mistake. No amount of wishful thinking or deliberate ignoring the question now will help when you die. The issue in this question is not what different people think or hope is beyond the grave, the issue is the truth! You can know the truth because God has told us what lies beyond the grave.

Why do we care what happens to you?  We care because God loves you and cares about you!

“The Lord. . . is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)
“God our Savior; who desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4)
There is a heaven and a hell. “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15)

If God loves you and cares about you, why would He send anyone to hell?

The bottom line is that God doesn’t really send anyone to hell. Rather, those who are God’s enemies send themselves to hell because they first rebelled against God and then refuse to accept the deliverance and friendship God offers them. 

Are you God’s friend or enemy?

God has said. “You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14). God is the One who created us and sustains us and He knows what is best for us. All His commands are for our good, however unfortunately we don’t always choose to obey His commands. This puts a barrier between us and God and makes us His enemy. “But your iniquities have separated you from your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

God’s standard is absolute perfection. Unless you are absolutely perfect, you do not measure up to His standard. There is no way that you can somehow atone for past sins by doing good in the future.  If a thief steals a car, choosing not to steal a car the next day won’t remove the fact that he stole a car the previous day.  Once we have sinned, that sin stands as a barrier between us and God and we cannot remove that barrier because we cannot go back in time and change it. 

We all stand guilty before God of violating His commands.  This makes us God’s enemy! This is a problem!

The Bible makes it clear that the punishment for sin is death, both physical and spiritual (eternal separation from God in hell).  “For the wages of sin is death...” (Romans 6:23a). Does this bother you?  Do you want a solution to this problem?
The solution is not doing good or keeping God’s law.  You have already violated His law and done wrong. “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:19-20).

There is a solution!  “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Rom. 6:23b)

Jesus Christ came to earth, paid the penalty for your sins, removing the barrier between you and Himself so that there was no longer any barrier to having peace with God.  This is the gospel or good news, “I declare to you the gospel. . by which also you are saved. . For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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” (1 Cor. 15:1-4).
You who once were God’s enemy, can now be at peace with God and possess a personal relationship with Him. “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He (Jesus) has reconciled” (Col. 1:21) “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation. . . And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off, and to those who were near” (Eph. 2:14&17)

What’s the catch?

Well, there is a catch.  God doesn’t force you to receive His message of peace and reconciliation.  To receive His gift, you must receive it by faith or trust in Him.  Jesus said, “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that every one who sees the Son, and believes in Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. . . Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:40&47). “Most assuredly, I say unto you, he who hears My word, and believes in Him who sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).
Salvation is entirely based upon His grace, not on our works. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8&9)
Salvation is only through Jesus Christ.  “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6) “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). 

Why you should make a decision now?

Are you not sure you want to be God’s friend? Are you unwilling to admit the fact that you are a sinner and need salvation? Are you unwilling to face what God says about your sin? Do you believe in one of the multitude of other religions which says that your only chance to get to heaven is through your own works? This is neither the time to trust in your own works nor the time to live as if you will not have to give an account to God for your actions. This is the time to turn away from all these things in which you trust and put your trust solely in Jesus Christ for your eternal future! “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2)
Tomorrow is guaranteed to no one.  God says that your life is “even a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).  We are commanded, “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6). “For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13).  Please turn to the Lord in faith and trust today.  Your life is precious to God.  He cares what happens to you and so do we.  Ultimately though, it’s your decision.  If your life is precious to you, please take a moment to admit your need to God and put your trust in Him.