Since God is perfect and Holy, He is without sin, and does not condone sin. All of us are born into a sinful nature (Romans 3:23), and it
doesn't matter how many or what types of "bad things" we've done, God tells us that if we are guilty of breaking
part of the law, even just one of His commandments, then we are guility of breaking the entire law (James 2:10).
Since we are found guilty, God must punish sin.
God loves us, but God is also a just God. God's place of judgment involves a place called hell.
Hell is real and it does exist; it is a literal place. The following passage is taken from the book of Luke, Chapter 16, which describes hell as a real place, being a place of torment and having physical boundaries:
There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
Even though God punishes sin, He is
also merciful, providing us an "escape route". Since God knows we have a sinful nature and we cannot be perfect in our human state, He made a way to save us from His condemnation, and
give us access to Heaven. In order for God to allow us into Heaven, He
sent His son, Jesus Christ, into the world to pay for that penalty. Christ, being fully man and God at the same time, died for us, paying the penalty that we owe for sin. In doing so, God declares us "not guilty" for sins, and does not count
them against us.
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
Even though Jesus Christ died for sins, God still doesn't force Himself upon us. He doesn't say,
"Well, my son died for your sins, and you have to accept this payment I did on your behalf". God loves us, and He wants us to love
Him in return because we want to, not because we have to. So...God gives us a choice. We can accept the payment Jesus Christ has made
on our behalf (God's plan of allowing us into Heaven), or we can choose not to. It's up to us. Our choice of where we will spend eternity lies with us. If we choose God's plan
of redemption, then we choose Heaven as our final destination place when we die. If we choose not to accept God's provision for our sin debt, we will
spend an endless, agonizing, eternity in hell, and there will be no way of escape.
Do you want to be saved and know that you will go to Heaven when you die? God will meet you wherever you are and no matter what you've done. A lot of people think there's a "right time" to be saved, but the time is NOW. The Bible says TODAY is the day of salvation... Don't put it off until tomorrow because none of us are guaranteed a "tomorrow".
If you want to commit your life to Jesus Christ, knowing Heaven will one day be your home, admit to God that you are a sinner, that you are in need of His help, believe that Jesus died on the cross as full payment of your sins, and repent of your sins. Ask Jesus to come into your life. It doesn't take
any particular way of saying it, as long as you are truly trying to reconcile with God, because God knows our hearts.
You might ask after reading all this, "How do I know the Bible is true and accurate? What if this is just another theory
about how to get to Heaven which can't be substantiated?" To learn how we can know that the Bible is
without a doubt, God-inspired and free from error, please click HERE. Want to know more? Come visit our other site HERE or don't hesitate to email us.