The Real Reason People Go To Hell

It is often said that people go to hell because they do not put their faith in God and believe in the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. 

Christians say this to non-believers and non-believers use that as an excuse to why Christianity is unfair. They say things like, “I’m a good person and just because I don’t believe in God you tell me I have to go to hell?”

There is major folly in this argument. 

Because while people are saved by faith in Christ Jesus through His sacrifice on the cross. 

People do NOT go to hell for their lack of faith. 

People go to hell because they’re sinners and deserve punishment. 

We must make this clear.

Why?

Because people don’t understand the seriousness of their sin, people don’t understand the weight of their sin.

People don’t understand how pure and holy God is. He is a righteous and fair judge, therefore sin must be atoned for. 

If someone rejects Jesus’ atonement for their sins than they must pay themselves because that is what a good judge does. 

A good judge doesn’t say, “Well even though you committed this crime or wronged this person you seem like a good person therefore I will let you go free without punishment.” 

That would be a bad judge, that would be unjust. A good and just judge must punish those who have done wrong.

Which we all have.

All of us our sinners. 

I am a sinner who deserves hell.

My faith is what saves me but my sin is what condemns me.

If you reject the truth of the Gospel you will go to hell for your sins.

Think of it this way.

If a car thief is offered a deal to plead guilty and avoid jail time but they reject the offer and are found guilty; They’re going to jail not because they turned down the plea deal, they’re going to jail because they’re a car thief.

If you reject Jesus’ payment for your sins you will go to hell for your sins.

Repent and Believe.

-Chris 

All Will Be Revealed

Scandals.

Scandals are everywhere. They’re covered in the national news and in the local news.

If the person involved in a scandal is not famous, well news travels quickly in communities.

Before you know everyone knows what has gone on.

However personal scandals may only be known to family or close friends but nevertheless they effect people.

Many emotions come when you hear of scandals, anger, sadness, grief. Sometimes maybe positive emotions like relief or happiness to see the truth come to light.

In thinking of many situations like this recently I came to God in prayer and heard in my mind, “All will be revealed”.

I took comfort in that but also there is a lot of weight in that sentence.

All will truly be revealed.

Maybe not to the World but God knows.

You can not hide your sins or transgressions.

No stone will not be overturned, there is no hiding from God.

Your sins will be revealed and you will be judged by God.

But there is good news.

The Good News.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whoever shall believe in Him will have eternal life.

Jesus can save you from your sins, Jesus is the way the truth and the light.

Repent and believe.

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Monday – Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Tuesday – Psalm 8

Wednesday – Romans 5:1-5

Thursday – John 16:12-15

Forgiveness is Available For All Sinners

Throwback Thursday from May 2019. This is one of my more controversial posts, in that it attracted some angry attention in the comments. Two comments I had to delete due to profanity. Nevertheless it also received a lot more positivity. I’ve learned a lot about soteriology since I wrote this, so I may have worded a few things different to respect everyone’s theological beliefs but other than that I think the message holds.

The Good Word

I’ve heard many people ask a similar question that often times is hard to answer or even comprehend for some Christians. The question is usually along the lines of, “How can someone who is in jail who did terrible things and repented go to Heaven while I haven’t done horrible things will go to hell for not believing in God?”

For years I struggled with an answer to this question but God showed me the answer through scripture. The reason is that person in prison has now paid twice for their sins.

First through earthly consequences, the person committed crimes, was punished and served their sentence or is serving their sentence. That is their physical judgment.

But what remains is their spiritual judgment and when one truly accepts Jesus Christ as their savior, it is He, Jesus who took on their spiritual punishment. God will know if they truly are…

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God Alone is Truly Good

Atheist don’t believe in God of course, however if you ask them if there was a Hell would they go to it after they die, it is very rare to hear them say, “yes”. Usually the answer is “no” and filled with many reasons as to why they wouldn’t and most importantly that they believe themselves to be a “good person”.

Well the truth is being a “good person” doesn’t make you good, we all allow others to suffer around us and we constantly do the wrong thing. We may all strive to be a good version of a person but we can’t say that we are overall “good”. That alone goes to God.

Only He is righteous and good.

We can only be righteous through Him.

We are all sinners.

*Psalm 53 1-3 says, “The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
There is none who does good.

² God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
³ Every one of them has turned aside;
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.”

Now this of course relates to David’s time and to Israel but we can also use this as guidance to the world we live in today. We all struggle to do the right thing and many times have our own motives. Can we truly say that we do “good” or at least as “good” as we should?

We as Christians know we are sinners and we must humble ourselves to the Lord. We recognize God is so merciful to us all despite the lack of mercy we on this earth show to each other. Religious or not we all can do better.

When we do make mistakes there is usually an earthly consequence, we could go to jail, ruin a relationship, lose a job or even smaller consequences like just make someone upset or lose out on something you wanted to enjoy. The type of consequence doesn’t matter, the main focus is that there is consequences.

But what about spiritual consequences? We know the wages of sin is death** but what about after death? How can you make up for all your collective sins, mistakes and bad things you have done?

Well God made a plan for us all to be redeemed, it was through the Son, Jesus Christ. He died so our sins could be forgiven and we could have eternal life with the Lord. But you have to accept Jesus’s sacrifice as your atonement for your own sins.

If you don’t than you will have to take on the spiritual consequences.

So to the Christians out there that is why we must spread the Gospel to the world and pray that people’s hearts our opened to God.

I know sometimes it can be hard to talk to others about faith especially when you are attacked or mocked or ridiculed. I saw a picture that really inspired me it stated, “Atheism is a temporary condition” then pointed out every knee shall bow. We know this from scripture.

In Philippians 2:10-11 it says, “10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” ***

So my Christian brothers and sisters have confidence in faith and be bold and spreading the Gospel because in the end God wins and we will spend eternity with Him. And since we all strive to be “good people” then we as Christians need to follow God’s will and be a part of His salvation plan by helping those around us learn about the Lord so hopefully they can be saved as well.

One more message for today.

Remember God is the Truth.

Satan is the liar.

So follow the Truth, the Way and the Life. ***

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Sources:
*https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+53&version=NKJV
**https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6%3A23&version=NKJV
***https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A10-11&version=NKJV
***https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Bible-Verses-About-Every-Knee-Shall-Bow/
****https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A6&version=NKJV

Forgiveness is Available For All Sinners

I’ve heard many people ask a similar question that often times is hard to answer or even comprehend for some Christians. The question is usually along the lines of, “How can someone who is in jail who did terrible things and repented go to Heaven while I haven’t done horrible things will go to hell for not believing in God?”

For years I struggled with an answer to this question but God showed me the answer through scripture. The reason is that person in prison has now paid twice for their sins.

First through earthly consequences, the person committed crimes, was punished and served their sentence or is serving their sentence. That is their physical judgment.

But what remains is their spiritual judgment and when one truly accepts Jesus Christ as their savior, it is He, Jesus who took on their spiritual punishment. God will know if they truly are remorseful and their repentance true, if God sees it as so then he will be forgiven.

So now that prisoner’s penalty has been paid on Earth and in Heaven.

Truth is we are all prisoners to sin and the only One who can change that is the Lord Almighty.

Some may say that it is unfair and I agree. But it is NOT unfair to you the person who rejects God.

It is unfair to God alone. We all don’t deserve salvation. It is a gift from God, if you reject it. You are choosing where you spend eternity.

I repeat YOU will chose where you spend eternity, so choose wisely.

Now a message to my Christian brothers and sisters, don’t blame others or worry about what others have done. Don’t focus on others sin remember what the Bible says.

Matthew 7:5, “5 You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Focus on how you can approve yourself in order to serve others.

Also I want to point out never think or tell someone who has gone to Hell, because the truth is you never know who spent their last moments confessing their sins to God.

We have the right to the Kingdom until our last dying breath.

Remember the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard…

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

That is a very powerful parable. We as Christians must remember this and just like the thief on the cross, salvation is available to the end.

Now back to those who haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior, you may think, “Oh okay, I have time then.”

That may be true but you never know when your time on Earth will end, don’t risk it. Let Jesus in to your heart today.

Have a blessed week

https://biblehub.com/matthew/7-5.htm

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+20%3A1-16&version=NIV

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+23%3A39-43&version=NASB

 

 

 

Choose Love, Not Hate

Anger, coldness, bitterness and an overall lack of empathy seems to be the norm in today’s culture. It is becoming increasingly hard as a Christian to handle these situations in a way God would want us to.

I think it is important when you see someone behaving angrily towards you or something or someone you love that you pity them rather than becoming angry towards them. Don’t behave the same way as they are.

Their behavior is toxic and they need to establish a relationship with God. Pray for them and try to help them, if they are unreachable remove yourself from the toxicity and continue to keep them in your prayers.

Remember they deserve forgiveness just as much as you do.

You may see some that behave that way in the church. They will shout and proclaim who is on the path to Hell, criticizing the sinners of the world. Or maybe speaking out against all those who are “back sliding” from the faith.

I’ve heard many times about how it is up to us to correct other brothers and sisters. That is true but many use God’s word as an excuse to be angry and hostile to others. Tearing others down in order to build themselves up.

Don’t take the Bible out of context in order to fit your own agenda. Even atheists do that. Know the meaning of the Word, not just the words of the Word.

Paul wrote to the church on how to handle believers who need correction. He told us to do so with love not anger and hostility.

Remember the story of the prodigal son, God wants us to come back to Him, He will wait with open arms and restore the person who has fallen away.

Don’t be the road block on the persons path back to his Father.

We as Christians cannot respond to sin with hate, we need to do so with love. Just as Jesus did.

I am of course not perfect, far from it. I have spoken negatively and had negative thoughts about certain people.

Sometimes I see people criticizing God or mocking Him and I get angry and I think about what is going to be their consequences for what they’re doing. It feels good for a moment but only a moment. Then I feel sorrowful for having those thoughts.

Jesus loves those who mock Him just as much as He loves us.

Don’t get angry or be afraid of those who lash out at you about your faith. Fear Who can destroy both body and the soul.

It breaks my heart knowing what awaits so many.

That is why it is so important to choose love over hate. Show God’s love through our actions to bring others to Christ.

Have a blessed week,
Chris

Unconditional Love vs. Conditional Grace

I once wrote that if God’s love has conditions I am okay with them but I would like to correct that writing with this weeks blog post. It is not conditional love but it is conditional grace. God loves us all and wants us all to be saved. The Bible makes that
obvious. The word Love is mentioned 310 times in the Bible.

The Grace of God is that part that is conditional you must accept the salvation through Jesus Christ.

I have heard often from skeptics that if there is a God it is unfair that they won’t be able to get into Heaven for their lack of belief, they believe they’re good people and that should be enough.

Let me give you a hypothetical scenario, a Father builds his two children a home each, he supplies them with everything they need and sends them out with a small set of rules.

Both children proceed to break these rules.

The first child immediately regrets it and apologizes to the Father, who in turn forgives him out of love. After that every time the child makes a mistake he calls the Father to apologize and tries to correct the issue. The Father always forgives him.

Now the second child goes on with his life, ignoring the fact he broke those rules, he points out that they were just the small ones anyway. But small mistakes often led to bigger ones. As time goes on this child does everything on his own, years and years pass,  now he begins to doubt the Father even built the houses, he never saw him do it, where is the proof? Then he begins to point out all the times the Father didn’t help him and even questions if he is really his Father. He stops talking to his Father all together.

Meanwhile the children’s houses begin to deteriorate, their Father decides he will build them beautiful mansions in his gated community. All they have to do is apologize for their mistakes and try their best to follow the rules and most importantly love him.

The first child is so thankful to the Father but the second isn’t, he ignores everything the Father said and continues on his way refusing to apologize for anything he has done, refusing to acknowledge his Father at all.

In the end the Father welcomes the first child into the gated community and presents him with his mansion. But when the second child shows up the Father sends him away and gives the mansion to someone else, a person who accepted him as Father, respected him and loved him.

Was the Father wrong? Did the second child who disrespected his Father and his Father’s house deserve to obtain a new house?

Of course he didn’t, like wise those who refuse to acknowledge God on Earth will not be welcomed into His dwelling either.

Accept God’s grace today.

I am going to leave you with a link to the Parable of the Lost Son, often refereed to as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. This is a perfect example of how God views us when we are astray.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+15%3A11-32&version=NIV

As you see from the parable, the Father represents God, who will run to us with open arms when we return.

Freely run back to your Father.

Have a blessed week,
-Chris

Scare Tactics: Forcing people to Christianity and it’s dangers

One of the most common ideas people get about Christians is that they’re obsessed with Hell. People discuss this idea in social circles, in the media, how many times have we seen the stereotypical Hell, Fire and Brimstone Christian in a movie or TV show? But then again how times have you seen a guy on the street corner screaming about damnation? I grew up scared to death of Hell, I was constantly being reminded of Hell by the people from Church, any slip up, Hell was brought up. Many have had similar experiences from their own Church, or from neighbors or even parents.

Often Christians feel like they can use scare tactics to convert other’s to Christianity, this is a very dangerous thing to do. They say here is the consequences for not believing. But that is all they say. Jesus said we are the light of the World. We have to show the positive influence he had on our lives and how we now do God’s work on Earth.

Becoming a Christian out of fear is not what God wants.

God is so merciful and loving. If you read the Old Testament the Israelite’s consistently rebelled against God and all he asked was for them to turn back to him. Much later Jesus sacrificed himself for the whole World to be saved. Jesus talked about Hell but it was rare compared to talking about love, kindness, forgiveness and helping others. So why do we talk about Hell so much? Also why are we holding on to things? Why are we passing by the homeless in the streets? Why do we shut the doors of our churches on people we disagree with? God says we must forgive to be forgiven, maybe it is time to remove the plank from our eyes instead of worrying about the neighbors speak of dust in someone else’s eye?

Be Blessed

-Chris

Verses to read

Matthew 6:14-15

“14For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither willyour Father forgive yours. “

Matthew 7:4-5

“4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye? 5You hypocrite! First takethe beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.“