The Problem

Choices, most everything in life comes down to choices we make. The Choice for living in Heaven with God or choosing death in Hell is up to the individual. Seems that no one would choose to spend eternity in hell, but to make an informed decision one must understand what the Bible (God’s Word) teaches on the matter.  Let’s take a look at Gods word on this matter we call salvation. Each us must first understand the problem that exist between us and God. Second we need to understand the penalty we deserve because of our sin. Third we should understand the payment for sin. Fourth we should know the pardon for sin, and finally the prayer of faith.

The Problem

God will not allow sinful man into heaven, for God is holy and will not dwell with sin.

Revelation 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it (Heaven) any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Some people do not believe they are sinners. We all like to think we are good people. Just because we feel we are good, does not mean that God sees us as without sin.

Proverbs 20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

 1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The truth is God’s Word shows us that we are all sinners.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Romans 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

Romans 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Several times we see in scripture that ALL men are sinners.

If two man were standing at the top of the Grand Canyon, staring at the five mile abys between the north rim and the south rim, one man looks at the other and says;

“I believe I can jump to the other side.”

The Second man looks at him and says,

“I don’t believe you can, but I can jump further than you can.”

“Alright,” says the first man, “ let’s do it.” I’ll go first.”

He backs up and takes a running leap. He jumps a full seventy-five feet. Before falling 1300 feet to his demise. The second man laughs and laughs.

“See I knew he couldn’t do it. I can do better.”

He then backs up and takes off running to the edge of the cliff and jumps with all his might. He jumps a total of one hundred feet before falling to his demise.

Both men tried, both men did there best, yet both men ended up in the same place. They missed the mark or fell short of the target. This is what the Bible is talking about, we all fall short of the Glory of God. What is God’s standard? What are we to live up to?  The Bible tells us God’s standard.

Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Since none of us are perfect we then are guilty of sin. The question then arises. What is Sin? Man can come up with his own definition of sin, but once again the Bible has the perfect answer.

1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Transgression is a word that we do not see every day, it is a law term that means to break. In other words, the Bible is saying that whosoever breaks the law is in sin.

When we think of God’s law we are moved to the ten commandments.

We only need to cover a few to prove that we are sinners. It would be appropriate here to use the “Good Person Test.” made popular by Ron Comfort in his “Way of the Master” vidoes.

Before we get started let me remind you that we are looking at the entirety of your life from your childhood to adult hood. We are not looking at the supposed severity, how big or small, or whether anyone else knows. Just the honest truth.

 

Have you ever told a lie?                                                         Yes/no

What would that make you?

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

 

Have you always honored and obeyed your parents?            Yes/no

What would that make you?

Honor thy father and thy mother.

 

Have you stolen anything?                                                      Yes/no

What does that make you?

Thou shalt not steal.

 

Have you ever Coveted something?                                        Yes/no

What does that make you?

Thou shalt not covet.

 

These are only four of the ten commandments. If you are only guilty of one you are still guilty. In fact, with enough time and use of scripture we could make the argument that you are guilty of all ten. With that in mind if you were to stand before God today would you be innocent or guilty?

So to reiterate there is a problem called sin. All people are sinners there is no one who is innocent.

The Punishment

So far we have learned about the problem of sin. Sin separates us from a Holy God, who cannot allow sin into Heaven. We must know what the Bible says about the penalty for sin.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Notice that the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Now in scripture there are two types of death mentioned. The first type is the physical death we are all familiar with. When my grandmother passed away I experienced physical death. Sin does bring about physical death.

James 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

It is not hard to see that sin brings only death. We must also understand that when the Bible speaks about death is can be speaking of a second death,

Revelation 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

We call this second death Hell, or the Lake of Fire. This is an eternal punishment that never ends! There are many names given in scripture for this place of eternal torment. The Bible calls it; Hell, Lake of Fire, Bottomless Pit. Let’s see what the Bible says about this place called Hell.

Hell immediately fallows death:

Luke 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Notice the rich man went to hell immediately. It is also to be noted that he was in torment. So we also know that hell is a place of torment.

It is a place of fire!

Luke 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

It is a flame that never goes out and the worm dieth not.

Mark 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

Mark 9:44 Where there worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Mark 9:45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

Mark 9:46 Where there worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Mark 9:47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

Mark 9:48 Where there worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

It is a Pit.

Isaiah 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

It is a bottomless Pit.

Revelation 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

It is Darkness.

Matthew 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

To sum it all up, we put it all together, and come to the conclusion that the punishment for sin is Hell. Hell then is a place where those separated from God, will be filled with the screams and groans of all those who suffer there. It is a place with an eternal flame that never goes out that will burn all those who are there, it is a bottomless pit where you will fall forever and ever, it is place of utter darkness where no one can see anything, and it is filled with smoke causing the sensation of choking to death. Seems that there are worms that will crawl over your skin as well. Imagine all of man’s worst fears and multiply that times forever, that is the best one can do to describe the worst place ever.

 

The Payment

Now that we know the problem of sin, and the penalty for sin, we must know about the payment for sin. If one were to stop write here that individual would be most miserable. For we must all acknowledge that we are sinners. The penalty for sin does not sound like an option anyone would want. There must be a way to pay the price of sin. God is a loving God who is not willing that any should perish, but have everlasting life. In fact, if we go to the verse from lesson two we see a beautiful conjunction.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Notice the beautiful conjunction, but, that means there is more to what the Lord is saying. Yes, the wages of sin is death, BUT… this gives us hope. We see that the verse goes on to say, “The gift of God is eternal life. Let’s take the time to break down some of these words. Begin with the word GIFT.

What is a gift? The dictionary defines a gift as: “Something given voluntarily without payment in return…” Dictionary.com

A gift then is something given that does not need anything in return. At Christmas or Birthdays, we buy gifts for others. Not because they deserve them, and not because they have earned them. If we deserve it or we have earned it, the gift ceases to be a gift and becomes payment.

In other words, since it is a gift you do not deserve it, nor can you earn it. Why would we give gifts? Ultimately it is because we love and care about the individual who is receiving the gift.

Therefore, if God is giving us a gift, He is doing so because He loves and cares for us. We already know that because of sin we do not deserve the Gift. Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking we must earn God’s Gift. To earn God’s Gift many believe they must work to obtain it. God has several things to say about our working for the gift.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

 Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

If we can work our own way to God’s gift. Then we can point to ourselves and say see what I have done. It is not possible to use what we have done to gain access to God’s Gift. In fact, God says something about our good deeds in the Bible.

 Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Notice that he says all our righteousness are filthy rags. Do you believe that a Holy God will accept your filthy rags as payment into Heaven?

A gift must be accepted in order for the person to truly possess the gift. If you received a gift, but did not open it. Then you did not truly receive the gift? No, it has in the truest sense been rejected by you. The same is true of God’s Gift you must accept it in order to receive it.

What is this gift? First, let’s be reminded that gifts are given to people from someone who loves and cares about them. God demonstrated His love for us by giving us a gift. What did God give?

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God gave His son. What exactly did God’s Son do? Remember that there is a payment for sin. In the Scripture God’s Son is also called Jesus, or Christ. The Bible shows us exactly what the Gift of God is.

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

In this verse we see the word commendeth, this is a great English word that means “to show, or showed.”  We here that God showed his love for us that while we yet sinners Christ died for us. Now we know that we are supposed to die for our Sins, yet the great gift is that Christ died for them. That means he took your place like a substitute.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

That is the greatest gift ever given to mankind. We cannot obtain it ourselves, we cannot work for it, by keeping the ten commandments, we must receive this gift.

The Second Word we need to look at is life. As we have already seen the wages of sin is death, but the gift is Eternal Life. If you get to choose which would you rather have life or death?

Hopefully you have chosen life. The gift that God offers is life. Therefore, life means to be with Christ. The bible says:

 John 10:10 … I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

If we are to be with God he must have a place for us to be with Him. The Bible says:

John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

We call this place Heaven. The Bible has much to say about Heaven. It is a place of Great beauty:

Revelation 21:1  And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones.

 Revelation 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

It is a place of light.

Revelation 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

It is place of no sickness or death:

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Most important God will be there:

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Man will finally have the perfect relationship with God the Creator and Savior of man.

Heaven is life. It is important to see another word that comes before life “Eternal.”  In Romans 6:23 it says “eternal life,” in John 3:16 the Bible says “everlasting life.”

What does eternal mean? It means it last forever, is everlasting without end.

If something is eternal can it be taken away?

If something is eternal can it be lost?

So as we look at this gift that God is giving, we see that he is giving eternal life. Wow! What a Great Gift!

 

The Pardon

Since the payment for sin is death in hell forever we need to continue to look at the payment and pardon for sin. Once again one can see the great value in the words of scripture.

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Here we see that “Christ died for us.” In other words, we were supposed to die for our sins, but Jesus Christ payed the penalty for us. How did he do this? By dying upon a cross. One of the most brutal and horrific deaths was to be hung on the cross. Jesus death on the cross was even more brutal since he had been beaten nearly to death, before he was nailed to a cross. His blood was shed there on the cross for your sins and mine.  This is important because the Bile says;

Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

As guilty law breakers we needed a blood sacrifice to purge our sin. Since God required blood to cover our sin some may ask: Why Jesus? Why not use an animal? The answer lies in value. Man’s life is much more valuable than an animal’s life. If a mad man were to walk into building and shout he was going to shoot a person or an animal. We would not hesitate to give him the animal. Even though the animal may be innocent we place a higher value on human life. Since the wages of sin is death consisting of a human life, then something of equal or greater value must be sacrificed in his stead. Now we come to the value we have in Jesus Christ. If a sinful man died for another sinful man, then he would be paying for his own sins and not someone else.  The only way man could have a sacrifice worthy would be to have a sinless man die for sinful men. This is what we have in Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

1 Peter 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

1 Peter 2:23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Because of Jesus sinless life only he could be worthy to be a sacrifice for men’s sin. Jesus is the only way we as sinful men can be pardoned for sin.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Because of Christ we can be pardoned for our sins. He stood in our place and died for our sins. It is through Him that we have access to God and his forgiveness. How great is the forgiveness of God.

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Psalms 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

Hebrews 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

The best part about being pardoned is that God no longer sees our sins. They have been negated by the blood of Jesus Christ. We are given the righteousness of Christ to put on, so that when God looks at us he does not see us but the righteousness of Christ. The wonderful pardon in Christ is to bring us life.

1 Timothy 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

 

The Prayer of Faith

The problem of sin helps us to see our need for a savoir. The punishment of sin should help us desire a savoir. The payment for sin makes us understand that we cannot do it ourselves. The pardon for sin shows us the savoir. Finally, we need to understand the prayer of faith. The prayer of faith is our receiving of God’s gift. The Bible says…

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

The Bible says whosoever, this includes you.  The Devil wants people to think that they are to evil for God to forgive, but God has mercy for whosoever will call upon Him.  There is no sin to great or person so evil that God cannot forgive.  He says whosoever, and that includes you.          Next we see the word call.  The Devil will make some think that they are to turn over a new leaf, or quit some sinful habit, but God simply says call.  When we call someone we are speaking to them.  So how does someone call, speak, to God?  We can speak to God in prayer.  Prayer is just us speaking to God.  If we are to speak to God what are we to say?  The Bible says…

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Here we see several important words. First, is the word confess.  Confess means that we acknowledge and declare things before God. To confess is to tell on one self. We start at the beginning. We must first see ourselves the way that God sees us.  We must acknowledge that we are sinners before an almighty God. David the Psalmist put it this way before God.

Psalms 51:4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

David understood he was sinner, and that he had sinned against God. We too must come to aplace of confession of our sin before God.

Not only must we confess that we are sinners but we must acknowledge through confession that we deserve the punishment for our sin.  Which is to cast into Hell.

Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

If we die in our sin this will be our fate. To spend eternity separated from God in place called Hell.

We must also confess an understanding that we cannot do good works in order to receive God’s forgiveness. There is not enough religious works nor personal good deeds that we can do to gain God’s favor.

Ephesians 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Ephesians 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

We must confess a belief that Jesus paid for your sins on the cross, and that God raised Him from the dead so that we might have life.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

 Another word we need to understand is the word “believe.”  Believing on Jesus is more than acknowledgment. If we really believe, we will commit. Once we have shown Him true belief, He does the rest as the Bible says…

Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

 Belief is not mere head knowledge, many people know about Jesus but have not put their faith and trust in Him.

James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

 Rather, belief from the heart spurs us to place our faith and dependence upon someone or something.  When one marries a spouse, they believed that he or she loved them, therefore they committed themselves to each other.  When one is at a traffic light, When the light turns green they place their faith in the light system and go.  Belief in Jesus Christ then means that we are dependent upon Him for forgiveness and salvation.

Therefore, if we believe that we are sinners, that we deserve to punished for our sins, that Christ took the punishment for us, and are ready to commit ourselves to His righteousness; then we are ready to confess with our mouth in a prayer of faith.  Words alone will not save us we must believe in our hearts, this belief will cause us to confess with our mouth.

Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

The Prayer of faith might sound something like this.

“Dear God, I know I’m a sinner and that I deserve to die and go to Hell. I know that outside of you I have no way to save myself from the wrath to come, but I believe that Jesus paid for my sins on the cross. I’m putting myself at your mercy, and by faith asking you to forgive me of my sins, and to give me a place in Heaven.  Thank you for saving me, help me to live for you Amen.”

 

If you have prayed and accepted Christ as your Savior from sin, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us here.