You must realize something. We have all sinned and are all sinners. We are born into sin. Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
Romans 5:12 - "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:"
Romans 5:19 - "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."
Adam, the first man God created, disobeyed God and caused death to be upon man (Genesis 3:17; Rom. 3:23; Rom. 5:19).
We are all sinners in the eyes of God.
If you were to die today, face God in Judgement, and he judges you by the 10 commandments; you think you would be found innocent or quilty?
Think for a moment (be honest with yourself). What do the 10 commandments say:
Thou shalt not bear false witness (or lie). Have you ever told a lie? Maybe just a very little white one. If so, then what would that make you? A liar?
God said that all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone (in Revelation 21:8).
Another commandment:
Thou shalt not kill. You may be thinking, I've never murdered anyone.
Have you ever hated anyone? 1 John 3:15 says, "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer:" If you have hated anyone, what would that make you? A murderer?
God said that no murderer will inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9,10); and the last part of 1 John 3:15 says, "ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."
Another commandment:
Thou shalt not steal. Have you stolen anything, can you think of just the littlest thing or something you might have stolen? Maybe downloaded Music without paying? (Maybe you have not stolen though.)
If so, then what would that make you? A thief?
God says a thief will not enter into the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9,10).
This will be the last commandment to look at:
Thou shalt not commit Adultery. Maybe you have not ever commited adultery.
Jesus says in Mattew 5:27,28, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."
Have you ever looked on a man or woman with Lust? If so, then what would that make you? An Adulterer? God says that no adulterer will enter the kingdom of God.
Those are just some of the commandments.
So, by your own admission, you are a Lying, Thiefing, Murderer, Adulterer at heart (or which ever of those commandments you may have failed).
Revelation 20:11-15 says,
"11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
If you were to face God in judgement and he judges by those and by his whole word [God also knows our secret sins that no one sees], (being honest with yourself) do you feel you would be innocent or quilty? Quilty no doubt. :| So, where would you go? Heaven or hell? ...
How can you escape this terrible punishment?
We do not have to go to hell. God did something for us so we would not have to go there. This is what he did (so we could escape this punishment):
God sent his son Jesus, to die for us. 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."
It is like a man in the court of law who is found quilty of murder. He is quilty without any doubt. The Judge, he is a just Judge, he has to punish crime. If the man said to the Judge, I know I did wrong and am sorry, please let me go. The Judge could not do that, he would not be just. He has to punish the murderer. But if that man is there quilty (say his fine is $100Thoudsand) and someone walks in, comes up to the Judge and pays his bail; the Judge can let the man go. That is what God did for us, he paid our fine, our bail, Jesus paid our fine, he took our sin upon himself.
Jesus died on the cross to save us from hell and the lake of fire. He who knew no sin, yet He became sin for us.
In 2 Corinthians 5:21, God says, "For he [God] hath made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the dead, and "death hath no more dominion over him" (Romans 6:9). He defeated death for us. It does not mean we will not have to go through death. Hebrews 9:27 - "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" It means when he conquered death, He saved us. All we have to do is accept Jesus Christ into your heart.
1 John 5:11,12 - "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
All we have to do is just accept him, and we can escape the punishment of hell.
If you do not accept Jesus as your saviour, then you will die lost without Christ. When you face God in judgement and God finds you quilty (we are quilty), you will go to hell then will be cast into the lake of fire.
Just accept Jesus' death on the cross and the blood he shed to cleanse your sin; repent of your sins and trust in Jesus.
As Romans says, 'whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'
Just pray:
"God, I am a sinner and need your Son Jesus. I believe He died on the cross for my sin to save me. Jesus come into my heart and save me, and forgive me. Thank you for saving me from hell, and I accept your salvation. In Jesus name Amen."
--- Don't worry about what others think. God knows your heart. Just be serious with him, and be true to yourself and him.
As this example:
A man had a parachute, and he was on an airplane with others. He turned and told this guy to put it on, it would make him better (improve his flight). The guy put it on, then others started making fun of him and laughing at him. So he took it off; as far as he would be concerned it did not improve his flight or make it better.
Well, if the man with the parachute had told the guy, this plane is running low fuel and one of the engines is going to burst. This is the only parachute on this plane, and I am giving it to you; it will save you, you will be safe. When he puts it on, it will save him and he will be safe. When the others mock him and laugh at him, he does not care. He keeps the chute on, because he knows that he is safe with it on, and that it will save his life.
Just like Jesus when we know He saves us from hell. When others begin to ridicule us, we do not care. We know that Jesus has saved us, we are safe from the punishment of hell.
