The greatest decision that you will ever make is whether or not you will place your faith in Jesus Christ. We want you to know the love that God has for you and the forgiveness that he offers to you, not because you deserve it, but because of how good God is. God did not have to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for you – He chose to do so because of His love for you. Nobody deserves God’s forgiveness; nobody deserves God’s grace and mercy; nobody deserves God’s goodness in their lives, but God gives it because He loves all of us, including you.
Religion Cannot Save You
Matthew 7:21-23
Living in a very religious society it’s easy to simply believe that if someone acknowledges God, then they will go to Heaven.There are many who are very strict in all of their outward piousness. They follow God’s Law to the letter, making no excuse for breaking His commands. They live high and holy lives. They gave much to the poor and wear clothing that distinguished themselves from despised outcasts of society and the everyday average Joe. They are high and mighty when it comes to religion but Jesus is sickened at them. They profess they know God; they declare they preached the Word of God; they are adamant about their doctrine and would take no time for those whom they deem to be unforgivable. These are the poster children for religion and make you think, “Surely, they’re going to Heaven.”
However, there will come a time when there will be good people, religious or not, standing before Jesus and Jesus will have to look them in the eye and say, “I never knew you: depart from me ye that work iniquity.” Jesus said that the amount of people who will be in this position wouldn’t be a mere few, but many. A lot of people will be disappointed in the day of judgement and the disappointment will be unmatched to anything they experienced in this life.
Living a Good Life Cannot Save You
Isaiah 64:6 / Psalm 14:3
Imagine living a life free from blame, free from accusation, a life that people would describe as being spotless. You live well into old age and then die. As you find yourself kneeling before a throne, you already know who you’re kneeling before – it is the Lord; it is Jesus, the very reason you lived such a good life. But then, to your amazement and trepidation, you don’t hear the words you were looking for or expecting. Instead of hearing words of comfort and solace, you hear words of condemnation. Despite everything you had done in His name, He never knew you. Despite all the good things you’ve done in life for His sake, He has the audacity to call everything good that you did in your life “iniquity.” Imagine the shock that would grip your heart and the disappointment that would flood your mind.
Many will kneel before Jesus condemned because of their sin, but they lived such admirable lives; they lived lives worthy of honor and praise. They stayed away from the drugs, the alcohol, the self-indulgent promiscuous people, they were careful who they hung around and vetted every person they followed after. Surely their works of righteousness would outshine their deeds of darkness. They preached in Jesus’ name, they sacrificed so much on this earth, and for what? For Jesus to just deny them? They lived such holy lives for Jesus’ sake, they cast out devils in Jesus’ name, and they did many wonderful works for His glory. They did great things that impacted the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of people. There is no comparison to these religious elite. They far excelled the common person in their religious devotion, all for Jesus to simply dismiss them as strangers? If this is the fate of the extremely religious, where does that put the common person?
Only Your Faith in Christ Can Save You
John 3:36 / Acts 10:43
While it is true that people will be judged according to their works (“the books were opened…and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works…they were judged every man according to their works.” Revelation 20:12-13), it’s not about your good outweighing your bad. The condemnation of people comes not because they’ve done more evil than good in this life but the fact that their names are not written in the book of life (“…whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:12).
God says that we are saved by grace through faith; it the gift of God, not a reward. A gift cannot be earned or else it is not a gift but a reward. Even so grace cannot be earned or else grace is no longer grace but a debt to be paid.
