If you were to die today, your body would go in the ground. But there’s more to you than that, there’s your soul. It can feel everything just like you can, and it’s shaped just like you are. When your body dies, you continue to live and experience things in your soul.
Luke 16:22-24, “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; In Luke 16, Jesus lays out a factual account of a man who died and went to Hell. He experienced loneliness, fear, fire, and torment. It’s a horrible but very real thing. It doesn’t have to be that way though. I Peter 1:9, “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” II Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” We see here that God wants to save your soul from having to go to Hell, He loves you and He has provided a way out of having to go to Hell. God made it simple in His word; here are the ABCs of getting saved from Hell. A. Admit You are a Sinner. What is a sinner? Simply put, a sinner is a person that sins. Here are a few examples from Scripture of what I’m talking about. Gal. 5:19-21, Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Rom. 1:25-32, “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. It’s pretty natural to think of one’s self as a good person. Let me ask you this though, if you think you’re a good person, do you think that God in turn thinks you’re a good person? One way to know is to ask yourself if you’ve kept the ten commandments. Better yet, do you know the ten commandments? Here they are: To break this down to where it’s a little easier to understand, let me explain the ten most basic commandments that God gave. The word of God is the word of God, and I’m certainly not changing it here, but I’d like to elaborate on the ten commandments above that might make them more applicable to you: 1. Put God first. Do you put God’s will ahead of your own in your every day life? No one, other than Jesus, has ever managed to not commit any of the sins previously listed as well as follow all of the ten commandments. Even if you’ve only broken only one of the laws of God, in His eyes you might as well have broken all of them according to James 2:10-11, because the same God made all of the rules and it’s HIM who you have offended. B. Believe Jesus Died to When you go to work, you earn a paycheck, or another word for that would be “wages”. The Bible says that your sins earn you wages as well: Rom. 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Physically, your sins will kill you eventually. While not everyone that dies early in life did so because they lived overtly sinful, but have you noticed how people who do live wild and sinful lifestyles show the wear and tear of those lifestyles in their face and health? Rockers, movie stars… suffice it to say, there are many examples of this, and few exceptions. On the flip side, there’s your soul. While there is physical death, and everyone must suffer it because of sin (regardless of whether it is your sin or it was passed down to you), there is also spiritual death: Rev. 20:14-15, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Your sin will wind you up in Hell if you don’t get rid of it somehow. What are you doing to do about it? If you started living a perfect life right now, you’d still have to somehow pay for all the sins you committed. If you sin against man, you get a “life sentence”, that would be sixty or seventy years. Your sins are against God, He is an eternal being, so you’d have to pay an eternal sentence in Hell to pay your wages. The wages of sin is death. It doesn’t stop there, thankfully. Rom. 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.“ Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins. He suffered physically, and in some spiritual way that only God truly understands He suffered for all the sins of mankind past, present, and future. He paid for your sins, and there’s nothing you can do to pay for your sins that you’ve committed in the past and the ones you’ll commit in the future (and you will, Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven). The only thing you can do to solve your sin problem is take hold of the solution that God gave for you. Believe from the heart, the best way you know how, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and rose again. I Cor. 15:3, “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;[4] And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” Many people are willing to believe that they are sinners, but still somehow they have confidence in themselves and think that there is a way to overcome this and earn salvation. It’s not possible in God’s eyes, and to try to do that is to pit your righteousness against Jesus Christ’s. Jesus Christ will win every time. You need to surrender your pride and trust Him and what He did for you on the cross for salvation. Salvation is a gift that is not earned by you or your good works, now, or ever. Eph. 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:[9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.“ The next question is, do you believe Jesus died for you and that He is the only way you could be forgiven of your sins? C. Confess Jesus Christ As Your Savior. By now, if you know you are a sinner in need of a savior, and you know Jesus Christ is that Savior, the next part is very easy. It’s not baptism. Remember that part about works? It’s not church membership. Jesus is a person, not a building or an organization. The hardest part about getting saved is getting people to realize that they need to get saved. Jesus is a person, if you want Him to save you it’s really easy. Just ask Him. Rom. 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.” Don’t try and imagine that Jesus Christ is in the same room as you, know that He is. Bow your head, close your eyes, and pray. Ask God to forgive you of your sins because of what Jesus did. There are no special words that you need to pray, the only thing that matters is that you mean what you’re saying. Here’s an example of a prayer that you might use: If you prayed that prayer, and you meant it, you are on your way to Heaven and there’s nothing you or anyone else can do to change that. Just like you couldn’t earn it before you were saved, there’s no way you can earn it after you are saved. The Bible says in I Peter 1:5 that you are “kept by the power of God” – not by your own power. This is something to be thankful for! Read the Bible, pray to the God, and find a good church that will help you grow in the Lord. These are all good things to do because you are saved, not in order to be saved. We serve the Lord because we love Him for what He did for us, not in order to try and earn His love. His forgiveness and His love are given to us freely in the person of Jesus Christ. The question is, what will you do with Jesus? Will you reject Him or accept Him? Rev. 22:17, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
[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.”
[20] Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
[21] Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
[26] For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
[27] And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
[28] And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
[29] Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
[30] Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
[31] Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
[32] Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
Ex. 20:1-17, “And God spake all these words, saying,
[2] I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
[3] Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
[4] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
[5] Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
[6] And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
[7] Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
[8] Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
[9] Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
[10] But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
[11] For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
[12] Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
[13] Thou shalt not kill.
[14] Thou shalt not commit adultery.
[15] Thou shalt not steal.
[16] Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
[17] Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”
2. God should be worshipped over things. Do you adore the Lord God Jehovah or do you love your car, ipod, TV, etc.. more?
3. Do not take the Lord’s name in vain. Have you ever used the name of Jesus as a cuss word?
4. Set a day aside for the Lord. When was the last time you went to church?
5. Do you respect your parents?
6. Do not murder anyone. Jesus elaborated on this and said that if you’ve ever hated without a just cause you’ve murdered them in your heart and in the eyes of God. Have you ever done that? Are you a murderer in the eyes of God?
7. Do not commit adultery. Jesus also elaborated on this as well. He said that if you look upon a woman to lust after her you’ve committed the act with her in your heart and before God. Are you an adulterer?
8. Ever stolen anything?
9. Ever lied?
10. Don’t covet things that don’t belong to you. Have ever been jealous that someone else has something you wanted?
Pay the Penalty for Your Sins.
[15] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Heb. 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
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