I am going to take this opportunity to preach the gospel to any who may read it. This is the structure of any witness encounter I would have with anyone and follows the Way Of The Master.
Do you considder yourself to be a good person, I'll bet (if you are not a Christian) you answered yes, basically I am a good person. OK that doesn't suprise me because the bible says that everyone sees themself as good in their own eyes. But here is the test, using the objective standard of goodness, according to the bible. The standard is The Ten Commandments: and I'll only look at 4.
1: have you ever told a lie? yes? what do you call someone who tells lies? A liar right.
2: ever stolen anything regardless of value. The command is: Thou shalt not steal. taken anything that isn't yours and you have broken this one, what do you call someone who steals? no not a stealer, its a theif.
3: Ever used God's name in vain. That is called blasphemy and this is very serious in God's sight. The bible says that He (God) will not see him (you) guitless who takes his name in vain.
4: Ever committed adultery, probaby not, but listen to what Jesus said: If you even look with lust (sexual desire) at someone else, you are committing adultery with that person in your heart. Ever looked with lust. God sees you as an adulterer.
If you have done any or all of these things, you are then a self admitted lying, theiving, blasphomous adulterer at heart. This is not me judging you, this is what you are admitting to doing if you answered yes to any of the above questions. Now the question is: If God judges you by this standard, would you be found innocent or guilty? and on that basis, heaven or hell?
Many of you probably said 'guilty' on that basis, but 'heaven' for the second? Why? Why sould the just judge of all the universe let you free from your crime. God's grace and forgiveness cannot apply to you because you have no basis to receive them. If you have any other reason, feel free to comment, I will try and answer them all.
Basically this is the problem in a nutshell. You have committed sin. God the Just cannot ignore and forgive or leave unpunished, sin. Therefore you would be condemned to hell, what you (and I for that matter) deserve. But there is some good news (gospel) also. The bible discribes that this same judge is rich in mercy. He has provided a way which guilty sinners like us can be forgiven. Jesus Christ, the God man himself, died on the cross, taking the punishment you deserve. The bible says that he was bruised for our inequities. He stepped in to the courtroom, where you have just been found guitly, and says: I will pay your punishment.
What does this mean? You can be forgiven, made right with God, and allowed into heaven, on the basis of Jesus' righteousness. Its the great exchange, He takes your sin, and gives you His righteousness. There is no amount of work that can be done to earn salvation, but to receive it there are TWO things that you must do. You must repent (turn from sin to God, apologise) and put your faith in Christ, like you put you faith in a parachute to save you from death from falling. Then HE will save you. And please do it today, you can't guarantee you'll have tomorow, you could be dead before then... so today is the day of salvation, repentance and faith.
