A free Ticket

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23)

I heard someone who was religious but didn’t believe in hell say, “I don’t believe a loving God would ever send someone to a fiery hell!” And my answer is that He did not. He went to the cross for them and shed His holy blood to pay for a free ticket to heaven; the only reason anyone will end up in hell is because they rejected what He had freely offered them.

No excuses will work!

There won’t be a single person in hell with a legitimate excuse for rejecting God’s offer. Jesus did what He did on the cross because He didn’t want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). Jesus warned about hell over and over! In fact, he spoke eleven times more about the dangers of hell than he did about the joys of heaven. He referred to hell as a place of “outer darkness” where “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12). He also refers to hell as a “fiery furnace” where lawbreakers will be thrown at the end of the age when he returns. “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all lawbreakers and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:41–42). He calls it “the hell of fire” (Matt. 5:22), “eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41), “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43), and “eternal punishment” (Matt. 25:46).

Different names for two distinct destinies

The Bible has many names describing heaven (Home, Heaven, Father’s house, Paradise, the city, heavenly country, the Kingdom of Christ/God, Holy place, and many others) and for hell (Sheol, Hades, Hell, Lake of fire, and many others) but, whatever they’re called, they all fall into only two categories: 1) Eternal life with God, or 2) Eternal separation from God in torment forever. 

Therefore

“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matt. 25:46)

Tomorrow, part 3: Only two choices, you choose!

PART ONE (of 4)

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’” (Luke 16:23-24)

I love the happy promises, not so much the negative kind!

It’s difficult to tackle negative promises found throughout the Bible, like the promise of hell, for instance, which is a certainty for those who have not received Christ as their savior. We prefer talking about the thousands of happy promises, of course! But we must also pay attention to the negative ones, which are often in the form of warnings. And we must remember that our friends, loved ones, and all others we meet are going to live forever! Somewhere! God says so! It’s a fact that a lot of people choose not to believe in a literal hell. They believe that they will simply cease to exist the moment they die, and life will be completely over for them, period, with no future existence or consequences for their earthly actions. But the Bible doesn’t teach this!

 The rich man who went to hell

 Jesus told the story of two men, one rich and one poor. They both died, and the poor man, Lazarus, who was a righteous man, went to be with God in heaven, and the rich man, who wasn’t righteous and who had lived only to please himself, went to hell and was suffering there in constant torment—and will forever! The rich man pleaded for someone to go and warn his family so they wouldn’t end up where he was. (Luke 16:19-31)!

 By the way

 Some who don’t like this hell story say that Jesus meant it to be only allegorical and not to be taken literally. However, this is not accurate. Jesus said, “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.” (Luke 16:19). He said “was” because he was relating a true story about two men who actually had lived and died, and one of them, Lazarus, He mentioned by name.

 Therefore

 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Tomorrow, Part 2: A free ticket!

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”  (Deut 31:6)

When I was growing up, I lived with many different families and was often moved along before I got to know them very well. One family was an exception; I stayed with them for a few months. They had a boy named “Jimmy” about my same age; we shared a room, and we soon felt like brothers. After I left, I did not hear from him for nearly forty years until he reached out to me on social media. It was immediately evident that we had led very different kinds of lives! I had become a pastor, and he had become an activist-atheist who daily filled his social media postings with horrible anti-God propaganda. I asked him how he had become an atheist, and he answered with all the typical heartfelt but baseless nonsense. I asked him about his parents, and he said they had gotten divorced. He said he continued to live with his father until his 16th birthday. Then his father got a new girlfriend who consumed his life. Soon after, his father took him to a big city, handed him some money, and said, “Don’t ever contact me; I never want to hear from you again!” His father had rejected and abandoned him. Each time I mentioned his father during our conversation, he bristled with anger and finally said, “Don't talk about my father anymore; I hate him!”

After hearing his story

I think I understand the reason Jimmy is an atheist; he has transferred his feelings of rejection, abandonment, and great emotional pain to God. I wish he would have allowed me to speak to him about God (he wouldn't), because I would have assured him that God loves him dearly and would never abandon him like his earthly father did. 

Therefore

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deut. 31:8 ESV)

“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matt. 23:12)

God cares about humility!

A theme that runs through the entire Bible is that God humbles the proud and exalts the humble.

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

Humility is one character trait impossible to achieve by focusing on it; the only way to become humble is to look away from yourself and instead look to God and others. Fixing your eyes on him will keep you in proper perspective. When you are humbled in this way, God’s promise is to exalt you.

“Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:4)

Therefore

“Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,” (1 Peter 5:5-6)

“With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,” (Eph. 4:2) 

“Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37)

God’s forgiveness is a free gift because of Christ’s work on the cross (Matt. 26:28). But look at what he says in the verse above. He says we are to forgive, and then we will be forgiven. And the following passage is very clear.

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matt. 6:14-15 ESV))

Why is this important?

Not being willing or able to forgive those who have sinned against us is a sign of unbelief. The fact is that anyone who chooses to withhold forgiveness has not been to the cross and has not allowed God to forgive them of their own sins.

Therefore

“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark. 11:25 ESV)

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph. 4:32  ESV) 

“Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matt. 8:21-22 ESV)

“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” (Rom. 6:6)

Jesus taught that whoever sins is a slave to sin (John 8:34). But the good news is that He took care of the problem when he took on our sin and the wrath of God for it on the cross; we are now set free from our sin because our old sinful self was crucified with him.

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” (1 Peter 2:24)

Therefore

If you have put your faith in Christ, put away sin. You are dead to it. When temptation comes, resist. This is good news, so don’t allow the evil one to fool you into thinking you can’t help it.

“By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Rom. 6:2)

“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 6:11 ESV)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) 

Everyone felt sorry there

Over the years, I’ve gone to local jails and state prisons to share Christ many times. I discovered early on that everyone incarcerated there felt sorry about something—either sorry for what they had done wrong to get them there or just sorry that they had been caught. The ones who felt sorry for what they had done were the ones who responded well to the gospel; they readily admitted their sin, repented, asked God for forgiveness, He forgave them, and their lives were forever transformed! On the other hand, the ones who were just sorry that they had gotten caught usually just blamed others for their problems; they were not repentant; they were not receptive to the gospel; they did not ask God for forgiveness, and their lives remained unchanged. 

There is something powerful about honesty before God!

Not only does honesty with God cause us to come into the light regarding our sin, God, our Father who loves us, wants to forgive us!

“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Prov. 28:13)

Therefore

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” (Eph. 1:7)

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

Don’t get it wrong

Over the years, I have heard various Christians misquote the above verse. They simply say passionately, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you!” But that’s incorrect! You can resist all day long as passionately as you want, and still the devil will not flee from you! Why is that so? Because there is one very critical ingredient that must not be left out! The answer is in the very first part of the verse, “Submit yourselves therefore to God.” That is what makes the rest of the verse work for you! It’s a simple, three-part formula: 1) Submit yourself to God; 2) Resist the devil. And 3) The devil flees from you!

Therefore

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,” (1 Peter 5:6

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Eph. 6:11)

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”  (James 1:5)

Have you ever wished you knew more about life and had a better understanding of things? The great news is that you can become incredibly wise by just asking God to give you wisdom. He promised in the passage at the top of the page that he would not reproach or berate you just for asking. Remember that everything that can be known is already known by God, and He is willing to generously give wisdom to you if you ask Him for it in faith (James 1:6).

How to get it

Start by asking God boldly to give you wisdom. Then do the following wise things: study His Word, seek the wise counsel of other Christians whose lives seem worth imitating, and then work to live wisely; knowing what to do is knowledge—doing what you know is wisdom.

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.” (Prov. 19:20 ESV)

Therefore

“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed. (Prov. 3:13-18 ESV)