- Everybody dies, whether “naturally” or in some catastrophe.
The Bible teaches that “it is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebrews 9:27) God warns that everybody (including YOU) has an appointment with death, and therefore you ought to be ready for your appointment.
- Everybody’s life is evaluated after death.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.”” (Hebrews 9:27) God, the Creator, the One who gave you life, will evaluate what you have done with it.
“For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14)
3. God’s LAW will be the basis for deciding whether you have done GOOD or EVIL in your lifetime..
“For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.” (Romans 2:12)
This means that those who have heard the LAW of GOD (the 10 Commandments) will have their deeds evaluated according to those laws, and those who have not heard them will have their deeds evaluated by the same laws, even though this at first may sound unfair. But it is fair, because human nature has been the same world-wide and throughout all of human history, so that inevitably all reasonably intelligent groups all come to the same conclusions—which just “happen” to agree with the 10 Commandments, or the universal law upon which the 10 commandments are based , the GOLDEN RULE: do unto others as you would have others do to you.
4. GOOD can generally be defined as “in harmony with the nature of the universe and its Creator”, and EVIL as “any choice or action contrary to the design of the Creator”. The BIBLE says that because we are born ignorant and finite, we are all prone to thinking and acting contrary to God’s design. We all have done and will continue to do evil. The BIBLE describes our shortcomings as SIN, or “falling short” of God’s perfection.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23 )
5. The purpose of ALL LAW is to encourage GOOD and discourage evil. To discourage evil, there must be a penalty for breaking the law. Why? Because the lawbreaker must pay for all the damages he has done by breaking the law. This is only fair, because somebody has to pay— or else the damages would accumulate and each subsequent generation would have to bear the costs. “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 5:12) Notice here that the penalty for one man’s first sin (the sin of ADAM) was passed on to all his children. The first sin (recorded in Genesis 2:17) was Adam’s disobeying God’s law to not eat of the forbidden fruit. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) The penalty for that sin was “thou shalt surely die.” Death was NEVER part of God’s original plan. DEATH is the ultimate penalty for breaking God’s law.
The Bible says, “The wages of sin (the PENALTY for sin) is death…” and this phrase (the 1st part of Romans 6:23) seems excessively HARSH and terribly unfair until we read the 2nd part of the same verse: “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
This means that God has provided a way to pay the penalty which we all owe— his Son (Jesus Christ) went to the cross and was crucified in our place. He suffered and died, paying the penalty for all human sin. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust (the innocent party for the guilty party) , that he might bring us (back) to God.” (1Peter 3:18 )
6. Therefore, for a MAN or WOMAN to be prepared for death, he or she must admit to God that they have sinned and deserve death, (the ultimate punishment for sin) — but then beg for mercy and forgiveness, and ask God to forgive their sin on account of Jesus’ payment on their behalf.
“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…for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)
7. THE “SINNERS PRAYER”… say this prayer and MEAN IT to be saved from death: “Dear God in heaven: I have sinned against you and therefore rightly deserve to die— but I now ask you to forgive my sins. I finally realize I’ve lived in rebellion against you, and I want to change that completely. I want to live a life pleasing to You— but I can’t do it with my sin debt hanging over my head. Please place my sin debt on Jesus Christ, who I now take to be my Savior, because I now realize and believe that He has paid for my sin, by dying in my place. Amen!“
Questions? Want to talk?
email me at analogyman1949@gmail.com