Some people think that because they live good lives and go to church every week they will be accepted by God, but this is false. We can wash our hands, but this does not make us clean on the inside.
The Lord Jesus spoke against the religious people of His time who thought they would be accepted by God because they belonged to a respectable church and observed all they were told to do;
Gal 2:16 a man is not justified by works of the Law, but through faith in Jesus Christ; even we believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith in Christ, and not by works of the Law. For all flesh will not be justified by works of law
These people looked well and clean on the outside but inside they did not believe in the Son of God. Each of us must believe in the Son of God; that he died for our sin and sins. We are not saved because we belong to, or regularly attend, a church.
Doing good things does not avoid Gods righteous punishment for our sin and sins. God wants faith first, not external actions;
Heb 11:6 without faith it is impossible to please Him,
Each of us is born with sin within, and the sin within brings death. We all need to be saved from sin and the death it brings. The Bible is very clear;
Rom 6:23 .. the wages of sin is death,
Sin is like a terrible disease which passes down to us all from Adam. Sin is the inner root which produces the fruit and the fruit is called sins. Sin brings forth sins. Some people commit terrible sins, some people commit little sins, but the fact remains we all have sin within us which causes us to think and do bad things.
Our God will not tolerate the sin within us and the sins we do. We need to be saved from the root cause and the fruit results. Praise God! He provided the only remedy.
God sent His only begotten Son to pay the penalty for both the root and the fruit. Our Saviour, Christ Jesus, died and saved us from our sin and our sins. Look at these verses and carefully note what each one says;
Joh 1:29 The next day John sees Jesus coming to him and says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
2Co 5:21 For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
1Pe 3:18 For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,.
1Co 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;
The Bible tells us very clearly that our Lord died for our sin and our sins. When we believed in The Lord Jesus, these problems for us, were resolved and we have been set free;
Rom 6:6 knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin.
Eph 1:7 In whom (Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
When Christ died Paul says sin, or our old man, also died with Him. God dealt with this inner evil at the cross. We will continue to struggle as we think bad things, but we can now choose not to obey this inner evil. We do not have to serve sin any more. We can now serve God and do those good things we really want to do.
But there is something more. All our sins have been forgiven. Ephesians 1:7 does not say we might have forgiveness if we keep confessing our sins every week. It does not say we can loose our eternal life if we do wrong things, it says we have forgiveness of sins. If God says we are forgiven, then let us believe that we are forgiven. Christians will never suffer for their sin and sins. Our Lord Christ suffered for our sin and sins and if you believe in Him, you are saved from both of these problems.
This does not mean we are free to do as we please. Because we have forgiveness of sins does not mean we can continue sinning. We must live to please God;
Gal 5:13 For, brothers, you were called to liberty. Only do not use the liberty for an opening to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
But there is something more. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, God gave us a free gift. This free gift is eternal life. What God has given us God does not take away. We have this gift of eternal life because our sin and sins have been dealt with. Sin has been destroyed and all our sins have been forgiven. We can never loose Gods gift of eternal life, it is ours in Christ.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:36 He who believes on the Son has everlasting life,
The Romans verse we used earlier can now be given completely and it says this:
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
But there is something more. When we believed in the Lord Jesus we were sealed unto the day of redemption. We were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise who is the pledge or guarantee. Something sealed is very safe, and we are safe because God has sealed us. Gods seal cannot be broken by us. We were not sealed until we commit sins; we are sealed unto the day of redemption. This looks on to the great and wonderful day when God will take us the place He has promised us.
Eph 1:13 in whom (Christ) also you, hearing the Word of Truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 who is the earnest of our inheritance, to the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
But there is something more. Our saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, has presented us holy and without blame and without charge in Gods sight. The word holy in the verse below means a most holy thing or a saint. Only God makes His children saints and all of us who have believed in Christ are saints. We have been presented to God as saints by Christ. Paul tells us this very clearly;
Col 1:21 And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
Col 1:22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish, and without charge in His sight
No one is a saint because they live an exceptional life. God tells us that our Lord Christ has presented us holy, that is, as a saint. In Christ we are without blame and without charge in Gods sight. All of us are saints. If Christ has presented us as saints, how can we who have believed in Christ ever be sent to hell?
But there is something more. God has made us worthy to inherit the wonderful place He has prepared for us;
Col 1:12 .the Father,.. has made us meet (worthy) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
Notice, God has made us worthy. No church, no priest, no religion or any good works we do will ever make us worthy of our inheritance. We have already been made worthy by God through Christ. If God has made us worthy for the future, how can we be sent to hell? God does not want us to live in fear.
Those hypocrites in the Lords time thought they could do things to be right with God. But our good works can never save us and they can not keep us saved. God has done it all for us through Christ. After we believed in the Lord Jesus, we do good things as Christians to please our God who has saved us and made us worthy.
The wonderful salvation which God has provided is not based upon what we do. It is given to us because we have faith. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour and because we believe in Him all these things are ours now, praise God.
God has dealt with the sin inside of us through Christ our Lord and we have passed from death into life.
God has forgiven us all our sins because Christ died for our sins. All our sins have been forgiven; our past sins, our present sins and our future sins. We have forgiveness of sins.God has given us His gift of eternal life. This is a promise from God who cannot lie. Our eternal life can never be lost or taken away.
The Holy Spirit has sealed us in Christ. We are safe and secure until the day God takes us to our inheritance.
Christ our Lord has presented us as spotless saints to God. This has been done by Christ.
God has made us worthy for the future inheritance He has prepared for us. We will be there one day when God decides.
Since we have these promises from God in His Word, how is it some teach that Christians can go to hell? What is hell anyway?
Very few churches teach that there are three different words in the original New Testament manuscripts which have been translated as hell. Here are those three original words and their definitions;
Gehenna. This is a valley on the earth, not some place under the earth. Matt. 5:22, 29, 30
Hades. This is the grave, a place of burial. 1Cor.15:55 (grave), Rev.20:14.
Tartaroo. This is a place where fallen angels are kept until judgment. 2Peter2:4
The word purgatory does not exist in the Bible commonly used among Christians. The Bible tells us very clearly what happens when we die and we do not go to purgatory.
There is no hell under the earth where flames of fire are currently tormenting those who have not believed in Christ. So what is the hell the Lord Jesus spoke about?
When the Saviour was talking to the children of Israel (Romans 15:8) he warned them about hell and he was referring to Gehenna. Gehenna is the Greek word in the manuscripts which is translated as hell.
This hell or Gehenna, is a valley near Jerusalem. It is the valley of Hinnom. You can go and visit this valley today; it is visible, on the top of the earth and located in Israel.
When the Lord returns to reign on the earth in the future, this valley will be a fiery garbage dump. Those who sin against the Lord, at that future time, will loose their life and their dead bodies will be thrown into hell or Gehenna.
Isa 66:23 And it will be, from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, all flesh will come to worship before Me, says Jehovah.
Isa 66:24 And they will go out and see the dead bodies of the men who have sinned against Me; for their worm will not die, nor will their fire be put out; and they will be an object of disgust to all flesh.
Most Christians are taught that hell is some fiery place under the earth, this is not true. The hell the Lord spoke about is a valley in Israel. The Lords teaching about this hell was restricted to the nation of Israel.
Not one Christian is thrown into hell after they die. If you have believed in the Lord Jesus you will never be thrown into hell no matter what sins you may do. All of us will be resurrected to judgment. We may loose our reward on judgment day, but we have Gods promised gift of eternal life.
Paul tells us to give thanks to God for very special reasons:
Col 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
Col 1:13 For He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son;
Col 1:14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins.
The salvation our God has provided for us through His Son is rich and free. It is ours because we have faith in our Lord Christ.
Eph 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,
Eph 2:9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.