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Introduction
There are many philosophies and religions in the world today. This causes people to be confused as to what the truth really is. The following was written to declare the truth as revealed by God and recorded on the pages of the Bible. The Bible is the holy book of Christianity. It is therefore no ordinary book. It was written by men as they were “moved by God’s Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1.21). Therefore, all its words are inspired and directed by God and given to man so we could know the true God and His purpose for creating us. What you are about to read is the truth revealed on the pages of the Bible. Read it carefully, for how you respond to this truth will determine where you spend ETERNITY.
God’s Plan to Give You Eternal Life
Every human being is going to exist somewhere for eternity. Death is not the end of a person’s life, for every soul is immortal. The Bible teaches that man is not simply a physical being like animals. He is unique/a “spirit being,” and that “spirit being” is housed in a physical body. When a person dies, his spirit departs from his body and goes somewhere else to exist for a time: either in a state of joy or torment. Somewhere in the future, mysteriously and supernaturally, the bodies of all human beings will be raised from the dead, and the spirits of all men will be reunited with their bodies. At that time, every man will be judged by God and spend ETERNITY in one of TWO places. Let that sink in for a moment. You and I are going to spend ETERNITY somewhere.
The Bible teaches there are only two possibilities for our eternal existence. You and I will either spend eternity in God’s kingdom where we will experience fullness of joy forever, or we will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. The Gospel, that is, the “Good News” is God wanting every 3 human being to be saved from the Lake of Fire (1 Tim. 2.4; 2 Pet. 3.9), and He wants all men to live forever in His kingdom (Lk. 12.32). The bad news is, even though God wants all men to be saved and to be a part of His kingdom, most will end up in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20.15; Mt. 7.13-14). How can this be? How can most people end up in an eternal Lake of Fire when their Creator wants them to be saved? To answer this question, we must examine God and His interaction with man.
The Nature of the True God
Only one being has eternally existed—God! This ONE God is infinite, making His nature impossible for finite man to fully comprehend. One aspect of God’s nature is that He is ONE being, but He exists as three persons. You and I are single beings, and each of us is a single person. However, God is different. He is ONE being, but THREE persons. He has existed eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: and these three are ONE being. This is impossible for us to completely comprehend. But the fact that God is love (1 Jn. 4.8, 16), and love needs an object proves that God is three persons. For prior to creation—before there was anything to love—the three persons in the Godhead were loving each other. Each was the object of affection for the other. The Father loved the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Son loved the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit loved the Father and the Son. God is ONE God who has existed eternally as three persons. Therefore, God says in Gen. 1.26-27, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him…” It seems clear in this verse, the plural pronouns “US” and “OUR” refer to a single being—GOD!
Before our universe existed, before matter and energy existed, God existed. He is eternal (Ps. 90.2). He is the only eternal being or thing. Matter and energy are not eternal. They are creations. But there is One who is eternal, who created all things. This someone is God. The Bible teaches us also that God is all powerful (Rev. 19.6), all knowing (Ps. 147.5), and omnipresent. He exists everywhere at the same time (Ps. 139.7-10; Acts 17.28), and yet He can manifest His presence in a single place at a single moment. This God who created us is perfect. He is holy. He is pure. He is absolute perfection. The Bible tells us He is the personification of love (1 Jn. 4.8). His character is absolute love. This loving nature moves God to be kind, merciful, and good. It also prompts Him to be just. He executes justice both for saints and sinners.
The Reason for the Creation of Humans
Somewhere in the distant past, this eternal, omnipotent God of love created our universe. In fact, everything, everywhere exists because He created it (Rev. 4.11; Jn. 1.3; Eph. 3.9 Col. 1.16). When God created the universe, He had already decided to create a unique being we call a human being. Man is unique in all of creation: for he alone was created in the image of God (Gen. 1.26-27). He created the first man from the dust of the earth and then breathed into man the breath of life, or the spirit of life, and man became a living soul—a spiritual being (v. 27).
When God created man, He did so for a wonderful reason—to be the object of His affection. Love always looks for objects of affection. God wanted to share with man what He had created, and for man to spend eternity with Him in absolute joy. Though God wanted to share everything with man, there was one thing He would not give him. He would not give man His position as ruler of the universe (Is. 42.8; 48.11). He is the Creator, and He alone has the right to judge and rule what He has created.
Mankind and Free Will
God did not want man to serve Him like a programmed robot. Instead, He wanted all to recognize Him as the Creator and be grateful for what He offered them. He wants man to love Him and to choose to serve Him. To accomplish this, God gave man freewill. For only if man had freewill could he truly and freely love God. If man was programmed to serve and worship God, he could only simulate love. Men could not actually love God unless they had the freedom to choose to do so. 5 Here was the problem. Since God created man with free will, he has the capacity to choose unwisely and not love God. Men choose rather to rebel against Him and even choose to harm their fellow human beings. In fact, because God knows all things, He knew men would choose to rebel and harm their fellow man. And being a just God, He knew He would be compelled to punish them, for a just God cannot ignore when someone harms another. He “will not at all acquit the wicked” or justify the guilty (Nah. 1.3; Ex. 34.7).
Accordingly, should God have created man, knowing that many would choose not to love and serve Him? Should He have created man knowing most would rebel and harm his fellow man? Should He have created man even though He knew most would end up in a Lake of Fire forever? You may not think He should have done so; however, God desired fellowship with those who would choose to love Him even though it meant He would be forced to put up with and finally punish those who would choose to hate and despise Him (Rom. 9.22-23). For why should eternal life be withheld from those who loved Him because others would choose evil and resist the grace of God? It is therefore plain and just, that those who choose to harm others, and to refuse salvation, prove themselves unworthy of everlasting life and rather deserving of everlasting punishment and destruction.
God’s Eternal, Mysterious Plan to Save Mankind
The first book in the Bible, Genesis, describes God’s creation of the first human. Everything about the creation of man may seem fanciful; however, everything God did served a purpose. The Bible says God started by creating a single, solitary man. Later, He took a rib from the first man and with it fashioned a woman. Thus, all of humanity in this sense came from ONE man. Even the first woman came from the first man (Gen. 1.26-28). There was a reason God did it that way. We will explain His reason a little later.
God then took that first man and first woman and placed them in a garden paradise He had created on the earth. He then gave man a commandment: “You may eat any of the fruit from any of the trees EXCEPT one.” He called that tree, the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” “If you eat that fruit, you will SURELY die.” You may wonder why God put that tree there if He did not want them to eat of it? The answer is freewill, and the principle of morality—-right and wrong. How could man really have freewill if man did not have a choice. This tree, and this one commandment, gave man a moral choice. Man could CHOOSE to obey God or disobey Him. Unfortunately, that first man chose to disobey God. Adam and Eve ate the “forbidden fruit” in direct violation of the commandment of God. When Adam sinned, humanity changed. Man became a mortal creature with no power to consistently control his carnal desires. He became a creature with a sinful nature and sinful disposition. As the first couple procreated, mortality and sinfulness were passed on to their offspring who inevitably committed acts of sin because they were carnal and sinful. One man’s disobedient act brought sinfulness and death upon the whole of humanity (Rom. 5.12).
Why would God allow this one man’s act to affect all future generations? Here is at least part of the answer. If God allowed ONE man’s act of disobedience to affect all of mankind for evil, God could be just then to allow ONE man’s act of obedience to affect all men for good. If ONE man’s act of disobedience could make all men unrighteous, ONE man’s act of obedience could make all men righteous. Again, given freewill, men were going to eventually make the wrong choice. When they did, God was forced to punish them for their acts of disobedience. Each act of disobedience needs to be punished individually. However, if God allowed one man’s unrighteous act to make all men sinful, then He could be just or fair if He made one man’s act of obedience unto suffering and death be sufficient punishment for all men. If one man’s sin could make all men sinful, one man’s death could pay the price for the sins of all men (Rom. 5.15). Adam sinned, and because he was the head of the human race, the nature of sin was passed on to all men. And because all men sin, all men are consigned to face the judgment of God.
After Adam had sinned, God set His plan in motion to provide a means of salvation for all men. At a time appointed by God, He sent the “Second Adam,” to act as a second representative of man. This “Second Adam” would then die for all the sins of all men. This “Second Adam” was God’s own Son who would come into the world in human form to die as a substitute for guilty man.
To prepare man for the substitutionary act of the “Second Adam,” God instituted a system which required men to offer animal sacrifices to atone for their sins. If you wanted a pardon from God for your sinful actions, you were required to kill an innocent animal upon an altar erected for that purpose. Throughout many centuries, people offered these sacrifices to God. However, these animal sacrifices were only symbolic. They had no power to affect a pardon for men’s sins. They only served to prepare the people for the coming of the “Second Adam” who would die for the sins of the world. The tens-of-thousands of sacrificed animals served to teach one principle. There could be no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of the blood of an innocent substitute (Heb. 9.22). For centuries, God engraved this principle of substitution into the minds of men through these animal sacrifices. Then, the time came for the coming of the “Second Adam” to die for the sins of man.
There are many philosophies and religions in the world today. This causes people to be confused as to what the truth really is. The following was written to declare the truth as revealed by God and recorded on the pages of the Bible. The Bible is the holy book of Christianity. It is therefore no ordinary book. It was written by men as they were “moved by God’s Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1.21). Therefore, all its words are inspired and directed by God and given to man so we could know the true God and His purpose for creating us. What you are about to read is the truth revealed on the pages of the Bible. Read it carefully, for how you respond to this truth will determine where you spend ETERNITY.
God’s Plan to Give You Eternal Life
Every human being is going to exist somewhere for eternity. Death is not the end of a person’s life, for every soul is immortal. The Bible teaches that man is not simply a physical being like animals. He is unique/a “spirit being,” and that “spirit being” is housed in a physical body. When a person dies, his spirit departs from his body and goes somewhere else to exist for a time: either in a state of joy or torment. Somewhere in the future, mysteriously and supernaturally, the bodies of all human beings will be raised from the dead, and the spirits of all men will be reunited with their bodies. At that time, every man will be judged by God and spend ETERNITY in one of TWO places. Let that sink in for a moment. You and I are going to spend ETERNITY somewhere.
The Bible teaches there are only two possibilities for our eternal existence. You and I will either spend eternity in God’s kingdom where we will experience fullness of joy forever, or we will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. The Gospel, that is, the “Good News” is God wanting every 3 human being to be saved from the Lake of Fire (1 Tim. 2.4; 2 Pet. 3.9), and He wants all men to live forever in His kingdom (Lk. 12.32). The bad news is, even though God wants all men to be saved and to be a part of His kingdom, most will end up in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20.15; Mt. 7.13-14). How can this be? How can most people end up in an eternal Lake of Fire when their Creator wants them to be saved? To answer this question, we must examine God and His interaction with man.
The Nature of the True God
Only one being has eternally existed—God! This ONE God is infinite, making His nature impossible for finite man to fully comprehend. One aspect of God’s nature is that He is ONE being, but He exists as three persons. You and I are single beings, and each of us is a single person. However, God is different. He is ONE being, but THREE persons. He has existed eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: and these three are ONE being. This is impossible for us to completely comprehend. But the fact that God is love (1 Jn. 4.8, 16), and love needs an object proves that God is three persons. For prior to creation—before there was anything to love—the three persons in the Godhead were loving each other. Each was the object of affection for the other. The Father loved the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Son loved the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit loved the Father and the Son. God is ONE God who has existed eternally as three persons. Therefore, God says in Gen. 1.26-27, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him…” It seems clear in this verse, the plural pronouns “US” and “OUR” refer to a single being—GOD!
Before our universe existed, before matter and energy existed, God existed. He is eternal (Ps. 90.2). He is the only eternal being or thing. Matter and energy are not eternal. They are creations. But there is One who is eternal, who created all things. This someone is God. The Bible teaches us also that God is all powerful (Rev. 19.6), all knowing (Ps. 147.5), and omnipresent. He exists everywhere at the same time (Ps. 139.7-10; Acts 17.28), and yet He can manifest His presence in a single place at a single moment. This God who created us is perfect. He is holy. He is pure. He is absolute perfection. The Bible tells us He is the personification of love (1 Jn. 4.8). His character is absolute love. This loving nature moves God to be kind, merciful, and good. It also prompts Him to be just. He executes justice both for saints and sinners.
The Reason for the Creation of Humans
Somewhere in the distant past, this eternal, omnipotent God of love created our universe. In fact, everything, everywhere exists because He created it (Rev. 4.11; Jn. 1.3; Eph. 3.9 Col. 1.16). When God created the universe, He had already decided to create a unique being we call a human being. Man is unique in all of creation: for he alone was created in the image of God (Gen. 1.26-27). He created the first man from the dust of the earth and then breathed into man the breath of life, or the spirit of life, and man became a living soul—a spiritual being (v. 27).
When God created man, He did so for a wonderful reason—to be the object of His affection. Love always looks for objects of affection. God wanted to share with man what He had created, and for man to spend eternity with Him in absolute joy. Though God wanted to share everything with man, there was one thing He would not give him. He would not give man His position as ruler of the universe (Is. 42.8; 48.11). He is the Creator, and He alone has the right to judge and rule what He has created.
Mankind and Free Will
God did not want man to serve Him like a programmed robot. Instead, He wanted all to recognize Him as the Creator and be grateful for what He offered them. He wants man to love Him and to choose to serve Him. To accomplish this, God gave man freewill. For only if man had freewill could he truly and freely love God. If man was programmed to serve and worship God, he could only simulate love. Men could not actually love God unless they had the freedom to choose to do so. 5 Here was the problem. Since God created man with free will, he has the capacity to choose unwisely and not love God. Men choose rather to rebel against Him and even choose to harm their fellow human beings. In fact, because God knows all things, He knew men would choose to rebel and harm their fellow man. And being a just God, He knew He would be compelled to punish them, for a just God cannot ignore when someone harms another. He “will not at all acquit the wicked” or justify the guilty (Nah. 1.3; Ex. 34.7).
Accordingly, should God have created man, knowing that many would choose not to love and serve Him? Should He have created man knowing most would rebel and harm his fellow man? Should He have created man even though He knew most would end up in a Lake of Fire forever? You may not think He should have done so; however, God desired fellowship with those who would choose to love Him even though it meant He would be forced to put up with and finally punish those who would choose to hate and despise Him (Rom. 9.22-23). For why should eternal life be withheld from those who loved Him because others would choose evil and resist the grace of God? It is therefore plain and just, that those who choose to harm others, and to refuse salvation, prove themselves unworthy of everlasting life and rather deserving of everlasting punishment and destruction.
God’s Eternal, Mysterious Plan to Save Mankind
The first book in the Bible, Genesis, describes God’s creation of the first human. Everything about the creation of man may seem fanciful; however, everything God did served a purpose. The Bible says God started by creating a single, solitary man. Later, He took a rib from the first man and with it fashioned a woman. Thus, all of humanity in this sense came from ONE man. Even the first woman came from the first man (Gen. 1.26-28). There was a reason God did it that way. We will explain His reason a little later.
God then took that first man and first woman and placed them in a garden paradise He had created on the earth. He then gave man a commandment: “You may eat any of the fruit from any of the trees EXCEPT one.” He called that tree, the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” “If you eat that fruit, you will SURELY die.” You may wonder why God put that tree there if He did not want them to eat of it? The answer is freewill, and the principle of morality—-right and wrong. How could man really have freewill if man did not have a choice. This tree, and this one commandment, gave man a moral choice. Man could CHOOSE to obey God or disobey Him. Unfortunately, that first man chose to disobey God. Adam and Eve ate the “forbidden fruit” in direct violation of the commandment of God. When Adam sinned, humanity changed. Man became a mortal creature with no power to consistently control his carnal desires. He became a creature with a sinful nature and sinful disposition. As the first couple procreated, mortality and sinfulness were passed on to their offspring who inevitably committed acts of sin because they were carnal and sinful. One man’s disobedient act brought sinfulness and death upon the whole of humanity (Rom. 5.12).
Why would God allow this one man’s act to affect all future generations? Here is at least part of the answer. If God allowed ONE man’s act of disobedience to affect all of mankind for evil, God could be just then to allow ONE man’s act of obedience to affect all men for good. If ONE man’s act of disobedience could make all men unrighteous, ONE man’s act of obedience could make all men righteous. Again, given freewill, men were going to eventually make the wrong choice. When they did, God was forced to punish them for their acts of disobedience. Each act of disobedience needs to be punished individually. However, if God allowed one man’s unrighteous act to make all men sinful, then He could be just or fair if He made one man’s act of obedience unto suffering and death be sufficient punishment for all men. If one man’s sin could make all men sinful, one man’s death could pay the price for the sins of all men (Rom. 5.15). Adam sinned, and because he was the head of the human race, the nature of sin was passed on to all men. And because all men sin, all men are consigned to face the judgment of God.
After Adam had sinned, God set His plan in motion to provide a means of salvation for all men. At a time appointed by God, He sent the “Second Adam,” to act as a second representative of man. This “Second Adam” would then die for all the sins of all men. This “Second Adam” was God’s own Son who would come into the world in human form to die as a substitute for guilty man.
To prepare man for the substitutionary act of the “Second Adam,” God instituted a system which required men to offer animal sacrifices to atone for their sins. If you wanted a pardon from God for your sinful actions, you were required to kill an innocent animal upon an altar erected for that purpose. Throughout many centuries, people offered these sacrifices to God. However, these animal sacrifices were only symbolic. They had no power to affect a pardon for men’s sins. They only served to prepare the people for the coming of the “Second Adam” who would die for the sins of the world. The tens-of-thousands of sacrificed animals served to teach one principle. There could be no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of the blood of an innocent substitute (Heb. 9.22). For centuries, God engraved this principle of substitution into the minds of men through these animal sacrifices. Then, the time came for the coming of the “Second Adam” to die for the sins of man.
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons (Gal. 4.4-5).
The guilty could not die for the guilty. The guilty had to die for their own crimes. The sacrifice for man’s sins would have to be a human who was not guilty of sin. How could there be a human without sin when all men inherited sinfulness from their fathers? God’s plan was to send His Son into the world in a unique way. The Holy Spirit would form a child within the womb of a virgin (Lk. 1.35). The fetus within the womb housed God the Son. The virgin chosen for this purpose was named Mary. She birthed a child into the world who was literally Emmanuel, “God with us” (Mt. 1.23). God the Son became flesh and dwelt among us Jn. 1.1-14). He 8 grew to adulthood, then went about teaching men the right ways of God. He confirmed His identity with many signs and wonders. He healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, and performed miracles, all of which defied the natural and physical laws of the universe. They were miracles!
When the time came, Christ allowed Himself to be arrested. He was led through a mockery of a trial where He was condemned to death and taken to a hill on the outskirts of the city of Jerusalem. There, He was nailed to wooden beams in the form of a cross. His dying body was lifted up and suspended with nails between heaven and earth. A few hours later, He died. No one took His life from Him. He came to lay it down for the sins of man, and He did exactly that. One man, the “Second Adam” gave His life to pay the price for all the sins of mankind.
After His death, some men removed His body from the cross and laid it in a tomb which was simply a small cave carved into the side of a rocky hill. They rolled a large stone to cover the cave’s opening. As evidence to who He was and what He had done, He rose from the dead three days after He died. After spending time with several of His followers over the course of forty days, the Son of God ascended back to Heaven as His closest disciples watched. Before He left, He commissioned His followers to go to every human being in the world and declare who He is and what He had done to pay the price for man’s sinful acts (Mk.16.16).
The Conditions to Receive Eternal Life in God’s Kingdom
Just because Jesus died for the sins of the entire world does not mean, however, the entire world will be pardoned, saved from judgment and receive eternal life in God’s kingdom. God set conditions for a pardon. To be pardoned and “saved” from God’s judgment and wrath, and to receive eternal life in His kingdom, a person must hear and believe in Jesus and what He did on the cross. When a person hears the Good News, he must then choose to believe. Everyone has the capacity to believe, for God 9 gave every person a measure of faith (Rom. 12.3). If one does not believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he cannot be saved (Mk. 1.15; 16.15-16).
True faith in the story of Jesus’ sacrifice will produce a predictable response. It will produce fear. If one does not fear, one does not truly believe, or else he is unimaginably foolish. If you truly believe in a just God and the judgment to come, and the fact you have violated God’s laws, how can you not fear? “For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12.29). True belief will also produce remorse for the sins which have harmed others, offended God, and made the death of Jesus necessary. True faith produces true remorse, and true remorse [“godly sorrow”] works toward repentance and the decision to turn from a life of rebellion and to accept God’s pardon through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross (2 Cor. 7.10). If one does not have remorse, he either does not believe or is irretrievably wicked.
You may say, “How can God determine salvation based upon hearing about Jesus’ sacrifice and BELIEVING? God is the Creator. He is sovereign and can set whatever conditions He chooses. There are several reasons, however, that have been offered to help explain God’s sovereign choices and conditions. The ultimate condition is faith manifested by remorse, repentance, and acceptance of Christ (Jn. 1.11-12; Acts 3.19; 17.30; 1 Cor. 1.21).
Those who truly believe and repent of their sins and accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord will be pardoned, receive eternal life, become citizens of God’s kingdom, and be adopted into God’s family. And if they remain faithful, will live forever.
What Must a Person do to be Saved from Hell and Receive Eternal Life in God’s Eternal Kingdom?
To receive all these gifts, you must hear and receive the Gospel as it is revealed in the New Testament and explained here. You must then 10 act by making the decision to turn from your life of rebellion to a life of submission to God. You must repent and ask God for a pardon through Jesus Christ. You must publicly confess your faith in Jesus Christ and be willing to profess your faith to others. If you repent and believe on Jesus Christ, God will respond by giving you His Holy Spirit and renewing your “inner man.” This will make you into a new creation (2 Cor. 5.17). It will give you a righteous disposition. It will drive [empower] you to live righteously.
The infusion of the Holy Spirit into your spirit is called the “new birth” or being “born again.” Every true believer is born again by God’s Spirit (Jn. 3.3-8; Rom. 8.15-16; 1 Cor. 12.3). God’s kingdom has laws. If you choose to be a part of God’s kingdom, you must submit to God’s laws. If you choose not to submit to His laws, it is evidence you have not truly repented nor been truly born of God’s Spirit.
The Eternal Future of the Believer
If you believe unto repentance, you will receive eternal life and inherit God’s kingdom. One day soon, Jesus will return to this earth. He will gather out from the earth all those who have rejected Christ and chosen to live a life of rebellion and sinfulness. These, He will finally judge and cast into a Lake of Fire (Mt. 13.41-42; Rev. 19.20; 20.10, 14-15). The image of this place of torment is derived from the Greek word, gehenna. This was the name of the city dump outside Jerusalem that at the time of Christ had been in a continuous state of burning for several generations. This is the name God chose for the place He sends unbelieving, impenitent men. It is a garbage heap of perpetual burning, destruction for those who have turned their back on the sacrifice of God’s Son who suffered and died to pay for their pardon.
While all impenitent sinners will be cast into an eternal “Lake of Fire,” born again believers will enter God’s kingdom to live together with God in fullness of joy forever (Mt. 25.34)!
Conclusion
Everyone will spend eternity in one of two places. Where you spend eternity depends entirely on whether you receive or reject the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 1.12). Do you believe what has been proclaimed to you here? You have the capability to believe. If you are going to be saved, you must repent and boldly accept Jesus. You must boldly profess your decision before God and man.
God loves you and wants you to be saved. He has provided the means for you to be saved by sending His Son to die for your sins. He now requires you to believe what He has done, repent of your sins, and profess your faith in Christ Jesus. The choice is yours! You choose to believe or not believe, to repent or not to repent. Your decision will determine your eternal destination.
When the time came, Christ allowed Himself to be arrested. He was led through a mockery of a trial where He was condemned to death and taken to a hill on the outskirts of the city of Jerusalem. There, He was nailed to wooden beams in the form of a cross. His dying body was lifted up and suspended with nails between heaven and earth. A few hours later, He died. No one took His life from Him. He came to lay it down for the sins of man, and He did exactly that. One man, the “Second Adam” gave His life to pay the price for all the sins of mankind.
After His death, some men removed His body from the cross and laid it in a tomb which was simply a small cave carved into the side of a rocky hill. They rolled a large stone to cover the cave’s opening. As evidence to who He was and what He had done, He rose from the dead three days after He died. After spending time with several of His followers over the course of forty days, the Son of God ascended back to Heaven as His closest disciples watched. Before He left, He commissioned His followers to go to every human being in the world and declare who He is and what He had done to pay the price for man’s sinful acts (Mk.16.16).
The Conditions to Receive Eternal Life in God’s Kingdom
Just because Jesus died for the sins of the entire world does not mean, however, the entire world will be pardoned, saved from judgment and receive eternal life in God’s kingdom. God set conditions for a pardon. To be pardoned and “saved” from God’s judgment and wrath, and to receive eternal life in His kingdom, a person must hear and believe in Jesus and what He did on the cross. When a person hears the Good News, he must then choose to believe. Everyone has the capacity to believe, for God 9 gave every person a measure of faith (Rom. 12.3). If one does not believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he cannot be saved (Mk. 1.15; 16.15-16).
True faith in the story of Jesus’ sacrifice will produce a predictable response. It will produce fear. If one does not fear, one does not truly believe, or else he is unimaginably foolish. If you truly believe in a just God and the judgment to come, and the fact you have violated God’s laws, how can you not fear? “For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12.29). True belief will also produce remorse for the sins which have harmed others, offended God, and made the death of Jesus necessary. True faith produces true remorse, and true remorse [“godly sorrow”] works toward repentance and the decision to turn from a life of rebellion and to accept God’s pardon through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross (2 Cor. 7.10). If one does not have remorse, he either does not believe or is irretrievably wicked.
You may say, “How can God determine salvation based upon hearing about Jesus’ sacrifice and BELIEVING? God is the Creator. He is sovereign and can set whatever conditions He chooses. There are several reasons, however, that have been offered to help explain God’s sovereign choices and conditions. The ultimate condition is faith manifested by remorse, repentance, and acceptance of Christ (Jn. 1.11-12; Acts 3.19; 17.30; 1 Cor. 1.21).
Those who truly believe and repent of their sins and accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord will be pardoned, receive eternal life, become citizens of God’s kingdom, and be adopted into God’s family. And if they remain faithful, will live forever.
What Must a Person do to be Saved from Hell and Receive Eternal Life in God’s Eternal Kingdom?
To receive all these gifts, you must hear and receive the Gospel as it is revealed in the New Testament and explained here. You must then 10 act by making the decision to turn from your life of rebellion to a life of submission to God. You must repent and ask God for a pardon through Jesus Christ. You must publicly confess your faith in Jesus Christ and be willing to profess your faith to others. If you repent and believe on Jesus Christ, God will respond by giving you His Holy Spirit and renewing your “inner man.” This will make you into a new creation (2 Cor. 5.17). It will give you a righteous disposition. It will drive [empower] you to live righteously.
The infusion of the Holy Spirit into your spirit is called the “new birth” or being “born again.” Every true believer is born again by God’s Spirit (Jn. 3.3-8; Rom. 8.15-16; 1 Cor. 12.3). God’s kingdom has laws. If you choose to be a part of God’s kingdom, you must submit to God’s laws. If you choose not to submit to His laws, it is evidence you have not truly repented nor been truly born of God’s Spirit.
The Eternal Future of the Believer
If you believe unto repentance, you will receive eternal life and inherit God’s kingdom. One day soon, Jesus will return to this earth. He will gather out from the earth all those who have rejected Christ and chosen to live a life of rebellion and sinfulness. These, He will finally judge and cast into a Lake of Fire (Mt. 13.41-42; Rev. 19.20; 20.10, 14-15). The image of this place of torment is derived from the Greek word, gehenna. This was the name of the city dump outside Jerusalem that at the time of Christ had been in a continuous state of burning for several generations. This is the name God chose for the place He sends unbelieving, impenitent men. It is a garbage heap of perpetual burning, destruction for those who have turned their back on the sacrifice of God’s Son who suffered and died to pay for their pardon.
While all impenitent sinners will be cast into an eternal “Lake of Fire,” born again believers will enter God’s kingdom to live together with God in fullness of joy forever (Mt. 25.34)!
Conclusion
Everyone will spend eternity in one of two places. Where you spend eternity depends entirely on whether you receive or reject the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 1.12). Do you believe what has been proclaimed to you here? You have the capability to believe. If you are going to be saved, you must repent and boldly accept Jesus. You must boldly profess your decision before God and man.
God loves you and wants you to be saved. He has provided the means for you to be saved by sending His Son to die for your sins. He now requires you to believe what He has done, repent of your sins, and profess your faith in Christ Jesus. The choice is yours! You choose to believe or not believe, to repent or not to repent. Your decision will determine your eternal destination.
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live . . . (Deut. 30.19).
Written by: Bishop Bruce Sullivan
Zion Publishing House
Copyright (c) 2025
Zion Publishing House
Copyright (c) 2025