The gift of God...

Through FAITH alone!

How can you know I'm going to Hell ** or not?  Surely, if I'm good I can't go to Hell. Don't all good people like Mother Theresa go to heaven?

"There is none righteous, no not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no not one There is no fear of God before their eyes."   - Romans 3:10-13/Psalms 14:1-3, 53:1-3

If all men (and women) are sinners, then how is it that some people claim to be saved?

So what does sin got to do with Hell?

"For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men is is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." "-Mark 10:26-27

"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death sperad to all men, because all sinned," - Romans 5:12

I don't want to endure unending pain in Hell after I die! What do I have to do to go to Heaven?

(Nicodemus was a prominent Pharisee, a spiritual and worldly.leader and a member of Sanhedrin, the powerful ruling body of Jews in Palestine) "This man (Nicodemus) came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for noone can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

But WHAT does it mean when he says that "one must be born again?

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one if born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" - John 3:1-8

Jesus and Nicodemus You can color this too!!

How can I be born again of the spirit?

"Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him. "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what we have seen and you do not receive Our witness. No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heave. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him shaould not perish but have eternal life. 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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." -John 3:9-17

So what became of our old friend Nicodemus?

*Nicodemus, a highly respected Jewish leader had the courage to overcome his fears and ask Jesus what was necesaary for salvation. Jesus presented him straight with the facts, but Nicodemus did not understand. This story has a happy ending indeed. Nicodemus finally understood what it meant to be born again of water and Spirit. He would later risk his life and reputation to insure Jesus had a decent burial.

Do I need to perform rituals or a certain number of things to be saved?

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

So why does God have such a low opinion of us?

Have u ever seen maggots? They are as  disgusting as things get. If you were next to a fire and someone through you a pile of them (theoretically), your brain would send every distress signal possible telling you to throw it into the fire. To God we are like maggots through our sin and rebellion, but through his infinite mercy and love he has spared us and sacrificed his son for anyone who should believe. If you are still curious what a maggot looks like, scroll down to the very bottom. <Be warned, it is very graphic content not suitable for those who are eating anything or cannot handle looking at bugs.>

So I can disregard all my morals and party hard, but if I believe its all good?

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." -Ephesians 2:10

"for it is written: Be holy for I am holy" -1 Peter 1:16

Quite frankly, I'm skeptical Why do I have to believe that Jesus died?

**Hell is a very gloomy reality, but you should not try to deny it. Think about it this way: if your house were on fire, would you not want someone to alert you? Of course you would, and woudln't you want someone to rescue from it? That "fireman"/rescuer is Jesus Christ, rescuing you not only from the sinful world but also from Hell, the lake of fire. Eventually, the arsonist, Satan, will be cast into his own fire. If you do not believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, then your ultimate destination will undeniably  the "everlasting punishment and fire" This life is your only chance to make the eternal choice. Make the right one.

"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinngers, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." -Romans 5:7-9

What else should I do, besides putting faith in humanity's only hope Jesus Christ?

"And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all toher Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."    -Luke 13:2-3

"And anyone not found written in the Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire." Revelations 20:15

"The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Revelations 20:10

How do I know that Jesus can raise the dead? There was a lot of talk, but was there walk?

"Then, when Mary came where Jesus wasm and saw Him, she fell down at his feet, saying to Him, "Lord if You had been here, my brother would not have died." Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, "Where have you laid him?"  They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept.   Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" And some of them said, "Could nor this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?".... Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." Now when He said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" And he who had died coame out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them loose him, and let him go.". Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees fathered a council and said, "What shall we do? For this man works many signs, If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation."

[The Greek word has the connotation of silently bursting into tears in contrast to the loud lament of the group. His tears were not generated out of mourning, since He was ro raise Laz, but out of grief for a fallen world entangled in sin-caused sorrow and death.

How could we possibly be redeemed because of an execution?

"And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God."    -1Peter 1:17-21

Maggot. We are to God as maggots are to us, but we are infinitely worse in relation to God.

It is a magnified image. They are not actually this big.