“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whomsoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
This very well known verse has always been the verse that everyone knew, even many lost people (people headed for eternal punishment). It was even the most quoted verse by our young people. Unfortunately, the verse quoted most often by our young people today is, Matthew 7:1, Judge not, that ye be not judged:” The problem with that is that they are taking the verse out of context. It means, do not judge people according to our human judgement, because our judgement is faulty and sinful. Our young people think it means, allow anything and don’t judge it, because that’s not politically correct and Jesus said that we shouldn’t judge people. Well, we should never judge people using our human version of what’s right and wrong. On the other hand God has the right to judge everyone, and we as Christians have the responsibility to share what God thinks.
God condemns homosexuality, theft, lying, murder, fornication, adultery, disobedience to parents and many other things. When we share with others that God condemns these things, we are not judging others, we are sharing God’s judgement. God is the only worthy judge and his Word alone is truth. Keeping the truth from others is a sin. Keeping the truth from others encourages others to sin. Keeping the truth from others allows them to feel like they are in God’s will, even though they are far from God’s will. If we want people to live the life that they should, according to Biblical scripture, we must tell them the truth. Sin is sin. All sin is bad and against God. Every sin was sin from the beginning and is still sin today, and that same sin will be sin forever.
Our only recourse is to tell the truth, according to God’s perfect Word. We have to let people know that sin is sin, hell is real and horrible, and they must repent - turn away from and try to never return to - that sin. You cannot be saved unless you know you are a sinner in need of saving. What are you being saved from? Slavery to sin, slavery to Satan, slavery to your own lusts and sinful desires, endless bondage that you can’t get out of except by being saved.
Well, how do I get saved? First, realize you are a sinner. Second, Repent of your sin. Third, believe that Jesus died for you, rose again on the third day and is now alive and well in Heaven. Forth, pray a simple prayer that hits these three topics and you will be saved by God’s amazing grace (unmerited mercy and forgiveness).
From the moment you are saved, you are a new person, with new desires. You desire to serve God, not yourself. You desire to live right, in accordance with the guidelines within the Bible. You desire to learn more about this Jesus by going to a local church, Bible study and prayer. You desire to be as like Christ as possible. All of this happens after you are saved, not before. All this happens as a result of salvation, not as a requirement for salvation.
I pray that anyone that reads this accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior, starts living for the Lord, finds a good Bible teaching church, starts reading and studying their Bible and spreads the Gospel (good news) of Christ to anyone willing to listen. In Jesus’ name, Amen!