1. Are you a sinner?
The first thing you must do is realize that you are a sinner. Now you might not even know what that word means or what it is. So I will try to help you see what a sinner is and that you are one.
First, a sinner is one who commits sin. It doesn't matter if you commit one sin or one million sins, you are still considered a sinner. The bible speaks about sinners in other words too like, wicked, evil, and blind. So what is "sin?" Sin is a violation of the law of a Holy and Just God. (1 John 3:4) See God gave us a law to obey and that law is a reflection of His nature. God made man sinless and good. (Gen. 1) When man violated God, man brought physical and spiritual death into the universe. This is what we call the "curse." God cursed mankind for disobeying His laws. Every person since the first two humans, Adam and Eve, were born sinners. We are sinners by birth, our nature is to sin. Not only this but we also are sinners by choice. To prove that we must look at God's moral law, the ten commandments.
The ninth commandment say's, "You shall not lie." Now answer honestly have you ever told a lie? It's obvious that you have since everybody has. I didn't have to teach my children to lie, they just do it naturally, I warn them against it yet no doubt they will lie. If we have told one lie that would make us a "Liar." Like I said before you don't need to sin a million times to be a sinner.
The eighth commandment say's, "You shall not steal." I know, you haven't stolen right? Well you just said you were a liar, so should I believe that? Stealing doesn't just mean that we have robbed a bank or did a grand theft auto or something along them lines. It mean stealing. Anything. If you have taken anything that didn't belong to you without permission that is called stealing. If you ever cheated on a test in school or were lazy at work, that is called stealing. Now if you have stolen anything that makes you a thief. So far that would make you a lying, thief.
The seventh commandment say's, "You shall not commit adultery." I know the common response to this is, "I have never cheated on my husband or wife" or "I haven't had premarital sex." The problem with these objections is, they won't work when you stand before God. Jesus said in Matthew 5:28, "... That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." So according to Jesus if you have lusted you have committed adultery. So now that would make you a lying, thieving, adulterer.
God does not look very lightly on this. As a matter of fact the bible say's God is very angry with this.
"Psa 5:5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers."
"Psa 7:11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day."
"Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
2. Why does Hell exist?
I know the common thought that Hell only exist for the most wicked men and women. Such as Hitler, Hussein, or persons like that. This is not what the bible teaches though. The bible teaches on multiple occasion that people who commit the sins we just dealt with are the one's in Hell.
1Co 6:9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,
1Co 6:10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Rev 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
Hell exists for sinners who rebel against an omnipotent God. Hell is the place that God pours out His justice upon law breakers and remember sinners are law breakers.
You might say, "I thought God was loving or forgiving." He definitely is loving and forgiving but He is also Just. (Romans 3:26) His justice declares that if you violate a law you must be punished. Since you have violated an infinite law and infinite God your punishment will be infinite. God loves His own glory, your sin falls short of His glory (Rom. 3:23) therefore He hates it. Just like if you love babies you hate eugenics or abortion. God loves holiness and righteousness so therefore must hate the opposite.
So God in His infinite Justice and Holiness say's that all criminals must go to Hell. There is nothing you can do to divert that anger and wrath that God has for you. (John 3:36) The only thing that can be done, is if Someone who is infinite lives a perfect life without sin and gives His life as a payment for you. So the option is you can die and go to Hell forever or see if there is Someone who fits this criterion.
3. The Good News!
The good news is that there is Someone who fits this criterion. His name is Jesus He lived around 2000 years ago. You probably know this much about Jesus. What you probably don't know is that He wasn't just a man. He was and is God! (see "Christian Doctrine" section for proof of this) Jesus was Emmanuel which means "God with us." So being God, He was infinite, Jesus always has and always will exist.
When Jesus came to Earth it wasn't just to be a "good" teacher or to simply show us how we should live. The reason Jesus came to Earth was to give His life up as a ransom for many. (Isaiah 53:10-11; Mark 10:45) The main reason Jesus came to Earth and lived the perfect sinless life was so He could lay it down for sinners.
When Jesus laid His life down it wasn't just men that killed Jesus, it was God. (Isa. 53:10 The Lord "crushed Him"; Acts 4:27-28) God ordained from the Old Testament that when someone sinned there cannot be forgiveness without the shedding of blood. This is the whole reason for the Old Testament Jewish sacrificial system of slaying "lambs without spot or blemmish." I know this might not make sense, but I only mentioned it to get to this point. Jesus was the "lamb without spot or blemmish" in the New Testament. (John 1:29) Jesus' blood was shed so men could be forgiven, for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Heb. 9:22)
Of course it didn't end there for Christ. After He was buried, three days later He rose from the grave, victorious over death. He was seen by more than 500 people after His resurrection and a lot of these people were murdered because they would not recant of what they witnessed. Nobody dies for something they know is a lie.
Jesus did not shed His blood for everybody though. If this were the case everybody would be saved and the bible definitely does not teach that. Jesus shed His blood for the men and women that would repent from their sins and place their faith or trust in Him.
Repentance does not mean you completely stop sinning. Repentance is the willingness to stop sinning and to turn away from that sin. Faith is not just simply "believing" Jesus died for sinners. Faith is a child like trust in a Savior that can and will save you. Faith is being able to step off into Eternity, holding onto nothing but a simple trust that Jesus died to save me. Not looking to your works for they cannot save you. (Isa. 64:6; Titus 3:5) Simply turn from your sin and run to Jesus Christ, He can and will save you from your sins. Read your bible everyday and join a local church that agrees with the "essentials" defined in "Christian doctrine" section and serve the King of kings and Lord of lords.
If upon reading this you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior please email us at faithreformedbaptistchurch@gmail.com