I would like to share with you the best news I know.  It is possible to know, for sure, why you are here on this earth, how you got here, and what is going to happen to you when you die.  I make this statement based on the authority of the Bible rather than any wisdom of my own.  In case you’re considering setting this aside due to skepticism about the Bible, I encourage you to read “Can the Bible be trusted?” because I have had similar doubts and have found there are good answers to them.

    The Bible says that every person has violated God’s standard which is perfection (Romans 3:23 - sin).  I’ll include, in parenthesis, verses from the Bible that illustrate the ideas so you can read them for yourself.  Things were not always this way.  God created everything perfect (Genesis 1:31) but man chose to disobey God's commands when Adam & Eve ate from the forbidden tree in Eden (Genesis 3).   This is not a myth, this was the point in history where God's perfect creation was made subject to problems.  The Bible indicates the penalty for our sin is death (Romans 6:23).  One of the greatest misconceptions about the Bible is that we can make up for our sins by doing good works.  The Bible teaches our good works can’t save us (Ephesians 2:8,9 and Titus 3:5).  Given this information, we’re destined to pay for our own sins by spending eternity separated from God in Hell (John 3:36).  Thankfully, God didn’t leave it this way.  He has provided a way for us to avoid paying for our sins in Hell.  Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life (Hebrews 4:15), died on the cross to pay for our sins, and rose back to life (I Corinthians 15:3-4).  We are offered the free gift of eternal life (i.e. we don’t have to earn it with our good works).  Every person has to personally decide if they’ll accept the gift for themselves.  You can accept the gift by putting your faith in Jesus’ payment for your sins and committing yourself to live under His leadership (Romans 10:9-13, John 3:16 -  believing).  You do that by talking to God (i.e. praying) and telling Him you want to do this (note that it has nothing to do with joining a particular church group).  Once you’ve accepted the gift you can have 100% assurance of spending eternity with God (1st John 5:11-13).  In addition, when you accept the gift, God sends his Spirit to live in you to help you with the challenges of life and to live according to His standards (Ephesians 1:13-14).  God wants us to live in obedience to His standards, not to earn His favor or to pay for our sins, but to bring honor to His name (Matthew 5:16).  The “fringe benefit” of living in obedience to His standards is that we experience the best for our lives.

     Hopefully this is short enough to digest.  This information is vital because the Bible says the result of not accepting the free gift is eternal separation from God in Hell -- not to mention missing the joy of having God’s presence and help for the challenges of this life.  If you have questions, send us an email at dskeating@sbcglobal.net.

     Perhaps you've read this but don't feel the Bible can be trusted.  I have had similar concerns but have found there is tremendous evidence which supports the historical reliability and supernatural character of the Bible.  I encourage you to read “Can the Bible be trusted?”

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Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Genesis 3   vs1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”  2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,  3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”  4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.  5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.  7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.  8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”  10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”  11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”  12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”  13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”  The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,  “Cursed are you above all the livestock  and all the wild animals!  You will crawl on your belly  and you will eat dust  all the days of your life.  15 And I will put enmity  between you and the woman,  and between your offspring a and hers;  he will crush b your head,  and you will strike his heel.”  16 To the woman he said,  “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;  with pain you will give birth to children.  Your desire will be for your husband,  and he will rule over you.”  17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’  “Cursed is the ground because of you;  through painful toil you will eat of it  all the days of your life.  18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,  and you will eat the plants of the field.  19 By the sweat of your brow  you will eat your food  until you return to the ground,  since from it you were taken;  for dust you are  and to dust you will return.”  20 Adam c named his wife Eve, d because she would become the mother of all the living.  21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.  22 And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”  23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.  24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side e of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Titus 3:5 He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

I Corinthians 15:3-4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance ?a?: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

Romans 10:9-13 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.   10  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.   11  As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”   12  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,   13  for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

1st John 5:11-13 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.   12  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  13  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Ephesians 1:13-14 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,  14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.