It really doesn't matter if so-and-so percent of people believe that on the last day, Jesus Christ will judge the world. What matters is whether you believe His Word, or not; and whether you are ashamed of Him and His words here in this generation, or not. Jesus not only presides over the word of the ancient Hebrew prophets, He is also the One who came to fulfill it.

• For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels (Mk. 9:38).
• Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that would come to you searched and carefully investigated. They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when He testified in advance to the messianic sufferings and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you concerning things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the Gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Angels desire to look into these things (1 Pt. 1:10-12).
• I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The hired man, since he is not the Shepherd and doesn't own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them (Jn. 10:12).

What's the deal with sheep? I don't want to be a sheep! If you're one of those Christians who can't seem to resolve themselves either way, you probably don't want to be a goat either. (Remember that Cake song? "Sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell.") Quite likely you consider yourself somewhere in between good and bad, righteousness and wickedness, holy and unholy. While you take a little time to hope for heaven, you ultimately seek out ways to please the sinful nature. Pardon me for saying this, but such indetermination is unreasonable!

• When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left (Mt. 25:31-33).
• For many are invited, but few are chosen (Mt. 22:14).
• Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn't collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn't act on them will be like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed (Mt. 7:24-27).

Yes, you have to be born again. There's no way around it. Though you most likely have a "good" heart by earthly measures, you're still not good enough to be accepted in the kingdom of God. None of us are. There's really only one way to measure up to God: You must be filled with the Holy Spirit, and emptied of all uncleanliness. Justification is by faith. Therefore, by faith, receive Christ. Abandon all your sins. Do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be made free! Sin will no longer be a burden to you once you take up your cross and follow Him.

• Jesus replied, "I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ... Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again" (Jn. 3:3,5-7).
• "Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way where I am going ... I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (Jn. 14:1-4,6).
• This is what the LORD says: Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes human flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD (Jr. 17:5).
• Therefore ... Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so they will not be a stumbling block that causes your punishment (Ez. 18:30).
• And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to this worldly age ... We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and by nature we were children under wrath, as the others were also. But God, who is abundant in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive in the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses ... For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift - not from works, so that no one can boast (Ep. 2:1,2a,3-5a,8,9).
• But now, apart from the law, God's righteousness has been revealed - attested by the law and the prophets - that is, God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. He presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus (Rm. 3:21-26).
• "The one who welcomes you welcomes me, and the one who welcomes me welcomes Him who sent me" (Mt. 10:40).
• With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation ... For anyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved (Rm. 10:10,13).
• "Repent," Peter said to them, "and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call" (Ac. 2:38,39).
• As He was saying these things, many believed in Him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in my word, you are really my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
  "We are descendants of Abraham," they answered Him, "and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, 'You will become free'?"
  Jesus responded, "I assure you: Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. Therefore if the Son sets you free, you really will be free" (Jn. 8:30-36).

  Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wants to come with me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me" (Mt. 16:24).

The parable of the talents (Mt. 25:14-30) has much to say about self-denial. The greater the sinfulness of the life we abandon, the greater the grace, and the greater the blessing after repentance. Ever wonder why the Apostle Paul was so tireless in his evangelism efforts? It wasn't because he was self-righteous all his life. He was so filled with joy at knowing the grace of God, given to him in the Lord Jesus Christ, that he invested the rest of his earthly life in serving Him. As for the hypocrites who scorned him in synagogues when Paul preached the Gospel, they are like the servant who hid his talent in the ground. Given the Gospel, they could not respond to the Holy Spirit's conviction.

Their hearts were hardened by the LORD, just as He had hardened the heart of Pharaoh during the time described in the book of Exodus. But why? Because "He shows mercy to whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills" (Rm. 9:18). Assuredly there were those Jewish scribes and teachers of the law who believed in the truth and were saved from their harsh religion. But most of them, because of their unbelief, passed into eternity smitten with sin. Don't let that happen to you! If you consider yourself a sinner who deserves to be punished, don't hesitate to repent and get things right with the LORD. When the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, comes in glory and power to judge the world, you will know whether you belong to Him or to the Devil.

What it really boils down to is this: Faith must come from your heart, and confession must come from your mouth. I've already confessed my sins, given my life to God, and received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I know the words and the convictions that bring about salvation, but I can't put them into your mouth. I made this page to explain to you how a hardened sinner (which I once was) is brought into a love relationship with God. Although I hope you'll give your life to the Lord right after reading this webpage, I'm not going to try to will you into conversion. I only want to present to you the case for seeking one's salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Although I do believe that man has a will separate from God's, I am not a follower of "free-willism" or decision theology. The Bible says that only elected people (those who were chosen for salvation before the creation of the world) will be saved. As the Scripture says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing from the heavens, in Christ; for He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved" (Ep. 1:3-6).

If you've never been born again, yet you have a sincere desire to seek your eventual salvation, don't ever give up on God's church. The more time you spend with His people in worship (and in listening to the Word being preached), the more you are exhorted to put your faith in Christ. And do ask others to pray for you. You may even ask them to pray with you for your salvation. Since you cannot know your eternal destiny until you are saved (or, of course, if you die while still unsaved), you have no logical reason to give up. Keep longing for God's presence in your life, and when He does draw you close to Himself, give Him your all.

But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, "Who will go up to heaven?" that is, to bring Christ down or, "Who will go down into the abyss?" that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 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. With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation. Now the Scripture says, No one who believes in Him will be put to shame, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. For everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved" (Rm. 10:6-13).