Are you a good person? Most people say "yes" when asked this question.
However...
God judges us by his own standard when determining if we are good or not. This is not because God is mean or cruel, but because he is holy and just.
God gave us the 10 Commandments to help us determine if we are good or bad. The 10 Commandments are God's Law. If you have broken God's Law, you have sinned against the holy God. Think of the 10 Commandments as a mirror that you can look into to see if you are good enough (without sin) to go to Heaven when you die. God also imprinted this standard in us when he created mankind. This built in understanding of right and wrong is what we call our conscious.
So let's give it a try. Have you ever...
The last two are challenging, because Jesus taught that what you do in your mind and heart are also violations of God's law, not just your actions.
Jesus said "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27)
Jesus said "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." (John 3:15)
What do you think, would you be found innocent or guilty if judged by the above standards (God's Law)?
If you have said "yes" to any of these questions, then you are guilty just like the rest of us.
If you said "no" to all of these questions, then you are lying to yourself and are guilty of being a liar and have broken the 9th Commandment. The Bible teaches that all humans are guilty of breaking God's Law. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
Do not be temped into thinking that you are innocent just because everyone else is breaking the Law. That does not even work in a human court. If you see a bunch of people looting an electronics store and run in and grab yourself a new cell phone, the judge will not let you off when you explain that you were not the only one. You will find yourself in a jail cell.
If you said "yes" to any of the above questions, then you have personally sinned against God by violating his Law (the 10 Commandments), and will be judged and punished for breaking his law.
The Bible says that all will be judged when we die. "It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment." (Hebrews 9:27)
The Bible tells us what the punishment for our sin is:
So if you are guilty of breaking God's law, where will you end up, Heaven or Hell?
If you are being honest with yourself, then the answer is Hell.
That is the bad news.
However, God loves you and provides a solution to your problem with sin. Read the next section below (after the Bible verses) for the Good News.
The Bible says...
And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. (Mark 9:43)
The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. (Matthew 13:41-43)
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. (Revelation 21:8)
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, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. (Mark 7:21-23)
God loves us so much that he sent his son Christ Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins. Jesus lived a sinless life, and then was sentenced to death on the cross. While on the cross Jesus paid the penalty for our sin by suffering God's wrath due to mankind's sin.
Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave. Before he died he proclaimed that "it is finished." This signified that he finished paying the penalty for sin by bearing God's punishing wrath. When he rose from the grave he overcame death (the penalty/wages for sin). God the father raised the son to be seated at his right hand, in acceptance of Christ's sacrifice.
You broke God's law by sinning, but Jesus substituted himself for you, and paid the penalty for your sin by suffering God's righteous and just punishment on the cross.
The Bible says...
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5)
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.
(1 Peter 3:18)
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
If you believe that Jesus Christ the son of God died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin and overcame death by rising from the grave, then you must REPENT and have FAITH in Him alone as your Lord and Savior, in order to be forgiven for your sins. Since Jesus finished paying the price/penalty for your sins on the cross, the forgiveness of your sins is accomplished through FAITH alone, which is a free gift from God.
If you want to get right with God, then...
If you have sincerely trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then...
This makes you a member of the the spiritual Church, which is made up of all on earth who are in Christ.
The Bible says...
As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:9-10)
Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 1:13)
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. (1 Corinthians 12-13)
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
(Romans 10:9-10)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:13)
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:12-13)
As a member of the Church you should deepen your relationship with the Lord and be discipled to better understand his will/plan for you.
If your repentance and faith are genuine, you will see changes in your life, including an ongoing turning away from sin. Repenting and praying to God for forgiveness can help you to overcome specific sins in your life that you continue to struggle with.
If you see no changes in your life, please search your heart and soul to determine if you have completely submitted to Christ as your Lord and Savior, rather than believing just the facts. A genuine saving faith will produce good works and transformed desires. This is what the Bible describes as the fruits of the Spirit. See Galatians 5:22-23. The fruits of the Spirit are not works. Works cannot produce salvation.
A false Faith, when someone just believes the facts, but does not repent and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, is a dead Faith. Believing in God is not enough. See James 2:14-26.
The epistle of 1 John describes the signs of a saving faith, so that we can know that our faith is genuine. See 1 John 5:13.
The Bible says...
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
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)
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:16-24)
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! (James 2:19)
No one knows how long they will live. You could die by accident, disease, natural disaster, or crime at any moment.
If you have not trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, please continue to reflect on what you have learned about his sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection. Be warned, you will be judged when you die and then will enter eternity in either Heaven or Hell.
Repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is your only hope to inherit eternal life in Heaven.
The Bible says...
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:12)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
People try in many ways to have a relationship with God. However, none of these human efforts/works can address the problem with your sin, which separates you from a holy and righteous God. Regardless of your actions and motivations, you have still violated (past sin) and continue to violate/break (current and future sin) God's law (the 10 Commandments).
If you commit a crime and stand before a judge pleading that you are a good person, a just judge will rightfully focus on the crime you committed and punish you based on your innocence or guilt. The judge will not let you off based upon how often you have done good deeds, or how often you have meditated, or gone to church/temple, or completed a ritual, or done volunteer work.
The Bible says...
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. (Isaiah 59:2)
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
(Proverbs 14:12)