Lie #1:  Everybody Needs Jesus...
You may have heard it said before that everybody needs Jesus Christ.  I've even heard people say "if they have life in them, they need Jesus."  That's just not true.  The only people that need Jesus are the ones that don't want to go to hell.  This is true, if someone wants to go to heaven, then they'll need to 'go through' Jesus.  But there's another way to get to heaven... keep reading.

Lie #2: Jesus is the only way to heaven...
Have you heard this before?  Jesus is the only way to heaven?  That's actually not the case... there's another way.  No, I am not saying that all roads lead to heaven... because that is not true.  But, there is one way outside of Jesus.  It's quite simple really - to be perfect.  The only reason someone would need Jesus as their savior is if they were in danger; and the only reason a person would be in danger is if they violated God's Law. So let's take a brief look at God's Law (The 10 Commandments) to see if you've violated it. The 9th commandment is "You shall not lie." The 8th commandment is "You shall not steal." The 7th commandment is "you shall not commit adultery" - safe on that one?  Well Jesus clarified (magnified) the meaning of this commandment by telling us that if you even look with lust, you're committing adultery in your heart (see Matthew 5:27).  The 5th commandment is to "honor your father and mother."  Have you always done that?  The 3d commandment is "you shall not use God's name in vein" (or mis-using His name).

If you're honest with your answers to the above questions (ever told a lie, etc.), you're likely a lying thief, and a blasphemous adulterer-at-heart who has dishonored their parents.  So, those are just a few of God's Laws, which you've violated; you're in big trouble.  When you die, you'll face God on Judgment day.  You'll be guilty before a Just and Holy God.  Do you think he'll send you to Heaven or Hell? Most people say heaven, because they think God is Good and therefor will forgive them.  Sadly, the one thing their betting on to go to heaven, God's Goodness, will be the thing that sends them to hell.  Because God is Good, he must punish sin.  What would we call a Judge that turned a blind eye to the law?  Corrupt.  And God is not corrupt, he's good, and therefor, he's just. So if God gives you what you deserve, can you see you'd wind up in Hell.  I don't want that, you don't want that, and neither does God.  Read the next 'lie' for good news.

Lie #3: Sinners go to Hell!
If you've ever heard someone say that "All sinners go to hell!" they might not have been lying, but they were misinformed. If it were the case that all sinners go to hell, everybody would go to hell. Don't you see that everybody is a sinner (Romans 3:23); sin is breaking God's Law (1 John 3:4). At this point, you might be realizing that we've gone in a circle.  Can you see now why everybody 'needs Jesus'. Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the fine for your sins.  God gave you a conscience ('con' means with, and 'science' means knowledge) and you went against it.  When you were lying and stealing, you knew it was wrong. You broke the law, and Jesus paid your fine.  See, you wont go to heaven because you're not a sinner, but because you are a sinner who's been saved by God's grace.  Now the question is... what must you do to be saved? Say a prayer?  See the next lie.


Lie #4: Accepting Jesus into your heart* will save you from Hell!
So you understand that you're going to be in big trouble on Judgment Day.  What must you do now?  Should you say a prayer to be saved?  Accept Jesus into your heart?  Nope, that wont help you. First of all, you don't need to accept Jesus, He needs to accept you. In other words, you don't need to give the Creator of the world permission to enter your heart, but rather God commands "all men everywhere to repent, for He appointed a day in which the world will be judged in righteousness" (See Acts 17:30).  Next question might be "what is Repent?".  Repentance is, in my opinion, best simply defined by the phrase "Confess and forsake."  It means we must confess our sins to God (not man);apologize, and then forsake (abandon) them.  Remember, Sin is breaking of God's law, so for help confessing your sins, look at his Law in Exodus 20 in the bible.  Also, ask God to remind you of the sins of your youth... this is one prayer that typically gets answered (at least for me) quite promptly. But back to the question; How can you be saved. Well, Jesus said "unless a man is born again, he will not see the kingdom of heaven" (See John 3:3).  So you must be born again. Born again, is not something that you do, but rather a result of accepting a Gift of God.  If you're still alive, then God is patiently waiting for you to repent; Turn from your sins, and put your faith / trust in Jesus Christ.  If you'll repent and trust Jesus, you will be born again by the Holy Spirit.  God will give you a new heart with new desires, you'll become a new creature.  The old (sinful) things you once loved, you'll hate and the righteous things you once despised you'll love.  You'll hunger for God's word, and it'll make sense.  Jesus Christ will be precious to you.  You'll have a deep concern for the salvation of the lost, and God will grow you in holiness.



Lie #5: The Christian life is 'better' ...
Once you become a Christian, your life may not be 'better' than non-Christians... but you're after life will be infinitely better.  There are (at least) four things that you're promised as a Christian; Persecution (you'll be hated because you're a Christian), trials & tribulation (not fun), temptation (you'll be tempted to Sin against God), and ... the good part... everlasting life (as opposed to everlasting Death and suffering). We deserve to go to hell, but God is so kind and merciful that He allows us to Repent and gave us the free gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ.  If you're not a Christian, I am not any better than you, but I'm eternally 'better off'.  If you are not born again, please get right with God today.  There is nothing more important that your eternal salvation.  Repent (confess and forsake your sins), and put your trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation. Then read your bible everyday and obey what you read.  Click here to read "Save Yourself Some Pain": 10 steps for new and growing Christians.

***

If you're a Christian already, please consider watching a couple very important messages that talk about using Biblical evangelism and the consequences of forsaking the biblical teaching.  These messages are both about an hour or less and they are free.  They are Hell's Best Kept Secret  and True and False Conversions both by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron.

(*Read 10 Reasons Not to Accept Jesus into Your Heart; by Todd Friel here )

It's important that you, the reader, understand two things about me before you read this blog.  The first is that I very much liked Steve Jobs.  I am what some would call a "Mac Person" or even a "mac fanboy."  I have known that Mac computers were superior since I was probably 8 years old.  The second thing is that I believe Steve Jobs is pleased with this blog... I'll explain that more in a bit.

Today, I just found out that Steve Jobs has died at the young age of 56.  I was shocked to read it, but of course I am only surprised that it happened today - I knew that his health was bad as this was the reason for his recent step-down from being the CEO of Apple.

Steve Jobs was a brilliant business man and I'm sure he will be missed.  The question is: Will Steve Jobs RIP - rest in peace?  I want to emphatically state: I don't know. I don't know if Steve Jobs will be in Heaven or Hell.  I don't know.

What I do know is this: Regardless of where Steve Jobs is now spending his eternity, he wants you to know how you can spend eternity in Heaven, and maybe more specifically how you can avoid hell.

Please - continue reading.

Since I don't know where Steve Jobs is, and at this point, it's not something we can change. Let's ask the more important question.  Where will you be spending eternity?  Will you be in heaven or hell?  You may say "God's the judge of that!" and I agree with you 100%.  God has made it known to us why we would spend eternity in either heaven or hell.  So let's look at why someone would (should) spend eternity in Hell.

The Moral Law of God allows us to look at ourselves and our life in the way a perfect sinless, holy God does. When I saw the moral law, I'm referring to the 10 Commandments.  Do you think you've kept the 10 Commandments?  Most people say "Well, I've never killed anybody."  While that's good… let's take a look at them and see how you've done.

You shall have no other gods before Me. (Have you always loved God above all else?) You shall not make yourself an idol. (Have you made a god in your mind that you’re more comfortable with, a god to suit yourself?) You shall not take God’s name in vain. (Have you ever used God’s holy Name as a cuss word?) Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Honor your father and mother. You shall not murder. (God considers hatred to be as murder.) You shall not commit adultery. (“Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” — Matthew 5:27-28; this also includes sex before marriage). You shall not steal. (Have you ever stolen anything? — the value of the item is irrelevant.) You shall not lie. (Have you lied even once? Including answering these questions.) You shall not covet. (Have you ever jealously desired what belongs to others?)


The Bible says that God will punish all murderers, rapists, thieves, liars, adulterers, etc. He will even judge our words and thoughts. On Judgment Day, will you be found to be guilty or innocent of breaking His commandments?

Perhaps you think that God is good, and will therefore overlook your sins. But it is His goodness that will make sure that murderers, rapists, thieves, liars, etc. receive justice. He would be a corrupt Judge if He turned a blind eye to injustice.

Have you kept the Commandments?

The Bible says that the Law is perfect. It commands you to be perfect (Matthew 5:48). Are you perfect (in thought, word, and deed)? Will you make it to Heaven?

You may say that you are still good, but God says you’re not (see Psalm 14:2-3). So one of you is lying, and the Scriptures tell us that it is impossible for God to lie.

Remember that all liars will be cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8). God’s Law demands justice, and the penalty for sinning against Him is death and Hell. Listen carefully, if you want to live.

God Himself made a way where His justice and His goodness could meet. We broke the Law, but He became a man to pay the fine. Jesus suffered and died on the cross to satisfy the Law. God can forgive us and grant us the gift of everlasting life!

But you may still think that you can (from now on) keep the Ten Commandments. But isn’t it true that the best of us have lied, stolen, lusted, hated, failed to love God above all else, and failed to love our neighbor as ourselves?

How can we then, live a “good” life if we have already sinned against God? At best we are reformed liars and thieves … but still Lawbreakers.

Think of it this way…

Would you sell one of your eyes for a million dollars? Would you sell both for $50 million? I’m sure you wouldn’t. Your eyes are priceless, yet they are merely the windows of your soul. What then must your life (soul) be worth?

With these thoughts in mind, what would be a fair price to pay for everlasting life? It is utterly without price. Yet, if we trust in our own goodness to enter Heaven, we are saying to God, “I should enter Heaven because I have done good - I have earned my way in.”


Imagine if you wanted to give me a brand new (very expensive) car, but I said, “I can’t take it! I feel embarrassed receiving such a gift … here’s 10 cents for it.” I’m sure you would be very insulted by such a pathetic offer of payment. Besides, if I pay for it, it is no longer a gift, it’s a purchase … it’s mine by right.

When we talk of entering Heaven by being good, by trying to keep the Ten Commandments, etc., we are tossing God 10 cents of “self-righteousness,” which is a terrible insult to Him, in the light of His sacrifice. The only thing we can do is humble ourselves, repent of our sins, and receive the gift by trusting Jesus Christ alone.

Almighty God demonstrated how much He loves you when Jesus suffered for you on the cross. If you want to trust in your own goodness, then you are saying His agonizing death on the cross was in vain.

The Bible says, “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” You cannot earn a gift.

When Jesus said to “believe” on Him, He was saying we should have faith in Him, in the same way you would trust a parachute to save you when you jump from a plane. You don’t merely believe in the parachute - you put it on.

Please don’t “jump” without Jesus. If you die in your sins there is no second chance. God will give you justice, and you will end up in Hell forever. Any troubles you have at present are dwarfed by the trouble you are in with your Creator. His wrath abides upon you (John 3:36).

God doesn’t want you to go to Hell. Neither do you want to go there, so confess your sins to God right now, put your trust in Jesus to save you, and you will pass from death to life.

Then read the Bible daily and obey what you read. (See John 14:21). Your obedience to God is the proof of your love. Have faith in God, He will never fail you.

The reason I say that Steve Jobs (and anyone else that has gone from life into eternity) wants you to know this is this: If Steve Jobs didn't repent from his sins towards God and trust alone in Jesus Christ for his salvation, then (because of his sins) he will spend eternity in Hell.  But (and this is what I hope for Steve Jobs, and you) if Steve Jobs understood his sinfulness (even moments before he died) and humbly repented towards God and understood that Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross for his sins, then Steve Jobs is now in heaven with Jesus and he certainly wants you to do the same.

I know there will be a lot of people that either like Steve Jobs, or don't like Christianity, or both, that will not like this message.  Again, I want to make it clear: I don't know if Steve Jobs died today and went to heaven or hell.  What I do know is that Steve Jobs died today… and he did in fact go to one of those places and he'll be there forever.  Either way, Steve Jobs wants you to know about how your sins can be forgiven through Jesus Christ alone.

By God's Grace
~ brandt dary