June 20 2019 – Click here to listen
Yesterday I received this letter:
I just read your Words for the Day and I wanted to ask a question. Do your friends you speak of that you may not see in heaven just not believe in God at all? The reason I ask this is because I understand not believing in God keeping a person from spending eternity with HIM. I guess I always hold out hope that even the weakest of Christians as long as they believe have a place with OUR FATHER.
The friends I spoke of have expressed to me that they are not Christians and want nothing to do with Christianity. One is an agnostic and the other two had very bad experiences with someone from the church and it has turned them against it big-time. But the Bible is clear and is straight-forward when it says, without believing that Jesus Christ died for their sins, rose again in three days, confessing their sins and asking for forgiveness and repenting (turning away from sin) they will not see heaven and be eternally separated. Hoping that God will somehow make an allowance for them is not biblical. There is one way and one way only to see heaven and that is through Jesus Christ.
What they need is to hear the word of God and they all three need prayer. Incidentally these guys are fine people otherwise and are good friends of mine. It breaks my heart that they refuse Christ. I pray for all of them each day and witness to them about God’s truth almost every time I see them. In the end, however, they must decide for themselves.
I suppose I’m most upset that two of them did go to church in their youth and unfortunately something happened to sour them on Jesus Christ and His church. I tell them repeatedly that those church people who treated them shabbily are just people and not Jesus. They are flawed individuals who sin just like they do and are not representing Jesus in any way when they do not act with love and treating others as they would like to be treated. Christians are just forgiven sinners and not perfect. But those wounds run deep. I keep asking the Lord to remove those scars and allow them to see the goodness of God versus the evil of sin-filled hypocrites. There are so many wonderful people in church I just pray that they will meet some of them and change their minds.
It grieves me to no end to think of them spending eternity in hell, but without Jesus that is exactly what will happen. My duty is to witness to them and pray for them. I pray that the Holy Spirit will convince them, and they will be wonderfully saved. Aside from that it remains between them and God. He loves them with all of His heart and has done the ultimate by sending His only Son to die for their sins. It is a heavy price that He paid on the cross and yet all we have to do is believe and do the best we can to avoid sin going forward. God has done His part and relies on us to deliver the word and pray. I hope everyone reading this does their part.
Romans 10:9
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.