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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nImagine you\u2019re on a train and this train is headed for a brick wall. You are certainly headed for death- no doubt. You didn\u2019t do anything to really cause this. You\u2019re just on the train. And you really can\u2019t do anything to stop it. It\u2019s going too fast to try to do anything about it. Suddenly, someone comes along and says, \u201cI have a way out. It\u2019s not easy, but it\u2019s the way out. You\u2019ll avoid death and live a long fruitful life.\u201d What\u2019s your next move? \u201cNah, I\u2019m good. I think I\u2019ll just sit back and hope for the best.\u201d No. You wouldn\u2019t do that. You would jump at the opportunity to be rescued from inevitable death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the life we live, summed up. We were born destined for death. We didn\u2019t get ourselves into this, Adam did that. We can\u2019t get ourselves out either. So God comes along and comes up with a plan; Adam got them in, so he\u2019ll send Jesus to get them out. So there we were, on that train headed for a brick wall. Jesus comes in and says, \u201cI\u2019m the way out of here.\u201d What you and I do with that information is up to us. We can either choose to follow this guy out or hit that brick wall and perish being a perfectly good person. But in the end, God never sent anyone anywhere. He made a way out, and we choose to take that way or not. Up to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nBut wait, they\u2019re really good people! Ok. Well, let\u2019s see what the guy that gave us a way out says. The next place we have to look is to standards. Standards are used in every facet of life in the entire universe. Standards tell us true value. If I say that a pizza is good, that\u2019s one standard, my standard. I love pizza. I feel like I know a good pizza when I taste one. But then again, I like frozen pizza. But if an owner of an authentic Italian pizzeria in Chicago says a pizza is good, well that\u2019s a different standard. Now that pizza just raised in value. It\u2019s now worth more that he said it was good than when I said it was good. Unfortunately, our standards vary as well as ebb and flow. They are not steady. Sometimes they are raised and sometimes they are lowered, based on our current circumstances. God\u2019s standards never change. If there\u2019s one thing I learned in my boring philosophy of religion class, it\u2019s that if God could change, we would be doomed. The fact that He cannot and will not change gives us a steady standard by which to live and a hope that we serve a truly just and almighty God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what are His standards? Isaiah 64:6 says that our righteousness, our best, is still like filthy rags, meaning that our best is still not worthy of God\u2019s presence. Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Basically, summed up, we can be as good as we can possibly be, like Billy Graham and Mother Teresa good, and will still not be worthy of God and being in His presence. So there has to be another way. Yep. Jesus. Being good does not qualify you for heaven. You don\u2019t get holy brownie points. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But there\u2019s good news, you didn\u2019t get yourself in this mess so you can\u2019t get yourself out. Yep. Jesus. Seeing a pattern yet? When Jesus said He was the only way, He really meant it. Goodness isn\u2019t another way. Jesus is the ONLY way. He\u2019s the only way off of that train. Our goodness still has us buckled into the seats on the train. If you believe your goodness outweighs your sin, or that what God calls sin really isn\u2019t a sin, and you don\u2019t believe you\u2019re doing anything wrong, you\u2019re in a very dangerous place. You\u2019ve been blind-sided by deception. But there\u2019s hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what do we do when we wrestle with the truth of God\u2019s word? When we really don\u2019t like God\u2019s laws? I\u2019ll leave you with this tough truth. I once had a rule in my house that one of my bonus sons didn\u2019t want to adhere to. I basically told him he had two choices, adhere or leave. He said he would follow the rule but made sure he told me what he thought about it. My wife says, \u201cWhat are we going to do about this?\u201d I said, \u201cNothing. That\u2019s a win! I don\u2019t need him to like the rule, I just need him to obey it. Out of his obedience, I can reward him and bless him.\u201d See, blessings always<\/em><\/strong> flow from obedience. The sins that God has defined as such in the Bible are there for our protection. But the hard truth is, God doesn\u2019t need us to like them, he just needs us to obey them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s much like when I was going to church growing up. There were many, many times that I didn\u2019t want to go. My parents never asked me if I wanted to go. They didn\u2019t care if I wanted to go. They KNEW that if I would just obey, blessings would flow. They knew this, even when I didn\u2019t. And eventually, once I was \u201cgrown\u201d, I ended up seeing the benefit of church and began attending on my own. I would\u2019ve never gotten to that place if I hadn\u2019t obeyed them and God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The qualification? Believe Jesus is who He says He is. Follow Him. Turn away from sin daily. The man on the cross next to Jesus basically asked Jesus to just remember him and maybe let him join. That was about it. No baptism. No special worded prayer. No song with a 14-minute bridge to catch your emotions. Just \u201cHey Mister, I believe you are who you say you are, can I go too?\u201d And Jesus said yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, does God send good people to hell? Nope. We were already headed there. He gave us a way out. We choose what to do with that. But if we want to be right with God, it starts with recognizing our shortcomings. Without that, we\u2019re still really good people sitting on that train.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I can\u2019t imagine God sending good people to hell! From an emotional, and even logical standpoint, this makes sense. When one thinks of God, they think of who He is and what He embodies. God is goodness. God is love. God is kindness. You get the point. But to truly understand this concept, you have … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/john-14-6-2-1024x536.jpg\")
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