Pastor, Peabody Bible Church
There are pamphlets that tell people how to get to heaven. The basic bottom line found in these helpful little tracts is usually summed up with the question: What must a person do to be saved?
But think about the opposite question: What must a person do to be lost?
The Bible reveals what we must do to go to heaven, but it also indicates what causes a person to go to hell. In fact, the answer to the second question is the exact opposite of the answer to the first question.
The two questions are set in the shadow of the word, “Believe.”
Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish … he who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe in Him has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16, 18
What must you do to be saved? Believe in Jesus Christ.
What must you do to be lost? Nothing; not a thing.
You can believe in Jesus and let God’s grace transfer you from eternal judgment to eternal forgiveness, or you can do nothing, believe in nothing, and remain lost; a position in which every human being finds themselves because of our sinful nature. See Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, and Colossians 1:13-14.
To believe or not to believe … that is the question. What’s your answer?