I don't know, but I think I would be up there.

On what basis do you think you will enter into God's Holy Heaven?

I'm a good, moral person. I'm responsible. I rarely miss a day of work. I'm very honest, I don't steal and I have never committed adultery.

That is very commendable, but God tells us in His Word, that, this is not good enough to enter into God's Holy Heaven. We have all broken God's laws. Jesus said, "Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment" [Matthew 5:22].  Jesus also said: "It was said by them of old time, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery'. But I say unto you that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart" [Matthew 5:27-28].

We have all done this, at one time or another.

But that's not fair. My God is a God of Love. A big plus for me is that I give to all charities.

The Bible tells us that "it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy. He has saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost" [Titus 3:5].  "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" [Romans 3:23].  The Bible also says, "There is none righteous, no not one" [Romans 3:10], and "we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags" [Isaiah 64:6].

My God is not that strict and narrow-minded.

"Narrow is the way and straight is the gate which leads unto life, and few there be that find it" [Matthew 7:14].  God is Holy and Righteous and Just. He will punish sin. By God's standard of righteousness, even the most moral person is looked upon as a desperate sinner on his way to hell. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" [Psalm 9:17].

Oh, come on now. Don't tell me you believe in a literal hell. Anyway, if there is a hell, it can't be that bad.

God, in His Word, the Bible, tells us that at the end of this world, there will be a Judgment Day. If we are not in Christ, we go to hell. Please read the Bible. The teaching regarding sin and hell is terrible and offensive to you because you do not understand how you have offended God by your sin. If you realized this, you would not object to the description Jesus makes of hell because you would see yourself as deserving such a place.  "And shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" [John 5:29].

But I am very righteous. I am not like the people you read about in the newspapers.

God cannot regard a man who is unrighteous as righteous. At the point of salvation, when we believe, God imputes the righteousness of Jesus to the believer. He puts that to our account and because He has done that, He regards us as righteous. Only God can impute the righteousness of Christ. It is not our righteousness, but Christ's given to us [Romans 4:11-12].  "For when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly" [Romans 5:6].  For "He has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" [2 Corinthians 5:21].

Anyway, my God is a God of Love, not wrath.

Wrath is the inevitable consequence of sin. If you read through the Bible, you will see that God is angry with sinners. God hates sin. The wrath of God is upon sin, and that is taught everywhere in the Bible. God's wrath for sin was appeased by Christ at the cross. Christ is the propitiatory sacrifice. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according that he has done, whether it be good or bad [2 Corinthians 5:10].  "For the Lord knows the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish" [Psalm 1:6].  God loves righteousness and hates wickedness [Psalm 45:7].

Are you saying that I am under the wrath of God because of my sins?

Exactly. We were created in the image of God. God holds us accountable for our sin. God's payment for sin is death [Romans 6:23].  "He that believes on the Son has everlasting life; and he that believes not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" [John 3:36].  "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness" [Romans 1:18].

The Bible teaches that we are all born into this world dead in our sins and trespasses, and under the wrath of God. The wrath of God is an expression of God's hatred for sin; an expression of God's punishment for sin. The wrath of God against sin, manifests itself finally in hell. That is the position of all who are not in Christ. "And you has He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins" [Ephesians 2:1].  "For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ" [1 Thessalonians 5:9].

I don't want to be under God's wrath and go to hell. How does Jesus fit into all of this?

Only Christ can save you from hell. Only Christ could pay for the sins of His people, "for He shall save His people from their sins" [Matthew 1:21].  God Himself, has made Christ, the believers' substitute. The very God whom we have offended has Himself provided the substitute. The substitute for those He loved is the person of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ bore the penalty of eternal hell for His people by His suffering and death upon the cross.

I believe you are saying that if I trust in Christ as my substitute, as the one who took upon Himself my sins at the cross, then I can escape hell?

Exactly. At the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit opens our hearts and applies the Word of God to us and gives us a new soul. At that point, we believe the blessed gospel and the punishment for sins are paid for by Christ's blood. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" [Romans 8:1].

How do I become saved?

There are no steps. "Salvation is of the Lord" [Jonah 2:9].

There many who declare that you have to do something to be saved, and that you have got to do it by your "free will".  By free will, I mean that man's will is not coerced.  I mean that man is not forced by some external force greater than himself to do something he does not want to do.  I mean that man is free to do what he wants to do within the limits of his ability.  What else can freedom or liberty be than to do as we please?  However, we must take consideration that liberty is not identical with ability.  By believing on Christ Jesus, repenting of all of our sins and becoming baptized, we are saved [Acts 2:38]. 

But the work is not committed by us on our own.  Jesus said, "this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" [John 6:29]. Paul complemented Jesus' words when he stated that we are saved, "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost" [Titus 3:5].  Moreover, God declares man despises the riches of God's Goodness, Forbearance and Longsuffering. God reveals that man does not know that the Goodness of God. In spite of this, God declares He leads man to repentance from his sins [Romans 2:4].  Additionally, John the Baptist declared in Matthew 3:11, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire".  Paul wrote, "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise," "and grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" [Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30] -- showing the baptism of the Holy Ghost sealing the believer onto eternal salvation.  In Acts 9, Ananias laid hands upon Saul saying, "Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized."  Immediately, after receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost, Saul straightaway preached boldly at Damascus in the Name of Jesus.  Saul received the power or the ability by the Holy Spirit to do good, being translated from being a murderer by God's operation.  Therefore, the abilities of believing on Christ Jesus and repentance are gifts from God to man.  The confusion of liberty and ability gives way to false, deceptive thinking on the topic of becoming saved.  Many people really mean ability when they say liberty.  They speak of man being free to do good or evil when they really mean to say that men are able to do good or evil--of which, other philosophies and religions, not centered upon Christ Jesus, adhere to the same belief.  For the Bible clearly teaches that man is free to do good or evil, that he is at liberty to do either, but that he is able to do only evil because of his fallen condition.  In Deuteronomy 30:19 Moses said, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life that thou and thy seed may live." By this, the Lord sets up the eternal judicial decree, commanding all men (past, present and future) to repent and believe the gospel [2 Peter 3:9], and they are responsible to God to do so.  However, men are powerless, unable in and of themselves to repent and believe because of their sinful nature.  Moreover, in John 6:44, Jesus said, "No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day"; in Psalm 65:4 David said to the Lord, ""Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts"; and Jeremiah declared his book 13:23, "can an Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil."

The root of this common, prevalent "free will" confusion is located for us in Jesus' teaching in Matthew 12:33 where he says "either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit."

Man has a will.  The will is determined by the soul or heart of the man.  It cannot escape the moral character out of which it comes.  If the soul or heart is entirely corrupt, it follows that it will ever will to do that which is evil [Jeremiah 17:9 and 13:23].  Thus, absolute liberty exists even though there is a total inability to do good.  When Jesus walked on water, Peter walked out to Him on the water, and "...was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, "Lord, save me"" [Matthew 14:30].  Peter sinking is a picture of us in saving ourselves outside of God's power.  The Bible tells us that Salvation is a gift of God. It is something that comes to us freely by God's grace and not of man's choosing.  Jesus declared, "Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you,..." [John 15:16]. Thus, a Christian is one who finally and conclusively realizes that his entire position depends alone upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is the word of truth -- the gospel of your Salvation. It is the good news concerning the Lord Jesus Christ by which we are saved. "For by grace and you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" [Ephesians 2:2-9].

So, there is nothing that I can do to save myself? It is all Christ's Works?

Salvation is all of God. That good news is told in what God has done in Christ. We cannot be Christians without having a conviction of sin. Pray to God that He would grant you grace to repent and believe in the gospel. "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe the gospel" [Mark 1:15].

Are you saying that salvation is a free gift to those who deserve the exact opposite: Hell?

Yes, indeed, and it is given to sinners. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" [Romans 5:8].

Everyone talks about 'born again' - does this have anything to do with the Holy Spirit?

Everything. You must be born again [John 3:3 & 5]. The Bible states that "no man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit" [1 Corinthians 12:3]. Without the "operation of the Holy Spirit" [Colossians 2:12], no man can do so: no one by nature, that is, as a result of sin can possibly believe the gospel. Man is spiritually dead [Ephesians 2:1]. The work of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. The Spirit breathes upon the work [Ezekiel 37:9, 14], and brings the truth to sight. The Spirit is in the Word [Romans 7:14], but the Spirit must be in your heart. Jesus said, "I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God" [John 3:3].

Can you give me another illustration of the Spirit's work in causing a person to believe in Christ?

Yes. In Acts 16, we see the gospel being preached in a city called Philippi in Europe. A little prayer meeting was taking place. The Apostle Paul and his companion went out, joined the little prayer meeting sat down among the women and spoke to them from the Bible. We are told that a woman and spoke to them from the Bible. We are told that a woman called Lydia was converted after hearing Paul's message on the Holy Scriptures.

Are you saying she believed and was saved?

Yes, indeed. She believed the truth and became saved.  "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved" [Acts 16:31].

But how did Lydia come to believe the truth?

The answer is given in Acts 16:14: "Whose heart the Lord opened that she attended unto the things that were spoken of Paul." God opened her heart so the Holy Spirit could apply the Word of God. "Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God" [Romans 10:17].  We believe it and we trust in it. In whom also you trusted [or hoped] after that you heard the word of truth, the "Gospel of your salvation, you were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise" [Ephesians 1:13].

Are you saying that I must repent and believe?

Yes. Jesus in the Bible said, "...the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" [Mark 1:15]. God having made it possible for us to act, He calls upon us to act. The word is preached and we hear it, but hearing is not enough. We must not only hear this word, we must believe it. The one who truly hears it, believes it. He has come to see himself as a sinner. He has come to see the law of God condemning him. Pray that our great God will grant you grace to cry out for His mercy while there is still time now. "...Cry mightily unto God: yea let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.  Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not?" [Jonah 3:8-9].  "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him?" [Hebrews 2:3].

Does a believer in Christ have the power or ability to do good works?

Yes, it is a God-given ability and power. It does not originate within the believer or come from his own nature.  Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 15:10, "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."

How does the God enable believers to do good works?

God enables believers by means of His operation effectually applied to the activities of the soul.  We are commanded to "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" [Philippians 2:12-13].

"Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of Salvation" [2 Corinthians 6:2].

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