There are a lot of great promises from God in the Bible. But probably the most comforting is God’s promise to not condemn anyone who “belongs to Christ Jesus”.
Everyone who is a sinner – that is all of us, by the way – deserves to be condemned to an eternity without God. This state of being is referred to as “hell”.
Hell will be horrifically awful because God – the only source of good in the universe – will not be there. Only sinful people and sinful angels will be in hell where they will continue to sin for all eternity in a way that far exceeds the sins that are committed here on Earth.
This is the fate each of us, as sinners, deserve.
But God created a way for people to avoid such a horrific fate. He came to Earth as Jesus where He took upon Himself the penalty for every sin ever committed by every member of the human race who will ever be born.
Now, all one has to do to avoid being condemned to hell is believe. You must believe that you’re a sinner whose sins require you to be separated from God’s presence for all eternity. You must also believe that there is nothing – absolutely nothing – that you can do to “fix” yourself; you can’t make yourself acceptable to God by doing good things or not doing bad things.
Instead, you must rely solely and completely on what Jesus did on the cross where He received the condemnation from God that you deserve.
If you truly believe that, God promises to not condemn you for your sins because Jesus was already condemned on your behalf; the penalty for your sins has already been paid on the cross. Hence, God can welcome you into heaven where you will experience His blessings for all eternity and where you’ll never be reminded of your sins again.
If you don’t believe… well, then on Judgment Day you will be justifiably condemned to hell where you’ll experience sin on a scale that you can’t even come close to imagining. That, too, is a promise – more of a warning, actually – from God.
Just like the ark was the only way to avoid God’s judgment in Noah’s day, Jesus is the only way to avoid God’s judgment after you die.
Believe God’s promise. Heed the warning. Believe and be saved.
A Daily Dose Of Scripture 