Why some of us go to hell: the real reason.

Acts 2:37-39King James Version (KJV)

37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Hebrews 12:14

Follow peace with all men, and holiness,without which no man shall see the Lord:

John 16:7-9King James Version (KJV)

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

Hebrews 10:10

By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

I want to start off by making something crystal clear: I am an Apostolic Pentecostal believer. I believe that Jesus is God all by himself and that the only plan of salvation is found in obeying Acts 2:38 and in holiness thereafter.

That said, I learned something today. I felt impressed to read John 16 this morning. In doing so, verse 9 jumped out at me. 

John 16:9King James Version (KJV)

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

Jesus said here that the spirit of God would convict men of sin. That part is not an earth shaking revelation. We all know that. 

What was a revelation to me was the fact of the sin that was listed. He didn't name the 10 commandments. He didn't even name the two greatest commandments. What he said was, we would be convicted of our sin of..... NOT BELIEVING IN HIM. 

Did you catch that? 

Why did he say that? Why didn't he say the sins of (this), (that), and (the other)?

Here's the simple answer: Because he died once for all! Because he shed his blood as a sacrifice for all of our sins- past, present, and future. 

Did you catch that? He paid the price for all of our sins! The only thing left is whether or not we will believe and obey him. 

If we believe in him, we will obey him. We will repent of our sins, be baptized in Jesus name, allow him to fill us with his spirit, and strive to live for and follow him for the rest of our lives. 

If we do not believe in him, we will go to hell. But, the sin that will send us there is not the cursing, drinking, carousing, and such. No. All that's already paid for. The sin that will send us to hell is because we chose not to believe in him. 

He spends 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, trying to get our attention- trying to gain access to our hearts. He died so that we might have a real relationship with our creator. He places stop signs in our paths to try and get us to change directions and go to him. He will keep trying to have that relationship with us until our final breath.

But, if we refuse, we will burn for eternity for the simple reason that we rejected his forgiveness. We rejected his love. 

So, what will it be my friend? Your sins are already paid for because God almighty became a man and died to wash them away.

Will you do as he says and believe, repent, be baptized in Jesus name, be filled with the Holy Ghost, and follow him daily?

Or, will you reject his sacrifice and die in the one sin that is left: failure to believe him. 

Failure to believe who he is. Failure to believe in his love. Failure to believe in his mercy. Failure to obey his words. 

The choice is yours. There's only one sin left. Can you not let that one sin go and believe?