Where will you spend eternity?
While it is true that God is a loving God and full of mercy and grace, He is also a God of justice and purity.
Sin--which literally means "missing the mark"--is not part of Gods character, nor is it something He tolerates in His presences, no matter how "minor" the sin. For that reason, one sin is as bad as a hundred. If you fail God one time, it is as if you failed Him a hundred times, a thousand times, or even a million times.
That means every one of us--from Adolf Hitler to Billy Graham--has fallen short of God's expectations.
(And...by the way...Billy Graham would agree 100% with that statement.)
Romans 3:10 - As it is written, There is none righteouss, no, not one
In spite of the sum total of whatever good we have to offer, it falls short of God's expectations for perfection. The bad news: no matter how good we are, there is no way we can make ourselves good enough for heaven.
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sin also carries a penalty: death. Remember God is a God full of justice. For that reason he punishes sin because sin is rebellion againts him. Without God making a way for us to be pure, our eternal fate--from the best of us to the wrost--is eternally schorching flames.
Romans 5:8 - But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ dies for us.
Because sin carries a penalty, someone else--a man blameless before God--would have to take the penalty in our place. The only problem is that every man has sinned and has fallen short of God's glory. In the Old Testament, we see this clearly: even the best man in the Bible have very severe failings: Noah got drunk, Abraham had affairs, Jacob was deceptive, and David was an adulterer and murderer, the list goes on.
That is where Jesus comes into the picture. Jesus--God's only begotten Son--was pure and blameless before God. Being God's Son, Jesus was perfect just as God the Father is perfect. He descesnded from His glory in heaven to become a man, with the purpose of demstrating ultimate love, dying a painful and humiliating death: paying the penalty for our sins.
He suffered and died and rose from the dead on the third day. This demonstrates Jesus' power over sin and death. Because Jesus was perfect, His death pays the price for all of our sins: mine and yours past, present, and future.
Romans 10:9 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
The bad news is that you can not earn your way into heaven. The good news is that Jesus already did that for you. All you have to do is believe in what God has done through Jesus Christ, and express that faith publicy.
Doing this will give you freedom, and yet--if you mean business with God--it will be life-changing. When you recieve God's mercy, He makes you a whole new person. That is what it means to be "born again." God intends to change your life, and use you to change the lives of others, demonstrating His love to them.
Dear Lord, I know that for all the "good" in my life to offer you, I know that it is not "good enough" because my life is stained with sin. This weighs heaven upon me because I know you are perfect, just, and pure. I cannot make myself good enough for you.
However, I know that you sent Jesus--you beloved Son--to live perfectly as a human being, and to die for my sins. I accept that Jesus is your Son and is the Lord. I also accept that he died for my sins and you raised him from the dead.
Father, I know pray that you come into my heart. Wash me pure as snow, forgive me of the sins I have comitted and come into my heart and save me so I may have eternal life. I give to you my entire life and just pray that you accept it and forgive me for where I have failed you. I thank you for this wonderful gift.
In Jesus Name I pray.
Amen!