“Just Believe” Theology Debunked
What Is Easy Believism?
Someone who already knows and understands the Gospel is might be wondering:
Is not the Bible abundantly clear on the Doctrine of Salvation?
Does it not explicitly tell us of how Faith, Belief , and Repentance are all part of Salvation?
Didn’t Jesus and the Apostles make these things clear in Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16, Mark 1:15, Luke 13:3?
The answer to those questions is yes, yes and yes! The problem is many false teachers today are twisting these words to say something different from their original definitions. They are teaching a false Gospel message to hundreds of thousands of susceptible people across the globe telling them that all they need is a simple prayer to God and to just “believe” in order to have eternal life.
False Teachers like this are careful to never mention anything about repentance from sin as though the risen Lord did not explicitly teach repentance himself, and warn us of true and false conversion.
If you’re wondering who teaches this, look no further then the most popular false teacher there is, Joel Osteen!
Who teaches all you need to get into heaven is say a magical prayer. Where the object of your faith in his teaching is effectively you, your prayer, and not Christs work on the cross for you.
Additionally those whoa re part of Free Grace Theology teach the same watered down deluded “gospel” that is simply not biblical.
The term “Easy Believism” however is just a blanket term for the various theologies out there including Joel Osteen and Free Grace Theology that teach that all that is required by
God is a simple belief that he exists, or that Jesus died on the cross for your sins in order to be saved.
If you believe that (they teach) you are saved no matter what else occurs in your life even if it is a great and grievous sin such as taking the life of another. They also teach that the “good works” you do are not fruits of salvation, but just things we choose to do in order to gain eternal reward.
Easy Believists are often can be militantly against repentance of sin, or any mention of turning from sin.
In fact it would be fair to say they are actually for sin so long as you believe.
This theology was originally brought into Christendom by folks like Lewis Sperry Chafer as a response to those of the Lordship Salvation type who said “Works are Necessary for Salvation”.
This of course can be viewed as a legalistic statement but strictly is true from a very specific point of view. The correct statement would be:
“Works are Necessarily A Product Of Salvation”
The Truth Is Sometimes In The Middle
The truth however lies between these two differing opinions, where there is a grain of truth to them both, depending on how you mean the things you say.
For example, is belief required for salvation? Yes it is, however understanding belief outside of repentance and faith is foolish and shows a lack of development into understanding of spiritual things.
On the other hand, are works a part of salvation? Yes they are, but not as a means to earn salvation, but instead as a product of salvation.
Ephesians 2:8-9 is one of the favorite quoted verses by those who espouse Easy Believism. They use this verse to say all that is needed for salvation is Faith alone by Grace alone, but interestingly enough, the same word Faith (pistis) in Ephesians 2:8-9 is the exact same word used in James 2:14-17 which states Faith (pistis) without works is dead!
So how can you say you do not need works, when the Bible makes it clear works are in fact a part of salvation?
Please note my word usage here as I am being exact, I am not saying they “earn” salvation.
The best analogy I can give is this:
Imagine a man who worked hard day in and day out chopping wood, and earned enough money over a lifetime of grueling work, to buy the worlds greatest car. The man goes out and spends all that he had earned to buy the world greatest car for none other then his enemy.
His enemy surely did not deserve or earn this car, and it was given in love as a free gift. All the man has to do is take the key. Now the car is his without lifting a finger to earn it.
Now that he has the key, the car is now his responsibility. It is up to him to maintain the car by doing things oil changes and giving it gas so it can run. The man who received this car would do so if he truly received this gift, if it truly was his.
Now if that same man left the car out in the weather for 20 years without ever taking care of it, by the time the hard working man who was once his enemy comes back to check up on his former enemy and the car he gave and sees the other man has neglected his free gift. He will take from him what he freely gave and give it to someone else who had not forsaken his free gift.
In this analogy you can now understand two passages of scripture which are:
Work out your salvation with fear and trembling in Philippians 2:12
The parable of the talents and the lazy servant in Matthew 25:14-30.
The issue arises when individuals get confused over the definition of words such as Repentance for example, which is often seen by those in Free Grace Theology as something you do externally.
They tend to view the word repentance as an external action to gain favor which is how that word “works” (ergon) is defined in Ephesians 2:8-9. However Repentance like Faith and Belief are all internal actions, and thus by definition cannot be done externally like a work, this is by the definition and etymology of the words themselves. We do not get to make up our own definitions of words, which is what many Free Grace Theologians do.
Faith produces works, Repentance produces works, and Belief produces works, all as a byproduct of what has occurred internally in the individual, not as something you forcibly do externally. If you are doing something externally to prove Faith, Belief, or Repentance from a place of force, then it means true repentance, faith, and belief has not occurred within you as the works we produce are done so naturally from a changed and born again heart and mind, not as a result of behavior modification. When a person truly believes, truly has faith, and truly has repented, they are by definition changed.
Consider a man who lived in a dark cave for his entire life. If that man escaped his cave into the sunlight and beauty of God’s creation he would never return to the old dingy cave he called home. He has been radically changed from the inside out due to the realization of a great many things previously unknown to him.
The same is true of the believer, one cannot continue in sin because they have seen and understood the truth. It makes no sense to say that he was brought out of the cave by living in the light before he left the cave. How can he be in the cave, lost and alone in the darkness of his sins, and somehow be also outside living in the light as the means to finding the light? It does not make any sense if you view repentance as a work.
Brothers and sisters, the man who once lived in the cave never returns to the cave for he realizes how bad the cave is, and is exceedingly transformed by the seeing of the light, the birds, the rocks, the water, the sunlight, the smell of the grass, and the beauty of God’s creation. All of this causes this man to be radically changed from the inside out. The exact same thing is true for someone who is saved. This is why Jesus said:
“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
If someone is saved, they ARE transformed by the light.
What Easy Believism Folks Get Wrong.
Understanding Faith Belief And Repentance Biblically
As made clear before: When someone believes biblically, it means they have had a change of heart and mind from unbelief and the life results of unbelief, to belief and the life result of belief. That is the definition of Repentance as explained earlier, it is a change of our internal view from our love of sin and our own ways, to an internal acceptance of God and His ways. It is an inward complete surrender to God where we recognize our sin is exceedingly evil and was the reason Christ died for us.
It’s basic logic to understand that when you turn to something, you are also simultaneously turning away from something else. You cannot be standing in a forest, pull out your compass and be facing south, then turn to the north, and claim you were not previously facing south before.
As a result of that stark change within, we humbly turn to God in complete abandonment over our sin. That internal act of surrender, naturally overtime works out a life that is continually being sanctified unto God where sin and evil are far from us although never separate until the other side of heaven. You cannot have Faith, Belief, or Repentance apart from each other, they are one in the same thing. In order to believe something new you had to once believe something else and have turned from it to believe that which is new!
Willful Sin vs Unwilful Sin
Now it is true we may sin from time to time unwilfully, but because we have fully repented inside, we turn from it as quickly as we do it. Someone named Tom Lusk on Tikok asked me if I had fully repented and my answer shocked him. This is because Tom does not understand repentance properly:
In which I responded to him:
He got quite upset and wrote:
I made it clear to Tom we are actually Anti-Calvanists, and what many like Tom do not understand is that repentance is something that happens once in our lives, not many many times in our lives.
What he is describing is a ceasing of sin, but thats not what repentance is. It is not an outward act. Teachers that try to say repentance is not a turning from sin, and just a turning to God, are lacking basic logic.
What About Sinless Sainthood?
Those of Free Grace Theology often lob accusations of teaching Sinless Sainthood Doctrines, which are very similar to the Lordship Salvation Theology Doctrines we will cover in another article.
However, when it comes to our sin, no one on earth who has the Spirit of God can say they are without sin as it says in 1 John 1:8-10.
As you can see above, Tom got confused and thought we were claiming we (Or rather I) were sinless. We have never made this claim. Free Grace Theology proponents, fail to understand repentance properly, so as a result they think repenting of all sins means stopping all sin outwardly, and that is just not the biblical definition of repentance as thoroughly explained by now (Proverbs 4:23).
Paul Admits Sin Too!
Paul admits his own sin as well when he talks about how he does what he doesn't want to do, and what he wants to do, he does not do. He says it is not him who sins at this point, but his flesh and really what the Apostle Paul is saying in Romans 7:14-20 is that because of his internal repentance, he has no desire to sin yet he still does. He desires to live perfectly and not sin, but still he sins unwillfully.
He tells us that because that inward repentance is there, it is not him that is sinning when he sins, but it is his sinful flesh.
Now this might be used as an excuse for some to continue in sin, but the biggest difference here is Paul is not talking about willful sin. Examples of that like making active choices to sin on purpose such as choosing to watch pornography or choosing to do drugs etc. These are addictions yes, but still things we wilfully do because we have still not let go of our sins internally. Paul is not talking about willful sin here, but the kind of sin when we accidently swear or take the Lords’ name in vain. Events when we accidentally lust and catch ourselves in the act and in both scenarios recognize what we have done and we turn to the Lord.
These things that we do that are not on purpose but are instead a result of living in a sinful world with a wicked and sinful flesh, it is not an excuse to sin, but rather the reason why we keep sinning even though we wish not to.
Logical Outcome of Easy Believism
When it comes to Easy Believism Theology, all of it can be summed up like this: “All you need for salvation is just belief and absolutely nothing else”.
Let’s take a look at the truthful and logical outworking of Easy Believism however:
They teach that all that is required for salvation in its entirety is simply a “belief” in Christ dying on the cross for your sins. They will sometimes teach that a person can sin to any degree including living a life full of sin, so long as they believe in Jesus.
This then logically means, that a professing “Christian” can go to the bar on Saturday night, get drunk and high and sleep with a stranger then come to Church on Sunday morning and they are saved despite not showing any fruits of salvation and instead showing fruits of wickedness (Matthew 7:16-23).
Also, this belief logically means that all Catholics, all Mormons, all Jehovah’s Witnesses, are saved by their belief despite their clear heresy.
If you are a serial rapist or a cannibal, don't worry about all that, keep doing it, “just believe” is what they inevitably teach.
Joel Osteen is famous for this very line of teaching where there is acceptance of sin, and easy belief offered instead. This is not biblical, and it is not the Gospel as Jesus or Paul preached.
Any sort of removal of sin, or submitting oneself fully unto God is seen as a work and therefore adding to salvation.
This is despite the fact that the Bible defines a work in Ephesians 2:8-9 as something you do externally to earn favor.
Repentance cannot be a work in so much that faith and belief are not works as they are internal not external.
They are keen to tell everyone they can be or do anything with their sin so long as they believe, but even more keen to call people false teachers who are not saved as soon as you disagree with them.
On one hand they claim you can do any sin so long as you believe, and on the other hand they say anyone who believes in Jesus is saved so long as you don’t disagree with what they teach.
This is hypocrisy and delusion at its finest.
First Hand Experience With Easy Believism Teachers
We have had multiple encounters with people who teach this unbiblical and heretical theology.
One of which was a self appointed “Pastor” in VRChat who goes by the name of “Preacher1611” or “Brother Crusader. Brandon has seemingly kept his identity hidden on his Channel and Discord, but we were able through direct discussion with him to retrieve the first part of his name at least (Proverbs 28:1).
The link below is a link to his channel which from a simple scroll of the titles alone let alone the content, it is clear this young man is a false teacher, a liar, and a hypocrite.
In our 2 hour conversation with Brandon AKA Preacher1611 we attempted to point out the logical flaws with his heretical theology.
We lovingly went through the Bible, and explained various things to him with no avail. This was done by all three men at VGG, Simon, Chris, and Steven.
The experience we had with Brandon, can only be described as speaking to someone who is completely and utterly spiritually blind and unwilling to seek or know Truth (John 16:13, 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).
It has always been a matter of extreme pride and arrogance on the part of those who espouse heresy, not because they have no access to truth. They fall into heresy and delusion as a result of not having and loving the Truth (Hebrews 5:13-14) and by not willing to examine the folly of their own ways because of their pride. It not so much a lack of knowledge.
In our conversation with Brandon, he attempted to use the word Repentance in the Old Testament to “prove” his theology while completely discounting the fact that the original Hebrew word which means something completely different then what he was trying to say it meant. In fact the verse in Genesis 6:6 (fitting thats the number of chapter and verse that trips those in the flesh) and in Exodus 32:14 is nāḥam which means to moan or groan. It is literally a word that expressed the emotional state of feeling distraught over something which ought not to be.
See Theological Word Book of the Old Testament Page 559:
I bring this up as this is often one of the foundational lies that Free Grace people try to teach. They change the word repentance from its actual meaning to mean something it doesn’t. Yes the same English word is used, but such as in the case of the words below they can refer to a place, an object, a direction, and many things while still being the same word:
Arm, bark, crane, date, feet, leaves, right, left, park, light, peer, rose, scale, ship, sink, tie, train, type, watch, wave, bass, bow, learned, sewer, wind, wound.
This occurs because English is a simplified language. The Greeks had 4-8 different words for “Love” yet we know when God says “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” in Matthew 22:36-40 we know He is not talking about Romantic Love.
The Old Testament uses that same English word “Love” in Genesis 29:20 to say “Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.” which was clearly a Romantic love.
How do we know which love it means? By the actual word used! The word above in the OT is 'āhaḇ which literally means a Romantic and Sexual type of love, where in the NT scripture above the word that is used is agapaō which means a friendly caring love.
Basic logic shows that words often have more than one meaning, and they can even change over time, which is why we return to the original languages in order to understand things correctly.
When we presented this to Brandon he said “I don't need the original languages, I have the KJV Bible which is God’s Word!” I then replied to him “Brandon, do you believe that when the Bible was written in those original Languages that it was God’s word then too?” He said “Yes.” I then replied “So then do you think it has stopped being God’s word now?” He didn't know what to say at this point and changed the subject.
By the end of our 2 hour conversation with him, he proclaimed we were false teachers and that we were not saved despite both Steven, Simon, and Myself having the same belief he seemingly does, which is in the Risen Lord.
This incident with Brandon is not isolated as we have had at least a dozen other encounters with other Free Grace people who we sometimes spent a few hours with over text attempting to show them the truth of the scripture. In our experience these people either block, kick, or otherwise silence any dissenting voices. They argue and ignore logical truths, and they present themselves as unapproved workmen who cannot rightly divide the word of God and should be ashamed (2 Timothy 2:15, 1 Corinthians 11:19).
We attempted to join Brandons Discord and speak with him after he banned us from his VR World where he was teaching people heresies, to which we were banned again rom his Discord without uttering a single word. This is clear demonstration of possessing no fruits of the Holy Spirit as is laid out for us in Galatians 5:19-26. There was no love, no patience, no kindness, rather the opposite was present.
As outlandish as it might sound, these encounters we have as a ministry are quite literally engaging with the forces of darkness as the Bible tells us in both Ephesians 6:12 and 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. It is indeed a battle for truth and not territory that we wage in.
How Free Grace Is A Last Days Heretical Theology.
Free Grace Theology is certainly not without sway these days and is growing more and more with people flocking to the likes of Onorato Diamante who is a false teacher and heretic.
People like Onorato Diamante use Free Grace Theology in an elaborate attempt to justify their sin, while pretending to be godly and follow Christ.
With great sorrow for these lost individuals, I am reminded of 1 Timothy 4:1-2 which reads:
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;”
Look at how this scripture perfectly describes those in the Free Grace/Easy Believism camp:
The theology they teach is not in accordance with the entirety of scripture. It’s only in the last 100 years Free Grace people started departing from the Faith/Gospel that we have known since the time of Christ. This is quite literally by definition a departing from the faith as mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:1-2.
They are giving heed to seducing spirits. Notice the picture in Onorato’s background that says “God is in my corner.” God is not in anyone’s corner, God is sovereign and we ought to take great care to be in his ledt we end up deluded like Oronato. Those who deceive themselves with Free Grace theology, are literally giving heed to men and teachers from the past who were heretics and taught a new Gospel which is the express definition of “giving heed to seducing spirits”.
They follow doctrines of Devils. The doctrines themselves they teach are in fact doctrines of devils as it says in 1 Timothy 4:1-2. Think to yourself, who else do we know of that said you can take eat of the fruit and not die? Which is to say “You can take eat of sin and surely you will not go to Hell.” Well none other than Satan himself said this to Eve in Genesis 3:4. This is exactly what they teach, you can believe and still do any sin and surely you will not go to Hell so long as you believe.
They speak lies in hypocrisy. Those who adopt this theology do speak lies in hypocrisy by not only presenting a false Gospel, but by demonstrating their foolishness and hypocrisy by on one hand saying all one needs is belief, and then on the other hand saying anyone who disagrees with them despite having the same belief they do, are not saved. That is pure spiritual blindness and lies spoken in hypocrisy.
Their consciences are seared with a hot irons. It is abundantly clear their consciences are seared with a hot iron as it says above in 1 Timothy 4:1-2. When you understand what searing with a Hot Iron is, it will make sense why this is true of them also. In times of a great injury, where there is not access to proper medical care, you can stop bleeding quickly by cauterizing the wound with something hot like iron left to heat in a very hot fire. This does two things, first it stops the bleeding out of the individual, but it also unfortunately kills all feeling, all nerve endings, and prevents a single thing from entering into the wound again including infection and disease via scar tissue. Additionally hot brands were used to mark cattle, as no matter how old the cattle got it would retain the irreversible mark of where it was branded. Branding creates a complete dead zone over the area and can save the surrounding tissue/person in the case of injury by sacrificing a small part to great heat. Men who follow Easy Believism theology have done this to their minds and are completely blind. They quite literally are unable to comprehend or see their own delusion as they have been “Seared with a hot iron.” as perfectly displayed in this video from Ray Comfort Addressing Onorato Diamante who calls Ray Comfort “A Little Devil” despite Ray believing in the same Lord Onorato claims he believes in.
Sadly, these people also remind me of another verse in 2 Timothy 3:5-7 which reads
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Both are speaking of generally the same thing with slightly different things to say about it. The synopsis is that those who are heretics, who believe in a false Gospel, who deny the power thereof are ever learning, but unable to come to the knowledge of the truth because they have seared their conscience with a hot iron.
Do you happen to know what the power of the Gospel truly is in the life of a believer? Is it wizard powers and casting out devils? Or is it something much much greater such as the power to overcome sin and death? Clearly it is the latter and not the former.
Why Free Grace Doesn't Work Truly
The main issue with Free Grace/Easy Believism Theology is that If all we need is belief then pretty much everyone except militant atheists will be saved. There is no need to learn doctrine, or to otherwise follow any of the Bible since all that is required is belief.
Why was the Bible even written and given to us as instruction in righteousness if we only need to believe? 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Why are the demons not saved even though they believe and tremble? James 2:19
Why did Christ die as the atonement of our sins if all we needed was belief, what was the point?
Could we not have done so before without the death of Christ if all that was needed was belief?
Are we to only look at the Gospel of John with a child's understanding of the Gospel ignoring the rest of the Bible which brings clarity to all that John spoke of?
Why does Jesus himself tell us not all who believe in him are saved? Matthew 7:21
Another aspect to consider is Why does Jesus warn us over 12 times of true and false conversion if all we needed to do is believe?
The Wheat and the Tares Matthew 13:24-30
Good Fruit and the Bad Fruit Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 12:33; Luke 6:43–45
The Two Foundations Matthew 7:24-27, Luke 6:47–49
The Wise & Foolish Virgins Matthew 25:1-13
The Talent Parable Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:11–27
The Sheep and The Goats Matthew 25:31-46,
The Lukewarm Water Revelation 3:14-19
The Seed Sower Parable Matthew 13:18-23, Mark 4:13–20; Luke 8:11–15
The Fish Parable Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 7:21-27
The Wide Gate and Narrow Path Matthew 7:13-14, Luke 13:24
Those Who Knock At The Door Luke 13:25-30
The Wise and Foolish Builders Matthew 7:21-27, Luke 6:47–49
It is clear from these scriptures that this is not a reference to unbelievers, but to those who claim they love and follow Christ, yet Jesus makes it clear not all who believe in him are saved in Matthew 7:21.
If Jesus Christ, God of all, commands in Luke 13:3 and Mark 1:15 to repent, do we simply discount that completely?
Well free grace people say yes!
If pressed they will say no but then change the meaning of repentance to fit their theology. I hope it is as clear to you as it is me that there is proof of a conscience having been completely seared against the truth for their love of sin and depravity.
The Gospel Simplified for All Men.
I want to leave you with the Gospel of Jesus Christ as Paul preached and to do that we are going to look at the big picture as the first important part of the Gospel of Salvation is understanding what we are being saved from. As without knowing the sickness, how can I ever convince you of the cure? We have to go back, way back to the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden and understand the bigger picture:
The Fall
Not long after the creation of two perfect humans, who were perfect in every single way, did they both male and female fall into sin by temptation from Satan. They ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in disobedience to God and they received their just reward which was death. With the advent of sin, their minds were opened to evil and all that it could bring, which is why they felt vulnerable and hid their nakedness from the Lord. You see, without knowing any evil, there would be no need to hide their nakedness as they could not imagine any evil coming to pass.
Sin
Sin grew and grew, and grew, to the point that God had to cleanse the earth of those who were rampantly sinning without end. He did so by a flood and via Noah and his sons and their wives they repopulated the planet.
The Law
The law came into being via Moses when God gave Moses the 10 commandments. Later God gave Israel all of the law and it was broken down into 3 categories. The Moral Law (The 10 commandments), The Ceremonial Law (What priests and Israel were to do), and finally The Civil Law which is not unlike our civil law today. Each element of the law reflected the larger moral aspects of the Moral Law in different ways. Much like how we punish evil today in our court systems.
The Problem & The Promise
No matter what men did, they could only mask their sins through following the law perfectly. Animals are not moral beings so they are neither sinful nor sinless. Their death, although they were innocent, could never truly wash away our sins. So the Prophets were sent by God who spoke of a Savior who would defeat our greatest enemies: Sin and Death.
The Word Became Flesh
That which was promised was delivered unto Marry when a child was born of her who was still but a virgin. His name is Emmanuel which means God with us. Jesus, or Yeshua (Pronounced Joshua in English) lived a perfect sinless life and began his ministry at the age of 30.
The Cure
Jesus who was God in the flesh came to earth to fulfill his promises he made through the Prophets of old and he gave his life on the cross for our sins, taking the punishment we deserve in God’s wrath upon himself while he yet was sinless.
He Rose From The Grave!
When Jesus said on the cross “It is finished” he gave up his Ghost and death took him by his decree. 3 days after being laid inside a tomb closed with a large stone sealing it shut which was guarded by two roman soldiers, angels came and rolled the stone away. Jesus rose from the grave having conquered sin and death and went to the right hand of the father some days later.
He Sent The Comforter!
When Jesus left he did not leave us alone, he sent unto us his Spirit, the Spirit of God and the Third person of the Trinity who indwells all who believe and leads them into all truth.
How You Can Be Saved and Have Everlasting Life
The Gospel dear reader, is that you have broken the Moral Law of God where at some point in your life you have Lied, Stolen something even if it was small, Blasphemed Gods name, Dishonored your Parents, committed adultery by lusting after someone in your heart such as with porn, committed murder by hating someone, and you will have to face God on judgement day for your crimes against him. The Bible tells us in James 2:10 that “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” meaning even if we were perfect our entire lives but told one lie when we were young, we are guilty of breaking the whole law!
You are in big trouble come judgement day and no amount of good works can offset your bad deeds. Just like if you were to rob a bank and shoot the guard, only to stand before the court of Law you would be guilty even if you did good things since then. If you told the judge you gave the money to charity, and you fed homeless people, and did all the good works you could think of, the Judge would look at you and say “Sir/Ma'am I am happy you have done these things to others, but I am not here to judge you on your good, but to judge you on your bad!”
As fully guilty in the eyes of the judge you would be sent to prison for your crimes of theft and murder. It works the same way when we die: You stand before God and he will judge you as guilty and sentence you to Hell for eternity because you have nothing you can offer God to pay for your sins (Mark 8:36-37). What you have done, the things you thought only you knew, God has seen them all, even your thought life. They are done and seen eternally by a perfect God who must perfectly judge you. He has to judge you because sin and evil demand payment, like he says in Genesis 9:5 God requires our lives for the sins we do and tells us the wages of our sins is death (Romans 6:23).
The Good News (The Gospel)
Here is the good news… Although you are a wicked guilty sinner who deserves eternity in Hell like the rest of us, God provided a way so that you do not have to go to Hell.
God, who is rich in mercy and love (Ephesians 2:4-10), sent Jesus Christ down to earth 2000 years ago, who lived a perfect sinless life and then died on the cross as the payment for your sins (1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 2:2). Jesus died so that you do not have to, even though you deserve it. God demonstrates his love for you (Romans 5:8) by dying for you and offering this gift of eternal life freely by his work on that cross. Not because we are great, and worth it but because He is Great and He is Love (1 John 4:8).
What you must do to accept this free gift of grace is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, which means accepting and knowing that He died in your place for the very sin you have committed against him and repenting of the sins we hold onto. The Lord commands us to repent, which means to turn from sin in our inward parts and turn to God. When you confess your sins to the Lord, He is faithful to forgive you and cleanse you from all sin and unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
There is nothing you must do externally to have salvation, not a prayer or a ritual as all of that is trying to earn salvation, and all that was needed to be done externally was done by Christ on the cross for you. You need to recognize this day what Christ did for you, your exceedingly wicked sin, and turn from it by turning to God in your innermost parts with a true sense of humble submittance to God. If you do this within God will give you the grace you do not deserve and grant you everlasting life. You will be born again (John 3:3) and God will give you a new Spirit with all new desires and you will desire righteousness and not sin (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
It is as simple as that dear reader, Like Jesus said in Mark 1:15 “Repent and believe the Gospel!”
The final question is when are you going to do that?
