Why People Are Condemned.

Someone I know through Facebook only recently posted that,

"Man does not go to hell because he is a sinner, but because he rejects Jesus."

If you have read my book 12:2, I go into this rather deeply and you know why I believe this to be very, very wrong.  Not only does it go against what the Bible teaches, it dilutes the Gospel and circumvents the need for a Savior.

If man only needs a Savior once He has been given the option of rejecting that Savior through knowledge of His existence, then the argument is that the existence of the Savior is also what damns him in the first place.  So, just remove the Savior and everyone gets to go to Heaven.

There is no other way around this logic.  It defy's God's testimony in Scripture that man is desperately sinful and wicked and that there is no good thing in Him (Ecc. 7:20, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:10; 7:18).  That is why we are condemned to the Lake of Fire and final Judgement.  Adam and Eve were condemned as well.  Straight from the beginning because of their sin, not because they rejected Jesus or God.  

What saved anyone was their Faith (i.e, there trust in what God said).  Noah trusted what God told Him, Abraham trusted what God told Him, their faith/trust was credited to them as righteousness.  
When God tells us ages later, You must believe on the name of Jesus to be saved, that is what we must believe from that point on.  Believing in Him saves, but rejecting Him does not condemn - because you are already condemned for being a sinner.  This is why David wrote of being a sinner even from the womb (Psalm 51:5).

If anyone proclaims that we only go to Hell because of rejecting Jesus and not because of sin, they do not understand their nature and their need for salvation.  On that basis, they don't understand their true need for Jesus - because, as stated above, they think they only need Jesus after they have heard of Him.  If you don't understand your true need for Jesus, then the question needs to be asked - do you truly understand why repentance is God's first step and requirement in salvation?  What are you repenting of if you weren't condemned before Christ?  Why did John preach repentance before Christ was even identified and understood as a Savior?  Why did Jesus preach repentance and send out his 72 disciples to preach repentance before the Gospel was even a reality (He hadn't died yet!)? (Luke 10:1)

The thought that people go to Hell because they reject Jesus is a lie that masquerades as an Angel of Light.  It looks like it is making much of Jesus, but in fact, it is taking away from His Word (which is Him), and from the complete depraved condition of man.  It removes the need of a Savior.  To use Romans 1:20 to say that man knows of His need for a Savior is simply bad Bible Study.  Read it! It says the only things man is responsible for knowing is His divine Nature and Eternal Power, not His need to have a restored peaceful relationship with Him because He is now an Enemy of God.  

Be careful what you build your Gospel on.  The Bible gives us a beautiful and whole Gospel.  But we have to study it and pass it on the right way.  Man needs to know they are condemned to the Lake of Fire because of their sin problem and be very aware of it.  Then they need to know there is only one Savior that saves them.  Friends, we are losing the Gospel in our world today because people would rather be inspired and "happy" than redeemed and responsible for a heavy message.  It is the most awesome story ever told, but it still needs to be guarded.

With you for His glory,