"...for He [God] cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth."

- Psalms 96:13

The Bible tells us that the day is coming when God will "judge the world with righteousness". The Bible also tells us "...There is none righteous, no, not one:" (Romans 3:10). After reading only two Scriptures, we can plainly see that things do not look very bright.

In the Old Testament, God lets us know what His standard of righteousness is. One of the primary ways He did this is by giving us the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17). Examples of these commandments include "Thou shalt not lie", "Thou shalt not steal", and "Thou shalt not covet." Who of us can deny being guilty of breaking at least one of these commandments at some point in our lifetime? Jesus even said that in God's sight lust is the same as adultery and hate is the same as murder. In other words, God's standard is very high.

By definition, sin is the transgression of God's law. If we are honest with ourselves, we will see that we are all guilty of breaking God's commandments. If we are guilty of sin, we are therefore a sinner, and God will not allow sinners into heaven (Isaiah 13:9).

You may well be asking yourself "Who then can be saved?" (Luke 18:26). If God will not allow sinners into heaven, and we have all sinned, who then can escape God's wrath? The answer to this question is found in I Timothy 1:15:

"...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners..."

Jesus Christ came to earth as man and bore the punishment for our sin on a cross. While on the cross, Jesus was paying the price for our sin by experiencing all of the pain and suffering that we deserved. Just before He died, His last words were "It is finished" (John 19:30). Or in other words, "The debt has been paid". After three days in the grave Jesus rose again from the dead!

Through Christ's sacrificial death, God can look at our sins and say "The debt has been paid", and therefore we do not have to experience the terrible punishment of hell that Jesus said awaits sinners (Matthew 8:12). In order to partake of this forgiveness, all we must do is repent of our sins (i.e. confess and forsake), and ask God to forgive us (Luke 13:3). From then on, we are instructed to stay away from sin and live a life that is pleasing to God by allowing Christ to dwell within us and guide us as we live out the remainder of our life (Hebrews 12:14).

Sounds simple doesn't it? It is...