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It’s not unusual to hear religious people say things like this: ‘My God would never send anyone to hell. The God I believe in is not the angry God of the Old Testament, but the loving, forgiving God whom Jesus taught about. He’s the Father of all mankind, and we’re all his children; therefore, there’s no such place as hell, and everyone, regardless of their beliefs or actions, will go to heaven.’
This idea of a harmless, affable God gives people great comfort, but, sadly, it’s an idea that is not based on the truth.
This is not the God of the Bible.
This is not the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is merely a creation of the mind of man and is far removed from the real God whom Jesus revealed to us.
The first sermons preached by Jesus, John the Baptist, and the apostles Peter and Paul in the Bible all commanded the people to repent, to turn away from their sin. Repentance is most important, because all men and women are sinners. We are all guilty of breaking God’s commands, and we need to realize this, turn from our sin and seek God’s forgiveness. Sin is a terrible reality, and God will not ignore it. He sent Jesus into this world to save his people from the consequences of this sin, which is punishment in hell.
Jesus, said John the Baptist, was the Lamb of God who came to take away our sin (John 1:36). Jesus himself said that he came to give his life as the ransom price, to set his people free from the slavery of sin (Mark 10:45). He also said that at Jerusalem he would be condemned to death, crucified and then, on the third day, raised to life (Matthew 20:19).
This is what Jesus taught:
We are not all children of God (John 8:42-47)
In order to get to heaven we must be born again (John 3:3)
Salvation is only found in him, and he is the only way to God (John 14:6)
He willingly gave himself to die on behalf of his people, as the Shepherd for the sheep (John 10:14-18)
If we do not believe in him, we are condemned by God. We have rejected the light God sent us, and we do so because our deeds are evil (John 3:18-19)
He denounced those who would not repent, and warned them of the coming day of judgement (Matthew 11:20-24)
Unrepentant sinners will be thrown into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and anguish (Matthew 13:42)
It was the love of God that sent Jesus into the world to deal with our sin, but it was the holiness of God that made this necessary.
It is the height of folly to say that God will not do certain things when in the Bible he clearly says that he will.
We need to accept the whole picture of God that we find in the Bible, and not just choose those pieces we like and reject the rest.
Peter Jeffery
© Day One Publications, www.dayone.co.uk
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do you really have a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, or do you merely have religion? Mere religion, even if it is the ‘Christian’ religion, is no substitute for a living experience of God which is only possible through Christ. 
Once on a day in March, I was due to fly out of JFK Airport in New York at 6:15 p.m. But the flight was delayed for three and a half hours because of ice. That afternoon there had been a light snowfall—only about two inches. When it came down it looked lovely. The houses and trees were covered with a beautiful coat of white; but at the airport, it caused havoc.