One such popular formula is hoping that ones good works will outweigh the bad things they have done in life. Another idea is that if one doesnt commit any really bad sins, they will be fine in the end. Some say all will be eventually saved. While others say there are many different ways to God and each one of them is equally valid. A good many think that they can bridge the gap by ceremonies, or perhaps reciting a creed. Maybe you have considered some of these formulas. Maybe you even hold to one of these views. But the problem with all of them is that they dont fully take into account the effects of sin.

We are all going to have to give an account to a God who is absolutely holy. In his holiness he infinitely loves all that is good and just, while he abhors all that is evil with all his being. As the designers of Galloping Gertie didnt understand the effects of wind on their beautiful bridge, so many people today dont understand the effect sin on their lives. The Bible states in the most solemn way, The soul that sinneth it shall die. And in another place, The wages of sin is death. Sin and death are inseparably linked together. Have you sinned? Then death is the wages you will collect. The verses about death just quoted refer not only to physical death but also to spiritual death which occurs when a soul is banished out of Gods presence forever. In that awful place called hell, the spiritually dead will exist forever.

Maybe they never thought about it on earth, but God was always near to them. As their Creator, He provided them with every necessity of life; He gave them many good thing; He preserved them through countless troubles; He brought them every true joy and happiness they experienced. The Bible says, He openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing.

He ordered their lives with sorrows and blessings alike so that they might turn to him in repentance and faith but they never did so. In hell they will never again receive good from Gods hand, never again a blessing, never again a joy. Never again will God take a thought for their happiness. Shut out from Gods presence they will be said to exist but not to live. To live, a person must have the possibility of joy, they must have some meaning and purpose.

In hell they will have none of these things, therefore they cannot live in the true sense of the word. Rather spiritual death will be their portion and forever and ever.

The Lord Jesus spoke more about hell than any other person in the Bible. He said it was a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, a place where the fire is never quenched and the worms do not die, a place of torment and endless thirst. It is the kind of place that should be avoided at all cost. The horribleness of it should fill us with unrest until we finally get right with God.

Outside a saving faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, every attempt to bridge the gap between sinful man and a holy God will fail. When Jesus Christ came into the world and went to the cross, it wasnt man trying to bridge the gap between himself and God. No, it was God undertaking to make a way for sinful man to come to him and find forgiveness and fullness of life and joy. The difference is immense. Mans efforts will never succeed, while Gods way of salvation is open to all, and will never fail. Mans efforts never fully take into account the effects of sin, but in Gods way of salvation, sins are fully dealt with in the death of Christ. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

There is salvation in Jesus Christ for every one of us if we are only willing to believe. What must I do to be saved? asked one who was in distress over his sins. Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved, came back the peace giving reply.

Oh, be honest with yourself and confess that you are a sinner and unable to save yourself, and turn to the One who is mighty to save. Through him alone can a sinner find forgiveness and cleansing. Only through him can we cross over safely from the shores of this life to the shores of heaven.

No other bridge exists that wont come crashing down. Men may have many ideas for bridges that will carry them to safety at death, but they are all bound to crumble and collapse under the weight of their sin. Salvation is through faith in Christ alone. By grace are ye saved, through faith and that not of yourselves: but it is the gift of God? Believe on him and receive that gift of salvation today.

End