How to get right with God

Imagine this for a moment: a scientist comes up to you and says that when you were born, a computer chip was placed in your head that recorded every thought you ever had. He then asks you for unlimited access to what was recorded to be used in a documentary. What would you say? Think about that for a second. Every thought you ever had! Every hateful thought! Every lustful thought! All these thoughts would be on display for all your friends and family to see. You would have to consider if you could handle the number of people that would be angry with you. What would you say to that scientist?

Do you realize what your thoughts represent? They are the unrestrained you. They are who you truly are without any outside influences. That is a scary thought. Most people think they are good enough to go to heaven because they never killed anyone or committed a serious crime. They don’t think they have done anything that would justify God sending them to hell, but do you realize that God has seen your thought life? Do you know that He be acquainted with the unrestrained you? Do you know that God considers your thought as serious as your actions? Have you ever looked with sexual desire at someone who you are not married to? Jesus said, “I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Have you ever lied? Stolen? Used God’s name in vain, as a word to express disgust? If you are like everyone else, you have done these things, and God sees you as a lying, thieving, blaspheming, adulterer at heart. Jesus said, “…out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:19). It may be hard to admit to yourself that you have a wicked heart, but look at what the evidence shows. Here is the scary part.

The Bible says, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27) When you die, you will face God in judgment. If God judges you by the Ten Commandments, would you be innocent or guilty? Keep in mind that lying, stealing, and committing adultery are some of the Ten Commandments. How many did you break in your thought life? You would be guilty. This next question is serious; take some time to think about it. If you are guilty, should God send you to heaven or hell? When I ask people this question, many times they say, “probably hell.” I tell them they are almost right and that if they remove the word “probably,” they will be totally right. Revelations says, “the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral…the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur” (21:8). This is serious. Does it concern you that you will go to hell because of this? It should!

Sometimes people tell me that they will be okay because they will just ask God for forgiveness. Do you know that God just can’t forgive our sins? Let me explain. If there was a judge on the bench, where you live, who would dismiss anyone’s case that came before him just because they were sincerely sorry and asked for forgiveness, how long do you think he would have a job? Not very long! He would not be just. Since God is perfect, He is just. God does not turn a blind eye to sins. He just can’t forgive sins. A punishment must be carried out.

Do you know that God is kind and made a way that He can be forgiving and just at the same time? God took the form of a human being in Jesus Christ and suffered the wrath of God on the cross. Let me illustrate what Jesus did. Let’s say you stole a million dollars from a large company. You went out and spent it all on a good time. A year later the law caught up with you. You are arrested, put on trial, found guilty, and given a two million dollar fine, and if you couldn’t pay it, you were to spend 80 years in prison. You don’t have two million dollars, so you will go to prison and likely die there. But, let’s say you have a rich uncle. His lawyers told him this would likely happen, so before court that day, he goes out and sells everything he owns, all his houses, cars, and land. He cashes in all his investments, bank accounts, and even rolls all his pennies. He has exactly two million dollars, and stands up in the courtroom, holds up that check and says, “Here is the two million.” The judge would let you go because his ruling was satisfied. But who suffered the wrath of the court that day? You or your uncle? It was your uncle. He gave all he had to pay your fine. This is what Jesus did on the cross. He suffered the wrath of God for you, and the Bible says you can be a partaker of this if you do two things. Jesus said, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15)

Jesus said you must repent and believe what I just explained above. You must repent. This meant you stop doing the things God has said is wrong. You must make a conscience effort to stop lying, stealing, committing adultery in your heart by looking lustfully, and anything else God says is wrong. Not only this, but you must start doing the things God says is right. You find this knowledge in the Bible. This is why it is important to read the Bible; you can find out what God hates and stop doing that, and you can find out what God loves and start doing that. The other thing you must do is believe the good news. In other words, put your faith in Christ, relying on what He did on the cross to make you right with God. Faith is more then a mere belief. If I jumped out of an airplane with a parachute on, would I be believing in that parachute or putting my faith in that parachute? I would be putting my faith in it.

This is what the Bible says one must do to get right with God. It also says that when you do this, God will renew your heart and mind. You will start hating the sins you once loved and love the things of God you once hated. It is how you will know you are right with God. If you don’t develop a loathing for the sins in your life, you can’t be assured of your salvation. The Bible says to “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Make sure you are saved.


150,000 people die everyday. That is two people a second. Please consider what you just read. You never know which second you and another person will be standing before God in judgment.