Introduction:

No doubt if you’ve ever attended a church service you’ve heard the phrase “Come to Jesus”. You’ve probably seen billboard ads in front of churches urging the masses to “come on in and dine”, or maybe you’ve seen graffiti walls in the inner cities sprayed with messages such as “Jesus is coming soon”.

Commonplace to most, however, are friends, family, or co-workers who incessantly talk about their faith, their church, or their spiritual walk with God.

Imagine this: you’ve never attended church in your life, and you have no clue what it means to be “lost”, much less “saved”.

So what do you say when someone asks you, “Are you saved?” What does all of this mean, this spiritual talk? Why is your spiritual state and moral status so important to others, namely Christians, and what difference should it make to them? Furthermore, with the free will that you were born with, isn’t it your right to decide how you want to live your life, which god you choose to serve and which religion you practice?

Let’s take another scenario: let’s say you are a Christian. Or you think you are—maybe not sure? But you were baptized once. And you make a conscious effort to follow the Ten Commandments, at least the big ones: “thou shalt not kill”, and “thou shalt not steal”. Oh, and you even attend church regularly, for the most part. Sunday services are okay, the sermon is fine, worship is awesome.

But—there is still that little nagging doubt, the whole moral code issue—“as long as I stay true to myself and my own moral conscience, I should be fine. I’ll go to heaven, and hey, death is a long call from now”.

Next Page