...What's this all about?

Discussing Mortality, Our Lives are Fleeting

Let's not turn a blind-eye to the elephant in the room, life ends! Every person will face death. 10 out of 10 people will die, it's inevitable. This realization tends to beg the same line of questioning within most people:

It's far less likely to find questions like:

...it's typically evident to most people that we will all eventually die, as we can constantly see evidence of it surrounding around us.

The most sobering reality is arriving at the realization that you do not possess the power to postpone your own demise.

Regardless of our striving, our life has an impending end. Death is quite literally a heartbeat away. Struggle as we may, we will not be able to grant ourselves an extra heartbeat beyond that which we've been alotted.

Once we're honest with ourselves and put our pride aside we can then begin to accept that we all will die. This realization introduces the importance of the prior line of questioning.

Appealing to Your Reasoning, Two Answers

Thinking through the previous line of questioning (what happens when I die? where will I go? is anything next for me after this life?) We're posed with two mutually exclusive answers and it's important to state plainly that like all other mutually exclusive items only one of those answers can actually be true.

...That's it. There is no third option or in between. There's either something or nothing after this life. Naturally most people tend to lean toward there being something after this life, as something may be comforting whereas nothing is bleak and offers no such comfort.


Answer #1 — The "There is Something After This Life"

If you select the first answer, that there is something after this life, you'd either be proven right or wrong upon death; but you'd still get to live life comforted by the thought that there is something that remains ahead of you after life. You're not just heading for the void of nothing after death. If this answer is correct you've now been alotted the opportunity to prepare for whatever that that "something" is.

Answer #2 — The "There is Nothing After This Life"

If you select the second answer and with it the belief there is nothing after life, you'd either be proven right or wrong upon death; but with no hope in events after life you're led to realize that the totality of life is meaningless. The person will likely eventually come to the realization that their course in life, story, and progress, all collectively amount to nothing in the grand scheme of things. The person's decisions and actions all eventually lead toward the nothingness that they expect. All of the person's wealth and lifetime earnings will inevitably be redistributed to the next person, or generation, that will come along. Achievements fade with no one to appreciate or remember them. For the person leaning toward there being nothing after life, they may also realize that their choice still dictates a 50/50 chance that their answers and assessment of life after death are wrong. There's always the possibility that there could still be something after death regardless of the person's choice to believe there is nothing.

As stated previously, with only two options available, one answer must be right, and one answer must be wrong. A person's disbelief in there being something after this life doesn't nullify the possibility that the selected answer has a 50/50 chance of being wrong. For instance, we know with certainty that the sun exists, we receive benefit from it daily, it's obvious. We can choose to believe that the sun exists (or choose not to), but that personal belief doesn't dictate the next sunrise. In fact choosing to side with ignorance and not believe that we have a sun would eventually lead to dilemma as the person with the belief is now forced to explain away painfully obvious daylight and the presence of a clearly visible glowing ball in the sky.

It's probably easy to see that choosing to prepare for the possibility of there being something after life easily outweighs the consquences of convincing yourself there is nothing and finding yourself presented with a 50/50 chance of being unprepared for a potential something with accompanying consequences.


"Death is not the worst that can happen to men." — Plato


If we can entertain the thought that there must be something after life, we then can ask if we are able to prepare or not for it. If we are able to prepare then there must be a means of preparation if we're at all able to dictate our future state.

Preparation: We need a guide! Enter: The Bible.

Thankfully the Bible has told us exactly what will happen after we die and assures us that there is an afterlife for believers (John 14:2-6) who have repented (a 180-turn away from their sins), and have commited their lives to following Jesus. It also tells us that there is a hell for those who reject Jesus Christ and choose to personally bear the weight of their own sins in life for eternity.

Sins? What sins? I'm not a sinner.

The Bible says:
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". (Romans 3:23)
"There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." (Romans 3:10-12)


The "good person" test.

We all want to claim we're a "good person", it's comforting to do so, but I'd ask you to truthfully ask yourself the following questions. Please keep in mind these questions are for you to ponder, no one else. Please be honest with yourself:

  1. Have you ever told a lie? A "white lie" is still a lie. (Leviticus 19:11)
  2. Have you ever stolen? Please keep in mind the value of the item doesn't change the verdict, theft is theft. (Exodus 20:15)
  3. Have you ever looked at someone with lust? The Bible says just looking with lust is the same as adultery. (Matthew 5:27-30)
  4. Have you ever spoken the name of the Lord God in vain? Or used his name as a swear word? An exclamation? (Exodus 20:7)
  5. Have you ever hated someone? (Matthew 5:21-23, 1 John 3:15)

This is just 5 of the 10 Commandments God gave us, there still remains 5 more incriminating proofs that we as people are not "good"; but if you're being honest with yourself you probably realize you don't need to see the other 5 to know that you're guilty. We're all guilty. Transgressing the Law is sin. The Bible says that if we've broken just one of the 10 commandments we're guilty of breaking all of the commandments. (James 2:10) This is the perfect standard of a Holy and perfect God, and we ALL have fallen short.


Alright, I'm guilty, so what. I'm still a good person, God will take my goodness into account if He even exists. My good outweighs my bad.

First with the question of God existing, Creation is proof of a living God (Romans 1:20). We live in a world of fine-tuned order. Chaos (a big bang) cannot bring forth order, or something from nothing. A painting existing is proof that there must have been a painter, the building is proof there must have been an architect; the same logic follows that functional creation is evidence there must have been a Creator. If the best scientists that the world could muster were all grouped together, even with their combined brain power they could not create something out of nothing.

Second, please pause and truly ask yourself would a judge be a "good" or just judge if he lets proven heinous criminals walk freely because they claim they've also done charity work? Would that be the mark of a just judge? True justice can not pardon iniquity because of good works, there is a price that must be paid, there must be recompense.


The Bad News...

We've all failed the "good person" test, we've all transgressed the perfect Law of a holy God and are deserving of the death sentence that the crime warrants (Romans 6:23). If we are judged by that perfect and holy standard (the Ten Commandments) we won't be allowed to walk by virtue of the "good things" we've done or the "good people" we've been (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our sinful actions up to this point have already condemned us, we're deserving of hell and eternal punishment for our transgressions. What could possibly pay a debt so grave?

The Good News!

...Although we're all deserving of hell and destruction, we've also been given a free gift,, a second chance to be free from our sinful bondage. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, our Savior, came into this world as a Man to redeem us to God by bearing the full brunt of our iniquity. Jesus paid our debt in full, a debt that that we could never have paid ourselves as sinners deserving of condemnation. Jesus, God in the flesh, lived the perfect life that we are incapable of living, and suffered and died to offer us the free gift of salvation and a second chance at life. The one that we owed the debt to, God, is the only one who could ever truly pay the debt we owned. We're saved from the eternal death and torment we deserve by the freely given GRACE (God's Riches at Christ's Expense) of God through Jesus Christ's perfect sacrifice for us.


What do I need to do?

The Bible is crystal clear about what needs to be done for salvation:

  1. We need to give up our foolish pride and admit that we cannot repay our sins ourselves, we need a Savior. (1 Peter 5:6-8)
  2. Repent (180 turn) from our sinful nature and surrender our sinful lives to Jesus, the same lives that got us into the mess we're in in the first place. (Ephesians 4:22, Acts 3:19)
  3. Believe in the LORD Jesus, confess with your mouth Jesus as LORD, and believe in your heart that God was able to, and did raise Jesus from the dead. Believe that only Jesus could pay your price and forsake trying to achieve salvation your own way through your works alone. (Romans 10:9, John 3:16-18, Acts 16:31, John 1:12)

Now is the moment to ask Jesus for forgiveness, not later. None of us know how long we have in this life, it's not reasonable to think you will have the luxury to change the course of your life moments before you die. People die suddenly all the time. Abandon your sins now, ask Jesus for forgiveness, please don't wait! 2 Corinthians 6:2 NKJV says "For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

I would ask you to receive Jesus Christ, completely open your life to Him, ask Him for forgiveness knowing that He's the ONLY way to salvation (Acts 4:12, John 14:6). There is no other way, Jesus is the One Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). The Bible says narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life (Matthew 7:13-20). Only Jesus Christ was eligible to pay our price and the shedding of His Blood was the only way that we could be redeemed in the eyes of the most holy God (Ephesians 1:7), no amount of "good works" could ever bridge the gap that we created (Isaiah 64:6, Ephesians 2:8-9).


If you were moved by a tract, or this page, to abandon self and follow Jesus, we'd love to hear about it! If you have any follow up questions, concerns, or just want more information, please always feel free to reach out to us at witness@onewaytruthandlife.com.

I'd encourage any new believer to quickly buy a Bible (e.g. the New King James Version, NKJV), don't wait! Find a BIBLE-TEACHING Church, and start digging into the Word of God as a child would. The book of John is a great place to start. Abandon self, grow with Christ and never look back!