It is so very important to consider what happens to us when our physicalbodies die. Do you know why? Because Jesus said it was important. Jesusthought it was so important that He once said this:"If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. Itis better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole bodyto be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut itoff and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your bodythan for your whole body to go into hell."So, Jesus believed that some would go to hell and warned us so that wewould not go there. He did this because He loves us. What kind of parentwould I be if I never warned my children about playing too close to thestreet and never explained that they could possibly end up in the streetchasing their ball and be killed by an oncoming vehicle? I would be anunwise and an unloving parent if I knew my children would be playing inthe midst of danger. Jesus in the same way and in an ever more loving andconvincing way warns us not to live our lives too close to the world ofsin or in the world of sin.God, Jesus' Father, hates sin. He hates it so much that He pronounced apunishment for sin. That punishment is death and separation from Him.God will not permit sin or the person who lives in sin into His presence.God is in heaven. So, if we hope to get to heaven to be with Him, we haveto avoid sin. What is sin? The Bible says sin is anything that goesagainst what God has commanded. In my last letter, I talked about some ofHis commandments. God doesn't want us to lie, steal, commit adultery orhave lustful/sexual thoughts about someone who is not our spouse, murder,dishonor our parents, love anything more than God Himself, use God's nameas a curse word (for example, "God-Damnit" or "Oh, Jesus Christ!"), etc.The Bible says that we have all sinned, though, so we all deserve to go toHell. Hell is the only place described in the Bible that is in thisUniverse where God will not be. It is a place of hopelessness like Idescribed in my last letter. Where God is not present, there is no hope.We have a big debt with God, in other words. We broke His Law when wesinned. Now, if you break the law here on earth and have to appear beforea judge and you are found guilty, what is your recourse? What can youdo? Let's say you broke a law that required you to be sent to jail for avery long time unless you pay a $1,000,000 fine. Let's also suppose youdon't have that $1,000,000. All of a sudden, somebody steps into thecourtroom ... somebody you don't even know ... and this person pulls out$1,000,000 and hands it to the judge to pay your fine for your guilt. Thelaw has been satisfied. You are now free to go.And that is what Jesus did for us. We are guilty of breaking God's Lawbecause we have sinned in our lives. The most moral person in the worldhas sinned at some point in their lives and is guilty before God, also.Now according to God's Law, the sentence or punishment deserved for oursin is death and hell. God did say, though, that if somebody pays thislarge fine for us, we can be forgiven and made clean in the eyes of Godand made fit for His presence to be with Him in heaven after we die. Doyou know what the value of that fine amount is for our sin in God'scourtroom? The Bible says it is the value of a perfect sinless life. Ifwe can give God a perfect sinless life, we can be forgiven of our sins andthe fine His Law requires can be paid with the value of that perfectsinless life. Now, where am I going to get a perfect sinless life to giveto God to pay for my sins (pay my fine, in other words)?Well, Jesus Christ lived as a man here on Earth approximately 2000 yearsago and He encountered temptations, pain, suffering and all kinds oftrials just like we all do, but Jesus never sinned. He lived a perfectlife. He always obeyed His Heavenly Father, God. He was perfect andbecause of that was perfectly pleasing to His Father. Now, Jesus laterdied in our place voluntarily. We deserved to die, but He chose to die inour place. Jesus didn't deserve to die like Adam and Eve and all thathave come since Adam and Eve. Remember in my first letter how I describedAdam and Eve ... how they sinned and were warned beforehand that if theysinned (disobeyed God) they would die. Jesus didn't deserve to die, butHe chose to die. He chose to pay our fine. Our fine is death andseparation from God. But Jesus paid that fine of death and separation from God. Jesus cried out on the Cross on which His feet and His handswere brutally nailed. Jesus cried out in pain and said this as He died onthat cruel Cross, "It is finished!" What was finished? Jesus hadfinished paying our fine; Jesus had finished paying our debt to God. Hegave His perfect life to God as payment for our sins. We deserved death from God because we have sinned and Jesus deserved to live forever becauseHe never sinned.To say it another way, 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ, God Himself, tookthe form of a human being and came to earth.He was brutally beaten and crucified. Mel Gibson has made a movie called‘The Passion of theChrist.’ He spent $30 million of his own money to film the last 12 hoursof the life of Jesus and it israted R. The rating is not because it portrays nudity but because it is soviolent. Let me explainwhat happened. You see, when Jesus was whipped, they used a cat-o-ninetails: leather straps with brokenglass, pottery and nails woven in it. He was whipped at least 39 times.Many people died fromthat scourging, because the skin, muscle and sinew became so shreddedtheir internal organs fellout their backs. But Jesus survived it and was then nailed to a crosswhere He died gasping forbreath. Jesus did all that because the Bible says that there is noforgiveness without the sheddingof blood. Jesus shed His own blood so your sins could be forgiven. It isthis simple... you brokethe Law and Jesus paid your fine.So, what does this mean for you? It means that if you are willing, youcan be made clean in the sight of God and be made fit for heaven if youwill only humbly receive the payment for your fine with God --- the finethat you incurred by your sins. Jesus is that payment for your sins.Here's how you receive that payment for your sins on your behalf thatJesus offers you to give to God so you can be set free from the guilt andpunishment you will otherwise face when God judges you.God requires all men everywhere to repent. To repent you have to stop whatyou are doing (stop lying, using bad language, lusting after women you arenot married to, stealing, and making anything more important to you thanGod Himself, etc.) andrecognize it is horribly wrong; turn from your sins and turn to God.Confess your sins and put yourtrust in Him. It is not enough to simply hear this and say, ‘I get it, orI believe that.’ Even thedemons believe and they tremble, the Bible says. Mere mental agreementwith these things does not save you. You must repent and put your trust inJesus Christ.Imagine you are on an airplane when the pilot makes an announcement.‘Ladies and gentlemen,may I have your attention please. We are presently cruising at 25,000feet, but we have aproblem. Two of our engines have failed. You will find a parachute underyour seat. Thank you forflying with us and have a nice day.’Would you just sit there and believe in the parachute? Would you waituntil Sunday and justworship the parachute? No! You would put on the parachute, and that isexactly what you need todo with Jesus Christ. You need to put Him on.Here is how you do that. You find a quiet place, get to your knees andpour out your heart toGod. Confess your sins. Tell Him you are sorry. Then put your trust inJesus Christ. He willforgive you and make you clean. Then you get up, read your Bible every dayand do what it says.Then you will have moved from darkness to light and from death to life. Ihope you will make thedecision to do that.If I can help you in any way or if you want to talk to me more about thisor have questions about this, please let me know so you can tell me oryou can contact me directly via the computer by Skype if you wish. Iam concerned for your soul. I don't think that concern originateswith me, though. I think it is God Himself who is using me to show Hisconcern to you for your soul. God doesn't want you to go Hell. I don'twant you to end up there, either. If you are having difficultywith thinking about how to confess your sins to God, open the Bible toPsalms 51 and make that your heart-felt prayer to God. It is a prayer ofrepentance that David made. Remember the story of David and Goliath?This is the same David who later in his life wrote down this prayer.God's very best to you all. God loves you (He loved you enough togive you His very best to pay for your sins---He gave the life of His onlyson Jesus. I want nothing in return from you. I am not a used-car salesmanexpecting something in return. :) There are no strings attached here. Iam simply concerned for you as I want to see you in heaven. If you wish to email me please do so to church.chatterbox@yahoo.com or leave your comments in this mini-forum and I will answer you. Thank you!Trevor Gough, Beaver Dam Wisconsin.