I was talking to a fellow about becoming a Christian , and he asked me why he should, what would change in his life? I responded that the issue was what happened after he died, was he headed for hell or heaven. He assured me that he had been a pretty good person, and was confident that God would let him in. I told him that the requirement was that he was perfect, never having sinned once, not even a little one. He scoffed at that as being ridiculous and unattainable by anyone. I told Him, yep, you are right, the only person who was perfect was Jesus, and that is the point. God put my sins on Jesus, all of them, and Jesus was punished by God the Father in my place, he paid my bill. He died on that cross, was buried and rose from the dead 3 days later. Our part in receiving forgiveness and eternal life from God is to acknowledge that we can’t save ourselves and accept the free gift of God by believing the gospel. He told me the most amazing thing, “I will just take my chances.”

The consequences of failing on those odds are very serious. Eternity in hell with no parole or second chances once you find out that your gamble didn’t pay off.