Hell Merit

I had a guy ask me, "Will I go to hell because I don't believe in Jesus?" 

Not really, and I want to put emphasis on the word "because." We do not go to hell because we do not put our trust in Jesus, as though we were perfectly innocent and our refusal to believe in Jesus is what sent us to hell. If we were perfectly innocent, Jesus wouldn't be necessary. But why is Jesus necessary for salvation? Because we have sinned, and it is our sin that sends us to hell, not the refusal to believe in Jesus. 

Here is an analogy. You don't know how to swim, and you're in a pool of water. You will die. Why? Because you can't swim to safety. If you die, it is because you can't swim. Say I throw you a life raft to save you. Will you die because you didn't grab the life raft or because you didn't know how to swim? Clearly, you still died because you didn't know how to swim. It wasn't because of your refusal to grab the life raft. 

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