I Got a Tract

If you found your way to this page, then I assume you got one of our tracts. Thanks for visiting!

You may have never taken the time to really consider spiritual things, but there is no better time than now to do that. Please take a few minutes and read the following information. Listen to your conscience and really consider what you are reading; your eternity could depend on it.

If you do not wish to read this now, you can download it in PDF form for reading off-line later by clicking this link (You can also right click on the link and choose “Save As” to save it to your hard drive).

If you have any questions or would like some follow-up, feel free to email me at lawgrace@live.com or you can post a comment below the article. When posting a comment, please enter a name and the comment. You can leave the email and website fields blank. None of the fields except the actual comment field are required.

 

Where Will You Spend Eternity?

By now you have obviously figured out that this website and the Gospel Tract that you have are coming from the perspective that there is a God and that the Bible is true. Even if you disagree with that, please consider what the Scriptures (the Bible) have to say.

In the book of 2 Corinthians, we read this…

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad.
2Cr 5:10 

The Bible describes God as a just judge that will judge the world in righteousness (Psa 9:7-8). Would you consider yourself to be a good person? When God looks at your works will he see them as good or bad?

Most people will say that they are “good”. But how does God define “good”? That question is actually easy to answer by simply looking at the most basic of God’s Laws, the Ten Commandments.

Read through these carefully and honestly ask yourself the questions after each commandment.

 

The Ten Commandments

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

a. Has God always been first in your life? If you have violated commandments 2, 3, or 4 then the answer to this is clearly no.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them

a. What do you put before God?

b. What do you think about most?

c. What do you most desire to have?

d. The answer to those questions will determine who or what your God is.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

a. Have you ever used God’s name as an exclamation or a curse word?

b. God does not take this as lightly as most people do. When you do that, you take the name of the God who gave you life and everything you have and you drag it through the mud by using it without respect or instead of a four letter curse word. The commandment itself makes it clear that God will not hold people guiltless for that!

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

a. Have you always set one day a week apart for God?

5. Honour thy father and thy mother

a. As a child, did you always do everything your parents told you to the first time and never make them angry?

6. Thou shalt not kill

a. Most people think they are safe on this one, but Jesus said “whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (Mat 5:22) and in 1 John 3:15 the Bible says “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer”. So if you have hated someone or been angry at someone without a cause, God sees you as a murderer. God doesn’t just judge our actions; He also judges our thoughts!

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery

a. Here again, many people think they are safe, but Jesus said “whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Mat 5:28). Have you ever looked at someone with lust (sexual desire)? Then you are guilty of breaking this commandment as well.

8. Thou shalt not steal

a. Have you ever taken anything that didn’t belong to you? (the value Is irrelevant)

9. Thou shalt not lie

a. How many lies have you told in your lifetime?

10. Thou shalt not covet

a. Have you ever wanted something that belonged to someone else?

Right now you may be thinking something like this… “No one can live up to those laws”, and you would be right…

as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one
Romans 3:10

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Romans 3:20

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:23

You may also be thinking that since no one can keep all those laws, there must be a graded scale, but the Bible clearly shows there is no “graded scale”.

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.
James 2:10

If we break God’s Law even once, we are as guilty as if we had broken all of His laws (Jam 2:10)! This leaves all of is in a bad position because we have clearly violated God’s Laws!

 

What is the Penalty For Breaking God’s Law?

The Bible makes the punishment for violating God’s law very clear.

and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works… And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Rev. 20:12 & 15

The unbelieving, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone
Rev 21:8

No Fornicator, idolater, adulterer, thief or covetous person will enter Heaven
1Cr 6:9-10

without shedding of blood is no remission
Hbr 9:22

the wages of sin is death
Rom 6:23

So the punishment for breaking God’s law is death (Hbr 9:22) and an eternity in Hell (Rev20:12, 15, 21:8)

 

Innocent or Guilty?

Remember what 2 Corinthinas 5:10 said?

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad.

Keeping God’s law in mind, when you stand before God and are judged by His standards, would you be innocent or guilty? Would you go to Heaven or Hell?

If the Bible is right when it says…

But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
Psa 9:7-8

Then God must send all sinners to Hell! If He doesn’t, He wouldn’t be a good and righteous judge.

Let me illustrate that by taking a look at our own laws.

Let’s say I stole millions of dollars from investors who trusted me with their money, but then had a change of heart and lived a good life. I never committed another crime. I gave most of the money away to charities and the poor. I got a wife and had two kids. Everyone saw me as a really good and charitable person. Then one day the law caught up with me for the one crime I had committed 20 years earlier. I was arrested and brought before a judge. The charges were read and I was found clearly to be guilty of stealing the millions of dollars.

What would happen if I then looked at the judge and said, “Your honor, I know I violated the law, but that was a long time ago. Look at all the good things I have done since then. I know you are a good judge, so I think you should let me go because I have been good and done good things since then.” The judge would probably look at me and say something like, “You are right. I am a good judge, and since I am a good judge I must punish you for your crime.”

Good works can no more make up for your crimes in this world than they can in eternity. If a worldly judge would find you guilty, how much more would a Holy, Just and Perfect God!

 

Then How Can Anyone Be Saved?

If that is true and no one can live up to God’s laws, and we can’t make up for violating God’s laws by being good, then how can anyone be saved?

So far we have looked at the judgment side of God, but that is not the only side to God. God may be a just judge, but He is also loving and kind! God doesn’t want to send anyone to Hell (2Pe 3:9), but His justice and holiness demands that He must punish sinners!

In God’s courtroom, we will be found guilty and sentenced to death for our sins! But God loves us so much that even though we are sinners and in rebellion to Him, He sent His son (Jesus Christ) to die for us! We owed death and Jesus Christ paid that penalty for us on the cross!

We had already looked at part of the verse Romans 6:23 “the wages of sin is death” but the verse doesn’t end there! It goes on to say “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”!

But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:8-9

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:8-9

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

Jesus Christ (God in the flesh) died on the cross to pay for our sins! Then He rose from the dead defeating death and has provided everlasting life for those who receive Him!

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:9-10

In God’s courtroom, we all will owe death, but Jesus Christ stepped in and paid our fine for us! By Christ’s death, justice has been served! The penalty put in place by the law has been paid! We can be free to go if we simply receive this payment!

Lets look back at the worldly courtroom illustration again. The judge had found me guilty and ordered me to repay the millions of dollars plus interest and fines and court costs. The judgment was entered and I owed 120 million dollars or life in prison. I had given most of it away and spent the rest. I had no way to pay the fine! Just as they were hauling me away to spend the rest of my life in prison, someone I don’t even know steps in and says, “Judge, I love this man so much that I will pay his fine for him.” The fine is paid in full and the judge looks at me and says, “Your penalty has been paid, justice has been served. I can no longer hold you here. You are free to go.”

This is what Christ did for us except on an infinitely higher scale! We owe death and that means an eternity in Hell! We have no way to repay that penalty ourselves! But Jesus Christ suffered and died to pay the penalty for us!!

 

Eternal Life

All you have to do to receive eternal life is

1. Realize that you are a guilty sinner before an all powerful, just and holy God

2. Repent of you sins

a. The dictionary defines repentance as: to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude, etc.

b. That is not just an oh, yea, ok, whatever, I’m sorry… but it is a heartfelt sorrow for how we have offended and rebelled against God

3. Believe on Christ’s finished work on the cross as the payment for your sins. You must trust in Christ alone for you salvation! You can’t trust in Christ and your good works (Eph 2:8-9)

Pray to God and ask him to forgive you. The Bible doesn’t give a set prayer you have to pray to be saved. Just confess your sins to God and tell God you are trusting fully in Christ to pay for your sins. Thank God for His wonderful gift of Salvation. Then get a Bible and read it daily! Pray and ask God for help and guidance! With God’s help you will continue to grow in a relationship with Him!

If you have just received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please let us know by sending an email to lawgrace@live.com. If you would like help finding a good Bible (not all translations are created equal) and/or a good church in your area, include the city and state you live in in your email. We will send you some links to good Bibles you can order. We will also try to locate a good church in your area and send you that information as well.