Nothing is more certain about life than death. One day, we receive the sobering news that a loved one has died. We are reminded that we, too, will die—tomorrow, next year or in half a century. The fear of death has driven some people, such as the explorer Ponce de Leon, to search for some fabled but non-existent fountain of youth. But the grim reaper will not be denied. Death comes to everyone. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there really were some grand purpose for human life? A purpose that includes eternal life? See What is salvation? 

Many Christians are afraid of the gospel. Many of us are more comfortable with religion than we are with the gospel. We prefer to think that when God gave us a religion—a divine formula to show humans what things to do and not to do in order to get on God’s good side and stay there. But the gospel is not a new and improved religion. The gospel tells us that God has already, through Jesus Christ, made us acceptable. See Believing the gospel

"A horrible dread." That was how the young man described his deep fear that God had rejected him because of his repeated sins. "I thought I had repented, but I did it again," he explained. "I don't even know if I really have faith, because I'm afraid God might not forgive me again. No matter how sincere I think my repentance is, it never seems to be enough." Let's talk about what the gospel means by repentance toward God. See Getting a grip on repentance

Humans are noble and crude at the same time. We can have high ideals, and yet be barbaric. We are like God, and yet ungodly. We are not the way we are supposed to be. This is why God wants to rescue us, to save us, to give us eternal life, to make us more like himself. See Basic Christian Beliefs: Salvation

When Judgment Day comes, and the Judge asks us why he should let us into his kingdom, how are we going to answer? Are we going to say that we have kept particular laws? I hope not, because the Judge could easily point out laws that we haven't kept, sins that we never knew we committed and never repented of. We can't say that we were good enough to keep the laws. No -- all we can do is plead for mercy. We have faith that Christ died to redeem us from all sins. He died to rescue us from the penalty of the law. That's our only basis for salvation. See the Bible study: Justification by faith