Let's play a game.

It's an "either-or" game. 

You choose which option you think fits you better.

Simple, right?

Did I mention that your eternal soul is at stake?

     So, question number one is kind of a warm-up, and you'll see why.

#1) Do you believe that gravity works on your body whether you know or believe in the law of gravity?

     That seems to be a pretty easy question, doesn't it? I mean, gravity worked on everyone and everything long before Mr. Newton saw the apple hit the ground and put together a working mathematical model of how gravity worked, right? Babies don't even know what gravity IS, but you don't see them floating around because of that, do you?

     No, for this question, the correct answer is YES. If you insist on sticking with NO, buy some velcro shoes or something so you don't fly off into space the next time you go outside, all right?

#2) Do you believe in the truth of the Bible? Do you believe that God's Word is true?

     The same argument applies here. Whether or not you believe in the Bible, or Christ, or even the God of the Bible, is immaterial. This isn't the time or place I want to spend arguing about His existence or omnipotence - but for those who read this blog, there may be some of you who need that argument laid out for you, which down the road very soon I'll do for you. Regardless, just like gravity, whether or not you believe, you're going to have to live with the consequences of its existence when you die. Which, by the way, I feel very confident will happen for every single human being within the next ten years. Either through "death" or "rapture" or other Godly means, the entire population of the human race will be subjected to the Great Throne Judgment within the next nine years. (It's my impression from both earthly evidence and Holy Spirit  communication that the Believers will be raptured within two years, which means that the seven-year long Great Tribulation would start immediately thereafter and thus end within nine years. Sorry to make you do math.)

      So, for this question, whether you answered YES or NO, you'll have to deal with the consequences of the fact that it IS true. That leads us to question #3...

#3) Do you believe that you will go to either Heaven or Hell when you die?

      Finally, a question where your answer matters!

      Presumably, you have some reason that you're going to base your answer on - if not purely out of the Bible, then out of what you believe the Bible says, or what popular culture tells you about Heaven or Hell, or what you remember hearing as a child, or something. You might never have actually thought about that question before, especially if you didn't believe in the existence of either place. But they're such pervasive concepts in society that you almost certainly have some impression about your relationship to them.

      A survey was done recently that I wish I could track down, and this very question was asked of over a thousand Americans. The results (to me) were staggering: 68% of those surveyed believed they were going to Heaven when they died. Amazingly, only 2% of them believed they were going to go to Hell instead. (The other 30% weren't sure enough to commit to an answer.)

      Here's the problem.

      Those numbers are precisely REVERSED.

      Christ Himself told us that the gate to Heaven was narrow, and the road to Hell was broad. (There's an old joke about the fact that there's a "Stairway to Heaven" and a "Highway to Hell", because of the expected traffic flow. The problem is, that's not a joke.)

      It's not difficult to determine that the most likely situation is that about two percent of the world's population is actually saved, and we'll take a look at why in the next several questions.

#4) Jesus told us in John 14? that "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Have you assumed that you are going to Heaven without accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

      If so, you're wrong. Going to Heaven is not a question of "being good" or anything like that. That's the Devil's myth, trying to lull people into a false sense of security about the afterlife. Heaven is for the saved, that's all. You must be saved by the Son of God in order to be accepted into the Home of God. That's like saying you're planning on attending a party that you haven't been invited to!

#5) Do you think you're saved because you said some phrase about salvation when you were seven (or any other age for that matter)?

      If so, that's only part of the puzzle. Think about the phrasing of the salvation pledge; we'll use the one from Romans 10:9, which to me is the clearest to understand:

     "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

      So, there are two parts to this: most people can handle the second part, which says that you need to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. That is, you're saying that you believe that Jesus really IS the Son of God, which implies a host of other beliefs - they are both part of the Godhead, that Christ is divine, and therefore that what He said during His ministry was all the Truth, and so forth. With a few exceptions, that's the easy part for most folks.

     The first part of the equation is the one that trips folks up. Even if they say their salvation pledge, and they believe that Christ is God...do they make Him their Lord? Think about what it means for someone to be your Lord. He is your complete ruler - He controls you. In terms of any medieval or prior usage of the word, He literally owns you. So it's a no-brainer that Jesus expects you to obey His every Word.  
     Do you? Do you follow the teaching of Christ as He lays it out in the Gospels of the New Testament? Do you even know what it is He commands you to do in the New Testament? (That's a good first step! Just a suggestion!). It's not easy.

      So, let's re-word question #5 for you now before we go on:

#5a) Do you NOW think you're saved? Do you believe in the divinity of Christ, His equality to the Father in the GodHead, and (most critically) do you faithfully follow His teaching in your everyday life?

Tough question. If you have to ask, you'd better get on your knees and lock that in RIGHT NOW.