When Tony Blair was interviewed by Michael Parkinson he made a brief reference to God’s final day of judgement. Because Constable Conscience lives within each of us, waving us on when we are right but raising his hand when we are wrong, it follows that at the end of the day there must be a final examination. The problem is that God’s pass mark for Heaven is 100% perfection! Anything less would pollute Heaven!

The stark truth is that God knows all the “Thoughts and intents of our hearts”’ [ Hebrews 4:12 ] and declares, “There is none righteous, no not one!” [ Psalm 14:3 ] Today it’s easy for us to believe that the Creator can remember everything about everyone because even mere mortals can now memorise the whole Bible in a micro-chip! Because God knew that we would be totally condemned in the final day of judgement He lovingly provided His only Son to pay the penalty our sins deserved. This doesn’t mean that everyone will now automatically go to Heaven. For as Jesus Himself said, Heaven is only for those who, “Repent and believe the gospel.” [ Mark 1:15 ] Gospel means Good News and to repent means to turn from what’s wrong and to trust completely in the sacrifice of Christ to wash away our sins and make us clean for Heaven. We must each abandon all trust in our own righteousness and trust entirely in God’s way of salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ.

But what about those who refuse to turn from their sins to Christ? The terrifying truth is that they will stand totally condemned in the day of judgment, not only because of their sins, but because they have neglected God’s free offer of salvation. There can be no escape for those who reject such love. [ Hebrews 2:3 ]