THOSE
DREADED
CURVE
BREAKERS!

[curvbrek.jpg]

MANY PEOPLE (religious or otherwise) expect to be judged by God when
     they die.   To them, Judgment Day is a given.   The real question is, how
is God going to judge them?
  What method will He use?

Some are assuming God will compare their good against their bad and
determine which one outweighs the other.   Others feel the actions
themselves are not as important as the sincerity behind them.   They figure
God will make allowances providing the person was sincerely trying to do
what's right.   Then there are those who believe that God is going to:

Grade everyone "on a curve."

If you don't recall what it means to ‘grade on a curve,’ refer back to your
high school days.   Remember when you took a test and the whole class
did poorly?   The teacher, not wanting to flunk half the class, would often
grade everyone on a curve.

She'd take the highest score--let's say 85%--treat it as if it was a 100%,
then scale the grades accordingly.   So, for example, 85%-76% became
an A, 75%-66% was now a B, and so on.   In effect, the highest score
became the upper limit, the standard by which everyone was graded.
Thus, the students were not graded against an absolute (100%,
perfection
,) but rather against each other.

Some feel that God will use the same approach when judging you and
me.   They reason since no one is perfectly sinless, it wouldn't be fair for
God to judge us against a perfect standard.   He'll have to compensate.
He'll have to judge based on the "best life" that any one person has ever
lived.

By judging us ‘on a curve,’ the dividing line between Heaven and Hell will then
come down--way down!   Only the "Hitlers" of the world will end up in Hell.
Everyone else will squeak into Heaven.   It worked in school, so why not
apply it to life?   Right?   However . . .

There's always those dreaded curve breakers!

You know the type . . .   Every class seems to have one.   They're the ones
who study while everyone else is having fun.   They learn the subject inside-
out.   They have the nerve to take the test seriously and ‘ace it’ virtually
every time.   While most barely make it within the 80% range, the curve
breakers score a 100%, thus shattering all hope of there ever being a
curve.   After all, if one person can get a 100%, what's everyone else's
excuse?   Why grade on a curve?

Most people assume there'll be no curve breakers on Judgment Day.   No
one is perfectly sinless.   We are all in the same boat.   No one has--or likely
will ever-- ‘ace’ the test of life.   So when it comes to God's judgment,
we're safe from the dreaded breakers-- OR ARE WE?

There is one, however, who in a way, can
be considered a curve breaker.

His name is Jesus Christ.   You see, Christ ‘aced’ the test of life.   He was
sinless.   He kept every one of God's laws without ever breaking one!

"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points TEMPTED LIKE AS WE
ARE, YET WITHOUT SIN."
  Heb. 4:15

His life was the very fulfillment of the law.   He even said so:

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am
not come to destroy, BUT TO FULFILL."
  Matthew 5:17

He was the living example of how God wants us to live.   His earthly life is
the standard by which we are all going to be judged.   He was the light that
came into the world, and that's why He was hated:

"And this is the condemnation, that LIGHT IS COME INTO THE WORLD,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their
deeds were evil.   For every one that doeth evil HATETH THE
LIGHT, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should
be reproved
[EXPOSED]."   John 3:19-20

Christ's life is a shining reminder of just how sinful we really are.   He,
Himself, stated that:

"If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but
NOW THEY HAVE NO CLOAK FOR THEIR SIN."
  John 15:22

MY DEAR FRIEND, IT'S NO USE!   We have no cloak for our sins.   We
can't hide behind the short comings of others.   We can't exalt ourselves
at the expense of someone "more sinful" than us.   We are ALL EQUALLY
SHORT of God's standard.   In God's eyes:

"There is NONE RIGHTEOUS, no, not one" Romans 3:10
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" Rom. 3:23

To "pass the test" and go to Heaven, we'd have to be as righteous
as Christ.   He's the One we should be comparing ourselves to.   Christ was
sinless, totally devoted to God the Father, and showed complete love
toward His fellow man.   Compared to Him, the Bible says:

"We are all as an unclean thing, and all OUR RIGHTEOUSNESSES ARE AS
FILTHY RAGS; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the
wind, have take us away."
  Isaiah 64:6

YET, ALL IS NOT HOPELESS!   For you see, Jesus Christ lived His
sinless life for the expressed purpose of saving us:

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, THE JUST FOR THE UNJUST,
that he might bring us to God"
1 Peter 3:18

His earthly life shows us our need of a Saviour; He is that Saviour.   He
died for our sins.   He took our place and suffered the penalty of sin for us.
All we have to do is REPENT, change our minds, stop comparing
ourselves to others, and admit that we are ALL lost, Hell deserving
sinners in need of a Saviour.   We must put ALL OUR TRUST in Christ,
AND HIM ALONE, to save us.

To learn more, read the back [below].   Or, send for our free, at-home, Bible
correspondence course
.   In the end, you'll be glad you did.

IF you were to die today, are you 100% SURE
you would go to Heaven?
  The Bible says
YOU CAN BE SURE (1 John 5:13).

BUT FIRST, you must realize that what keeps you
from going to Heaven are your sins, because:
"...your iniquities [sins] have separated
between you and your God,"
Isaiah 59:2.
In fact, in God's eyes YOU ARE A SINNER: "For
all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God;"
Romans 3:23.

SECONDLY, you must realize that there is
NOTHING you can do to save yourself and earn
Heaven: "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   Baptism, good
deeds, church membership, self-righteousness are
all examples of good works that cannot save you,
because: "Not by works of
righteousness
which we have done, but
according to his mercy he
[Christ] saved
us
,"
Titus 3:5.

THE ONLY WAY you can get saved is through
Jesus Christ.   He said: "I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me."
  (John 14:6)   THAT'S
WHY
: "...while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us
."
  (Rom. 5:8-9)

THEREFORE: You must REPENT (change your
mind
); admit that you are a Hell deserving sinner
and can't save yourself.   And call upon Christ, and
Him alone, to save you.   "if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
[REPENT], and
shalt believe in thine heart
[TRUST] that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved."
  Romans 10:9

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