ESL OUTLINE - UKRAINE 2011 (A)

Me: Can I ask you a couple questions?
You: Sure!
Me: Are you sure you will be with God in heaven when you die?
You: I hope so.
Me: Why should God let you into heaven?
You: Because I try to be good.
Me: Thanks for your answers. My I share with you how I know for sure that I will be with God in heaven when I die?
You: I guess so.
Me: Thanks. The Bible says, "These things are written...so that you may know (for sure) that you have eternal life." And we also read that "the gift of God is eternal life." This gift is not something we can earn or deserve. The Bible says, "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." I cannot stand before God and say how good I am. And when I receive a gift from a friend, I don't try to pay for it. My place in heaven has to be a gift because of sin. I am a sinner; you are a sinner. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God... There is no one righteous, not even one." What is sin?
You: I guess anything that is disobedient to God.
Me: That's right. We sin in our actions, our words, and even our thoughts. Psychologists say the average person has 10,000 thoughts per day. What percentage of those throughts would you say are sinful?
You: I don't know, maybe half.
Me: Let's say you're alot better than that. Maybe you're nearly perfect and none of your words or actions are sinful, and only 1% of your thoughts are sinful. Even then, you would sin 100 ties per day, 36,500 times per year, and 1 million times in less than 27-1/2 years! And Jesus says, "Be perfect, as My heavenly Father is perfect." We aren't perfect, and that's why we can't earn eternal life, we can't deserve a place in heaven by our goodness. Even our good deeds are like filthy rags, and being guilty of just one sin is too much. For example, if I put a drop of poison in a jar of honey, would you still eat the honey?
You: No way!