Re: Mark Lawlor
Date: March 03, 2015 11:47PM
I knew Gini--not well, but I was getting to know her the summer before she was killed.
You say that Lawlor is definitely going to hell. That's up to him.
Have you heard of Manasseh?
He was perhaps the most wicked king Judah (in ancient Israel) ever had. Among his evils, "He sacrificed his sons in the fire..." (2 Chronicles 33:6) "Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end..." (2 Kings 21:16)
Manasseh was eventually captured by Assyria, who fastened a hook in his nose and took him to Babylon. "In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God."
If it's possible for Manasseh to be forgiven by God for his many sins, it's possible for Lawlor to be forgiven by God for his sins.
Where are you going after you die?
A "law-abiding" man came to Jesus, asking, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said, "No one is good--except God himself." The man believed that he kept all the commandments, but Jesus' interaction with him prompted him to see himself--and Jesus--in a new light. Specifically, Jesus asked the man to sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow him. The man went away sad, because he had great wealth (Mark 10:17-27).
I don't know whether this young man decided to follow Jesus, or if Lawlor will repent of his sins and obtain forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ. But what about you? The Bible says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All deserve hell. Even me. Good works can't erase the wages of sin (Romans 3:20), which is death (physical, spiritual) (Romans 6:23). Jesus Christ, sinless, fully God and fully man, died a criminal's death, bearing the sins of many. The fact that he would carry sins on himself and in death was prophecied in Isaiah 53 several hundred years before Jesus walked the earth. His resurrection is prophesied there, too. Because he lives, we know that we can be forgiven by a holy God. We can live, too, both spiritually and physically (resurrected to life after we die), in the presence of God. Jesus came and died for sinners like Manasseh, Lawlor, me, and you. If you believe this with all your heart, and are repentant of your own sins, the Lord will forgive you (see Romans 5:8, 10:9, 8:1). There's only one path that doesn't lead to hell, and that's through the person of Jesus Christ, who came to save and not to condemn. (John 3:16-18)
No one goes to heaven because they are good. People who go to heaven do so because they've been forgiven. I hope you'll choose Jesus and be one of the forgiven. I hope Lawlor will too, while he still has time. No one is so evil that they are outside the reach of Jesus' forgiveness--not Manasseh; not Lawlor; no one. That's incredible news.