Hello, Veteran. Yes, we’re grateful for what you did to
preserve our freedom, enduring separation and loneliness. You may have come
home safely without combat experience, but perhaps you saw bloody battles and
the broken, mangled bodies of comrades. Maybe you were gravely wounded. Perhaps
the terrors of prison camp haunt your memory. It may be that you suffer even
today from injuries received in the military. Whatever your circumstances, we
thank you for serving and are glad you came home. Have you ever wondered if it is true that a
good and faithful serviceman or servicewoman who dies for our country is
assured an escape from Hell and an eternity in Heaven?
And, if
it is true, what about those who face death willingly but are not killed? Would
it not be as reasonable to expect that they, too, will go to Heaven?
And
what about a soldier who, though willing to give his life for Uncle Sam,
survives but swears and drinks and has no use for God, Christ, or the Bible?
Will he go to Heaven anyway?
You
say, “No.” And right you are. But if those who die in battle go to Heaven, then
in the name of justice, the others, because they have been willing to die,
ought to go to Heaven also, regardless of the way they live or their attitude
toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
But
these are the facts: (1) You are going
to die someday. (2) You will spend
eternity somewhere. (3) When you pass
from this world, you will be either “absent from the body...[and]... present
with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8), or your soul will be lost, doomed, and
damned forever without hope.
It doesn’t matter
who says that God will take you to Heaven because you’ve served your country.
Listen to what God Himself says. You will meet Him in judgment if you do not
accept Him. He says: “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). Notice that it is not
serving or dying for your country, as great as that may be, but a new birth
that makes you a child of God.
“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” (Ephesians 2:8,9). No one will be able to
say, “I’m in Heaven because of my religion,” “my good deeds,” “my service
record,” or even “because I died for my country.”
Salvation is the
gift of God. Listen to Romans 6:23: “The
wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.” Christ died at Calvary, taking your sins and punishment on Himself
and satisfying the righteousness and justice of God.
As
Titus 3:5 says, it is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to His mercy, He saved us.”
Eternal
life—salvation—is not found in religion, clean living, or heroic service for
our country, but only in the Lord Jesus Christ. He arose and is now seated at
God’s right hand. If you receive Him as your Lord and Savior, you will be
saved. If you reject Him, you remain lost. And if you die in that state, no
matter when, where or how you die, you will be lost forever!
We’re
glad you did not die in the service, and we pray that you will receive Christ
so that, when eternity dawns for you, there will be a great welcome for you in
Glory. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of
God” (John 1:12). “He that hath the Son hath life”
(I John 5:12). You
can be saved right now by receiving Christ as your Savior. If you can sincerely
sign the following blank, do so.
Helpful
literature will reach you soon.
by Paul J. Levin
