“​​21 Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come. … 24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” John 8:21,24

What a terrible thing to die in your sins — to die and stand before the holy Judge of all, still bearing the uncleanness and guilt of your sins! Yet, this is what was soon to happen to a great many of the Jews in Jesus’ day. Jesus warned them, “I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come” (John 8:21).

Because so many of His Jewish hearers saw no need to repent of their sinful ways and trust in Jesus as their Messiah and Savior, they would die in their sins and face the eternal wrath and condemnation of God. Where Jesus was going — to be glorified at the right hand of God the Father in heaven (cf. John 14:1ff.; Eph. 2:20f.) — they would not be able to come! Instead, they faced a Christless eternity and the everlasting torments of hell!

Again, Jesus warned them, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24).

And Jesus’ words still ring out today! Many are headed to an eternity of everlasting punishment for their sins because, unless one repents and turns to God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who was lifted up upon the cross to suffer and die for all and bear the full punishment for our sins and the sins of the whole world, he will die in his sins and come before the holy God in his own uncleanness and guilt to be judged and condemned to hell forever!

And, it is foolish to depend on our own works and lives because the Bible tells us in Isaiah 64:6 that “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 taken us away.“ Therefore, as Jesus said, those who do not repent and place their faith in Christ and His cross die in their sins.

What about you? Will you die in the guilt of your sins and face the eternal wrath of an angry God? Or, will you, by the grace of God, turn to Jesus and receive His full and complete forgiveness for all your sins and enjoy the everlasting blessings of life in heaven with Him?

The Bible tells us: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:27-28).

Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:14-15: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Jesus has already died and paid in full the penalty for your sins. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us: “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures … he was buried … he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (v.3,4). And His resurrection on the third day is proof that God accepted His death as full payment for the sins of all in order that those who trust in Him can be justified and have God’s pardon and forgiveness (cf. Rom. 4:23 — 5:2)!

Again, Jesus said in John 3:16-18: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

So, why die in your sins and be condemned of God? Trust in Jesus Christ and His blood shed for you on the cross and be saved!

O dearest Jesus, have mercy upon our wayward hearts and draw us to You that we might not enter into eternity bearing the guilt of our sins and standing condemned, but having instead forgiveness for all our sins and life everlasting for the sake of Your holy and precious blood, shed for us upon the cross. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]