“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” Hebrews 9:27-28 LSB https://bible.com/bible/3345/heb.9.28.LSB

Upon whose works are we depending for salvation? Our works that we are good and have done much good so that God must accept us into His kingdom, receiving us as righteous people? Or do we depend upon Christ’s works, His perfect life, appropriated to us in exchange for our sinful life at the cross? Do we believe we are saved by our faith or by our works? Even our faith, given to us as a gift by God or somehow manufactured by our understanding and intellect as we understand the Scriptures and believe the gospel? All people will either stand before God in the judgment of their lives after their death or see God’s return from heaven to judge all men for determining their eternal destiny now that He has decided to establish His life and rule upon the earth as it is in heaven. How will God judge men? He will judge us based on His word. God has graciously recorded His will and His ways so that all men in all places can know throughout all generations what He requires to live with Him eternally. Ignoring God by ignoring His word is to fail entirely at pleasing Him. Living by faith, surrendering to Jesus as Lord, and loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength as we live humbly before Him is not inherent to our nature. We must be born again to enter the kingdom of God and to be born again, we must hear, believe, and receive the gospel, which declares unequivocally that salvation is found in Christ alone, by faith alone, because of His work alone.