Rejecting the gospel is not a small matter of merely failing to make some religious choice. Scripture defines the act of rejecting the gospel as refusing the gracious hand of God, that is, as rejecting eternal life itself.
In Matthew 10, when Jesus sent out His disciples, He told them that when they leave a house or a town that does not receive the gospel, they should shake the dust off their feet. This was like a declaration that those who rejected the word of God had excluded themselves from eternal life.
In the book of Acts, when Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in Pisidian Antioch and the Jews rejected them, they also shook off the dust from their feet with the same meaning. They said, “You judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life” (Acts 13:46), making clear that the responsibility for rejecting the gospel rested entirely on them.
Jesus explained how weighty the sin of rejecting the gospel is, saying, “It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town” (Matt 10:15). This means that the judgment awaiting those who reject the gospel will be even more severe than that which destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah under God’s judgment.
The gospel is the hand God extends to save sinners, and to refuse that hand is to refuse the eternal life God gives. Scripture says that after a person dies, there is surely judgment. “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb 9:27).
On the last day of the world, the Lord will come again, and at that time He will not come as the Savior who came in His first coming to save sinners, but as the Judge who judges all people. The Judge seated on the judgment seat is not like a parent who admonishes a child but the One who judges sinners according to the righteousness of God. The judgment spoken of in Scripture is not a mere symbolic expression. Jesus spoke more clearly than anyone about the reality of hell. “Fear Him who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell” (Luke 12:5). Hell is the place where the wrath of God burns like fire, and Revelation says that its torment “has no rest day or night” (Rev 14:11). Therefore, Jesus said that it is better to lose even a part of one’s body than to be thrown into hell. “It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the fire of hell” (Matt 18:9).
Then what is the way to escape this fearful judgment? Scripture says, “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15), and “Whoever believes in Him is not judged” (John 3:18). Jesus came to this earth and, through His death, made atonement for our sins, and whoever believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins and eternal life. This is the gospel. The only way to escape judgment is to flee to Jesus.
The gospel has a dual aspect. Simeon, seeing the infant Jesus, said, “This child is appointed for the rising and falling of many” (Luke 2:34). This means that those who are in Christ receive eternal life, but those who are outside of Christ remain under the wrath of God. Before the Lord, the Judge on the last day, there will be only two kinds of people: those who are in Christ and those who are outside of Christ. Ultimately, one’s relationship with Christ determines one’s eternal destiny. For now, it is not the time of judgment but the time of grace. “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). God even now keeps the door of grace wide open and calls sinners. But this period of grace does not continue forever, so one must return to the arms of God before the door of grace closes.
In the Old Testament era, when a person killed someone unintentionally, he could preserve his life by fleeing to a city of refuge. The one who fled into that city was protected from the avenger of blood, and as long as he did not leave that place, his safety was guaranteed. This city of refuge foreshadows Christ. The only way for a sinner to live is to flee to the Lord, the true city of refuge, and only in Him is there true salvation. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Whether one receives Jesus as Savior or rejects Him produces two completely opposite outcomes: heaven or hell. If there is anything a person can do in this world that is the best thing, it is believing in Jesus. Conversely, if there is anything most wrong, it is rejecting the gospel.