The can be no conversion without conviction: A little while ago I was witnessing to a friend who is not a Christian. The problem was he was not convicted of the seriousness of his sin. (Only the Holy Spirit can do that work in him.) I asked my friend, “If you popped you clogs tonight and you stood before the pearly gates and God said, ‘why should I let you in my heaven,’ what are you going to say?” His response was that ‘I shouldn’t worry; he is not such a bad guy; God will let him in to heaven. And if God didn’t let someone like him in, well then he wouldn’t want to be there anywhere!’ But my friend is missing the point: If we can get in to heaven without Jesus, then why did Jesus come; why the rescue mission if we don’t need saving? God knows that our sin is serious, that’s why He did something about it; that’s why Jesus came and why He died.