People are either in darkness or in light. That is how God sees the world. In Christ we are in the light; without Christ we are in darkness. The gospel light is not just a better light. It is the only light. Some people may be better than others, more devout and sincere, but they are still in the dark. Being wise and good does not bring the dawn. Only God can bring the morning. Of course, I would rather be a good man in the dark than a bad man, but either way I would still rather be in the light. If I am in the light I can see my badness, but in the dark I don’t know how morally and spiritually sick I am. l want the light.

I agree that there can be degrees of light and darkness, brighter light and deeper darkness. But from the spiritual point of view, people are still either in the dark or in the light. Light and darkness won’t mix. scripture asks, “What fellowship can light have with darkness?� (2 Cor 6:14). When it comes to spiritual things, the differences are stark and clear. We are either lost or found, in Christ or out of Christ, saved or perishing, alive to God or dead to God, forgiven or not forgiven. God has no twilight world of the half-alive, the half-saved, the half-found, people half in Christ or half-forgiven. “Almost saved� means to be totally lost. I am not preaching to win a debate, but to win a soul. What about you?