There are verdicts given in court rooms all over the country every day, but most of them don't affect you. One verdict that really does affect you is the one that determines where you'll spend eternity.
It's God's verdict. You ask: "Was I good enough? Will I make it to heaven when I die? Was I guilty or not guilty with God?" The verdict is not in a sealed envelope. It's in an open book, and you don't have to wait to find your verdict from God.
The Word of God in Romans 3:19 says, "Every mouth will be silenced. The whole world held accountable to God. No one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law..." That means doing good things. Chapter 3:10 says, "There is no one righteous, not even one..." Everyone is guilty. Verses 22-23 say, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." ( Romans 3)
The verdict is in on each of us - Guilty before God. We have broken His laws over and over. We've hijacked the life our Creator gave us and run it ourselves. We've been our own god. Not only is the verdict in, the sentence has been pronounced. In Romans 6:23 it says, "The wages of sin is death." Some are going to try to plead the good they have done. It's not enough. No one is righteous, not even one.
A death penalty cannot be paid by doing good. Someone has to die. Our sin leaves us condemned in the court room of God. Our sentence is described in one word - hell. This reading of the verdict is followed by an amazing offer of a pardon. It says in the next verses that we are justified freely by God's grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus through faith in His blood. In other words, someone has come to pay your death penalty - God's own Son.
Our only hope of ever being right with God, of ever going to heaven, is placing all our hope in Jesus Christ, the One who died as our substitute. If you think that your religion or your goodness is going to satisfy God's verdict, the Bible says it won't. Jesus died so He could forgive your sin and erase it from God's book, and trade the death penalty you deserve for the eternal life you don't deserve. You just have to put your total trust in Him to be your Savior. If you never have, if you're not sure you have, don't risk another day without Him. The bad news is that you're guilty before God. We all are, and the sentence is death. If you belong to Jesus Christ, because you have put your trust in Him, you can have the Son of God as your defense attorney before His Father, and a guaranteed verdict of "Not Guilty" - free to go home to the heaven He has prepared for you.