100% sure

[IGotQuestions]

I used to hear this for years.
ARE YOU 100% SURE THAT IF YOU DIED TODAY THAT YOU WOULD GO TO HEAVEN?
How can ANYONE really be 100% sure?

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Sirach chapter 5: don’t presume God’s mercy or forgiveness.

We cannot be 100% sure like some folks press you to answer; we can only rest on the promises of Jesus and Mary when we are obedient as we’ve been instructed.

 

[LaughingBoy1503]

Well, some folks believe that all you have to do is say a little prayer for Jesus to come into your heart and you feel goosebumps or something and it means that you are eternally saved. Nothing you can do can take away your salvation. It is a great security blanket for some.

If someone asked me if I was 100% sure I was saved I would say no. If they asked why not I would explain that I have been Baptized, have repented from my old ways and try to follow Jesus but that I do not have the arrogance to assume that I might never stray in the future and cut myself off from God. It is just the reality of it. That is why I am always praying everyday. To not give into temptation to sin, for Gods mercy, for The Lord to not let me go. I am 100% sure God wants me to go to Heaven with him. But there is a chance I can mess that up, God forbid.

 

[jlhargus]

I used to hear this for years.
ARE YOU 100% SURE THAT IF YOU DIED TODAY THAT YOU WOULD GO TO HEAVEN? How can ANYONE really be 100% sure?

Even St Paul wasn’t 100% sure.

[Philipians3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before**, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.]

 

[spedteacherita]

We all have doubts - that’s part of our sinful nature but the scriptures assure us in many places that Christ’s death was the atonement for our sins and if we repent of these sins we will have life eternal with him. This repentance cannot be a one-time thing - it’s daily as we continue both consciously and unconsciously to sin.

1 John 1:5-9

5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 2:1-2

1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Romans 3:25

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood–to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished–

These verses and more assure me that Christ was the atoning sacrifice for me and you. That doesn’t mean I can go out and sin deliberately but it does mean that if I am contrite and I live my life the best I can I will be with Him in heaven when I die or if He returns before that happens.

It’s all perspective - you have been taught to think one way about Christ and salvation and I have learned another. We are brothers and sisters in Christ and we’ve been commanded to spread His gospel baptizing others in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That’s the life we should be living.

God bless!

Rita

 

[MaryT777]

Even St Paul wasn’t 100% sure.

[Philipians3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 **If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead

. 12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.]

Yes, we press forward with repentance, forgiveness, mercy and grace.



Mary.

 

[Reuben_J]

I used to hear this for years.
ARE YOU 100% SURE THAT IF YOU DIED TODAY THAT YOU WOULD GO TO HEAVEN?
How can ANYONE really be 100% sure?

Am I sure? I guess it is somewhere in between.

I trust in the promises of God , his mercy, love and forginess.

I dont, however, quite trust in myself. My salvation depends on Him but I must play my part too.

It’s really somewhere in between for me . Please pray for me that I continue to be faithful in His love .

 

[cmodrmac]

" **we can only rest on the promises of Jesus and Mary when we are obedient as we’ve been instructed."

Just a question Jesus is God -Mary is not -how would the promises of Mary be a guarantee?

 

[IGotQuestions]

I was taught the doctrine of Eternal Security, that what Christ has accomplished on the cross cannot be undone. Though we may sin, even as Christians, Jesus will never leave us. We are always his.

“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day," (John 6:39).

 

[JustaServant]

Unless one is willing to ask uncomfortable questions (which strike at the very heart of ‘eternal security’) one is stuck in a very inticing, but notheless dangerous, web.
The answer is that ‘eternal security’, OSAS, whatever you want to call it, is based on a psychological subjective ‘experiece’ that cannot be pinned down because it means something different to every adherant to OSAS.
That is at the heart of the matter. For many its too scary to consider, so they never step out of that ‘comfort zone’ that is ultimately psychological in nature, not spiritual.
Here’s another way of looking at it. Suppose you bought an insurance policy, but there is no way you can ever tell if it will ultimately be collected. No one is around to say ‘yes I was paid off, the policy is good’. What do you do? Well you put wording in the policy that makes it clear the company (Eternal Life Inc.) will keep thier word. But whose word is it? Is it being interpreted correctly?
I trust God.
I just don’t trust the insurance salesman.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

" **we can only rest on the promises of Jesus and Mary when we are obedient as we’ve been instructed."

Just a question Jesus is God -Mary is not -how would the promises of Mary be a guarantee?

She’s the messenger for many folks. Mary doesn’t guarantee anything of her own accord, but she knows her son better than anyone.

 

[Gorgias]

I was taught the doctrine of Eternal Security, that what Christ has accomplished on the cross cannot be undone. Though we may sin, even as Christians, Jesus will never leave us. We are always his.

If that’s the case, then why is Paul constantly warning the Churches he writes to about the dangers of ‘backsliding’ and walking away from the faith?

“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day," (John 6:39).

Jesus won’t ‘lose’ anything… but we can certainly choose to walk away from Him, with disastrous results for us…!

 

[ericc]

I was taught the doctrine of Eternal Security, that what Christ has accomplished on the cross cannot be undone. Though we may sin, even as Christians, Jesus will never leave us. We are always his.

“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day," (John 6:39).

You are confused what Christ has done on the cross. He redeemed mankind. Everyone. But redemption is not salvation. You have been taught wrongly. Nothing unclean can enter heaven. You forget divine justice. You only see his mercy and love. But his justice must be done. His mercy reduces the severity of your punishment, not guarantee you an entrance ticket to heaven. Throwing Bible verses that supports your case while ignoring those which does not support, is, well, cheating. Omission is cheating as the judge will tell you. You mislead others by suppressing other important facts.

Jesus will not leave us, but we may leave him. Through disobedience. And he respects your choice/freewill. Eternal security is the scariest scam of all. THERE IS NO PERPETUAL WARRANTY TICKET TO HEAVEN. Eternal security violates so many of the logical basics.

For one, nothing unclean can enter heaven. Eternal security claims it can.
Two, Eternal security claims it can fool heaven by sneaking into heaven through the cloak of Christ righteousness. One, it violate the first point. Two, is supposes that Christ participated in the scam to fool his Father. Three, it supposes that the Father can not see through this nonsense.
Three. A declaration of righteousness doesn’t make it so. A person must be righteous for God to declare it so. Otherwise, God lied. He may be omnipotent, but he lied if something that isn’t so but he declared it is. In every Biblical case that God declare a person righteous, that person actually is. Check your Bible. If you are not righteous, don’t expect such declaration to come from God.

Eternal security is false. Paul doesn’t believe in it. It is naivety and foolishness to the extreme.

 

[peace2u2]

I was taught the doctrine of Eternal Security, that what Christ has accomplished on the cross cannot be undone. Though we may sin, even as Christians, Jesus will never leave us. We are always his.

“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day," (John 6:39).

We have been saved by Grace thru faith and this is not your own doing, it is a gift of God. So in other words we all have been saved - a past event - what Christ did on the cross accomplished redemption for all people. So yes we have been saved! Amen. Thank you Lord Jesus for what you did for me personally and the whole world on the cross - you suffered and died for us all.

So yes what Christ Jesus accomplished on the cross cannot be undone and your right about Him never leaving us- But, we have been given a gift called free will. We can choose to leave Him. Salvation is not a one time gig saying the sinners prayer and professing Jesus as our Lord and Savior and we are saved end of story, but rather our Salvation is an ongoing process one that we choose to follow Him or not follow Him everyday. Everyday we should ask Jesus to forgive us because we all fall short - we can not get thru one day with out sinning. Our salvation was won on the cross by Jesus and no other - there is no one who can save you but Jesus. Only Jesus saves. Jesus also did not die just for us Christians, (Catholic Christians and Non-Catholic Christians), but every person past, present and future even Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindus and Jesus even died for the atheist.

St. Paul says in Philippians to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” This Bible verse is present tense meaning we are working it out - I am being saved.

Salvation is also a future event. I will be saved. My hope is to be saved because I am a believer in Jesus. He is my Lord and my Savior.

Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew “But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

The point regarding salvation…whoever perseveres to the end will be saved.

Even St. Paul talks in 1 Corinthians about himself not even being certain of his salvation saying, “…for fear that after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.”

And St. Paul also says in 1 Cor. 10:12 whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall."

The Church has always taught that salvation is a gift and a person cannot earn salvation but faith in Jesus is necessary for salvation. Our eternal destiny is determined by the state of our soul at the time of our death. We are in constant need of conversion.

Also just also would like to add that Jesus is not going to quiz us when we enter heaven how well we can spit Bible verse, chapter and verse number, but rather how well did we live the Gospel truth in service to each other done with love.

 

[spedteacherita]

I was taught the doctrine of Eternal Security, that what Christ has accomplished on the cross cannot be undone. Though we may sin, even as Christians, Jesus will never leave us. We are always his.

“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day," (John 6:39).

It’s true what Christ has done cannot be undone but we must have contrition for the sins we do both consciously and subconsciously…It’s a very dangerous teaching that once we are saved that we can never fall away but that’s not true -

What I like about the Lutheran Church - similar to what Catholics tell us about the sacraments. For me, my baptism and participating in Holy Communion each Sunday is a tangible means of grace that reminds me of what Christ has done and builds me up spiritually as well.

God bless,

Rita

 

[recentrevert]

You cannot be absolutely sure. You can only examine your conscience and trust in God’s grace and His mercy for those who truly repent of having offended Him.

 

[Tommy999]

I used to hear this for years.
ARE YOU 100% SURE THAT IF YOU DIED TODAY THAT YOU WOULD GO TO HEAVEN?
How can ANYONE really be 100% sure?

I don’t think any Christian can be 100% sure, but if he or she lives for Christ on a daily basis, follows God’s commandments, confesses his sins, loves his neighbor as himself, and loves God with all his heart, mind, and strength, I think that person can sleep well at night regarding where they stand with God.

A person deceives himself if he thinks he can sin without repentance and thinks God will approve and allow him to enter into heaven regardless. On the other hand, I think God wants to give us a “blessed hope” (Titus 2:12-13) and not have us worry and doubt our eternal destiny, either, living in fear like a scared little kitten.

I don’t think God wants His people to be paranoid and insecure regarding their eternal status, turning into scrupulous people who try to achieve salvation through legalistic means as if we could achieve salvation on our own through good works. Good works are important, but we must have faith, also.

Luke 10:25-27
And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

When I die, I trust that I will be with Jesus, not out of arrogance or some false eternal security policy, but because I have put my trust and faith in Christ to be my Lord and Savior and have done my best to live out that faith in Him on a daily basis through my actions here on earth.

In doing so, we can be encouraged by the promises of Christ, such as in John 14:3:
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am".

 

[KathleenGee]

‘No’ for me as well.

I look at myself and see failure. But I look at Christ more Who inspires me to have Him stand in the place of all my failures and omissions and weakness.

 

[IGotQuestions]

I don’t think any Christian can be 100% sure, but if he or she lives for Christ on a daily basis, follows God’s commandments, confesses his sins, loves his neighbor as himself, and loves God with all his heart, mind, and strength, I think that person can sleep well at night regarding where they stand with God.

A person deceives himself if he thinks he can sin without repentance and thinks God will approve and allow him to enter into heaven regardless. On the other hand, I think God wants to give us a “blessed hope” (Titus 2:12-13) and not have us worry and doubt our eternal destiny, either, living in fear like a scared little kitten.

I don’t think God wants His people to be paranoid and insecure regarding their eternal status, turning into scrupulous people who try to achieve salvation through legalistic means as if we could achieve salvation on our own through good works. Good works are important, but we must have faith, also.

Luke 10:25-27
And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

When I die, I trust that I will be with Jesus, not out of arrogance or some false eternal security policy, but because I have put my trust and faith in Christ to be my Lord and Savior and have done my best to live out that faith in Him on a daily basis through my actions here on earth.

In doing so, we can be encouraged by the promises of Christ, such as in John 14:3:
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am".

Great answer.

 

[Protestor]

How can ANYONE really be 100% sure?

How can you be a 100% sure of anything? Can you effectively refute skeptical hypothesis or solipsism or Gödel’s incompleteness theorems? No one thinks in absolutes; everyone thinks in relative certainty. Am I relatively certain that I will be in heaven. Just as I am relatively certain that I am a christian and that you are a person.

I am sorry if these things has already been brought up.