Being saved?

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snowpea

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From all I have read and heard, as long as you get the last rites you will go to heaven, so what is to keep a person from sinning until that day?
 
snowpea said:
From all I have read and heard, as long as you get the last rites you will go to heaven, so what is to keep a person from sinning until that day?
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If a person spends every day of their life loving sin and not loving God, which are they more likely to do on the last day of their life, love sin or love God?

Also, it is insufficient to receive the last rites if your heart is not into it. A heart long hardened by unrepented sin is not something I want to contend with on the last day of my life.

We are in a battle every day, a spiritual battle. Battle is not something a spiritual couch potato is in the best position to win. The safest course is to prepare for battle and fight the good fight each day. If every day we put on the full armor of God, won’t we be glad of this on the day that death happens upon us? (I’d better listen to my own words, here…):o
 
snowpea said:
From all I have read and heard, as long as you get the last rites you will go to heaven, so what is to keep a person from sinning until that day?
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Reminds me of a Simpsons episode where Bart talks to an Evangelical preacher about this very topic. To paraphrase:
Bart: I figured I would just leave a life of sin and then repent on my deathbed.
Preacher: That’s a good way, but it’s not God’s way! Live every day for God so you’ll be saved just in case you die suddenly.
Bart: Full coverage? Count me in!

Personally, I bet those who lived a life of sin are probably the most unhappy people in the world.
 
snowpea said:
From all I have read and heard, as long as you get the last rites you will go to heaven, so what is to keep a person from sinning until that day?
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Your understanding of “last rites” is not correct according to Catholic teaching. You have been misinformed.
 
Reckon not much more to write about this topic,but being a person who firmly believe in God,will not have that problem the last day of their earthly life. The whole thing is to avoid sin and that can be done only in one way. Never do anything what You know is wrong,with this I mean sin. I know that most people don’t know every thing that is wrong,but a pretty good way is to,what ever the thing is,always first think would I like to be treated this way? Then,is it against the Bible and the Gospels? And last,if You are not sure,don’t do it. It is also important to confess at least once every month,and then try to remember what is bothering You. All that You do is not a sin,but if it make You feel bad,it is.
We say here in Finland that everything is not forbidden,but not right to do anyway,so try to read the Bible as much and as often You can. Make time for it,let us say that You could read one chapter in the morning and one in the evening,and start from Genesis and read the whole Bible that way,and start all over again. And I can tell dear friend,that every time You find something new,or understand something better. Pray regularly,attend mass and avoid things You may think is sin. They might not be,but if You feel it is wrong,then it is most likely to be at least wrong,and maybe even a sin. God bless You.
 
snowpea said:
From all I have read and heard, as long as you get the last rites you will go to heaven, so what is to keep a person from sinning until that day?
Click to expand...
Hm, no. That’s not what the church teaches. The way it was explained to me when I was in RCIA is that every sin makes a mark on the soul and even when we are forgiven the mark is unfortunately still there. In this life we have to do pennance for past sins, otherwise we are cleansed in the next life. (If we make it to the cleansing place , ie purgatory). Baptism erases all sin and its consequences, but deathbed conversion does not. The last rites surely help but are no guarantee for heaven. I think that a deathbed conversion could be a ticket out of hell if it is genuine. But in the end, only God knows what happens to a soul. We have to do everything we can in this life to follow Him, rather than calculate and assume that we will be saved by last rites. that just sounds like very bad theology to me.
 
snowpea said:
From all I have read and heard, as long as you get the last rites you will go to heaven, so what is to keep a person from sinning until that day?
Click to expand...
I won’t go into the details of last rites and so forth. But, look: isn’t that the story of the dying thief who was crucified next to Christ?

As far as making this a “plan” for one’s salvation, perhaps Clint Eastwood said it best: “Do you feel lucky? Well, do you?” 😃
 
Redemptoris missio:

Salvation in Christ Is Offered to All
10. The universality of salvation means that it is granted not only to those who explicitly believe in Christ and have entered the Church. Since salvation is offered to all, it must be made concretely available to all. But it is clear that today, as in the past, many people do not have an opportunity to come to know or accept the gospel revelation or to enter the Church. The social and cultural conditions in which they live do not permit this, and frequently they have been brought up in other religious traditions. For such people salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his Sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit. It enables each person to attain salvation through his or her free cooperation.
For this reason the Council, after affirming the centrality of the Paschal Mystery, went on to declare that "this applies not only to Christians but to all people of good will in whose hearts grace is secretly at work. Since Christ died for everyone, and since the ultimate calling of each of us comes from God and is therefore a universal one, we are obliged to hold that the Holy Spirit offers everyone the possibility of sharing in this Paschal Mystery in a manner known to God."19
 
We all sin. The more we sin, the further we are from God. The more we ask for forgiveness, the closer we are. Taking this question to the extreme, if someone is living a life of sin and has no connection with God there is a very small chance they will request last rites.
 
It is called the sin of Presumption.

One shouldn’t play word games with God. He is smarter than us and has a mean sense of humor. 😉

I recall an old story, fictional I hope. A man always wore a medal that promised he would see a priest when dying. Thus he lived a sinful life assured of final repentance. One day when out in a boat fishing he suffered a heart attack. Sure enough there was a priest waving to him from the dock. :eek:
 
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