Results 1 - 4 of 4
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | How do we know that we are truly saved? | 1 John 3:24 | Aixen7z4 | 141588 | ||
Hi, Angel. I did not realize before now that there are those who think that to trust in the Lord means we quote His Gospels! And I was not aware that many Christians trust in Jesus in the sense that we trust in one another. It is obviously important that those of us who call him Lord should do what he says. But here is the point, and I hope you do not miss it: It is not doing good works that makes us saved. It is because we are saved that we should do good works. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us (Titus 3:5). Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:9). We are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Ephesians 2:10). In saving us, God changes us, and thereafter we are expected to do good works. We do not do them automatically, and that is why the epistles are given to encourage us in that regard. Now, there are some other interesting quotes in your post. “If you do not abide in me you will be removed”. Yes, John 15 records Jesus saying that. But I encourage you to consider that he was speaking of being removed from a place of service. That happens (See revelation 2:5). It may involve being removed from this life (1 Corinthians 11:30). Yet the soul that trusts in Jesus will be saved (1 Corinthians 3:15). Jesus will say, to use your wording, “Begone from me you children of iniquity!” But I note it is not they had worked iniquity (we’ve all done that, as Romans 3 reminds us). It is because “I never knew you”. We need to make sure that he knows us. The best way it seems to ensure that he knows us is that we introduce ourselves to him. Come to him, admit that we are sinners, ask him to change us, and he does. It is only then that we can do good works that are not filthy rags, after he has changed us. You refer to people learning scripture and memorizing passages and chanting hymns and enunciating prayers, and I agree that those things will not save them. But neither will their attempt to love their enemies, uphold the Sacrament of Matrimony, or otherwise to “obey His commandments”. All those good works come after salvation. You note well that we own a guarantee of salvation which we have done nothing to merit! The fact is, we cannot merit salvation. After you have done all those good words you will still find you have come up short (Romans 3:23). We declare ourselves bankrupt, and then we trust in his merit alone. So, admonish us, but we do not believe you that we can merit salvation. We claim salvation by faith, not by works. We claim that good works come after salvation. We do believe that those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, because it says so in Romans 1:13. And yes, we do believe that we have safe passage and a secured place in heaven. Passages such as John 5:24 and 1 Peter 1:3, 4 assure us of that. We who are saved ought to be doing good, as all of the New Testament commands us and encourages us. We are ashamed of our failures and our sins. We are encouraged to abide in him and to follow his way so as not to be ashamed at his appearing (1 John 2:28). But please do not insist on condemning us, because God may ask you who are you (See Romans 8:33,34). Yet I do believe that you mean well in all that you have said. If we are not concerned about our behavior it may well mean that we are not saved. Since we have been forgiven and cleansed and saved, we should not return to sinning. God forbid (Romans 6). To the extent that we do sin after we are saved, please correct us. But please leave us the right to know that we are saved. Our salvation is our motivation to do good works (2 Corinthians 5:14). We know we could have done nothing to merit our salvation. Finally, I find myself in agreement with your last statement. We should boast in Jesus, and Him Crucified for our Salvation. It is He who secures our salvation. Without Him we are nothing! Amen. |
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2 | How do we know that we are truly saved? | 1 John 3:24 | JCrichton | 145375 | ||
Part 3 of 3 “You note well that we own a guarantee of salvation which we have done nothing to merit! The fact is, we cannot merit salvation.” You misunderstand me! The fact that we cannot do anything to merit Salvation should be cause enough to keep us from boasting about being saved! Not once in Scripture do we find anyone boasting about being saved! They boast about Christ! They boast about God’s Mercy! They boast about God’s Love! It is due to our liberal notions that we seek security instead of obedience; liberty instead of accountability, complacency instead of abstinence, rebelliousness instead of submission! “I am born again” or “I am saved” or “we have eternal salvation…” it all has an egocentric sound, doesn’t it? Even though we profess one thing, we behave contrary to our own profession! Being born again is not an excuse to sin, and it should never be used as a means to equate ourselves to God (free of sin) or to believe that we are above damnation when we purposefully choose to sin and to remain in a sinful state! It is not that we are saved! It is that He Saved us! As Paul attests, He did not purchase us so that we should summit ourselves to the old nature that is contrary to the Holy Spirit and can only produce death! (1 Thessalonians 4:7; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20) “So, admonish us, but we do not believe you that we can merit salvation.” Again, I admonish all, not to live secure in the understanding that we can sin because we are “saved” or “born again!” And, I clarify that not once have I claimed salvation due to works; not once have I stated that we merit salvation; and, not once did Christ say that He is the resurrection and the life so all are saved! I admonish all to search the Holy Scripture for not once does it state that “once saved always saved” so eat, drink and be merry! Jesus clearly warns that those who are double-minded cannot be His disciples (Luke 9:62; Revelation 3:16)… though it is true that there are some Scriptural passages that seem to guarantee “once saved always saved,” even Jesus warned that not all who claim to abide in Him do (Matthew 7:21-27, Luke 6:46); further, He also warned that the Word did not save all (Matthew 13:18-43; John 3:14-21)… notice, though, that it is not the Word that cannot save, rather is man who determines that he rather stay in darkness than to enter into the Light! “But please do not insist on condemning us, because God may ask you who are you (See Romans 8:33,34).” I insist in that we abide in Christ and be saved, rather than rely on “special commendations” to grant ourselves salvation! Christ warns that it is not He who Judges, it is the Word that Judges. Who am I to condemn anyone? (John 12:46-49) But, as a servant of Christ, I cannot sit idle awaiting to see if others decide to abide in Christ or continue in their own wisdom! It is not in vain that Scripture warns that it is better to rely on Yahweh than to trust in human beings… Peter was always quick to run to Jesus, yet, when facing the unknown, while walking on water, instead of keeping his eye (Faith) on Jesus he trusted his own knowledge of the environment (wind, etc.)… the split second he hesitated… he began to sink! (Matthew 14:23-31) “But please leave us the right to know that we are saved.” This has never been my argument! My argument is that we are saved by Jesus and in Jesus… that once we begin our lives in Jesus it is our obligation to continue in Him, to abide in Him, to humble ourselves to Him, to know Him as our Salvation, to not excuse our turning back to sin/sinful life with the “saved” card--rejecting Christ (disobeying His Command) cannot be seen as a result of having a “guaranteed salvation!” Please, rely on Jesus, He is the Resurrection and Life! And we must understand that Believing in Him does not mean knowing Scripture (Satan and his angels know Scripture, yet they do not submit to God‘s Authority)… to Believe in Jesus is to OBEY HIM--this of course is explained by Him: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) “To the extent that we do sin after we are saved, please correct us...” This is precisely my argument! I am not seeking to limit Salvation (God’s ability and willingness to save us)… I am simply concern with the doctrine that blinds us by offering “Christians” total and automatic exoneration from sin… our Salvation is guaranteed by Christ but we are not guaranteed a life of sin in Christ! Abiding in Christ can never validate disobedience and rebelliousness! As John said: if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) God Bless! Angel |
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3 | How do we know that we are truly saved? | 1 John 3:24 | Aixen7z4 | 145434 | ||
I am almost certain that I understand your point. A life of sin after salvation is an anomaly, and those who lead it should be worried. They should ask themselves whether they are really saved. In fact, we would all do well to ask ourselves that. But having asked the question, and having examined ourselves, we should know without question whether or not we are saved. One might well say that we should not rest until we have a clear answer. If we are not saved, we should fly to the Lord immediately and receive his grace. But once we have received his salvation, we should go on from there, or in it, with confidence. The confidence that we have is not in ourselves but in God, and in our Lord Jesus Christ. To say that I am saved is to say that Jesus has saved me. To say that I will never be lost is to say that Jesus will keep me. I know that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Then do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. Those who live a life of sin cannot be confident in their salvation. Scripture is rather rough on them. Everyone who has been begotten of God does not sin, because His seed abides in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and we walk in darkness, we lie and are not practicing the truth. It is clear that we can lie to ourselves. For example, he that says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness even until now. But the New Testament letters, written to Christians, tell us that a saved person does not automatically do right. He may need correction. He needs information, even about himself, before he can respond. When he knows who he is (and again, he needs to be made aware) he may respond to the challenge to live up to it. Salvation is cast in various terms: Forgiveness of sins. Escape from eternal punishment. Reconciliation to God. Repentance. Faith. Passage from death to life. A new nature. A new believer may be aware of one of these and not the others. Again, we need to be taught, and the New Testament letters teach us. We are not only forgiven, we are dead to sin. We have not only escaped the dominion of Satan, we have become sons of God. We are no longer slaves to sin, we are servants of righteousness. Knowledge of these things will help us to live in the light of them. When we see the sad strange life of people professing to be saved and practicing sin, we may not know the reason for the incongruity. Perhaps they lack salvation. Perhaps they lack knowledge. Perhaps they lack the help they need. I would suggest that we offer them the Gospel, information about the nature of the child of God, assistance in making necessary changes, and see how they respond. Chances are that the person claiming to be saved will respond positively, in some cases showing a desire to be saved, in other cases responding to the challenge to be true to his Christlike nature. They may even show repentance and a readiness to accept help. If they reject all such overtures, they may leave us wondering if they are saved or even want to be. The question for me is: How do you get to those people? Likely, it is not by criticizing them or condemning them. More likely, it is by presenting the truth and the challenge. The question is one of practicality. Where do you meet these people? And how do you get to talk to them? Neither the structure of the church nor its meetings, nor the ecclesiastical media, nor the mass media, seems to allow it. So I am left with a quandary. It is clear to me that we need to get the Gospel to the people in church, to help them to clarify their relationship to God, and to challenge and assist them to live as children of God. But the means by which that can be done I do not have. It might be good for us to devote some effort to discovering or revealing those. |
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4 | How do we know that we are truly saved? | 1 John 3:24 | JCrichton | 145441 | ||
Hi, Aixen7z4! I agree with your statement completely! We are all found in various levels of knowledge and understanding (spiritually)... spiritual maturity comes with dependence and Faith in Christ... our confidence is that He is our Salvation! My concern is that much too many times we find people who profess to be "saved" and through their actions they are in complete contradiction of their statement of faith! Too many times these are the models for many who seek to limit their responsibility in Christ... As you noted, many times we are not able to assist others during church service/meetings... our task, I believe, is to be ready, as Jesus commanded us, to testify to anyone anywhere (supermarket, office, school, restaurant, road, while visiting friends and relatives, on-line, while shopping, while answering/screening our calls); the best way is to simply convey the message (no heavy preaching, no patronizing, no issuing of pamphlets... heavy listening, heavy determination to assist/guide/teach; heavy life of prayer!)... One thing to keep in mind... our responsibility is not to convert people... as Christ's messengers our obligation is to bring to others the Good News! Sometimes... it seems that there is little that I am able to accomplish... then I meet someone and we end up speaking about the Lord for hours or I see an elderly woman smile that confident smile that means that we are walking the path together or someone tells me of answered prayer! I believe that if you look back you will find that you are guiding many onto the Path... sometimes a simple joyous "We are starting/involved with a Bible study group," may be all that you hear... you may never know how many people you have reached through one person that you have assisted/brought to Christ! God Bless! Angel |
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